BALTIMORE | House Democrats are insisting that discord within the party won’t lead to a series of primary challenges from the left in the 2018 midterm elections, saying they are charging hard against President Trump and positioned to make gains.
The chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the official campaign arm of Democrats in the House, brushed aside the notion that the grass roots calls for resistance to Mr. Trump will become a purity test for Democrats and undercut the party’s hopes of making inroads in more conservative congressional districts.
“This is about House Republicans,” Ben Ray Lujan, New Mexico Democrat, told The Washington Times, arguing GOP lawmakers are going to have to answer for the Trump agenda, which has sparked protests across the country.
“That is what I am starting to see across the country,” the New Mexico Democrat said. “There is going to be a contrast between the House Democrat or candidate running against the incumbent House Republican … and I think we will have more supporters in the end, not less, united around that fact, as we see this [Trump] agenda continue to be pushed.”
Progressive groups, though, say Democrats won’t get a free pass in the primary season.
“Congressional Democrats in swing districts who refuse to fight Trump’s giveaways to Wall Street and billionaires will likely lose their general elections, due to low turnout among people we need to vote,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “It would not be surprising to see primaries against weak corporate-aligned Democrats in order to save those seats and ensure stronger resistance to Trump.”
Neil Sroka, spokesman of Democracy for America, said, “the grass roots base of the party is going to be watching very, very, carefully who is standing up to Donald Trump and his bigoted and divisive agenda and who is going along with it.”
At their three-day getaway here in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, House Democrats have presented a unified front against Mr. Trump.
They’ve also downplayed divisions with the grass roots that were on display this week after progressive groups — including Democracy for America and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee — criticized lawmakers for inviting Third Way, a centrist think tank, to the conference, saying “the Wall Street think tank advocates appeasement with Trump — the opposite of the backbone the public is demanding.”
“Maybe it is more fun to think there is some deep division,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat.
Mrs. Pelosi also told reporters the caucus is open to working with the president, but said she has seen no room for cooperation thus far.
“I believe in the power of prayer,” Mrs. Pelosi said. “Maybe some inspiration will come to him that will be for the good of the American people and we can work together on that. We can’t be hopeless.”
There has been mounting frustration among party activists over the inability of Democrats to score a major win against Mr. Trump in the new Congress and have instead had to settle for moral victories.
Activists rallied to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s side this week after GOP leaders cut her off on the Senate floor during a withering assault of Sen. Jeff Sessions, Mr. Trump’s pick for attorney general.
Democrats face an uphill battle in the House, where the GOP holds a 47-seat majority.
Rep. Adam Schiff of California said Thursday that is part of the reason why it is so crucial the party remains unified.
“When you are in the minority and you don’t control the House or the Senate, the only way we can be effective is if we stick together,” he told The Times.
For now, House Democrats say the resistance against Mr. Trump is providing them with some cover as they look to craft a message that both taps into that energy and broadens the party’s appeal in congressional districts that backed Mr. Trump.
“I think there has been no greater tool in exciting and engaging and demonstrating to people how important it is that they ensure their voices are heard than the election of Donald Trump,” said Rep. David Cicilline, co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, which is tasked with messaging.
“I think there is no possibility that it has a negative affect,” the Rhode Island Democrat said of the Trump resistance..
Democrats deployed a similar strategy against Mr. Trump and House Republicans in the 2016 election, and netted just six House seats.
They are confident that the strategy will be more effective next year because it will be a referendum on Mr. Trump and the GOP.
“Donald Trump rode into office promising the American people a field of dreams, but what he has left them with over three weeks is a graveyard of broken promises,” said Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat and co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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