Posted on 08/14/2018 4:25:23 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
Democrats are embracing Michael Avenatti’s call for the party to get more aggressive in the Trump era and hit back harder than the GOP when responding to attacks.
Avenatti, the Stormy Daniels attorney now considering a White House run, said at an event in Iowa on Friday that “when they go low, I say hit back harder.”
It was a nod to former first lady Michelle Obama’s “when they go low, we go high” mantra — a more hopeful, optimistic slogan that an increasing number of Democrats say belongs in the trash can for the time being.
Avenatti, said former Rep. Steve Israel (N.Y.), is “tapping into a Democratic rage that Trump must be defeated and it doesn’t matter how.”
“They think the low blow beat the high ground in 2016,” Israel said, adding that Trump has created “an electorate that is angrier, nastier and more desperate.”
That likely means more attacks and a pugnacious 2020 primary season, say Democrats.
“We have no other choice,” said one political strategist who has been having preliminary conversations with candidates about running for the presidency. “You can’t kill him with kindness. That doesn’t work. So you have to go the other way.”
The idea of getting tougher than Trump didn’t originate with Avenatti, though his rhetoric might be the most Trump-like among the dozens of Democrats who seem to be flirting with presidential runs.
The Hill reported in July that Democrats were looking for a candidate who would fight Trump, suggesting the candidate who best taps into that desire would have a shot at winning the 2020 nomination.
“This notion that you go high or go low is a false choice, it’s become a misnomer,” Philippe Reines, a longtime adviser to Hillary Clinton, told The Hill last month.
“Democrats are going to want to see someone with moxie, they’re going to want to see absolute contempt for Trump,” said Reines, who played Trump in mock debates in 2016 to prepare the Democratic nominee.
Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, penned a piece on CNN.com this weekend agreeing that “Avenatti is right: Democrats need to fight fire with fire.”
In an email to The Hill, Zelizer added that Democrats could go with a traditional or non-traditional candidate. “But what they need is an incredibly tough partisan fighter.”
“Given the state of the GOP and the nature of Trumpian politics, the candidate will need to really pack a big political punch,” he said. “It doesn’t mean getting into the gutter but it does mean hitting back hard and being able to do so on Twitter and the cable news universe that now sets the rules of engagement.”
Some Democrats, however, think it’s a dangerous approach.
Patti Solis Doyle, the Democratic strategist who served as Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign manager, said the party needs to stand up to Trump.
“Does he need to be called out? Do we need to see his tax returns? Absolutely,” Solis Doyle said. “We need to be strong to deliver attacks on him.”
“But I’m not sure that someone who is remarkably similar to Donald Trump is the answer,” she added, referring to Avenatti.
Israel said Trump’s behavior is bringing some people back to the Democratic Party. Adopting Trump’s style, as Avenatti suggests, could backfire, he said.
“Going lower than Trump won’t help with those voters. Messaging to them based on their daily lives and concerns will win them,” said Israel, a former chairman of the House Democratic campaign arm.
Licy DoCanto, a former aide to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) who now heads the DoCanto Group, a public policy consulting firm, said candidates should “resist the temptation to go low.”
“And that means being incredibly disciplined in your own arguments and your own decorum,” he said. “You can still be civil and have some respect for yourself and the institutions around you and be successful. It may feel emotionally dissatisfying but it is still, in the long term, effective.”
Democratic strategist David Wade — who served as an adviser to John Kerry’s presidential campaign — cautioned that it’s difficult to predict where the primary electorate will be in six months — particularly if Democrats win big in the midterm election in November.
Wade noted that the 2006 midterms, for example, “changed everyone’s calculus.”
“Democrats went from the desperation of just hoping for a presidential candidate who could win to believing that we had latitude to find the candidate who most inspired,” he said. “The midterms will be the first barometer. If Democrats win and depending on which kinds of candidates win, that’s going to set the narrative for a while.”
Tyler Law, a spokesman for the DCCC, said sticking to the bread-and-butter issues “is actually what resonates the most with voters.”
“Republicans are trying to distract and use fear and misleading [tactics]. But here’s the reality: they aren’t working. What we have seen is that when we focus on the issues — and we’re relentless in that focus — Democrats win,” Law said.
But the Democratic strategist predicted that when it comes to the presidential contest and Trump, Avenatti’s strategy and rhetoric is likely to win out over Michelle Obama’s.
“You can’t play nice with a bully,” the strategist said. “And that’s putting it nicely.”
Was that “Go High” or “Be High!”
“When they go low, we launder money thru Perkins Coie and use Fusion GPS as a cutout to have corrupt FBI agents spy on our opposition and attempt entrapment.”
glad they are catching up with those of us who were done with her slogans years ago. We saw thru her sweetened hate words years ago, dems still have not acknowledged that much about big mo.
Her husband told his followers to “get in their faces”.
Good cop/bad cop mixed messaging.
Lemme know when dems go beyond Michelle Obama’s message telling young people not to get office jobs working for corporations.
These people are completely missing it. Trump didn’t win because he “went low.”
He won b/c people are sick and tired of what the ‘Rats wrought.
I also don’t buy what Israel said about Trump losing ‘Rat voters because of his behavior. If they go, then he never had them in the first place.
<><>(A) we launder money thru Perkins Coie,
<><>(B) use Fusion GPS as a cutout,
<><>(C) have corrupt FBI agents spy on our opposition, and,
<><>(D) attempt entrapment.”
Also, the Clintons and The Clinton Foundation are always at the ready to pull a few stunts.
That's what got peoples' attention and won Trump their support.
We've all been waiting for a fighter instead of conciliatory Republican and Conservative wimps.
My only concern is who comes after Trump?
It's frustrating that Trump is showing them how to fight and win and they don't seem to be learning the lesson.
They moved past long ago.
Good. They should do as the creepy porn lawyer says. They won’t be able to restrain their insanity. It’ll be on full display for all to see.
They really do believe the crap they say, which is disturbing.
They ARE the party of personal destruction, and have been since Whittaker Chambers came out against Alger Hiss.
What a laugh. They are going to repudiate the politics of personal destruction. Just wow.
The dems don’t get it.
Trump didn’t necessarily “go low”.
He fought back!
Think of the previous Rep administration. GWB played the punching bag in the attempt to take the high road, and it only made him look weak.
For the last 50 years, Alinskey taught the Dems to ‘go low’, and we were all labeled ‘racist’, ‘sexist’, and ‘homophobic’.
Trump just read their book and returned fire.
Who cares what they say. Watch what they do. Dems are still nazi and kkk just like they were in the thirties and forties. They have their brownshirts on the streets fomenting violenece at every turn
What exactly are they opposed to? Reduced unemployment? A roaring economy? Reduced illegal immigration? ISIS being decimated? More fair trade agreements? What?
They are the Party of Alinsky. It’s ingrained in their DNA. They’ll never change.
The Democrats NEVER go high!
They start in the gutter and drop from there.
The go high statement was to dupe the public.
Hidi Hi...
Hidi Ho...
Trump won because he (a) fought back and (b) told the truth.
The dems have been fighting dirty since before John Kennedy.
The dems couldn’t tell the truth without bursting into flames.
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