DNC Battleground Brief

This is the DNC’s Battleground Brief — a weekly wrap-up of Trump’s broken promises and everything you need to know across the path to 270. 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY — DEMS SLAM TRUMP’S FIVE YEARS OF BROKEN PROMISES SINCE CAMPAIGN LAUNCH AND TAKE THE MESSAGE TO THE BATTLEGROUNDS.

NBC News: DNC launches ad campaign on Trump ‘descent’. 

  • “The Democratic National Committee is beginning its general election offensive against President Donald Trump Tuesday, with a new television and digital ad campaign running in battleground states. The effort marks the five year anniversary of Trump’s 2016 presidential candidacy, which he announced after a ride down a golden escalator at Trump Tower. The opening DNC ad, titled ‘Descent,’ revives that image, tying it to the decline of American jobs, health care, race relations, and immigrant rights.”
  • “Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a leading progressive voice who competed for the Democratic nomination this year and is under consideration to be Joe Biden’s vice presidential running mate, will help kick off the campaign in a press call on Tuesday and join DNC Chair Tom Perez for a battleground state tour. Perez will also team with other party leaders, including Florida Rep. Val Demmings, who’s also on Biden’s short list of potential vice presidential contenders.”

In Florida:

Florida Daily: Democrats in Florida and Across the Nation Take Aim at Donald Trump on the Economy. “Democrats have decided they are going to open up a new front in their war against President Donald Trump as they hope to win back the White House in November, attacking him on the economy with Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez leading the charge.”

Florida Playbook: “The Democratic National Committee is marking the five-year anniversary of President Donald Trump announcing his bid for the White House with TV and digital ads running in battleground states, including Florida. DNC Chair Tom Perez, who held a call with Florida reporters, highlighted the anniversary by noting Trump ‘hasn’t just betrayed Floridians. He didn’t just fail to create jobs. His incompetence sabotaged the Florida economy.’”

Orlando Sentinel: “In a conference call with Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez and state party chair Terrie Rizzo marking the five-year anniversary of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, Demings said a victory for Trump in November would mean ‘surviving four more years of divisiveness and complete chaos.’”

Florida Politics: “In a press call Tuesday, Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez, Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo, and Orlando’s Rep. Val Demings, who might become the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee, blasted Trump for that move and pretty much everything else he has done, up to and including the executive order he signed Tuesday calling for police reform.”

In Georgia:

DNC: “During a virtual press conference today, Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez, DNC Small Business Chair Andrew Lachman and Georgia small business owners slammed Donald Trump’s five years of broken promises to small businesses and his failed coronavirus response.”

In Maine: 

ME Dems: “In the five years since Donald Trump began running for President, he has failed to deliver on every promise that he made to the people of Maine. Instead, his chaotic and incompetent leadership has hurt Maine families while big corporations and special interests have reaped the rewards.”

In New Hampshire:

NH Dems: “Donald Trump’s false statements and broken promises are putting the health and safety of Granite Staters at risk. How many more Granite Staters will be sick or die if he gets four more years mismanaging and mangling our health care?”

In Ohio:

OH Dems: “One year ago today, Donald Trump kicked off his re-election campaign at a rally in Orlando, Florida. In the 12 months since, Ohio’s economy has struggled, manufacturing jobs have left the state and farmers have been crushed by Trump’s reckless trade war.”

In Texas:

North Dallas Gazette: Democrats blast Trump and Abbott over COVID-19 response and its impact on Latino communities. “‘Our economy has collapsed in the throws of this horrific public health pandemic. This pandemic has particularly touched African American, Latino, and Native American communities.’”

In Virginia:

Blue Virginia: Trump’s Biggest Failures in Virginia: Coronavirus, Social Security, Charlottesville, and More. “‘Donald Trump talked a big game on the campaign trail. He promised to improve health care, cut taxes for the middle class, and ‘drain the swamp.’ We can prove now what we knew then: his administration is one that only benefits the wealthy elite and puts Virginians at risk, especially our DREAMers, those who stand up against hate, and working families.’ said DPVA Press Secretary Carson Brown.”

In Wisconsin: 

The Daily Cardinal: Baldwin slams Trump’s response to BLM protests, COVID-19 in virtual town hall. “Baldwin also called Trump’s trade wars ‘disastrous’ for Wisconsin farms and businesses — and the problems it created have only been exacerbated by COVID-19.”

DEMOCRATS TOOL UP FOR VOTING ACCESS FIGHT. This week, the DNC rolled out a new tool that will help organizers track voter purges in their communities — and take action to ensure voters can make their voices heard in November.

CNN: Democrats roll out new tool to combat voter purges. “The tool, built by the DNC tech team, allows campaigns and state parties to visualize voters who have been purged or moved to an inactive list and then export those names directly with associated phone numbers and addresses. The campaigns can then target those photos with calls, text messages and mail, notifying them that they have either been purged or marked inactive, often the first designation towards purging the names.”

 

  • The New York Times: Tracking the Next Purge. “Putting this tool in the hands of Democratic operatives on the ground in each state, party officials argue, will allow those with more intimate knowledge of local constituencies to notice abnormal changes in the rolls or to simply reconnect with lapsed voters.”

 

 

  • The Hill: Democrats unveil tool to fight voter purges. “‘The fight against voter suppression has never been more urgent,’ said the head of the DNC’s voter protection project, Reyna Walters-Morgan. ‘Whether an individual is facing the prospect of being purged for malicious or mundane reasons, this tool helps leverage Democrats’ organizing and voter protection resources to safeguard the right of every eligible voter to protect their voting status and easily participate in our democratic process.’”

 

DRIP…DRIP…DEMS KEEP PUMMELING TRUMP ON JOBS NUMBERS.

 

  • CBS Miami: Florida Unemployment Rate Jumps To 14.5 Percent. “‘As COVID-19 cases surge in Florida and the rest of the country, Donald Trump is once again burying his head in the sand instead of tackling the problem — a president more concerned with his ability to host a political rally than the spread of a deadly virus,’ Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Terrie Rizzo said in a prepared statement.”

 

  • OH Dems: “Donald Trump’s chaotic response to the crisis has decimated our economy, and now his lame attempts to pretend like it’s over are threatening any potential for recovery.”
  • PA Dems: “How many lives or jobs will it cost for Trump to finally put Pennsylvania families first? We can’t afford four more years of this reckless leadership.”
  • WI Dems: “In just a few short months Trump single handedly decimated the booming economy he was handed by the Obama-Biden administration. We are now facing Depression-era level unemployment, which is disproportionately impacting minority communities.” 

TRUMP STUMBLES BACK TO THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL. National and state Democrats — along with plenty of furious Tulsans — continue to blast Trump’s disastrous return to in-person campaigning tomorrow.

ABC News: Democrats aim to undermine Trump’s pitch to black voters with Tulsa rally counter-programming. “Democrats at the national and state level are launching a coordinated counter-programming offensive on Friday, ahead of President Donald Trump’s rally this Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his first since the coronavirus pandemic shut down the campaign trail.”

MEANWHILE, IN THE BATTLEGROUNDS. Wherever Trump’s cronies go, Democrats are there to hold them accountable.

In Michigan:

Michigan Advance:Democrats blasted Pence’s visit, with Sterling Heights City Council Member Michael Radtke lamenting that it was merely a ‘photo op.’ ‘My constituents in Sterling Heights are hurting right now. They’re hurting from an economy that has collapsed because of COVID-19, they’re worried about their families because they don’t have the testing they need and they’re worried about our budget,’ he said.” 

  • Macomb Daily: “Elsewhere, the Michigan Democratic Party held a virtual press conference criticizing Trump. U.S. Representatives Brenda Lawrence and Rep. Andy Levin, who represents most of central and southern Macomb County, along with Sterling Heights City Councilman Mike Radtke said the president should be ‘held accountable’ for his COVID-19 response, attacks on protesters and failures on policing reforms.” 

In North Carolina:

NC Dems: “No matter how his team may try to frame their campaign events, Donald Trump can’t hide from his administration’s disastrous handling of the coronavirus crisis, which has cost our state hundreds of lives and hundreds of thousands of jobs.”

In Iowa:

DNC: “Donald Trump downplayed the virus, refused to prepare, and allowed this crisis to escalate out of control. Now, hundreds of Iowans have lost their lives and working families are facing a double-digit unemployment rate. Mike Pence can’t spin his boss’s incompetence with another photo op.”

And Across The Country:

Bloomberg: “John Weber, the Democratic National Committee’s deputy director of battleground state communications, had an equally harsh assessment. ‘Trump’s attacks on the environment are haunting him across the battlegrounds,’ Weber said. ‘His talking heads can’t spin that reality with photo ops.’”

“DEMOCRATS SHOWED UP” IN PA, “SET NEW PRIMARY TURNOUT RECORD” IN GA.  Democrats are energized like never before, and we’re voting in record numbers. Here’s what we’re seeing on the ground.

In Pennsylvania:

Philadelphia Inquirer: “Pennsylvania Democrats showed up. […] Key counties that delivered huge numbers for Trump in 2016, such as Luzerne, Westmoreland, Northampton, and York, all saw turnout fall much further for Republicans than for Democrats.”

In Georgia:

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Democrats set new primary turnout record, outpacing GOP voters. “Democrats set a new turnout record for primary voting in last week’s Georgia vote, soaring past 1 million voters to outpace Republicans during an election plagued by significant obstacles at polling sites.”

A GREAT WEEK AT THE SUPREME COURT. And a rough one for the incumbent president. Democrats across the country celebrated monumental victories for the security of Dreamers and the workplace rights of LGBTQ Americans — and committed to keeping up the fight.

On Title VII:

  • DNC: “Everyone deserves a workplace free of harassment and discrimination. Today is a historic victory for the nation and for the LGBTQ+ community; a victory of dignity over discrimination, of love over hate, of equality over prejudice. But while we celebrate today, our fight is far from over.”

On DACA:

  • Al Día (Dallas Morning News): “El director nacional del Partido Demócrata, Tom Pérez, también destacó el fallo del máximo tribunal. ‘La Señora Libertad está de pie el día de hoy. Esta es una victoria sorprendente, Una victoria para la humanidad sobre el odio, de los valores americanos sobre las tácticas de terror de Trump en contra de los inmigrantes.’”
  • AZ Dems: “Arizona Democrats and Democrats across this nation stand shoulder to shoulder with Dreamers and their families, we will defend you, fight for you, and will make sure you are protected from the cruelty of the Trump administration. You, your lives and your safety should never be used as a pawn in a political game.”
  • Florida Phoenix: “Terrie Rizzo, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, said in a statement: […] ‘DACA gave hundreds of thousands of young people a chance at a better life – and they gave infinitely more back to our communities and country. Today, the Supreme Court has spoken and affirmed what we knew to be true: home is here and DACA is here to stay.’”
  • NM Dems: “Thousands of Dreamers who have lived, worked, and built a life in New Mexico since they were children have been forced to live in limbo for years, while the president made empty promises about a solution. President Trump failed to keep his promises, and this decision is a long overdue moment of relief for DACA recipients and their families.” 

Make sure to follow the DNC’s War Room (@DNCWarRoom) to get real-time updates on Trump’s abuses of power and broken promises.

Happy Friday! 

The DNC Comms Team