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WASHINGTON Democrats left PresidentDonaldTrumpsfirst address toCongressfeeling less like theyd watched a presidential speech and more like theyd wandered into an alternate universe.

Yes, they are still disappointed 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was not standing before the assembled lawmakers. But theyve moved beyond the November loss and now find themselves wrestling with a reality that, to put it bluntly, they find bizarre, and even threatening.

It was a surreal experience, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told The Huffington Post moments after Trumps address. We have a reality show host in the White House masquerading as the president of the United States of America and half the country is still in complete shock.

For freshman Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a constitutional law professor who won election in November, it was unlike anything hes ever heard.

To me, it actually felt a little bit like The Hunger Games at points. There was something kind of dystopian, science fiction about the experience, he said. I looked up and I saw [former House Speaker] Newt Gingrich and suddenly I felt that I was transported to a different world.

Raskin added that Trumps remarks were toned down compared to the blood and gore and American carnage in the presidents inaugural address.

But the basic Steve Bannon program was still there, he said, referring to Trumps controversial chief strategist.

Pressed on if there was anything they liked in Trumps speech, several Democrats said his call for paid family leavebut nothing else. And the lack of specifics didnt surprise or sadden them.

Depressing? It wasnt. It was almost surreal, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said. This is someone who came from the reality show environment. Thats his platform.

Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), the House Democratic Caucus Chair, also felt the entire day was surreal.

This president gives me a raison dtre to wake up every morning and say, What has he said today and how can I go after him? Crowley said. Ive got news for him this is not reality TV, this is the real deal.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) went into the chamber Tuesday night with little hope that Trump would strike a unifying tone.

One of the things weve learned in the last 15 months dont be surprised by what Donald Trump does, Hoyer told HuffPost. He almost always does what you dont expect, and does what you dont think he ought to be doing.

If anything, Democrats appeared energized. The address Trump gave Tuesday wont quell the unrest that has sprouted up in their states across the country.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) emailed a one-word statement after the speech: Resist.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) admitted there were rough days after election, but he appeared eager for the fights that are ahead of Democrats under Trumps presidency.

When Hillary first lost, I was shocked. And I taught my daughters they were shocked too, one of them was working for Hillary and I taught them the old Shirelles song, Mama said thered be days like this, thered be days like this my mama said, Schumer said.

But then he said he had an epiphany-like moment during the first week of Trumps presidency that had Clinton won the election, theyd have fun and get more good things done. But with Trump as president and with me as minority leader, my job was much more important because we were the backstop, just about the only one to Donald Trump, he added. And that steeled me.

Pointing to the debate raging over Trumps plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act as one example, Schumer said, Democrats are succeeding. Were on offense and my prediction is that odds are greater than half that we keep ACA, he said.

We need to be strong in the Senate, and they need to be strong in the streets, Schumer said, and if together, were working together, we can stop this guy and turn America back to where it should be going.

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Democrats On Donald Trump's Address To Congress: It Was 'Surreal' - Huffington Post

Congressional Democrats heard President Donald Trump dangle olive branches in their direction on Tuesday night but most departed his much-anticipated speech still deeply skeptical of Trumps interest in bipartisanship.

Trump threaded two ideas that retain Democratic appeal into his otherwise GOP-friendly remarks: an infrastructure plan that includes public investment and criticism of high prescription drug prices. He even earned some Democratic praise on the divisive topic of Obamacare for proposing that governors get the resources and flexibility they need to avoid cutting Medicaid coverage.

Story Continued Below

Yet the Democratic goodwill Trump earned with those priorities paled next to the disappointment among the minority, whose votes he will need to push many of his key priorities through the Senate. Most Democrats left Trumps speech predicting that his newly softened tone would not translate into different strategy or policy. And many panned a controversial new immigration proposal from the president.

Yeah, this wasnt one of his crazier speeches, but at some point hes actually got to follow through and do the things hes talking about, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in an interview.

Murphy added that I stood and applauded when I think he clearly, specifically, chose to pitch an infrastructure plan that involves public and private money, a potential break from Republican leaders leery of any new federal spending. But once again, were five weeks in and we dont even have a whiff of an infrastructure plan from the president.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), facing re-election next year in a state Trump carried by 19 percentage points, shrugged off Trumps rhetoric as unsupported by action.

There was a lot of talk in the speech, but we still havent seen a plan for any of it, McCaskill said in an interview. Not for any of it. If we knew it was so simple, all we could do is lower the price of health care and everyone gets it, we would have done that a long time ago.

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) was more pointed.

It was more conciliatory, but it wasnt very substantive, the Illinois Democrat said in an interview. Trumps tone appeared calmer, Durbin later added, but well wait for the early morning tweets. Lets see how they look.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) graded Trump on a curve, saying that there were improvements in substance as well as tone given that Trump didnt lash out at the media or government employees behind recent leaks that have plagued his administration.

It was less concerning to our allies and less alarming to the average American than many of the speeches hes given in the last month, Coons offered.

Democratic members of congress wear aw U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of the U.S. Congress on February 28, 2017 in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. | Getty

Other Democrats were kinder to Trumps invocations of infrastructure and prescription drugs. Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats, said that I shot out of my chair to applaud the talk of lowering drug prices, which Trump is expected to discuss at a meeting with a pair of Democrats next week.

Even Rep. Keith Ellison, the Democratic National Committees new deputy chair, allowed that "if he puts forth a meaningful infrastructure program, well look at it and well see."

"But that is an incredibly large leap," Ellison added. Given Trump's bitterly partisan and contentious first month in office, the Minnesota Democrat said, "he cant just say something to me and make me think, oh, awesome! No, no, no, no, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, and Im not tasting nothing so far."

Other House Democrats condemned Trump's proposal for a new Department of Homeland Security office aimed at spotlighting victims of crimes perpetrated by immigrants. The proposed program vilifies an entire sector of our country, the immigrant community," House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) said in an interview.

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), a potential challenger to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) next year, said that Trump's "tone was softer, not as bombastic," praising the president's talk of an infrastructure deal and action on expanding paid family leave.

"But his words, in many ways, were still very divisive," Castro added, slamming the DHS immigrant-crime-victims program as a bid to "use the abhorrent behavior of a few to generalize towards all. And thats unfair and its dangerous."

Delaware Sen. Tom Carper echoed several fellow Democrats in jokingly proposing that Trump keep using whichever speechwriter crafted his palpably warmer remarks Tuesday night. Still, Carper said, "with this fellow, you just dont know" whether a change in words would lead to a change in behavior.

"Lets see what he does," Carper said. "Well start getting a glimpse of that when we get a budget."

Burgess Everett and Heather Caygle contributed to this report.

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Democrats: Trump wasn't crazy, but let's see if he keeps it up - Politico

Now that President Trump has delivered his State of the Union-style address, my fellow Democrats are settling in for a long fight. Our new DNC Chairman Tom Perez is leading the charge, promising to be a nightmare for the president and his fellow Republicans.

The reason is clear: Mr. Perez tastes political blood in the water. Trumps approval rating is at historic lows, hammered by allegations of Russian collusion, a contentious immigration ban, and emotional Twitter outbursts.

Yet smart Democrats know that our position with the American people is just as weak. We hold the fewest number of state legislatures, governorships, and federal offices than at any point since the 1920s. And its a trend that started well before the 2016 election.

In short, America isnt buying what Democrats are selling.

The reasons for this are numerous, and they include efforts by Republicans to suppress voters in North Carolina and gerrymander Congressional districts in Wisconsin.

But finger pointing at GOP operatives hides a much more painful truth.

Six weeks ago, the U.S. Senate considered an amendment that would have allowed Americans to import cheap prescription drugs from Canada. This common sense solution would have saved families thousands of dollars and lives. Not surprisingly, 72 percent of voters supported the proposal.

Yet the amendment failed, with 14 Democratic Senators rejecting it.

What could explain their vote? Cynics highlight the fact that many of these officials collect large sums of campaign cash from pharmaceutical giants. Top collectors of drug money include Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), all of whom voted against the bill.

Fair or not, this leaves voters with a very clear impression: Democrats are more interested in securing their reelection than helping sick Americans.

Regrettably, this wouldnt be the first time weve been accused of abandoning principles for profit.

Starting in the mid 1990s, President Clinton and other Democrats embraced free trade deals first NAFTA and then with China despite clear warnings about the damage both would cause manufacturing America.

As it turns out, the alarms were well placed: studies have shown that these trade deals have left many communities throughout the U.S. in poverty and deeply mired in unemployment.

Why then were we surprised when these voters turned down Secretary Clinton considering her support for not only the trade deals but also the bankers who benefitted from them?

All told, many Americans have come to view us as hypocrites. And I dont blame them. We are Perezs nightmare.

Which leaves us with a critical question: how can Democrats win back these angry voters?

Contrary to Perezs recent statements, its not about communicating our affirmative message. Its about an apologizing for what weve done or chosen not to do.

Lets start with trade. For 20 years, my fellow Democrats have advanced global deals that left too many behind, particularly in rural and blue collar America. We discardeded our roots as champions of the working class in exchange for campaign contributions.

For that, America, we are sorry. We failed you.

While were at it, lets be honest about how weve tackled environmental issues. For 20 years, our important and virtuous commitment to a healthy planet wasnt properly balanced with the needs of workers in places like Appalachia and the Pacific Northwest. In other words, we shut down the coal and timber industries without a plan to safeguard the communities left behind.

For that, we are sorry. Democrats let you down.

Finally, we have failed the country in the realm of national security. For the past 20 years, our repeated mistakes in Iraq, Libya, and Syria have left American families with more death and less stability. These botched conflicts have also pushed refugees and terrorists on a chaotic march around the globe.

For that, we are sorry. We have blood on our hands.

Yet apologies ring hollow without a remedy. We have to repair the harm that weve caused in order to inspire a new beginning. Elected leaders like Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg are offering intriguing paths forward while Democrats like me are outlining initiatives like Our American Oath. This effort to be launched in the coming months promises a new covenant with the American people.

Without question, this approach of apologies and making amends is horrifying for hyper-partisan Democrats. In some cases, they (correctly) believe Republicans share equal blame. In other cases, its simply because they hate apologizing. I fully expect this to be their response.

And so does science.

In a book wonderfully titled, Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me), the authors reveal that our brains are hardwired to make us believe we are always right, even if faced with overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Unfortunately, no one escapes this basic element of human psychology.

But believing were perfect takes a toll. In our personal lives, righteousness causes us to abandon or be abandoned by the people we cherish the most family, friends, and partners.

Its no different in our political lives. Just ask the voters in rural America and the Rust Belt who stayed home or voted for Trump in 2016. Or ask the voters who have punished us by reducing our power to the lowest levels since the 1920s.

All of which leaves the Democratic Party with an important choice. We can apologize and make amends, or we can walk down Perezs path of nightmares.

If we follow Perez, rest assured that we will continue to lose. Why? The humble majority of this country will grow ever more exhausted, first by Trumps fiery antics and then by our knee-jerk partisanship.

Alternatively, we can choose to be men and women who inspire integrity and humility. With an apology and better path forward, we can do something unique in American history: we will show that not only can we win an election but that we deserve to.

We will give America something to vote for, not against.

Bryan Dean Wright is a former CIA ops officer and member of the Democratic Party. He contributes on issues of politics, national security, and the economy. Follow him on Twitter @BryanDeanWright.

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I'm a Democrat and it's time for our party to apologize to America - Fox News

By Bastien Inzaurralde By Bastien Inzaurralde March 1 at 1:14 AM

Astrid Silva, an undocumented immigrant, delivered the Democratic response in Spanish to President Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 28. (The Washington Post)

Astrid Silva, an immigration activist and dreamer, delivered the Democratic response to President Trumps speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. Below is the English translation of Silvas response.

Good evening. My name is Astrid Silva and I am a dreamer and activist from the great state of Nevada. My family came to this country when I was 4 years old, looking for a better life. And like many of you, it is the only home that I have known. It is an honor for me to be here today to give the Democratic response in Spanish to the first speech by President Trump before Congress.

I am here representing the Democrats, the Latinos and the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are an integral part of this country and who constitute the values and the promise of the United States, and whom Trump is threatening with his mass deportation plan.

The speech by President Trump that we heard moments ago was divisive and its goal is to cause fear and terror in communities across the country. This serves as evidence and notice that the plans and vision of President Trump and the Republicans go completely against our values as Democrats, as Americans and as human beings.

The United States is not a country guided by hatred, fear and division as he makes it look like. Our country is guided by respect, hard work, sacrifice, opportunities and hope. In this country, there is no place for discrimination, racial prejudice or persecution.

However, this is what the administration of President Trump has brought about for Latinos and immigrants. During his first weeks as president, Trump signed executive orders that put our entire community in danger. He took actions that specifically aim to harm the immigrant community and refugees.

He is spending resources to transform working families into targets for deportation. He wants to spend thousands of millions of dollars to build an unnecessary wall. And he is seeking ways to deny entry to our Muslim brothers and sisters.

He has made very clear since the days of his presidential campaign that he wanted his supporters to believe that we immigrants are criminals and refugees are terrorists. And recently he directed immigration officers to arrest and deport any undocumented person that they encounter, essentially legalizing racial prejudice and setting his mass deportation plan in motion.

Among the people who were captured are mothers, fathers, dreamers, recipients of DACA, a victim of domestic violence and many more. Indeed, in the gallery of Congress today, listening to President Trumps speech were the children of Guadalupe Garca de Rayos, a working mother from Arizona who reported for her appointment with ICE only to be arrested and deported for no reason.

Today, Guadalupe is far away from her children, who are U.S. citizens and are an example of the great impact that Trumps actions have over the American people in general, not only in the undocumented community.

President Trump promised to lower taxes, combat terrorism and replace the Affordable Care Act in a speech to a joint session of Congress, Feb. 28. Here are key moments from that speech. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

These people must not be a target or priority of ICE. This is not the kind of country that we are. President Trump is returning to the darkest times of our history, criminalizing whoever is different, pitting us against one another, and sending a mistaken message to the rest of the world, thus helping foment the anger and hatred of terrorist groups toward our country.

But we must remember that this country is good and full of hope, where freedom of speech reigns and the people have the power. Instead of mass deportation, President Trump should focus on creating jobs and growing our economy. He should recognize the contribution of immigrants, from which he himself has benefited.

Instead of separating families, President Trump should pass a sweeping reform that would honor this countrys tradition of welcoming immigrants. Instead of closing the door on Muslims and insulting countries around the world, President Trump should work with our allies to fight and defeat ISIS and other terrorist groups and seek peace.

Instead of being on the side of oil corporations and special interests, undoing our progress in fighting climate change, President Trump should be a leader in protecting the quality of our air and our water, because we only have one planet. And if we destroy it, what will we leave for our children?

We Latinos suffer from asthma more than other groups. The condition of the environment is key for our well-being. Instead of repealing the health care law, which gave health insurance to millions of Latinos, Trump and the Republicans should improve it so that the program cover more people and be less expensive.

The Republicans want to cut funding to Planned Parenthood even though community health clinics provide preventive and primary health care for hundreds of thousands of people.

People across the country are attending town hall meetings with their Republican senators and congressmen and expressing their discontent with the possibility that they take away access to health insurance from millions of people, many of whom cant pay for it on their own. The Republicans must listen to these people and make sure that the nearly 30 million Americans dont lose their coverage.

And instead of hiring millionaires and Wall Street executives for his Cabinet, such as Steve Mnuchin, President Trump should fulfill the promise of working for the well-being of the American people. Our schools need more funding, our teachers better salaries and our vulnerable children need protection.

We dont need an education secretary like Betsy DeVos, who has worked to weaken our public education system and who has personally benefited from cutting funding to our schools. The fight for the confirmation of the Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch, is nearing. Now more than ever, we need a check on an out-of-control administration.

Judge Gorsuch must confirm that he will be an independent judge, that he wont yield to the administration. We are living in times of uncertainty, completely outside of the ordinary, in which the administration is constantly questioning the news media and actively tries to destroy its credibility.

We cant allow those actions to become normal. It demands that those of us who understand the risk for women, for the LGBT community, for our environment, for the workers, immigrants, young people and refugees, work together to protect our communities from deportations, violence and discrimination.

Only that way will we be able to claim the values that make this a great country. We immigrants and refugees are the soul and the promise of this country and we are not alone. The Democrats have made a pledge to fight for us and for the working middle class. They are our line of defense against President Trump and the harmful policies of the Republicans in Congress, in the Senate, in the courts and in the streets.

We Democrats understand that we must protect our immigrant families, that we must improve our infrastructure, that we need better jobs with higher salaries and that the cost of higher education is too high.

We must make changes so that education, the great equalizer, be within everyones reach. We Democrats want equality, respect, and that all people have the opportunity to fulfill themselves. Because we know that our nation is stronger when we treat each other with respect and when we work together for the common good.

I was lucky to grow up surrounded by my family and to fulfill my aspirations. I was able to go to school and university, I obtained an arts certificate from the College of Southern Nevada and my bachelors from Nevada State College. I am a living example of the promise of this country. And I know that Democrats will continue to fight for the promise of a better life for all.

President Trump and the Republicans can use calmer rhetoric and appear moderate, but we know that the wind blows words away. Actions are what matter.

I am here today to tell you that Democrats are with us and to ask you not to lose hope because we are in the struggle together. May God bless you. Thank you very much and good night.

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Read a translation of the Spanish-language Democratic response to Trump's speech - Washington Post

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In his Feb. 28 speech to the joint session of Congress, he declared:

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Nations around the world, like Canada, Australia and many others - have a merit-based immigration system. It is a basic principle that those seeking to enter a country ought to be able to support themselves financially. Yet, in America, we do not enforce this rule, straining the very public resources that our poorest citizens rely upon. According to the National Academy of Sciences, our current immigration system costs Americas taxpayers many billions of dollars a year.

Switching away from this current system of lower-skilled immigration, and instead adopting a merit-based system, will have many benefits: it will save countless dollars, raise workers wages, and help struggling families - including immigrant families - enter the middle class.

I believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible, as long as we focus on the following goals: to improve jobs and wages for Americans, to strengthen our nations security, and to restore respect for our laws.

Trumps proposed shift to a merit-based immigration system would reduce the inflow of unskilled migrants, but perhaps also raise the inflow of skilled migrants.

Two GOP Senators are also proposing a reduction in low-skill immigration and a rise in high-skilled immigration.

Any policy shift to reduce l0w-skilled migration would likely be opposed by Democrats, by Wall Street investors and by the many membercompanies in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, all of whom gain from the huge annual inflow of roughly800,000 salary-cutting, welfare-spending unskilled migrants.

Most of these unskilled immigrants are the extended familyrelations of prior unskilled immigrants from South America or Asia, and they tend to push less skilled Americans white, Latino and African-American out of the job market. This family based inflow is strongly supported by ethnic political groups, such as the National Council of La Raza and by various Arab, Pakistani, and Islamic political groups.

Trump suggested he opposed migrants who do not integrate into Americans society, saying those given the high honor of admission to the United States should support this country and love its people and its values.

Trump reemphasized his frequent argument that curbs on illegal immigration will help raise Americans wages. By finally enforcing our immigration laws, we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions of dollars, and make our communities safer for everyone, he said, adding we want all Americans to succeed - but that cant happen in an environment of lawless chaos.

In contrast to unskilled migration, the annual inflow of university educated legal immigrants is much smaller, at perhaps 200,000 professionals per year.

Nonetheless, these skilled migrants compete for white-collar jobs against the roughly 800,000 young Americans who graduate each year with degrees in business, healthcare, technology, and science.

The white-collar immigrant labor supply is augmented by the resident population of at least 1 million white-collar contract workers who hold long-term H-1B visas or work permits. Roughly 650,000 foreign H-1B workersare employedin a wide variety of white-collar jobs in the United States, including roughly 100,000 as academics, teachers, doctors, therapists, scientists, and designers at American universities. Other visa programs boost the number of resident foreign professionals to at least 1 million.

The H-1B program and other visa programs are used by many prestigious American companies, includingComcast,Carnival,Disney,McDonalds,Caterpillar.and Uber. Also, many lesser-known U.S. companies hire Indian workers from Indian-owned outsourcing firms.

The large supply of foreign graduates either immigrants or guest workers pushes many middle-aged American professionals out of their careers and pushes younger American graduates into different careers with lower salaries.

The sidelined American professionals and their families have been a huge source of support for Trump because of Trumps repeated opposition to the H-1B program.If Trump is willing to increase the inflow of skilled white-collar workers, he risks losing the support of many middle-class voters during the 2018 and 2020 elections.

If Trump is willing to increase the inflow of white-collar skilled workers, he risks losing the support of many middle-class voters during the 2018 and 2020 elections.

But any debate about higher levels of skilled immigration might also create broad white-collar opposition to cheap-labor immigration programs, so helping Trump build public support for a reduction in overall immigration levels.

Name-brand companies and universities lobby year-round for a greater supply of foreign white-collar labor. For example, in 2013, companies and universities persuadedsenators to include a provision in the pending Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill which would have allowed an unlimited inflow of salary-cutting foreign graduates into the white-collar job sites. In 2017, these business groups are opposing campaign proposals by Trump to reform the H-1B programs, which has created a resident population of roughly 650,000 white-collar contract workers, including 100,000 employed by universities.

For example, in 2013, companies and universities persuadedsenators to include a provision in the pending Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill which would have allowed an unlimited inflow of salary-cutting foreign graduates into the white-collar job sites. In 2017, these business groups are opposing campaign proposals by Trump to reform the H-1B programs, which has created a resident population of roughly 650,000 white-collar contract workers, including 100,000 contract workers employed by universities.

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Donald Trump Calls for Huge Merit Based Immigration Reform