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Things could go well for the Democrats in next year's midterm elections if they don't Bern out.

President Trump is woefully unpopular, feuding with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, and other Republicans. The GOP can't manage to repeal Obamacare or do much of anything. Voters say they'd like Democrats to run Congress.

But here come the Bernie Bros and sisters to the Republicans' rescue: They're sowing division in the Democratic Party and attempting to enact a purge of the ideologically impure just the sort of thing that made the Republican Party the ungovernable mess it is today.

Bernie Sanders's advisers are promoting a "litmus test" under which Democrats who don't swear to implement single-payer health care would be booted from the party in primaries. Sanders pollster Ben Tulchin penned an op-ed with a colleague under the headline "Universal health care is the new litmus test for Democrats." Nina Turner, head of the Sanders group Our Revolution, told Politico this last week that "there's something wrong with" Democrats who won't "unequivocally" embrace "Medicare-for-all."

That notion not just taking a stand but excommunicating all who disagree is what Republicans have done to themselves with guns and taxes, and it would seriously diminish Democrats' hopes of retaking the House next year.

At the same time, Our Revolution has stepped up its attack on the Democratic Party. Turner this week sent an email to supporters complaining that she and others attempted to deliver a petition to Democratic National Committee headquarters but "were shut out." In a follow-up interview with BuzzFeed, Turner expressed particular outrage that the DNC offered her ... donuts. "They tried to seduce us with donuts," she said, calling the gesture "pompous" and "arrogant" and "insulting."

It's not just about breakfast confections. The Bernie crowd has begun accusing California freshman Sen. Kamala D. Harris, a rising Democratic star, of being beholden to corporate money. Also in California, Kimberly Ellis, who ran for state Democratic chairman with the support of Sanders and lost in a close race to a former Hillary Clinton delegate, is refusing to concede and threatening to sue. Ellis told the New York Times that the "Democratic Party is in many ways right now where the Republican Party was when the tea party took over."

And that's a good thing? Republican fratricide, instigated by tea-party purity police, made Trump possible and left the GOP unable to govern. This is what Sanders's people would emulate.

Fortunately, Sanders seems to have lost clout. Candidates backed by Our Revolution have lost 31 races in 2017 and won 16, and the wins include "Portland Community College Director, Zone 5" and "South Fulton (Ga.) City Council 6."

Candidates endorsed by Sanders have struggled in high-profile races. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., lost the DNC chairman race (he was appointed deputy chairman). Sanders-backed Tom Perriello lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Virginia, and a Sanders campaign official was blown out in a California congressional primary. Neither did the Sanders magic get the job done for Democrats in special congressional elections in Kansas, Georgia or Montana, and his candidate lost the Omaha mayoral race.

Yet the attempt by the Sanders movement to impose a health-care litmus test on Democratic candidates shows their destructive potential within the party. Support for single-payer health coverage has been growing, and it would become a real possibility if Republicans sabotage Obamacare but don't help the tens of millions who would lose insurance.

But to force Democrats to take some kind of single-payer purity oath would set back the cause. Democrats need to pick up 24 seats to take control of the House, yet there are only 23 Republicans in districts won by Clinton and only eight of those were won by President Barack Obama in 2012. There are a dozen Democrats in districts Trump won. In such swing districts, it would be suicidal to pledge support for something Republicans will brand as socialism.

A Pew Research Center poll in June found that while a majority of Democrats (52 percent) favor single-payer health care, only 33 percent of the public does overall. A Kaiser Health Tracking poll in June had better results: 53 percent of the public favored single-payer coverage. But Kaiser found that opinions were "malleable."

If recent trends continue, and particularly if Republicans undermine Obamacare without an adequate replacement, the time for single-payer will come, and soon. But the litmus test distracts Democrats from protecting Obamacare, diminishes their chances of retaking the House and chops up the party over something that has zero chance of becoming law under Trump.

Follow Dana Milbank on Twitter, @Milbank.

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DANA MILBANK: Democrats must beware of 'Berning' out - The Bakersfield Californian

Top Democratic lawmakers warned the Trump administration Tuesday that any reform of the North American Free Trade Agreement has to include their objectives for it to have any hope of passing Congress.

At the same time, the White House indicated it would rebuff them on releasing all details of the talks among the U.S., Canada and Mexico, a key demand of liberal groups. The talks begin Wednesday.

"We want to work with the administration to ensure that working people have a seat at the table," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., during a press conference hosted by the liberal group Public Citizen. "The support of the House Democrats is essential to crafting and passing a deal through Congress."

Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan concurred. "We want to work in good faith with the administration," he said, before criticizing President Trump for "flip-flopping" about whether China manipulates its currency and implying that the president may have business dealings in Mexico that would influence the negotiations. "We are concerned where his personal business interests lie," Ryan said.

A key request of Democrats and liberal groups has been that the U.S. release all details of the negotiations after each round: All of the proposals and counter-proposals and any changes agreed to by the parties. The U.S Trade Representative's Office rejected that Tuesday, telling reporters that it was important to keep the details under wraps during negotiations.

The office said the administration was "quite ambitious" in its goals for the talks and making every detail known would undermine that. Administration officials said they would, for example, seek to alter the deal's rules of origin for the percentage of parts from a particular country that must go into an item before it can be said to be manufactured there. The rules have been contentious since they determine whether an item can be labeled as "Made in the USA."

Under the current NAFTA rules, 62.5 percent of the parts in a car or light truck such as an SUV must come from the U.S. for the vehicle to deemed a U.S. product. Labor groups would like that percentage to be higher. Manufacturers that use parts from several countries or have manufacturing facilities in other countries argue that the standard already is high enough.

"In terms of the rules of origin, the overall goal is to address concerns about doing more to incentivize and create more manufacturing and more manufacturing jobs in the United States," an administration official told reporters. "I think each country expects benefits for itself from those rules of origin, and I think that's what you're seeing reflected in our objective statement."

DeLauro said the refusal to make details public was contrary to how European nations handle trade negotiations. She noted that Democrats had faced the same problem during the administration of former President Barack Obama's negotiation of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

"We faced an enormous amount of stonewalling on the TPP agreement. We tried in so many ways to have a dialogue with the previous administration," DeLauro said. Many of the issues negotiated in TPP are expected to be raised again in the NAFTA renegotiations.

Ryan said Democrats do not want to scrap NAFTA, stating that would create too much of a "shock to the system" and hurt the economy. "We have 20-25 years of supply chains and everything else that has evolved since NAFTA."

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Democrats warn NAFTA reform dead without their support - Washington Examiner

On Saturday morning, as the nations attention turned to the white supremacist march in Charlottesville and its violent aftermath, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) used a speech at the progressive Netroots Nation convention to lay down a marker for the Democratic Partys future.

There was little buzz in the room about the 2020 presidential primaries shouts of Run Warren Run and Warren 2020 were short and muted. But Warren, one of the partys most popular figures, told activists that they could safely ignore any advice about how Democrats could win only through moderation.

Here are four points that were probably going to hear more about as the left wages and mostly wins battles inside the party.

No fear of identity politics. Near the top of her remarks, Warren ridiculed by name a New York Times op-ed in which pollster Mark Penn and disgraced politician Andrew Stein beseeched Democrats to move to the center and reject the siren calls of the left. This, according to Warren, not-so-subtly suggested that the party needed to pander to white voters at the expense of non-whites.

Apparently, the path forward is to go back to locking up non-violent drug offenders and ripping more holes in our economic safety net, Warren said. Later, she counted off a series of issues where Democrats decisively took the side of black activists. The system is rigged, she said

when the black-white wealth gap triples over the past three decades. When racist voter ID laws and voter suppression tactics sprout like weeds all across the country. When a man too racist to become a judge in the 1980s now runs the Department of Justice. When communities like Flint are living with poisoned water and polluted air. When theres still no justice for, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Philando Castile and so many more.

Warrens opposition to Attorney General Jeff Sessions was already famous, especially on the left, but it was striking that she called him a racist and she did so to applause.

Defining the bad donors. Warren, who has repeatedly criticized her partys 2016 presidential campaign messaging, included one pointed line: Were not going back to the days when a Democrat who wanted to run for a seat in Washington first had to grovel on Wall Street. It was impossible to hear that line and not think of how Hillary Clintons campaign, especially after the primary against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), never shook off the stigma of Wall Street money.

But Warren, who represents Marthas Vineyard and other bastions of big Democratic money, defined the bad sort of donations narrowly. That reframed the kind of argument that broke out after Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) met withClinton donors. It would be impossible to fund Democratic campaigns without most of the people who backed Clinton; it is possible, and likely a good frame for 2018 and 2020, to noisily reject financial industry money.

Labor rights as civil rights. Warren suggested that Democrats needed to get behind basically every priority of the labor movement, and make it easier to join a union, a cause that was stymied in 2010 when Democrats lost the supermajority that could have passed the Employee Free Choice (or card check) bill.

Were going to fight for fully portable benefits for everyone, said Warren, and were going to fight to make sure that all work full-time, part-time, gig carries basic, pro-rata benefits. Were going to fight to make it easier for workers to come together to form a union so they can take power into their own hands. And were going to turn the minimum wage into a living wage. Fight for $15!

Single-payer health care as a 2020 standard. The arguments between Democrats about whether every 2018 candidate should back single-payer health care are happening, in part, because single-payer is becoming a de facto Democratic position in 2020. Every Senate Democrat seen as a potential candidate, from Warren to Harris to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), now backs Medicare for All. Even Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.), who launched the first 2020 bid this month to lets be honest an avalanche of skepticism, has said hes for single-payer evolving from the context of the market we have now.

Warren used her speech to reiterate her support for expanding Social Security payments, and to make single-payer the partys default health-care pitch. Its not enough just to defend the Affordable Care Act, were going to improve it, starting with bringing down the costs of prescription drugs and leading the fight for Medicare for all, she said.

The whole speech is below.

Before I begin, I would like to say a word about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program DACA that was just discussed.

The fights that we fight for they matter. In 2012 because of persistence of many of you in this room 800,000 young men and women were protected from deportation.

Because of DACA, DREAMers, who are as American as you and me, were promised a chance. The chance to work. The chance to live without the fear of being ripped away from the only home most of them have ever known. The chance to build a future.

Now, President Trump will make a decision on DACA. DREAMers future hangs in the balance. This Tuesday, August 15, people are mobilizing to protect DREAMers. Lets not sit back. Lets stand together to say: President Trump, let DREAMers stay. They are our friends, our family, our future. Give DREAMers the chance to build their dreams.

These fights matter. These fights matter, and thats why its good to be back at Netroots Nation!

Thank you Mary, thank you Eric, thank you Arshad, and thank you to the entire Netroots Nation team for bringing us together again. And what a treat it is to be here in Atlanta the hometown of a man who has taught us the importance of necessary trouble, my friend and hero John Lewis.

I look out here and see 3000 progressives, people of every race, gender, religion, and color, all committed to building a better future. I look out here and I see Donald Trumps worst nightmare.

Yes, Trumps worst nightmare, but also a big threat to everyone who kind of likes things the way they work now. A few weeks ago, I saw an op-ed in the New York Times from a so-called Democratic strategist titled, Back to the Center, Democrats.

It was all about how we have to stop caring about, quote, identity politics and stop waging, quote, class warfare. Apparently, the path forward is to go back to locking up non-violent drug offenders and ripping more holes in our economic safety net.

I even got a shoutout! Apparently, Im the face of the problem. So is Bernie. But lets be really clear here the real power, the real threat, is not me its you, all of you. Its your energy, your passion, and your commitment to our values that threaten the bland, business-as-usual establishment.

Weve been warned off before. Give up, keep your heads down, be realistic, act like a grown-up, keep doing the same old same old.

But heres whats interesting: instead of lots of lots of ferocious back-and-forth and piling on, this time, no one cared. Big yawn. Why? Because the Democratic Party isnt going back to the days of welfare reform and the crime bill. It is NOT going to happen.

Were not going back to the days of being lukewarm on choice.

Were not going back to the days when universal health care was something Democrats talked about on the campaign trail but were too chicken to fight for after they got elected.

And were not going back to the days when a Democrat who wanted to run for a seat in Washington first had to grovel on Wall Street.

Democrats are heading forward. We are looking ahead and we will not, we shall not, we must not allow anyone to turn back the clock.

A lot of you have been coming since the very first YearlyKos in 2006. That feels like a long, long time ago. Way back in 2006 and still when I first started coming in 2010, a big part of what we were trying to do was to crash the gate and get the Democratic Party to listen to us.

We wanted a party led by people who werent afraid to call themselves progressives.

We wanted a party that would defend progressive values.

We wanted a chance to fight for progressive solutions to our nations challenges.

We wanted a movement. And now, look around. We got the progressive movement, and we gather here every year to organize, to energize, and to sing karaoke.

And now?

We are not the gate crashers of todays Democratic Party.

We are not a wing of todays Democratic Party.

We are the heart and soul of todays Democratic Party.

But, boy, weve inherited a hell of a challenge, havent we?

Were gathering here in Atlanta in a moment of crisis for our country. And Im not just talking about Donald Trump and his Twitter account. More and more working families today are hanging on by their fingernails in a country with an economy and a government that works only for those at the very top.

This crisis didnt start when Donald Trump walked into the Oval Office. And it wont just magically disappear the day he walks out of it.

Me, Ive been shouting about this crisis from every rooftop I could find for years talking about how our middle class was squeezed to the breaking point, how chances to move up in this economy were disappearing, and warning that, if we werent careful, the very promise of this nation the commitment to expand opportunities would be lost.

Thats the fight that got me into politics. Thats the fight that brought me to my very first Netroots all those years ago.

How about you? By applause: Who got into the fight because they were passionate about economic justice? Who came to fight for reproductive rights? How about clean air and clean water? How about immigration? Civil rights? Human rights? Anti-war? Campaign finance reform? Net neutrality? Any other bankruptcy nerds in the house?

Thats one of the things I love about coming to Netroots. We all came to this fight from different experiences. We all get fired up about different issues.

But if were going to be the people who lead the Democratic Party back from the wilderness and lead our country out of this dark time, then we cant waste energy arguing about whose issue matters most or who in our alliance should be voted off the island.

We need to see each others fights as our own. And I believe we can.

In the wake of the last election, Ive heard people say we need to decide whether were the party of the white working class or the party of Black Lives Matter.

I say we can care about a dad whos worried that his kid will have to move away from their factory town to find good work and we can care about a mom whos worried that her kid will get shot during a traffic stop.

The way I see it, those two parents have something deep down in common the system is rigged against both of them and against their kids.

Over the last generation, the most powerful people in this country have gotten way more powerful. Corporate profits and CEO pay are near record highs. But workers wages havent budged, and, one after another, workers rights are getting wiped away. Unions are under attack. Millions of people are struggling to piece together two, three, or four jobs just to pay the rent.

The balance of power is shifting in other parts of our economy, too. In industry after industry airlines, banking, health care, agriculture, tech a handful of corporate giants control more and more and more. The big guys are locking out smaller, newer competitors. They are crushing innovation. Even if you dont see the gears turning, this massive consolidation means prices go up and quality goes down for everything from air travel to broadband service. Rural America is left behind, dismissed by corporate giants as fly-over country.

This concentration of power strikes at the heart of our democracy. Our government is supposed to be the one place where everybody gets the same fair shot, no matter how powerful or powerless they might be. But thanks to the revolving door between Capitol Hill, K Street and Wall Street, powerful people have more and more influence in Congress. Thanks to Citizens United, corporate money slithers through Washington like a snake. Washington works great for the rich and powerful, but for everyone else, not so much.

Yes, the system is rigged and if you dont feel like anyone in politics is doing anything to un-rig it, well, thats how a lot of folks who should have been with us last November wound up voting for Donald Trump.

For many Americans, it isnt news that the balance of power in our country has seriously tilted away from them. African Americans. LGBTQ Americans. Immigrants. Muslims. Women. Poor people.

No, I have not personally experienced the fear, the oppression, and the pain that many of my fellow Americans endure every day. But I do know this: For a lot of our fellow citizens, the system is rigged now and it has been rigged for a long, long time.

Dont take my word for it. Just look around.

When women arent invited to the debate over our own health care and health insurance must cover Viagra but not birth control. When were almost two decades into the 21st century and we still dont have equal pay for equal work. When a man running for President of the United States can get caught on tape bragging about sexual assault and Republican party leaders turn a blind eye.

Yeah, the system is rigged.

Keep going. When the black-white wealth gap triples over the past three decades. When racist voter ID laws and voter suppression tactics sprout like weeds all across the country. When a man too racist to become a judge in the 1980s now runs the Department of Justice When communities like Flint are living with poisoned water and polluted air. When theres still no justice for, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Philando Castile and so many more.

Yeah, the system is rigged.

Keep going. When you can still be fired from your job because of who you love. When you cant use a public restroom or serve in the military because of your gender identity. When youre afraid to report a rape because ICE could split up your family. When youre treated like a suspect every minute of your life.

Yeah, the system is rigged.

And if you dont feel like anyone in politics is doing anything to un-rig it, or its too broken to un-rig at all well, thats what a lot of folks felt last November, a lot of folks who should have been with us on election day but who stayed home.

So spare me the argument about whether we ought to be trying to bring back folks who voted for Donald Trump or trying to turn out folks who just didnt vote.

Because we cant do either of those things until we can show that things CAN change and that WE will fight to change them.

Its easy to make the case that Donald Trump and the Republicans arent the answer to any of these problems. Heck, they arent even trying. Look at the Republican priorities:

Cut health care coverage for 25 million Americans and drive up insurance costs for millions more.

Cut taxes for billionaires and giant corporations.

Roll back Wall Street regulations, gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and let the big banks wreck our economy again.

Turn polluters loose and let them spew, dump and destroy whenever and wherever they want.

Zero out the programs that help people keep a roof over their heads.

Double down against Planned Parenthood, against an undocumented immigrants right to due process, against a black Americans right to vote in an election.

And this week, play a stupid, reckless game of chicken with a dangerous foreign power and threaten nuclear war.

The Republican agenda will make the powerful more powerful and leave everyone else further behind. The Republican leadership is willing to threaten our health, our economy, and our basic safety.

All true, and we should say so clearly. But thats not the end of our job. We have to show people that, when we get a chance to lead, things WILL start getting better.

And that starts with showing some backbone. Not just backbone when we stand up to Donald Trump, but backbone when we put forward an agenda.

For so many Americans, every day is a battle against powerful interests. Its time for us to pick sides and get in the fight.

So lets talk about picking sides:

Its time for us to say: Democrats are on the side of working people, on the side of Moms and Dads who dream of a better life for their kids, on the side of people in every part of this country and people of every race, gender, and religion who just want a level playing field and a chance to build a future.

And we know how to show them that their fight is our fight.

Lets start with jobs.

Its time to re-think the basic social contract on labor. Were going to fight for fully portable benefits for everyone. And were going to fight to make sure that all work full-time, part-time, gig carries basic, pro-rata benefits.

Were going to fight to make it easier for workers to come together to form a union so they can take power into their own hands.

And were going to turn the minimum wage into a living wage. Fight for $15!

Its time for us to say: Democrats are on the side of hard working families who are getting pounded every day.

Were going to fight for universal pre-K, and to make it easier for every family to get child care.

Were going to fight like hell to stop Republicans from jacking up the cost of health insurance and taking coverage away from millions. Trumpcare will not get one Democratic vote not now, not ever. But its not enough just to defend the Affordable Care Act, were going to improve it, starting with bringing down the costs of prescription drugs and leading the fight for Medicare for all.

Were going to make it possible for young people to go to college or get a technical degree debt-free.

Were going to fight for affordable housing and good schools across our country, from the biggest cities to the smallest towns and most remote rural homesteads.

And we will fight our hearts out to defend and expand Social Security and Medicare.

Its time for us to say: Democrats are on the side of consumers.

So were going to fight to break up the monopolies that are killing competition.

Were going to put a cop on the beat so that no one can steal your purse on Main Street or your pension on Wall Street.

And whether youre shopping for broadband or a student loan, an airline ticket or health insurance, were going to go to bat for you to help make damn sure you dont get cheated.

Its time for us to say: Democrats are on the side of science.

Were done arguing about whether climate change is real and were going to fight it with everything we have.

Were done arguing about whether trickle-down economics works and were going to fight to build this economy so it works for working families.

Were done arguing about gun safety and were going to fight for the common-sense reforms the overwhelming majority of Americans want.

Read more from the original source:
Elizabeth Warren's advice for Democrats: Don't fall back to the center - Washington Post

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press on August 11, 2017, at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Jim Watson / AFP/Getty Images

A new ad released by the Trump campaign on Sunday zeroes in on members of the media and "obstructionist" Democrats for attacking President Trump and standing in the way of his agenda.

The ad features top democrats like Sens. Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren and Reps. Steny Hoyer and Maxine Waters as those who are keeping Mr. Trump from achieving major milestones, but suggests Mr. Trump's "plan" is still working.

Michael S. Glassner, Executive Director of Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. said of the new ad in a statement, "After only 200 days in office, President Trump has already achieved great success. He has fueled the creation of one million new jobs and growth in the economy, including new lows in unemployment claims and all-time record highs in the stock market, and he is rebuilding our military to be the strongest in decades."

The ad goes on to place blame on the news media, saying "the president's enemies don't want him to succeed, but Americans are saying let President Trump do his job."

American Urban Radio Networks White House correspondent April Ryan, who is featured as one of the so-called "enemies" in the ad, tweeted in response to the video. "Sad day I am singled out as an enemy of the White House as this racial hate is going on just for asking real questions and speaking truth," she tweeted Sunday.

Meanwhile, Glassner said the new campaign ad "speaks directly to the American people and sets the record straight, reminding them that President Donald Trump will not stop fighting for them and will not allow anyone to stand in his way to deliver success for them."

The new ad is just the latest in a string of videos boasting of Mr. Trump's successes, after the Trump campaign jumpstarted their new "real news" video segments on Facebook. The videos frequently show Mr. Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as well as new RNC spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany as hosts of the minute-long news-style clips, highlighting the past week's achievements in the White House.

According to the campaign, the new national ad buy will be shown across cable news as well as over the internet.

2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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New Trump campaign ad blames media, Democrats for attacking president - CBS News

This month, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced he was leaving the Democratic Party and becoming a Republican. This unexpected news was extremely discouraging for Democrats all over the country. Not only does the GOP have total control of Congress and the White House, they now have total control of 26 states where they have both houses of the legislature and the governorship. Democrats, on the other hand, have similar full control of only six states. In fact, this brings the number of Democratic governors in office to just 15, compared to 34 Republican governors.

If there is any good news for Democrats, it is that control of the legislatures in all 50 states and the governorships in 36 states is at stake in the 2018 election, which is only 15 months away. That silver lining should be tempered by the fact that our party obviously has not found a winning formula in recent years. What steps must we take to effectuate a reversal of fortune? I dont pretend to have all of the answers, but I think there are five things we can do to bring about this change.

Recruit good candidates for governor and state elections

When we recruit candidates, we should be mindful of getting a candidate whose characteristics will appeal to the electorate. An example of when we may have missed the mark was in the recent congressional special election in suburban Atlanta.Although Jon Ossoff was clearly well qualified to serve in Congress, his background, mannerisms and persona would seem to be better suited in New England or on the West Coast.

Ossoff lost by nearly 4 points in a district that President Trump carried by only 2 points. On the same night in a South Carolina special election, Archie Parnell lost by only 3 points in a district where Trump carried by 26 points. Parnell had the demeanor, background and persona of someone who fit in perfectly for that district.

Be the big tent party we as Democrats always say we are

We must get away from the idea that Democratic candidates everywhere in the country must fit a certain mold and must agree on all issues. That is a prescription for disaster. As much as I am an adamant proponent for sensible gun control, I realize that being for an assault weapons ban and a magazine capacity limit, positions that would resonate well in Massachusetts and Oregon, would make it difficult for a candidate to propose them and be successful in many red states.

I am an avid believer in a womans absolute right to choose, but we should by no means insist on the orthodoxy of that position. Our party has always found a place for pro-life Democrats, and we should continue to do so. In many states, it may not be impossible for a pro-choice candidate to win, but it is a sure lot easier for someone who happens to be pro-life.

In 2006, when I was governor of Pennsylvania, supporters of Bob CaseyRobert (Bob) Patrick CaseyThe real litmus test is whether pro-life democrats vote for pro-life legislation Theres a way to protect consumers and keep goodcallcenterjobs in the U.S. Anti-abortion Democrats fading from the scene MORE told me he would be willing to challenge Rick Santorum for the U.S. Senate, but only if I could help clear the field for him the primary. I agreed he was our only chance to beat Santorum and persuaded two pro-choice Democrats to withdraw. When I did so, I got contacted by thousands of pro-choice Democrats from all over the country, ripping me for clearing the field of pro-choice candidates and leaving only Casey, who was pro-life.

I wrote them back and said, Look, Bob Casey is a wonderful Democrat who believes in economic fairness and opportunity, which has long been the driving force behind our party, and most importantly, he and only he could beat Senator Santorum, which would enable him to cast the vitally important vote for Harry ReidHarry ReidTrump has yet to travel west as president OPINION | Senate must end the tyranny of the minority and abolish the filibuster Scrap the Senates 30-hour per nominee debate rule to clear backlog of Trump nominees MORE for Senate majority leader in 2007. Let the record show that Casey has been a brilliant and productive U.S. senator who is one of the leading proponents of our core message.

Remember what Clinton said: Its the economy, stupid

Speaking of our traditional core message, thats the terrain on which we want to fight out every legislative and gubernatorial race in 2018. Interestingly, on every economic issue that is important to Trump Democrats and Trump Independents, we happen to be on the right side. Unlike the GOP, we want to ensure healthcare coverage for all Americans and restrict tax cuts to middle class working families, instead of proposing something that would give the majority of cuts to the wealthiest 2 percent of the nation.

Democrats want to invest federal funds in a robust infrastructure program that can help our economic competitiveness and create literally millions of well-paying, blue collar jobs. We want to raise the minimum wage, which would have a catalytic effect of giving wage increases to working people up and down the economic scale.

Take strong positions but explain how to get them into law

You only have to look at the Republican debacle in failing to get their ideas into law to realize that voters are up to their eyeballs in frustration over the fact that nothing seems to be getting done. Our candidates should always hold strong positions on what they believe, but they should get across to the voters that they understand that working across the aisle is likely to be necessary to get things and express a willingness to do just that. Dont give the voters a pie in the sky. Give them ideas that have a realistic chance of becoming law.

Continue to push for changes in how redistricting is done

Finally, whether they be citizens commissions or other changes, the best way to prevent the unfair redistricting that has allowed Republicans to have death grips on legislatures is for us to win the 2018 elections at every level.

Edward G. Rendell served as the 45th governor of Pennsylvania. He is a former chairman of the National Governors Association and was general chairman of the Democratic National Committee during the 2000 presidential election.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

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OPINION | 5 ways Democrats can win back power in the states - The Hill (blog)