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.  

WE’LL SEE YOU IN THE PEACH STATE NEXT WEEK! This Tuesday, November 20, ten candidates will take the stage for the fifth Democratic primary debate in Atlanta at Tyler Perry Studios. Oh and did we mention, the debate will feature an all female moderator line-up? Here’s what you need to know before then:

  • “GEORGIA MAY NOT BE AS RELIABLY RED AS IT ONCE WAS.” “As much as Republicans enjoy mocking Stacey Abrams’ refusal to concede and Democrats’ insistence that she was somehow robbed of 50,000 votes in 2018, Abrams still won 48.8 percent, nothing to sneeze at considering how Democrats struggled in statewide races in the Peach State for many years.”

 

  • THE JOLT: GEORGIA DEMOCRATS WELCOME DONALD TRUMP WITH A REBUKE. “The Rev. Timothy McDonald, pastor of the First Iconium Baptist Church in Atlanta, said Trump’s policies have been particularly harmful for African-Americans and makes his visit to the cradle of the civil rights movement offensive. “To launch a program that he thinks is going to cause black people to vote for him is outrageous, it is insane and it is a slap in the face of all Americans of good will,” McDonald said. “This man’s rhetoric and his agenda have taken our country backwards, not forward, to a time when there was much pain that existed.”

 

**BREAKING: DEMOCRATS WIN FLORIDA LAWSUIT ON BALLOT ORDER**

Today, Democrats won a major legal victory in Florida as a court overturned the state’s law requiring that ballots list Republicans first, giving GOP candidates a documented and unfair advantage. Democrats are also challenging similar ballot order statutes in three other states. More here.

THE PATH TO TAKING BACK THE WHITE HOUSE ON PENNSYLVANIA AVE RUNS THROUGH THE (BLUE) PENNSYLVANIA SUBURBS. Following last week’s historic Democratic wins across southeastern Pennsylvania, Democratic National Committee CEO Seema Nanda and PA Democratic Party Vice Chair Sharif Street convened a roundtable discussion with local party leadership from Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties to discuss the groundbreaking wins across the suburbs of southeastern Pennsylvania and plans to capitalize on that momentum to beat Trump and Republicans up and down the ticket in 2020.

This is not a trend that is limited to Pennsylvania — suburban voters across the country are rejecting Trump and the GOP. Take a look:

 

  • Bucks County Courier Times: PA Democrats brainstorm on beating Trump in 2020.“Defeating Trump next year is ‘the election of our lives’ said Democratic National Committee Chief Executive Officer Seema Nanda during a powwow of party leaders in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Open to the media, the event was billed as a ‘round-table discussion … to keep this momentum rolling into 2020. ‘We are going to be up against a mountain of disinformation,’ she said. ‘What we have at the DNC is a disinformation/misinformation program. We have a team of folks who are looking constantly at disinformation. But I think it’s going to take all of us, working together on this.’”

 

 

  • Philadelphia Tribune: Democrats highlight historic wins in Philadelphia suburbs. “The party leaders, including Democratic National Committee CEO Seema Nanda and Pennsylvania Democratic Party Vice Chairman Sharif Street, spoke at a roundtable discussion with party leaders from Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties. In Delaware County, Democrats won control of the County Council for the first time since the Civil War; in Bucks County, they took control of the Board of Commissioners for the first time since 1983; and in Chester County, they swept the county commissioner races. ‘One thing we also know from these wins is that this is an absolute rejection of Trump and his divisiveness and his track record of broken promises in the state of Pennsylvania,’ Nanda said. She cited Trump’s sabotage of the health care system and the loss of manufacturing jobs under his administration. ‘I think what we see is a record of broken promises of this president, but then we see candidates in a party that says these county elections are every bit important as every other election that happens, because it’s where decisions get made and it’s where people are mobilizing on the ground,’ Nanda continued.”

 

 

  • KYW-PHI (CBS) Watch Here.

 

  • WPVI-PHI (ABC) Watch Here.

***ELECTION DAY IS 354 DAYS AWAY***

TRUMP’S PATH TO 270 IS NARROWING BY THE DAY. HuffPost: Trump Won Iowa Easily In 2016, But His Trade War Is Putting It In Play For 2020. “Troy Price, chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, said Trump won the state in 2016 by promising to increase markets and profits for Iowa farms. ‘We have seen nothing but the opposite since he’s been in office,’ Price said. ‘We’ve lost the markets that Iowans took decades to develop.’ He said the loss of farm income has led to problems for others that rely on the farmers’ success, such as the 160 workers who were laid off at a John Deere factory in eastern Iowa. ‘This is having ripple effects across the state,’ Price said. ‘I think the president has a big problem and Republicans have a big problem. … Donald Trump presented himself as the change candidate. Unfortunately, the changes that he brought have not been good for Iowa.’”

ICYMI: DEMOCRATS PUTTING AZ IN PLAY.DNC officials said in a briefing Thursday that the shifting demographics in Arizona, its growing Latino population and declining approval ratings of President Donald Trump put the state in play. The move is part of what the DNC is calling an ‘unprecedented’ national investment, that began more than a year before the general election, to ensure that the party’s eventual nominee ‘has a pool of trained, ready-to-hire field talent.’”

WHEREVER TRUMP OR HIS CRONIES GO, DEMOCRATS ARE HOLDING ARE THEM ACCOUNTABLE FOR HIS BROKEN PROMISES.

 

  • IN CA: Patch: Pence Stumps For Trump In OC As GOP ‘Rediscovers California’. “John Weber, the spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, issued a statement blasting Pence’s fundraising trip. ‘Pence should be ashamed to show his face in California — let alone sidle into Orange County asking for money,’ Weber said. ‘He and Trump have viciously insulted this state, attacked working families’ health care, and cravenly threatened California’s wildfire funding. That’s why Californians rejected their right-wing agenda in 2016, it’s why Orange County voters sent Republicans home in 2018, and it’s why they’ll do it again in 2020.’”

 

  • IN CO: Colorado Times Recorder: Trump Registers for Colo Ballot; Spokesperson “Doesn’t Care” about President’s Taxes. “Colorado’s economy has been booming for years under Democratic governors and Democratic leadership at the General Assembly — and that’s in spite of Donald Trump, not because of him,” said David Pourshoushtari, Communications Director for the Colorado Democratic Party. “Whether it’s his massive tax giveaway to the ultra wealthy, his continued sabotage and assault on Coloradans’ healthcare, or his reckless trade wars that have hurt our Colorado farmers and outdoor recreation economy, it’s no wonder Trump’s Colorado approval rating has plummeted since he took office.”

**TRUMP’S BAD ECONOMIC & HEALTH CARE HEADLINES**

NYT: (Opinion): Some of Trump’s Most Devious Lies Are About Health Care

THE HILL: Second federal judge strikes down Trump ‘conscience protection’ rule for health care providers

VOX: Trump’s big veterans health care plan has hit a snag

AP: US judge blocks Trump’s health insurance rule for immigrants 

REUTERS: Deere Workers Grapple with Fallout from Trump’s Trade War.

BLOOMBERG: It’s Not Just Farmers — U.S. Exports May never Recover from the Trade War.

ABC 27:  Last Year Was the Worst For Wisconsin Dairy Farmers Since 2004, New Data Shows.

MARKETS INSIDER: The economic picture is darkening in states critical to Trump’s reelection bid

AS THE SUPREME COURT TOOK UP ORAL ARGUMENTS ON DACA CASE, STATES CALLED OUT TRUMP, REPUBLICANS FOR THEIR BROKEN PROMISES TO DREAMERS.

  • DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF NEW MEXICO: “DPNM Chair Marg Elliston released the following statement regarding President Trump’s broken promises to Dreamers: ‘This case is a direct result of the president’s decision to turn his back on Dreamers in New Mexico and across our nation. His empty rhetoric does nothing for the thousands of young New Mexicans who are living with the fear of being forced out of the only home they’ve ever known. Dreamers live, work, and contribute to New Mexico every day, and they deserve to feel secure in their home state.’” 
  • ARIZONA DEMOCRATIC PARTY:A majority of Democrats and Republicans favor maintaining protections for DACA recipients. And Arizonans know that the state stands to lose if DACA is terminated and no immigration reform is achieved. Four public and private Arizona higher education institutions recently asked the U.S. Supreme Court to keep the program in place, touting Dreamers’ positive impact on Arizona’s educational system and by extension the local economy. The majority of DACA recipients are working or in school, and they are collectively a group of business owners, taxpayers, and homeowners who are making significant contributions to Arizona.”
  • DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: “DNC Chair Tom Perez released the following statement…‘The U.S. Supreme Court should see straight through the Trump administration’s lies. DACA is not only lawful, but critical to making sure hundreds of thousands of people can stay in the only country they call home. DACA recipients are Americans in every way but on paper. These are our neighbors and friends, our classmates and co-workers. And they deserve the opportunity to stay in the communities they contribute to every single day. It’s time for the Supreme Court to put an end to Trump’s cruelty once and for all.’”

#EMBARRASSING. New Hampshire Democrats Using Chaffetz’s Never Trump Past to Divide GOP, Create Dissent in Ranks. “The fact that Democrats are exploiting the Never Trump history of certain Republicans—Chaffetz was, like many Republicans in the lead-up to the 2016 election, hesitant to endorse the president—is a new and sophisticated strategy of leveraging the establishment GOP and Never Trump movement to divide Republicans and create dissent in the ranks ahead of 2020.”

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