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Democrats need more voters. How about registration at birth? Charlotte Observer Across the country, Democrats and their allies are plotting a quiet and disjointed but considerable push to make voting easier by dismantling registration barriers and promoting candidates who want to expand voting rights. It's all an effort to reshape ... and more »

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Democrats need more voters. How about registration at birth? - Charlotte Observer

The road to a Democratic Senate majority in 2018 runs through Texas yes, Texas.

Facing a grim midterm map, Democrats are desperately trying to put enough GOP-held seats in play to take advantage of Donald Trumps unpopularity and carve a credible path back to Senate control. The odds are so long that Democrats must pin their hopes on taking out Ted Cruz in the reliably conservative bastion of Texas.

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Their first ray of hope is the entry of three-term Rep. Beto ORourke a 44-year-old former hard rock musician and internet entrepreneur who speaks fluent Spanish into the race on Friday. Though Cruz is universally known, Democrats insist hes not invincible, pointing to the first-term Republicans poor polling numbers and prolonged focus on running for president.

And they say O'Rourke is formidable enough that they can make a case to donors that they actually have a shot at winning the state and the Senate overall.

People want to win and they want to play offense. And Texas represents that, ORourke said in an interview earlier this month. Texas is how you win back the Senate.

For the first time in several election cycles, control of the Senate is not up for grabs barring a massive anti-Republican wave. Already facing a four-seat deficit, Democrats have to defend 25 seats, including five in conservative states that voted overwhelmingly for Trump last year and five more that he carried by a narrower margin.

The GOP, by contrast, has to protect just nine seats. After Arizona and Nevada, Texas is probably the most enticing opportunity, given the demographic challenges the party faces in states like Tennessee, Nebraska and Mississippi.

Republicans say that once again, Democrats are getting ahead of themselves. After major wins in conservative states in 2012, the party has lost races that they tried to contest in Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, North Carolina and South Dakota.

Republicans acknowledge that eventually Democrats will be competitive in Texas if the GOP doesnt do a better job of courting minority voters. But they say a $100 million race against Cruz the amount Democrats estimate they'll need to spend won't cut it.

I know Beto. And hes a good guy. But I think this is a suicide mission, said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, another Texan and a two-time chairman of the partys Senate campaign arm. We havent elected a Democrat statewide since 1994.

If Democrats can legitimately put Texas in play still an if it would be an important moment for the party going into the next election. Raising money for 2018 would be a lot easier if they can inspire donors with a message of potentially taking the Senate, as opposed to just stanching the bleeding.

Still, senior Democrats are quick to tamp down expectations about their chances in the Lone Star State. Last year, Democrats had a favorable map and were bubbling with confidence about their prospects of winning the Senate only to experience a disaster on Election Day.

Their focus is on reelecting endangered incumbents and keeping the GOP from a filibuster-proof majority in 2019, which would allow Republicans to run roughshod over Democrats.

Were realistic. Our approach is, No. 1, to shore up the blue line we have in the Senate right now, said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Wild things can happen in 2018. We can be very competitive in Texas.

ORourke will be going up against a singular figure in Cruz. The 46-year-old senator quickly made his mark in the GOP as a take-no-prisoners conservative: He led the party into a government shutdown, branded Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a liar and infamously declined to endorse Trump at the Republican National Convention, before eventually coming around. Since the election, Cruz has been a more cooperative presence in the Senate.

Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) is mulling a primary challenge against Cruz from the center. That could damage Cruz and force him to expend resources with ORourke waiting further down the line.

Privately, Republicans believe McCaul will back off since Trump won the election and McCaul cant blame Cruzs feud with Trump for costing the GOP the presidential race. McCaul refused to answer questions about whether he will challenge Cruz.

I just dont want to talk about any of this, McCaul said.

But ORourke does.

Hes been very busy running for president since he was elected to the Senate. Which is fine for him. It hasnt been especially good for Texas, ORourke said.

Cruz declined an interview for this story. In a statement, he said: "I welcome [O'Rourke] to the race, and will continue to work every day to earn and keep the trust of Texans across our great state. I'm confident that Texans want a senator who will lead the fight for freedom."

The affable ORourke cuts a unique profile in the House. He recently spent two days in a car with Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) driving from Texas to D.C. after a snowstorm. The two livestreamed the entire ride and took questions from constituents along the way.

People want to win and they want to play offense. And Texas represents that, Rep. Beto ORourke said in an interview earlier this month. | AP Photo

O'Rourke says he wont accept PAC money in the race against Cruz, which could put him at a severe disadvantage given national Democrats focus on defending the 10 incumbents from states that Trump won.

ORourke acknowledged the disadvantages he faces going in, from fundraising to low name recognition to the state's conservative tilt. But he pointed to his last major race, when he upset longtime Democratic Rep. Silvestre Reyes in a 2012 primary.

I was running against 100-to-1 odds, ORourke said. You dont know until you do it.

ORourke and Cruz have some similarities: They both believe in term limits and have annoyed their party leaders, though ORourke has done so in far less strident ways than Cruz. Most notably, ORourke has sought distance from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosis messaging campaigns on Obamacare, concluding bluntly: That shit doesnt work.

ORourke could conceivably have a primary challenge himself in Rep. Joaquin Castro. But Texas Democrats and state strategists believe that Castro will likely pass now that ORourke is in. Unlike ORourke, who has said he will serve only until 2020 in the House, Castro hasn't promised an end-date there.

Castro, who speaks with ORourke frequently, insists he's still weighing his option and plans to decide by the end of April.

We both agreed that we would come to our own decisions about the race and go from there, Castro said in an interview Wednesday.

The fact that young, promising candidates are mulling runs in Texas offers Democrats hope that their partys fortunes are changing in the nation's second most populous state.

Texas is going to be competitive. The question is whether 2018 is that moment, said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). It might be the combination of Cruzs profile and the changing demographics.

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But Republicans remember the likes of Wendy Davis, whose much-hyped 2014 gubernatorial run ended in a 20-point blowout. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Cory Gardner said Democrats' are in for a similar ending in 2018.

And we [Republicans] plan on a very competitive election in California, Gardner said sarcastically.

Read more here:
Democrats aim to take out Cruz in 2018 - Politico

Gold Star father Khizr Khan is raising money for Democrats.

Khan, father of a Muslim U.S. soldier killed in 2004 in Iraq, appears in a fundraising email from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

"I love this country. My son died for this country," he begins. "But today, President Trump is tearing down everything that makes America great. It's the fight of my life to stop him: And I know taking back the House is the best way to do it."

Khan rose to fame during the 2016 presidential campaign after his rousing speech at the Democratic National Convention, when he asked candidate Donald Trump if he had ever read the Constitution. He later became a leading voice against Trump's two travel bans aimed at some Muslim-majority countries.

Khan says he would walk "barefoot to every district in the country if it means Democrats win" a line he has used before but that he can't do it alone. Then comes the pitch for donations that Khan says he is "counting on."

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Gold Star father Khizr Khan fundraising for the Democrats - Washington Examiner

After wooingconservative Republicans on health care blew up in his face, President Trump is considering doing a total 180 and reaching out to congressional Democrats to get the rest of his agenda done.

"I think it's time for our folks to come together, and I also think it's time to potentially get a few moderate Democrats on board as well," Trump's chief of staff, Reince Priebus, told Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday."

Except, that's easier said than done. To have Democrats' ear, Trump will need to change pretty much everything about him his tone, his substance, his policy since he became president, say those very same Democrats in Congress.

"If he changes," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on ABC's "This Week," "he could have a different presidency."

Democrats saw a glimmer of promise in Trump's campaign rhetoric he was critical of free trade deals, he was supportive of more taxes on the wealthy, and even at one point, he was open to a universal health-care system.

President Trump says he thinks he can bring Democrats and Republicans together to pass a bipartisan health care bill. Is that realistic? (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

But since Trump got inaugurated, he's dropped his populist streak and taken a hard tack to the right: He endorsed a health-care plan Democrats despised for its tax breaks on the wealthy and loosening mandated coverage for the poor. After his White House put out a travel ban 2.0 when the first one was stopped by the courts, Trump said at a campaign rally he wished the first could have stayed in place.

"He moved so far to the hard right that it's virtually impossible for us to work with him," Schumer said on ABC.

Then there's his cross-aisle negotiating style: Democrats say it's nonexistent.

To date, the White House has had substantial conversations with Democrats exactly zero times, top Democratic aides say. A classic example: Democrats found out about the White House's intention to work with them by watching Trump aides on TV Sunday, not by a phone call from the West Wing.

If Trump does call them up, Democrats feel like they have leverage to draw some red lines. Since controlling the House of Representatives,Republicanshave not passed not one major piece of legislation without help from Democrats. Which means ifTrump does decide that working with Democrats is his best pathfor an elusive legislative accomplishment, it could cost him dearly. Like:

On health care:

Trump would have to give up hissignature campaign promise, repealing Obamacare. "As long as they say, no more repeal," Schumer said on ABC. "That's a loser."

"And stop undermining ACA," he added, referring to the Affordable Care Act a.k.a. Obamacare.

On an upcoming deadline to fund the government:

There are afew things that Democrats say can't be in the short-term spending bill Congress must pass by April 28 to avoid a government shutdown, like:

No money to fund Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall. (On late Tuesday, The Post's congressional team reported Trump does want Congress to add money for the wall.)

Nocuts to federal funding to Planned Parenthood. (In a tweet Sunday casting blame on the health-care implosion, Trump suggested he's unhappy Planned Parenthood still has federal funds.)

And if you're going to increase defense spending, Democrats say, youneed to increase domestic spending by a similar amount. (Trump's proposed budget calls for a massive 10 percent increase in spending to the military and equally sharp cuts to federal agencies like eliminating 19 of them to pay for it.)

On infrastructure:

This is probably the most promising positions for bipartisan compromise, since Trump's idea to invest $1 trillion to revamp infrastructure is more in line with Democratic principles on the government's role in the economy than Republican principles.

But Democrats submitted a plan to the White House nearly two months ago on how they'd like to get infrastructure done, and they have yet to hear back on it. They're concerned Trump would consider kick-starting infrastructure investment by giving tax breaks to developers to build roads a no-no on the left.

On trade:

On trade, a good-faith act would go a long way, say Democrats. For example, Trump promised on day one of his presidency to labelChina a currency manipulator, a move he argues would force China to adhere to the same currency standards the United States does and thus make the trade playing field more even. (Many economists say that theory is outdated, but that's another story.)

For our purposes, Democrats point out that Trump could slap that label on China with the stroke of a pen, but he hasn't.

(We'll point out that shortly after taking office, Trump did use his pen to symbolically kill the already-dead Trans-Pacific Partnership, a deal most Democrats opposed.)

On taxes:

Here, the two camps are about as far apart as they can be.

This line from the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution's nonpartisan review of House Republicans' tax plan is a nonstarter: "Taxes would drop at all income levels in 2017, but most savings would go to the highest income households."

"There's not any Democrat that's going to vote for that," said Drew Hammill, a top aide for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

Republicans' proposed border-adjustment tax, which would tax importsand exempt exports from taxes, is a nonstarter too, say Democrats.

What would pique Democrats' interest: Talking about cutting all or most of the $40 billion in tax breaks that the current tax code gives to oil companies to drill, for example.

Clearly, there's a lot of daylight between Trump and Democrats. But before they even get to a point where they're talking about policy, Democrats say the White House needs to start building its nonexistent relationship with them first.

"They need to change course and talk to Democrats," Hammil said. "And that doesn't mean sitting down in a room and throwing a bill at us and saying 'Take it or leave it.'"

See more here:
If Trump wants to work with Democrats, he's going to have to become a totally different president - Washington Post

Donald Trump wants to start working with Democrats. He might start by picking up the phone.

The president hasnt called the top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer since before Inauguration Day, according to a person familiar with their relationship, limiting their interactions to a handful of events.

It doesnt help that Democrats have been dismayed by Trumps highly partisan first two months in office, and his repeated attacks on his predecessor Barack Obamas legacy. Add in Trumps dismal 36 percent approval rating in the latest Gallup poll and Democrats have little additional incentive to collaborate.

The president may still mount a charm offensive. He hosted senators from both parties at the White House Tuesday evening, giving him a rare opportunity to chat with Schumer. Trump name-checked the New York Democrat during some brief remarks at the gathering and told the senators: I know were all going to make a deal on health care very quickly.

But the White House has spent little time so far talking about issues with potential bipartisan overlap, such as trade and infrastructure. Instead, Trump focused first on the aborted House GOP attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and a series of executive orders and regulatory actions -- all aimed at undoing big chunks of Obamas legacy.

After House conservatives helped torpedo the Obamacare repeal bill Friday, Trump told reporters that the 2010 health-care legislation was headed for disaster. The Democrats dont want to see this happen so theyre going to reach out, when theyre ready, he said. And whenever theyre ready, were ready.

On Wednesday, though, 44 Democratic senators sent a letter urging the president to abandon his efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and rescind his Inauguration Day executive order requiring federal agencies to waive or delay Obamacare regulations. "We would welcome your sincere interest in bipartisan work" to improve the law, they said.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Monday that Democrats have been calling with suggestions of how they could work with Trump. But White House officials declined to offer any names or details of conversations. On Tuesday, Spicer said the administration will seek to build support in both parties for proposals to overhaul the U.S. tax code and spend $1 trillion worth of public and private money to shore up American infrastructure.

Were going to work with members on both sides of the aisle on both of those big-ticket issues to see where we can find agreement and move forward, Spicer said.

Still, cutting bipartisan deals will be no easy task, with Democrats insisting that Trump meet their bottom lines on several issues.

On health care? Drop repeal. Drop it today. And drop it for good, said Schumer. On taxes? No big breaks for the wealthy, and drop plans for a partisan plan. On infrastructure? We havent heard a peep out of the White House about it, Schumer said Tuesday. On the budget? No cuts, parity between defense and non-defense spending and no poison-pill riders, he said.

The first deal Trump must cut is one to keep the government open past April 28, and here Republicans and Democrats mostly want him to get out of the way. Senate appropriators in both parties are planning to push off Trumps plans to fund his border wall and dismiss out of hand his proposal to cut domestic agencies by $18 billion.

Were very close to agreement between the House and the Senate appropriators, said Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, who dismissed the idea of mid-year cuts and a proposal for a $1 billion trim to the National Institutes of Health in particular. Were not in a position to now start over.

Democrats have slammed Trumps wall and warned against trying to defund Planned Parenthood or domestic agencies lest he risk a government shutdown.

Trump could find some traction by courting a group seen as potential Trump Democrats -- 10 Democratic senators facing re-election in states he won. Each has talked of working with the president, but he has yet to reach out in a meaningful way.

Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, a member of Democratic leadership, said shes still waiting to see what he will propose. I certainly think we need to do tax reform and I certainly want the jobs that will come with an infrastructure bill. We need to rebuild America, thats for sure, she said.

Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio said hes been insisting Congress take care of mine workers and their widows whose votes Trump campaigned for, and has long pushed to get tougher on trade.Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin has been hoping Trump will embrace her Buy America provisions for federal projects in keeping with his own America First rhetoric. And Claire McCaskill of Missouri wants to work on legislation to bring down drug prices and assorted other issues.

There hasnt been much reaching out, McCaskill said. I look forward to working with the president on paid maternity leave, citing a priority of Ivanka Trump. I think that would be some place he could notch a win pretty quickly, if he was willing to work with us on that. I think he could work with us on infrastructure as long as hes willing to make the public investment in the rural areas of my state that supported Donald Trump so heavily. His private plan isnt gonna help people in rural Missouri with their roads and bridges.

McCaskill said shed welcome Trump tackling drug companies that have engaged in unconscionable price hikes and in exacerbating the opioid crisis. Trump did invite Representatives Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Peter Welch of Vermont to the White House to discuss the problem of high drug prices earlier this month.

And Senator Heidi Heitkampof North Dakota, whos facing re-election in a state Trump won by 36 points and had been considered by Trump for a Cabinet slot, said she hasnt been presented with any ideas or any outreach yet.

She said shes willing to work with anyone, but she wants to know whats in the range of the presidents thinking first.

Democrats also face an avalanche of passionate anti-Trump sentiment from their base that will make cooperation hard.

I had five town halls this weekend in largely Republican districts, and the anger and the frustration and the resistance to Trump is phenomenal, Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, said Tuesday. I walk into districts where I largely have people do nothing but thank me for fighting this battle against President Trumps agenda.

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Adam Green, a co-founder of the pressure group Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said the Trump agenda and liberal agenda run in completely opposite directions, and argued that Democrats should only cooperate if Trump endorses progressive ideas like single-payer health care and massive government investments without corporate giveaways. But that would be a fantasy world that is not going to happen, he said in an email.

He indicated that Democrats are better off politically by working against Trump. Democrats need to inspire 2018 and 2020 voters by pushing for big, bold, progressive solutions that tangibly improve peoples lives -- not appease or compromise with a president who is betraying working-class voters every day.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky talked up a bipartisan spending deal Tuesday but didnt talk about bipartisan action on health care.

Our Democratic friends now have the law that they wrote in place and well see how that works out, McConnell said.

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Trump Faces Skeptical Democrats as He Eyes Bipartisan Deals - Bloomberg