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Neil Gorsuch will step under a grueling national spotlight Monday as his Supreme Court confirmation hearing begins. And so will the Democrats who must vote on whether to confirm him.

Liberal groups have pushed for Minority Leader Chuck Schumers caucus to take a harder line against Gorsuch, publicly airing their disappointment with Democrats for letting the affable Gorsuch largely breeze through the run-up to his hearing. That tension could ease if the Colorado-born appellate judge stumbles or flop-sweats this week in the hothouse of the Senate Judiciary Committee. But no matter how Gorsuch performs, activists are vowing that Democrats who dont oppose the judge will face consequences.

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"This is Schumer's first actual test of leadership, one former veteran Senate Democratic aide said in an interview. He has to understand that as leader he'll be held accountable for every big fight, not just the ones that are easy to win."

NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue, whose abortion-rights group has rallied with Elizabeth Warren and other liberal senators against the high court nominee, said the Democratic base wants to see senators holding Gorsuchs feet to the fire.

Voters frustration with those who go easy on Gorsuch, Hogue added, promises to affect everything from the support incumbents will feel for reelection bids to the volume of communication that theyll see from their constituents."

But for now, some of the biggest players in the left's anti-Trump movement appear less than fully engaged themselves in fighting Gorsuch even as conservative groups lavish millions to promote him on the airwaves. The Democratic super PAC Priorities USA told CNN this week that it's not planning TV ads on Gorsuch because its internal polling showed that saving Obamacare was a more galvanizing issue.

Organizing for Action, which also has devoted major resources to protecting Obama's health care law, has shown similar restraint when it comes to the Supreme Court vacancy. The group emailed its list after Gorsuch's nomination on Jan. 31, but has done little since. As it weighs a Gorsuch strategy going forward, one source said, the group plans to keep a close eye on the hearings and the confirmation process.

Even Indivisible, the anti-Trump group founded by former Democratic congressional aides that's notched big successes hassling Republicans at town hall meetings, said in a Friday note to supporters that it's "throwing all our focus to the Houses Obamacare repeal vote.

Still, Indivisible executive director Ezra Levin said the Supreme Court nomination is also in the group's top tier of issues this week. "We believe Gorsuch is an extreme pick on just about any issue you want to look at," he said.

Activists ability to twist arms against Gorsuch depends to some degree on how successful Democratic senators are this week at finding pressure points in his record. The liberal Center for American Progress last week seized on Gorsuchs 14 months in President George W. Bushs Department of Justice, when he played a key role in defending the White Houses harsh treatment of terrorism suspects.

The Senate must demand answers from Gorsuch about that period of his record, CAP vice president Michele Jawando said in a statement, before even considering whether to confirm him.

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Adam Bozzi, a spokesman for the pro-campaign finance reform End Citizens United political action committee, predicted that the hearing also would help focus outside-the-Beltway attention on Gorsuch.

"I wouldn't expect him to flail like [Education Secretary] Betsy DeVos did she made the case on her own that she was not qualified for the job, Bozzi said in an interview. But his answers themselves will show that hes too extreme for this. He's going to have to stand on his record, which isnt good."

Gorsuchs hearings, however, will begin on the same day that FBI Director James Comey testifies publicly before the House Intelligence Committee; theyll also compete for attention with a week of House Republicans whipping support for their plan to repeal former President Barack Obamas signature health care law, with a vote expected Thursday.

Democrats are enjoying a significant degree of party unity on health care and the investigation into Trump's ties to Russia, as well as on the White House's budget and travel ban order. With moderates and liberals in their caucus unified on those issues, Democrats have less incentive to focus on a more internally contentious fight against Gorsuch especially when they're still concerned that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) could trigger the so-called nuclear option and kill the right to filibuster Supreme Court nominees if they block the judge.

Another longtime ex-Senate Democratic aide warned that filibustering Gorsuch is "not a slam dunk" for the party.

"Activists really care about this," the aide said about the Supreme Court. "The everyday voters who should care about this dont."

Even some of Gorsuch's biggest opponents on the left acknowledge that the Hill's frantic pace this year threatens to steal attention from the Supreme Court confirmation fight. Hogue accused the Trump administration of cultivating a "strategy to try to distract from the hearing." Still, Democratic senators are aware that the grassroots will be watching the Gorsuch confirmation vote for a long time to come.

"It might take until Gorsuch is ruling on the Muslim ban later this year for Democratic senators who backed him to face harsh scrutiny, the first veteran Democratic aide said. But its not a question that people involved in the Trump resistance are going to get to the point where they say, 'what the hell happened with Gorsuch?'."

Schumer, a former Judiciary Committee member, underscored his own "strong presumption against" Gorsuch last week but he notably declined to commit to a filibuster. Perhaps for that reason, Republicans perceive Democratic reluctance to taking on Gorsuch and project confidence in his eventual confirmation.

"No one makes me nervous" on the Democratic side of the aisle, said Leonard Leo, a senior official at the conservative Federalist Society, who is advising Trump on the Supreme Court. "Because we're prepared."

See the original post here:
Democrats under fire as Gorsuch hearings begin - Politico

The 2016 presidential election was a huge catalyst for these women to enter (or re-enter) politics. They're now in a Maryland program that coaches Democratic women to run for local office: (From left to right) Lenora Dawson, 51; Christiana Rigby, 32, and her baby, Arlo; Marisol Johnson, 41; Lesley Lopez, 33; Ciara Robinson, 29 Marc Rivers/NPR hide caption

The 2016 presidential election was a huge catalyst for these women to enter (or re-enter) politics. They're now in a Maryland program that coaches Democratic women to run for local office: (From left to right) Lenora Dawson, 51; Christiana Rigby, 32, and her baby, Arlo; Marisol Johnson, 41; Lesley Lopez, 33; Ciara Robinson, 29

This past November was a wake-up call for the Democratic Party. Many Democratic women, in particular, are feeling a strong need to answer that call.

Less than a quarter of elected positions are filled by women in the U.S. There are many reasons for that, but Democratic activist Diane Fink says women are often discouraged somewhere along the way. She runs Emerge Maryland, a group that helps Democratic women run for office.

Diane Fink, the executive director of Emerge Maryland. Marc Rivers/NPR hide caption

Diane Fink, the executive director of Emerge Maryland.

"What we've learned is that the women, their ambition is crushed by somebody in their life. Oftentimes they'll say, 'I mentioned this to my family and they just laughed,' or, 'I went to a community leader or party leader and they told me, 'Well, no, that probably isn't for you.' "

Democrats are now figuring out how to rebuild their party and capitalize on the energy in progressive circles, shown in demonstrations like the Women's March, where millions of women took to the streets the day after the inauguration.

In Maryland, Fink says, her group's aim is to have at least half of Maryland's political power belong to females. "And to build the pipeline," she adds. "We have no female delegates to Congress."

We sat down with some of these women in the training program to talk about how they got here, and what sparked their political ambitions.

Ciara Robinson, 29, running for Town Council in Capitol Heights, Md.

Ciara Robinson, 29. Marc Rivers/NPR hide caption

Ciara Robinson, 29.

Robinson grew up under extremely difficult circumstances. She was raised by her single mom, while her father was in and out of prison.

"My sister had a daughter when she was 15, so a lot of the things in my family influence my interest in politics."

She was the only one of her siblings to graduate high school and the first and only in her entire family to go to college. She has three degrees, including a master's in public policy.

"I knew from my master's degree that I was interested and ready" to get into politics, she says.

But it was the 2016 election that drove her to apply for the program.

"When [Hillary Clinton] lost, it made me want to help other women get into office but kind of set the bar for me. I was originally thinking I'd run for local government, but now I'm doing research about running for higher offices."

Christiana Rigby, 32, running for Howard County Council, District 3.

Christiana Rigby, 32. Marc Rivers/NPR hide caption

Christiana Rigby, 32.

"I get asked a lot, 'Why now?' mostly because I just had a baby," Rigby says, holding her 3-month-old son, Arlo, on her lap.

"For me it really was, 'If not now, then when?' Because otherwise you just keep going to those County Council meetings and you get your three minutes to testify and then the vote happens without you anyway."

When women get elected, Rigby says, it's a win for all women. "It's having those representatives, having those faces and those experiences.

"I remember hearing a speaker say that a man will run and lose, and run again and lose, and run again and win. And that women often don't run again. And that really made me feel like, well, if that happens I should think about running again. I shouldn't count myself out."

Lenora Dawson, 51 Marc Rivers/NPR hide caption

Lenora Dawson, 51

Lenora Dawson, 51, running for clerk of court in Baltimore, Md.

Dawson agrees.

"I know I would certainly run again because, for me, it's about being of service and not running for office. So that can have many different faces for many different aspects. And I think that we have to be relentless and continue to push forward."

Lesley Lopez, 33, running to represent District 39 in the Maryland General Assembly

Lopez became interested in politics while working with immigrant families.

In 2008, she worked as a press secretary for Rep. Henry Cuellar of Laredo, Texas, then became head of communications of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and later, worked for the National Immigration Forum.

Lesley Lopez, 33. Marc Rivers/NPR hide caption

Lesley Lopez, 33.

"I had a great eye-opening experience and it gave me an opportunity to feel like I impacted families like my own."

She says she figured she'd run for office at one point, but took time away from Washington to focus on family.

"But then this past election cycle happened and my heart took a drop kick," she says. "I realized that no matter how qualified you were, there are double standards for women. But at the end of the day, if you don't have women in positions of power, women's perspectives just aren't being heard.

"If you look at what's happening in Maryland, they're still talking about parental rights for rapists. And this state is supposed to be progressive. So the realization of putting all these pieces together ... we need to be represented more."

Marisol Johnson, 37, running for Baltimore County Council, District 2.

"My identity is one of a cultural melting pot," Johnson says, "but ultimately, I am a proud Latina woman. I say all of that, because I have the gift and blessing to be able to work in communities of different faiths, sexual orientations and races. In today's landscape a good public servant must be able to navigate the ever-changing world. My background gives me that ability."

When the mother of four children joined the school board, she saw a new side of politics, she says. "I realize politics doesn't belong in the school system but it's there. And I'm aware now of disparities."

The catalyst that launched her political engagement was the November election. When ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, carried out two raids in her neighborhood, she felt she had a responsibility to take action.

"I realized that women who are not documented are putting themselves beyond the limb to empower and teach other immigrants. So if I'm a documented successful businesswoman, I have to help now."

Marisol Johnson, 37 Marc Rivers/NPR hide caption

Marisol Johnson, 37

But, Johnson argues, not all elected female politicians are necessarily serving all women. "If you're on the wrong side of the aisle, voting for things against funding Planned Parenthood and those sort of things, it is not a win for women," she says.

"Having something for our little girls to look up to is challenging and it is heartbreaking sometimes, but it is a job that we have to continue to fight through and fight for our future little girls' leaders."

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Maryland Democrats Aim To 'Build The Pipeline' For Women In Office - NPR

Democrats long complained about the way Republicans treated President Barack Obama. When Republicans refused to cooperate on legislation, when they threatened to shut down the government, when they stonewalled his Supreme Court nominee, Democrats lambasted them -- and justifiably so -- for dereliction of duty. Yet now that Donald Trump is in the White House, Democrats are threatening to adopt the very same tactics, concluding that they need to fight like Republicans. In other words, its their turn to act irresponsibly.

Of course, what goes around comes around, and the hunger for payback among Democrats is understandable. But the rule we all teach our children applies to Congress as well: Two wrongs dont make a right.

The Democrats drift toward obstructionism is rooted in a fallacy: that the 2016 election was a validation of the Republicans obstructionist strategy in Congress. Standing in the way of the other partys progress, the theory goes, is the best way to win back power. But Republicans won in 2016 in spite of Congress (which was deeply unpopular), not because of it. In addition, they were helped by a weak candidate at the top of the Democratic ticket and a Republican candidate who made inroads in Democratic areas partly because he ran against Washingtons dysfunction.

Nevertheless, liberal activists and interest groups are out for blood. They are now threatening to mount a primary challenge against any Democratic senator who shows an interest in bipartisanship. Thats the same strategy the Tea Party used to pressure Republicans into blocking cooperation with Obama.

Proponents of the obstructionist strategy argue that the ends justify the means that any tactic to thwart the other side is acceptable. They couldn't be more wrong. No party has a monopoly on wisdom. Absolutism and extreme partisanship crowd out both compromise and fresh ideas. They also threaten the stability of our most vital democratic institutions: the judiciary, Congress and the presidency. Lets consider each.

Republicans were wrong to stonewall Obamas nominee to the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland. (Of course, Democrats had promised to use the tactic years earlier had a vacancy occurred under Republican presidents.) But the fact remains that the country needs a full complement of justices -- not only to break ties on major issues, but also to prevent a breakdown of constitutional order.

By all objective accounts, including from the American Bar Association, Gorsuch is a highly qualified nominee. He is not, of course, the person Democrats would have selected. But Democrats had a chance to determine the courts make-up by electing their presidential nominee, and they failed. As President Obama once said, Elections have consequences. One of them is that the president gets to nominate and appoint justices to the Supreme Court.

If Democrats use the filibuster to block a vote on Gorsuch, the long tradition of approving high court nominations based on credentials rather than politics -- now on life support -- will die, and the courts credibility will suffer for it. Moreover, while a filibuster may be cathartic, it wont be effective. Republicans can simply eliminate it, as Democrats did for federal judges under Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Rather than overplay their hand, Democratic senators should use the confirmation hearing to ask questions that reveal how Gorsuch thinks about legal questions, rather than what he thinks about particular issues. Attempting to pin him down on how he would rule in a certain case is a futile exercise.

Instead, they should probe his intellect, judgment, record, and approach to stare decisis. (This was the approach that guided me in appointing judges to New York Citys courts -- never once did I ask, or learn, a candidates party affiliation or political leaning.) Democrats dont need to vote for Gorsuch to vote against a filibuster, and they dont need to agree with his judicial philosophy to vote for his confirmation.

The willingness of Democrats to adopt recent Republican tactics does not seem to be stopping with the judiciary. It's deeply troubling, for instance, that Senate Democrats are raising the possibility of a government shutdown if funding for a border wall is included in the budget.

When Senator Ted Cruz led the efforts to shut down the government rather than adopt budget resolutions funding the Affordable Care Act and Planned Parenthood, Democrats were outraged and many Republicans opposed him.

Yet now, it is Democratic leaders, not just the most extreme members of the party, who are adopting Cruzs tactics. They think -- wrongly, in my view -- that they will not be blamed by the public for a shutdown. But politics aside, shutting down the government would harm the American public and normalize a tactic that both parties should reject. Thats why I will support those who reject this tactic and show genuine interest in bipartisanship.

It is true that Republican obstructionism served, albeit imperfectly, the partys interest in smaller government. Democratic obstructionism would have the opposite effect. Thwarting progress on issues where there is potential for cooperation would undercut the partys commitment to using government to address problems. When it comes to the partys priorities, from supporting working families to investing in infrastructure, winning small victories is better than winning nothing at all.

And then there's the executive branch. It is dispiriting that Democrats seem to have a newfound willingness to diminish public respect for the office of the president. Democrats rightly decried birthers for attempting to delegitimize President Obama. This was a fringe movement, but Republican leaders allowed it to persist for far too long. Now Democrats are in danger of making the same mistake. They were outraged -- rightly -- when Trump equivocated in the closing days of the campaign as to whether he would accept the voters verdict. But immediately after it was rendered, Not My President became a rallying cry on the left, and party leaders have said little to rein it in.

One can strongly support an independent and comprehensive investigation into Russian interference in the election -- as I do -- and still recognize that democracy only works if the losers accept election results. When they refuse to do so, when they seek to delegitimize a victor through defamation or denial, the risk of civil unrest increases. We are on a dangerous trend line.

Democrats who have criticized President Trump for failing to respect the offices behavioral norms -- including by making wildly unsubstantiated claims and attacking federal judges -- ought to recognize that the stakes are far larger than this president, this Congress and this court. They also ought to recognize that engaging in flagrant hypocrisy will only fuel the post-truth society that right-wing media outlets have cultivated. When neither party respects the basic tenets of honesty, people believe whichever side they agree with whatever the facts -- or alternative facts -- may be.

Its true that Republicans have little standing to complain about hypocrisy, given their record. But for their own good, and the good of the party, Democrats should muster the courage of their convictions and refuse to join a race to the bottom. Doing so would allow for bipartisan cooperation on a broad range of critical issues, from a bold infrastructure bill to improvements to our broken immigration system. Most important, it would protect the constitution -- and with it, our freedoms -- against the ravages of extreme partisanship.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Shipley at davidshipley@bloomberg.net

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Democrats: Don't Use Republican Playbook on Gorsuch - Bloomberg

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker (right) snaps a selfie with Montana Sen. Jon Tester and a supporter March 18, 2017, in Helena for the Montana party's annual dinner. | AP Photo

The party's center of gravity may be moving away from the East.

By Gabriel Debenedetti

03/19/17 07:41 AM EDT

HELENA, Mont. After eight years of watching Democrats hemorrhage state and local offices, a collection of ambitious Western pols is attempting to muscle into Democratic Party politics and move its center of gravity away from the East Coast.

They've seen two decades of presidential nominees who hail from east of the Mississippi River. Now they are intent on taking the lead against the Trump administration policy agenda and setting the terms for the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

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"This is where the action is, where the action can be, and where the action has to be," said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, one of the White Houses most prominent critics and a leading defender of a health care system under which eight Western states have expanded Medicaid. "Nationally [and] in D.C., the partys been flummoxed by the combined effects of gerrymandering and the massive accident of democracy named President Donald Trump."

Inslee, whose stature is rising within the national party as his state repeatedly challenges Trumps travel bans in court, joins a handful of other West Coast and Mountain West Democrats who are suddenly drawing mention as presidential prospects in 2020. Among them: Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, California Sen. Kamala Harris, and Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley.

Their rise appears to herald a shift in a party that has regularly promoted Westerners to positions of power within Congress, but not once nominated one for the presidency from west of the Rockies.

One reason is that the West Coast is one of the few remaining pockets of Democratic strength outside the Northeast. Nearly a third of Democratic governors are now from Western states, and California and Oregon are two of just six states nationwide where Democrats have unified control of the governorship and both branches of the state legislature.

"The center of the Democratic Party the heart and soul has moved to the West, theres no question about it. In the arena of younger political leaders, in the arena of fundraising, and in the arena of political organizing," said former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, one of just five Western Democrats to run for president since 1980. The Democratic base of younger, minority, entrepreneurial, civil rights-oriented electorate has dramatically shifted West."

That includes Hispanic voters, who helped power three consecutive Democratic presidential victories in Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico. Hillary Clinton also romped to victory on the West Coast, holding Trump to less than 40 percent of the vote in Oregon and Washington state, and outpacing him by more than four million votes in California.

"Its just a numbers game. Look at the map of the 2016 election," added Ben Tulchin, the Bernie Sanders campaigns San Francisco-based pollster. Thats where our numbers are going to come from.

The evolution of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Denver into major fundraising hubs has also altered the traditional balance of power. Now, Western pols boast close relationships with many of Democrats most influential funders.

New Jersey Sen. Cory Bookers appearance at a Montana Democratic Party dinner here on Saturday night three years before he might seek the presidency himself is a signal that potential 2020 contenders are recognizing the subtle shift away from more traditional party power centers on the East Coast.

"The garden of our democracy needs constant tending," said Booker, speaking to 1,200 Democrats gathered at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds here.

In thanking his host Sen. Jon Tester a farmer the New Jersey senator nodded to Montanas rural heritage. "The farm that our nation is, to get the fruits and the harvests, you cant wake up one moment and suddenly have a burst of activism. You have to be tending to our democracy constantly. There is always work to do."

While Montana is widely thought of as a red state, it has a penchant for electing statewide Democratic leaders like Gov. Bullock handing him a singular national perch as he works with a Republican-dominated state legislature on policies like expanding Medicaid, as he did in 2015.

As the national party looks at what its for and what it can do, even if you can figure out the math and figure out a presidential race, if youve lost the rest of the country, thats not a prescription for governing, Bullock said of the partys renewed interest in the West and also in his rural-state success.

From Seattle to Los Angeles, the fierceness of the West Coast resistance to Trump has also put Democrats like Inslee in spotlight. Washington state, alongside Hawaii, has led the charge in the legal challenges to the White Houses ban on travel by individuals from certain Muslim-majority countries, and the governor has capitalized on the moment as he assumes a prominent role atop the Democratic Governors Association.

"Weve always been the Left Coast [when it comes to] ideas. The West Coast has stayed true to basic Democratic values when it comes to working for the middle class," said Washington Democratic Party Chair Tina Podlodowski. "Look at Washington state moving towards the $15 minimum wage. Look at social issues, from gay marriage to the legalization of marijuana, [and] around things like sanctuary cities."

Gary Hart, the former Colorado senator and two-time presidential candidate, has long called for the party to look westward. In early 2008, he sent then-Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean a memo urging greater investment in the West, a copy of which Hart shared with POLITICO.

Gary Hart: "The West provides the Democratic Partys greatest opportunity and represents its greatest future." | AP Photo

"The national Democratic Party should look Westward. The South will return to the Democratic Party only when economic downturn requires it. Meanwhile, the West provides the Democratic Partys greatest opportunity and represents its greatest future. National Party leaders must develop a plan to win the West in the early twenty-first century or risk settling into minority status for many years to come," reads the two-page memo, which encouraged new focus on issues including conservation, energy, technology, and public lands.

Dean put that years convention in Denver, but few of Harts recommendations like talking forcefully about public lands seeped into the partys top-line strategy. But Trumps policies on immigration and international trade as well as proposed budget cuts that could adversely affect states with large rural populations could have an outsized effect in the West, creating opportunities that didnt exist before.

"Ive been preaching it within Democratic Party circles for 30 or more years," Hart said. "Having lost the South what was before the 60s considered the solid Democratic South Democrats have been preoccupied with getting the South back. And therefore you had Clinton and Gore, and a focus on how do we get Southern voters back, to a degree, at the expense of looking at the West."

Hickenlooper, the Colorado governor, pointed to the sheer number of Westerners who are the subject of 2020 speculation as proof the party is beginning to break its Eastern habits.

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"There is a national frustration with Washington and the dysfunctionality that that kind of old-school partisanship has created, and in a way when you look at Montana or Colorado, were about as far away from that kind of dysfunctionality as youre going to see," he said. "Its a good sign as the party looks in more directions for ideas."

"It takes a little gusto and verve to take this on," added Inslee, who abandoned a bike ride to grab the ferry to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport when news of Trumps initial travel ban broke back in January. "We have rocket fuel in our engines now."

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Western Democrats spearhead Trump resistance - Politico

Bobby Caina Calvan, Associated Press

Photo: Bobby Caina Calvan, AP

Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, right, snaps a selfie with fellow Montana Sen. Jon Tester and a supporter on Saturday, March 18, 2017, in Helena, Montana, for the state party's annual dinner.

Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, right, snaps a selfie with fellow Montana Sen. Jon Tester and a supporter on Saturday, March 18, 2017, in Helena, Montana, for the state party's annual dinner.

Montana Democrats rally behind Quist, rail against GOP

HELENA, Mont. (AP) Montana Democrats brought in one of their national party's rising stars to headline their annual dinner, but the hundreds who gathered Saturday wanted to hear more from one of their own: musician Rob Quist, who must convince fellow Democrats that he can win the state's only congressional seat and help national Democrats push back against the Republican tide.

He will have to prevail in the May 25 special election against Republican Greg Gianforte, a Bozeman entrepreneur and former gubernatorial candidate with deep pockets and a determination to win public office.

"This House seat should not be his consolation prize," Quist said of his Republican opponent, in a speech meant to energize the 1,200 Democrats from across the expansive state meeting for the Mansfield Metcalf Celebration at the Lewis and Clark County fairgrounds.

To win votes, Quist has been traveling the state just as he did while touring with his musical group, the Mission Mountain Wood Band.

"We know that Montanans talking to Montanans is what will determine this election," Quist said in his address.

In his address, he railed against the Republican plan that would dismantle key elements of the Affordable Care Act.

"The right to a healthy and productive life should not bankrupt families," he said. "I understand personally what it's like to worry about mounting health care bills."

A Gianforte spokesman called Quist out of touch with the values of Montanans.

"Montanans want a strong voice in Congress who will stand up for the Second Amendment, enforce our immigration laws, and provide the military with the resources they need to defeat ISIS," said the spokesman, Shane Scanlon. "That's why Greg Gianforte's message is resonating with Montanans, because they know he will always be on Montana's side."

Quist, running for his first political office, beat two experienced legislators and several others to win the right to represent his party in an election to fill the seat vacated by now-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

While Quist is trying to energize his base, the night's keynote speaker, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, is helping the party capitalize on the growing distress among Democrats over Republican control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.

"We are the party of we, not the party of me ... the party of inclusion," said Booker, adding that the party should not be overly fixated on President Donald Trump, but should instead focused on the party's core values.

"It's not about Republicans," he said. "It's about us."

Booker is a first-term Democrat and is already being spoken about by some as a future presidential contender.

Montana's May balloting and another special congressional election in Kansas next month are among the first tests for national Democrats. Outside campaign analysts consider the contests safely Republican, and Quist has scant time to dispel that thinking.

Sen. Jon Tester dismissed the notion that the Montana race would be a referendum on national Democrats.

In his speech, Tester urged the crowd to rally behind Quist. He then reminded supporters that he has his own re-election next year.

It remains to be seen how much national organizations, including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, will invest in Montana's congressional race. Quist acknowledged that the calculation will depend on whether he can convince party leaders that he can mount a serious campaign.

Rank-and-file Democrats wonder, too.

"There's only a small amount of time, and I don't know if he can do it and how much he has," said Macrae Peeples from Missoula.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, an outside group seeking to keep Republican control of the U.S. House, has already begun bombarding the television airwaves to help Gianforte tamp down Quist's chances of turning the race into a competitive one.

"I will meet him anytime and anyplace, and we'll see who's out of tune with Montana Politics," Quist said in an interview.

Quist said he's raised at least $350,000 and that contributions continue to pour in. ___

Follow Bobby Caina Calvan at https://twitter.com/bobbycalvan

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Montana Democrats rally behind Quist, rail against GOP - SFGate