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Bill Barrow, Associated Press

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Trump remarks could sidetrack Democrats from other issues

ATLANTA (AP) President Donald Trump's widely criticized response to white supremacist violence in Virginia has left Democrats in a quandary: how to seize the moral high ground without getting sucked into a politically perilous culture war.

Democrats have denounced Trump for blaming "both sides" for deadly protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, and, more recently, for defending Confederate monuments.

But the party faces a complex task: While addressing race and history in ways that reflect the party's values, Democrats also need to focus on issues like jobs and the economy that resonate with a wider range of voters, including white independents, ahead of the 2018 midterm election.

The party has been looking to answer Trump's populism by crafting its own middle-class brand, yet Democratic leaders across multiple states now are pushing to take down Old South monuments like the one that ostensibly sparked the events in Charlottesville, and three rank-and-file House Democrats want to pursue a congressional censure of the president.

In interviews this week before his resignation was announced Friday, White House strategist Steve Bannon gleefully suggested Democrats are falling into a trap.

"I want them to talk about racism every day," Bannon told The American Prospect, a liberal magazine. "If the left is focused on race and identity, and we go with economic nationalism, we can crush the Democrats."

Trump himself has called Confederate memorials, most of them actually erected decades after the Civil War, "beautiful statues" that reflect "our nation's history and culture."

Polls taken after last weekend's violence offer some evidence backing Bannon's and Trump's view. While polls found widespread disgust with white supremacists, a Marist Poll for NPR and PBS found that just 27 percent of adults queried believe Confederate monuments "should be removed because they are offensive." About two out of three white and Latino respondents said they should remain, as did 44 percent of black respondents.

Andrew Young, a Democrat, civil rights leader and former U.N. ambassador, warned this week that the monuments are "a distraction." He told reporters in Atlanta it is "too costly to refight the Civil War."

Boyd Brown of South Carolina, a former state lawmaker and onetime member of the Democratic National Committee, says Democrats are right to oppose Confederate monuments and criticize Trump's remarks. "He tweets something crazy, we react and we're not wrong," Brown said. But "we have to talk about a lack of jobs and education in poor districts, voter suppression laws. Ask why Medicaid funding is always the target. And then explain how all those things hurt more than just African-Americans."

Trump upset Democrat Hillary Clinton on the strength of his support from white voters, particularly working-class whites who possessed a combination of economic frustration and racial resentments salved by Trump's promises of immigration controls, law-and-order and a booming economy.

Clinton, meanwhile, concentrated so much on Trump's deficiencies and outlandish statements that her own policy proposals received less attention. That's a problem that has beset Trump rivals since he first declared his candidacy: All the attention focused on Trump even unflattering stories prevent them from getting out their own messages.

Brian Fallon, who was spokesman for Clinton's campaign, said Democrats shouldn't let that happen after Charlottesville.

"As horrifying as what the president has said is, you have to have an affirmative agenda," he said.

Still, Fallon praised Democratic efforts to keep Trump and Republicans on the defensive over the president's response even if it doesn't help them politically.

"Sometimes it's important to take a stand regardless of the electoral impacts," he said, noting that Clinton delivered a speech last year warning of white nationalists' rise alongside Trump's campaign.

Democrats have tried various tactics to press the Charlottesville issue. Besides the push to censure Trump and remove monuments, they are planning voter organization drives across the United States.

Andrew Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee, Florida, and candidate for governor, is among the Democrats calling for monuments to be moved to museums or cemeteries.

Gillum, who is black, says Democrats must argue "these monuments have been weaponized. We can't pretend that didn't happen."

The issue is reminiscent of South Carolina's decision to remove the Confederate battle flag from statehouse grounds in 2015 after a white gunman killed nine people at a historic black church in Charleston. Then-Gov. Nikki Haley, a Republican who is now Trump's United Nations ambassador, declared the flag untenably divisive after the wide distribution of photos showing the killer clutching it.

"She was focused on leading the state through a grieving process so it could begin healing," recalls Rob Godfrey, one of her top aides at the time.

But Godfrey notes Haley never considered jettisoning other Old South relics.

"That was going to drive people apart," Godfrey says.

___

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Trump remarks could sidetrack Democrats from other issues - SFGate

RICHLAND, Ky.

Several months after losing her state legislative seat representing a district outside of Lexington in Madison County, Rita Smart still feels the pinch of the loss.

A former Democratic member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, Smart is sitting in the parlor of the beautifully appointed bed and breakfast, The Bennett House, that she owns and runs with her husband. She says: It was tough. I lost by 76 votes. Her voice trailed off at the mention of the remarkably close totals.

By all accounts, she was a competent legislator. She is a small business owner and previously spent three decades working for the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture.

She is polite, circumspect, and bewildered. I just cannot understand how I lost, she said.

In truth, she didnt her party did. The Democratic Party brand has suffered broadly in the middle of the country in the past few years, largely on the backs of its pull left under the presidency of Barack Obama. While progressivism fit well for Democrats in urban areas, it fell flat and was widely rejected in places like Madison County.

It is not that voters liked or loved Republicans or found them more virtuous; it is that they found Democrats less aligned with their values, more likely to look down their nose at them and not at all interested in listening to their plights.

Republicans at least made it OK to be in a church pew every Sunday, own a gun for protection and hunting, and not share all of their money with everyone else.

Kentucky Republicans were handed a bucket of ice water last fall when they won the state House in a landslide that fit in nicely with their previous wins in the governors office and the majority in the state Senate.

The last time Republicans held the majority in the Kentucky House was in 1921. Before the Democrats lost it last fall, it was the last lawmaking chamber in the South still controlled by a Democratic majority.

Smart wasnt the only one to lose her seat. The speaker of the Kentucky House lost, along with 15 other incumbent Democrats. This was an honest-to-goodness wave election in this state, preceded by wave elections in 2010 and 2014 that placed Republican majorities in state legislative bodies across the country, as well as in the U.S. House and Senate. Democrats have lost more than 1,100 legislative seats since 2009.

That is a lot of voter angst toward one party. The question is, when will the Democrats be ready to learn from it? The answer is unclear. Activists in the party seem more than happy to keep going left, but do they go at their own peril? They seem to believe that Hillary Clinton was rejected because she was not left enough, ignoring the fact that most of the middle of the country where the election was won and lost is pretty moderate.

Smarts loss to Republican C. Wesley Morgan last year was not about her not representing her state and her district well; it was about the image the national party projects, and voters in the middle of the country have been rejecting that for nearly a decade.

The Democrats currently lack the ability to win back power because their concentration of power is located in 94 counties across the country, according to an analysis by Dave Wasserman, U.S. House editor of The Cook Political Report.

If the Democrats were to branch out and employ a message and language that suit voters in Madison County, representatives like Smart would still be working in the state legislature and likely continuing to do a good job.

They still havent found their center nearly one year after Donald Trump stunned most Democrats. If they find it, Republican seats will start to winnow away. If not, the Republican Party will still chip away at seats like Smarts in every state across the country.

Salena Zito is a CNN political analyst, and a staff reporter and columnist for the Washington Examiner. Contact her at info@creators.com.

2017, Creators.com

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Salena Zito column: Democrats need a new message - and not just in Kentucky - Richmond.com

We'll see whether Democrats flock to the polls in off-year elections this November and in the midterms next year, but one thing is already certain: A flood of themare running for office.

On the one hand, aspolitical scientist Seth Masket points out(see also Ed Kilgore on this topic), this is very good news for the party. Quality candidates win elections, even if nothing else is going in a party's direction. The fact that candidates are coming out of the woodwork is both an indication of general energy in the party and something that will still matter even if that enthusiasm dissipates a bit over the next several months.

On the other hand, however, there's pretty clearly a massive coordination problem for the party. Some of these candidates are in fact very qualified and will do well in U.S. House elections and, if they win, in the House. Others likely have plenty of potential to become great politicians but really should be starting out running for seats in state legislatures or other down-ballot campaigns. And still others probably should be gently steered toward stuffing envelopes or, in some cases, away from any involvement.

In hierarchical political parties, this sort of thing is fairly easy to do. The Democrats (and the Republicans) are no such animals. Anyone can run for anything, and there's no one to tell them not to (or at least no one who can say "no" and make it stick). Formal party officials and staff have some resources they can use to create incentives, and others within the party network also control resources, but coordinating all of that may prove to be very, very difficult. Especially since a surplus of candidates is a problem that very few within the party have much experience with.

It's not just getting the right people to run for the right offices, either.

A lot of the new candidates are going to lose. That's just the nature of politics. Some will lose in general elections, and others will lose in primaries, sometimes to party veterans who might seem stale and out-of-touch to some of the new folks. So one of the party's goals is going to have to be sustaining the enthusiasm of those losing candidates so that they become longer-term contributors, either as candidates or in other roles. And again, U.S. parties are not particularly well organized for that sort of thing.

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What are U.S. parties good at? They are remarkably permeable, which is why Democrats have this "problem" and this opportunity to begin with. Anyone can show up and participate, and if lots of new people come in with new energy and new policy ideas, they can make a difference in remarkably little time. But the same lack of entrenched bureaucracy and fundamentally networked structure thatmakes them so easy to join -- which makes them, in important ways, so democratic -- can also make a lot of management tasks unusually difficult.

So I'll be watching how all of this shakes out. Republicans had similar issues in 2014 and especially 2010, and it often went quite badly -- but they showed how party dysfunction can go hand in hand with winning plenty of elections. Let's see if Democrats can do better.

1. Jamila Michener at the Monkey Cage on Medicaid and political efficacy.

2. Dan Drezner is brutal to Jared Kushner.

3. My Bloomberg View colleague Noah Smith has some suggestions for improving the U.S. economy.

4. Slate's Fred Kaplan on how Germany memorializes the past.

5. And Kevin Drum on who benefits fromDonald Trump's tax plan.

Get Early Returns every morning in your inbox. Clickhereto subscribe.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story: Jonathan Bernstein at jbernstein62@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Brooke Sample at bsample1@bloomberg.net

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Democrats Have a Very Good Problem on Their Hands - Bloomberg

Congressional Democrats from Maryland are asking for thousands of pages of documents to review the business practices of the apartment rental company owned by Jared Kushner, son-in-law and senior adviser to President Donald Trump.

In a letter Friday, Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and Reps. Elijah E. Cummings, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes and Anthony Brown told Kushners firm that it must abide by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations because its tenants receive federal rental subsidies through the Housing Choice voucher program.

The Kushner Cos. own 17 apartment complexes in Maryland, most of them in Baltimore County. The lawmakers, who represent areas with Kushner properties, want documents that detail the New York-based companys voucher contracts with HUD, inspection reports, lawsuits filed by the firm against former tenants and information about any potential conflicts of interest for Kushner.

The Baltimore Sun posted a story online this week detailing the firms legal efforts to collect unpaid rent from former tenants, including requesting body attachments, the controversial practice in which judges order the arrest of civil defendants for allegedly failing to appear in court.

The Sun has reported that the Kushner Cos. have filed more than 1,200 civil actions against former tenants in Maryland for unpaid debts, actions that have included requests to have renters arrested.

The Sun has reported that three of the companys 17 apartment complexes in Maryland have received $6.1 million in HUD Housing Choice voucher payments on behalf of 268 tenants. The White House told the Sun in February that Kushner would not participate in any policy decisions related to the voucher program to avoid the potential for conflicts of interest.

The lawmakers cite The Suns reporting and a magazine article by The New York Times and ProPublica that alleged substandard living conditions in Kushner properties.

If these reports are accurate, they raise very serious and troubling concerns about whether Kushner Companies and its subsidiaries are complying with HUDs housing quality standards to ensure the safety and health of their own tenants, they write.

The letter is addressed to Kushner Cos. president Laurent Morali. A copy was provided to The Sun.

Emily Wolf, general counsel the for Kushner Cos., said Friday we are in compliance with the requirements of the Federal Housing Choice Program.

We exercise our legal rights under the relevant provisions of Maryland law only as a last resort after all other reasonable attempts to collect rent payments are unsuccessful, she said in a statement.

Jared Kushner was CEO of the Kusner Cos. from 2008 until Jan. 19, when he stepped down to join the Trump administration. He retains ownership of the firm.

The Democrats requested all documents pertaining to inspections of Kushner-owned properties, including any notification of elevated blood lead level affecting any tenant.

The goal of the Housing Choice program is to provide decent, safe, and sanitary housing to very low-income families, the elderly, and people with disabilities, they write. As HUD explains, each dwelling unit must pass the programs housing quality standards and be maintained up to those standards as long as the owner receives housing assistance payments.

HUD requires that each apartment be maintained in sanitary condition and be free of vermin and rodent infestation.

Inspection reports from the Housing Authority of Baltimore City this year and last showed that the Dutch Village apartment complex failed inspection in 31 units. All passed reinspection a month later, and another 25 apartments passed initial reviews.

The inspectors issued failing grades after finding a hazardous electrical outlet, damaged steps and evidence of infestation.

Seal all rat holes in front of unit, one inspector directed.

Doug Donovan and Jean Marbella

The Carriage Hill apartment complex in Randallstown had elevated levels of lead in the drinking water at the property due to lead-containing faucets and/or solder, the investment research firm Morningstar reported in an analysis of the Freddie Mac mortgages being sold to investors. Morningstar cited an environmental site assessment of the property.

The borrower is required to replace all faucets that are older than five years within 10 months of closing, Morningstar said.

The lawmakers asked for information about how many lawsuits the company has filed against tenants, including those who receive vouchers, and how much money judges have awarded to the firm. They also requested copies of all requests for body attachments filed by Kushner Companies in the state of Maryland.

Since 2013, when the Kushner Cos. began their first full year of operations in Maryland, affiliates of the firm have sought the arrest of 105 former tenants more than any other firm in the state for allegedly failing to appear in court to face allegations of unpaid debt.

Judges have awarded the firm a total of $5.4 million in judgments against tenants, who owed an average debt of nearly $4,400, the analysis shows. Their original average debts were $2,950, but lawyers fees, court costs and interest charges inflated the final judgments.

Judges have approved the garnishment of tenants wages in nearly all those cases.

Kushner properties in Maryland generate at least $90 million in revenue annually, the firm reported in investor documents filed with Freddie Mac. The documents show that 14 of the apartment communities clear at least $30 million in annual profit.

Three of the portfolios apartment complexes Dutch Village in Northeast Baltimore, Carriage Hill in Randallstown and Highland Village in Lansdowne received $6.1 million in Housing Choice vouchers since Jan. 1, 2015. The vouchers are also known as Section 8.

The lawmakers are asking for all communications between Kushner Companies and the White House, including but not limited to communications regarding the management and resolution of Jared Kushners conflicts of interest. They ask for documentation of communications between Jared Kushner and the Kushner Cos. since Jan. 20, the day Trump was inaugurated.

They also ask for any documents describing policies and procedures implemented by Kushner Companies to manage and resolve conflicts of interest involving Jared Kushner.

The Democrats have requested a briefing on the information on Sept. 8.

ddonovan@baltsun.com

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Maryland Democrats request details on Jared Kushner apartment holdings in state - Baltimore Sun

Keep it simple.

With Republicans already running shadow campaigns for 2020, Democrats need to settle on the messages theyll use to compete withDonald Trump and his party in the upcoming elections. And their most effective narratives wont be pretty.

True, President Trump has given Democrats plenty of cause for complaint, but that itself is a danger to the party. The risk is that, with so many issues and scandals to talk about, Democrats will end up with a fractured message.

Research shows that voters prefer simplicity. A 2014 study by researchers at Georgetown University and the University of California, Los Angeles found that people find information about politicians more persuasivewhen theyre presented with just three claims. When given more messages, they become moreskeptical -- because they begin to realize theyre being pushed in one direction.

Thats why, to take Congress and the White House back, Democrats need to choose three key points and stick to them.

And those points need to seed dissatisfaction with Trump. Voters vote retrospectively, says my colleague Meena Bose, director of the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency at Hofstra University. If things are going well, they tend to stick with the incumbent and if theyre going badly, they tend to vote against the incumbent.

But voters perceptions of the economy can be more important than reality. For example, one study concluded that George H.W. Bush lost his 1992 bid for re-election because of negative media coverage of the economy -- which was actually improving. This leaves Democrats an important opportunity to shape the national conversation around Trumps economic record -- especially the fact that Americans incomes are barely rising.

Stephanie Cutter, deputy campaign manager for Barack Obama in 2012, says the party needs to convey that Hes giving you a raw deal and we can do better, basically.

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Another reason Democrats should go negative is that it works: Research shows that negative information about candidates affectsvoters judgments more than positive information. (This could be because paying attention to threatsoffered an evolutionary advantage to ourour ancestors, researchers say.) It takes at least three positive messages to undo the damage done by one negative message, according to Vincent Covello, director of the Center for Risk Communication, a strategic communications consultancy.

The best way for Democrats to go negative will be to convince voters that Trump doesnt care about them. Former Vermont governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean says the most important question asked in polls is whether a candidate cares about people like me. People vote on emotion, he says.

So here are three key messages Democrats could rally around to convince voters that Trump doesnt care about them:

Even if Trump ultimately abandons his campaign promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, his threat to let it implode will remain a huge risk for millions of Americans. The Trump administration agreed this week to make the subsidy payment required by the government under the law. But Trump had previously indicated he might not do so and hasnt disavowed withholding future payments, which would leave about 16 millionwithout insurers in the marketplace and cause premiums to soar for many, according to the CBO.

What people care about is can they afford things, can they pay the bills, Cutter says. Those are the core things at the heart of most elections. Indeed, according to Texas A&M professor B. Dan Wood, author of The Politics of Economic Leadership: The Causes and Consequences of Presidential Rhetoric, since the Gallup poll was established in 1946, Americans have typically said that the economy is the most important problem the country faces.

Indeed, last month, a poll by PBS NewsHour, NPR and Marist College found that 70 percent of Americans believe civility has declined since Trump became president. And the exodus of CEOs from Trumps business advisory councils this past week over his response to the attack on anti-hate protesters in Charlottesville offers just another example of how his divisiveness has turned supporters into critics.

With so many questions and scandals surrounding Trump, the biggest threat facing the opposition party right now is the embarrassment of riches available for criticizing the president. Democrats need to stay disciplined and focus on the few messages that will actually move voters in the next election.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story: Kara Alaimo at kara.s.alaimo@hofstra.edu

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3 Messages Would Help Democrats Beat Trump - Bloomberg