Democrats have reacted to President Donald Trump’s victory with pragmatism, steadfast “resistance” and “A Better Deal.”
Here are a few of the things Democrats tried to get across in their first year under Trump:
1. Don’t ‘normalize’
As Trump entered office, many Democrats sought to avoid “normalizing” the controversial incoming President. They took to the airwaves with the simple message that what is happening in the administration is not normal, and a hefty handful of Democratic senators voted against almost all of his Cabinet picks.
Opposition to some of Trump’s more controversial Cabinet picks — like Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos — became major events unto themselves.
2. Work with Trump where possible; don’t shift left
The hesitancy to work against Trump was perhaps best and most immediately captured by Sen. Joe Manchin, a centrist West Virginia Democrat, shortly after the election.
“If the instinct of the party is to fight Donald Trump, then that’s the stupidest thing that could happen,” Manchin told CNN. “The bottom line is you can’t govern from (the left) wing of the party. And if Chuck Schumer or the national Democratic Party ever wants to be a majority, they have to go to the middle.”
Manchin and other red-state Democrats even entertained the idea of working with Trump on tax reform, and while none ultimately voted for the plan, his voice was one of many protesting a shift to the left.
In the wake of the successful package of the GOP tax plan, which Democrats were against across the board, even Senate Minority Leader Schumer bemoaned the missed chance to work with Trump on the issue, calling it a “grave shame” Trump had not collaborated with them.
3. Shift left
The sustained primary challenge from independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who identifies as a Democratic socialist, fueled a wave of calls from people on the left who want to see the Democratic Party lurch into a radically different position.
His supporters and others on the left have called for Democrats to seek new ground and call unapologetically for further government intervention in the economy. The push left was bolstered some by Sanders’ elevation to Senate Democratic leadership and support from potential 2020 candidates backing his bill to establish government funded universal health care.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, however, said in a CNN town hall that a true move to the radical left was out of the question.
“We’re capitalists, and that’s just the way it is,” Pelosi said. “However, we do think that capitalism is not necessarily meeting the needs with the income inequality that we have in our country.”
4. Achieve unity, and the balancing act that goes with it
Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez emerged from the Obama administration to make a bid to lead his party’s political infrastructure. In doing so, he fought a challenge from Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, who enjoyed the support of Sanders and others in the party’s left wing.
When the race was over, Perez named Ellison deputy chair. The two, along with many other top party figures, have sought to portray a diverse party unified in opposition to Trump. The extent of their unity, the difficulty of selling it and what direction the party should be pulled is an ongoing debate.
5. Vote for a ‘Better Deal’
Schumer sought to substantiate the Democratic Party’s positions on a range of issues, stressing support for job-training programs and changes to make antitrust laws more robust.
The policy rollout of “A Better Deal: Better Jobs, Better Wages, Better Future” came with wide support from Democratic officeholders and a large helping of public appearances as the party sought to build out points of agreement and an agenda for the coming elections.
6. Join the ‘resistance’
The “resistance” is the self-serious moniker for the divided, wavering opposition to the President.
It includes a range of people from the progressive left to the center to at least one former attorney general and a slice of the conservative commentariat. Many Democrats have embraced the label, while the world of people who don’t like Trump battle over the direction and substance of what it means to “resist.”
