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Democrats have invited immigrants and foreigners to President Donald Trump's first address to Congress in an effort to put a face on those who could be hurt by the Republican's policies.

Lawmakers typically get one guest ticket apiece for presidential addresses, as they will for Tuesday's prime-time speech, and the invites often go to family, friends or someone from back home. To send a message to Trump, Democrats have invited the Iraqi-American doctor who discovered elevated levels of lead in the blood of many children living in Flint, Michigan; a Pakistani-born doctor who delivers critical care to patients in Rhode Island; and an American-born daughter of Palestinian refugees who aids people like her family in their quest to come to the United States.

"I want Trump to see the face of a woman, the face of a Muslim, and the face of someone whose family has enriched and contributed to this country despite starting out as refugees," said Rep. Luis Gutirrez, D-Ill., whose guest Tuesday will be Fidaa Rashid, a Chicago immigration attorney.

Soon after taking office, Trump issued an executive order temporarily banning all entry to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority nations and pausing the entire U.S. refugee program. The order sparked worldwide confusion about who was covered by the edict, with thousands gathering at airports and in other settings to protest. An appeals court blocked the order.

Trump has said he will issue another order along similar lines. Trump has also expanded the range of immigrants living in the country illegally who have become a priority for removal. The president has argued that the steps are necessary to protect the nation.

One of the people caught up in Trump's executive order was Sara Yarjani, a 35-year-old Iranian graduate student studying in California. She was held at Los Angeles International Airport for nearly 23 hours before being sent back to Vienna, Austria, where she had been visiting family. She was able to resume her studies at the California Institute for Human Sciences after a judge halted implementation of Trump's order. She'll attend Trump's speech as a guest of Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif.

"Mr. Trump needs to see the people he has hurt," Chu said.

The focus on welcoming immigrants will also extend to the response that Democratic leaders plan for Trump's speech. Astrid Silva, who was brought into the United States as a young child, will provide the Spanish-language rebuttal; former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear will give the standard opposition-party response. Under President Barack Obama, hundreds of thousands of unauthorized youth brought into the country as children were given a reprieve from deportation.

While Trump vowed to immediately end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program during the campaign, he has kept it in place as president.

All will be on high alert for any Joe Wilson moments in Trump's first speech to a joint session of Congress since his inaugural address. Wilson, a longtime Republican congressman from South Carolina, shouted, "You lie!" as Obama addressed Congress in 2009 about his health care plan. The debate over "Obamacare" sparked strong emotions on both sides of the aisle, much as Trump's executive order and statements on immigration have done.

Trump's comments on immigration play well with his supporters, but unnerve some Republicans who represent congressional districts with quickly growing immigrant populations.

Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., invited a constituent he describes as a hero for helping to expose the Flint water crisis. He said Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha came to the United States with her Iraqi parents, who were fleeing the regime of Saddam Hussein. She has recently questioned whether her family would have been allowed into the country under the policies of the Trump administration.

A group of Democratic lawmakers recently wrote a letter to colleagues earlier this month urging them to invite guests who have, despite discrimination, made positive impacts on their communities. One of the leaders of that effort, Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., asked Dr. Ehsun Mirza, the Pakistani-born doctor, to be his guest.

"I am proud to call Dr. Mirza a friend, and I hope that his presence on February 28th will serve as a reminder to the president that true Americans come in every color and creed - and not all are born here," Langevin said.

___

This version of the story deletes a description of Mona Hanna-Attisha as Iraqi-born. Hanna-Attisha was born to Iraqi immigrants.

Originally posted here:
Democrats inviting immigrants to Trump's speech to Congress - WTAE Pittsburgh

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On the roster: - How broken are Democrats? - White House pushed FBI to stifle reports on Russia ties - AnnnnndTrump responds to report slamming FBI in tweets - Power Play: CPAC pop quiz! - We used to call this childhood

HOW BROKEN ARE DEMOCRATS? What kind of party do Democrats want to have?

Simple: One that stops losing elections.

As the members of the Democratic National Committee gather this weekend in Atlanta to choose a new leader, much as been said about the paths forward for the party.

One, personified by Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., is maximal confrontation. Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, urges his party to face down Trump as not just wicked but also criminal.

It was at least three years before Republicans in the Obama era had to deal with bleating from their base about impeachment, but Ellison & Co. are already there.

Think about that for a second. A sitting member of Congress potentially in line to lead a major political party is calling for the impeachment of a president who has been in office for five weeks. Whatever you think of Donald Trump, thats gonzo stuff.

The other way forward is being cast in the press as a more moderate choice, that of former Labor Secretary Tom Perez.

The very fact that Perez, a staunch uber-liberal, is being depicted as some sort of squish tells you how bad off the Democrats are now.

If you thought John Boehner and Reince Priebus had it bad keeping Republicans from swallowing their tongues in the Obama era, Perez and other basically normal Democrats are about to walk through a hellscape even more diabolical in nature.

Where Republicans had Obamas supposedly forged birth certificate, Democrats have Vladimir Putin rigging the election. The Democrats conspiracy theory is less insane sounding, but will be equally damaging to the party and its mental health if not more so.

From a practical point of view, dealing with Trump for Democrats would be a pretty straightforward matter. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has basically said as much:Find the points on which Trump, no conservative, agrees with Democrats -- especially on stimulus spending, labor policy and trade -- and then jam the GOP.

One of the advantages of having a non-ideological president was supposed to be all the deal-making that would get done. But instead, Washington is still stuck.

Yes, that is in part because Trump and his fellow Republicans cant quite get the signal calling down on moving the big legislation still in the discussion phase, but also because no Democrat other than those from bright-red states feel free to work with Trump on anything.

If Schumer really wanted to be in Majority Leader Mitch McConnells head, the Democrat would be paying multiple visits to his fellow New Yorker at the White House.

But Schumer knows that he cant because his partys base doesnt even consider Trump the legitimate president, just as some Republicans, including Trump, felt about Obama.

If Perez wins this weekend, his task of leading a political party, not a resistance, will be daunting to say the least. It would be easier for him than it is for Schumer since the party isnt concerned with policy so much as fundraising and organizing.

Even so, dealing with the frothiest parts of his party is a task no prospective Democratic chairman, save perhaps Ellison, could relish.

The last time Democrats were in the wilderness like this was 13 years ago after the emotionally devastating defeat of John Kerry by incumbent president George W. Bush. Obama proved an unlikely but effective Mosesfor his party by effectively absorbing the energy the kooks of the far left and channeling it into more productive aims.

Right now, there is no one on the horizon with the potential exception of California Sen. Kamala Harris who could unite this angry, broken party.

This weekend we will find out just how angry and broken it is. THE RULEBOOK: CODEPENDENT Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 10 TIME OUT: SACKED Smithsonian Magazine: The fate of Greenlands Vikingswho never numbered more than 2,500 has intrigued and confounded generations of archaeologists [O]ver the last decade a radically different picture of Viking life in Greenland has started to emerge from the remains of the old settlements [I]n the 13th century, after three centuries, [the Vikings] world changed profoundly. First, the climate cooled because of the volcanic eruption in Indonesia. Sea ice increased, and so did ocean stormsSecond, the market for walrus ivory collapsed, partly because Portugal and other countries started to open trade routes into sub-Saharan Africa, which brought elephant ivory to the European marketAnd finally, the Black Death devastated EuropeThe Norse probably could have survived any one of those calamities separatelyBut all three blows must have left them reelingThe Greenland Vikings were essentially victims of globalization and a pandemic.

Flag on the play? -Email us atHALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COMwith your tips, comments or questions.

WHITE HOUSE PUSHED FBI TO STIFLE REPORTS ON RUSSIA TIES AP: White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked a top FBI official to dispute media reports that President Donald Trump's campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, a White House official said. The official said that Priebus' request came as the White House sought to discredit a New York Times report about the contacts last week. As of Thursday, the FBI had not commented publicly on the report and there was no indication it planned to. The New York Times reported that U.S. agencies had intercepted phone calls last year between Russian intelligence officials and members of Trump's 2016 campaign team. Priebus' discussion with FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe sparked outrage among some Democrats, who said that the chief of staff was violating policies intended to limit communications between the law enforcement agency and the White House on pending investigations.

AnnnnndTrump responds to report slamming FBI in tweets - Fox News: President Trump, after a brief hiatus, returned to throwing Twitter bombs Friday morning to accuse his own FBI of failing to crack down on leaks on the heels of reports about a conversationhis chief of staff had with the bureau about Russia-related allegationsThe White House pushed back, claiming in response that while Priebus did speak with FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, McCabe initiated the contact to inform Priebus that The New York Times report about campaign contacts with Russia was incorrect[Trump tweeted] The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security leakers that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even. find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW.

POWER PLAY: CPAC POP QUIZ! Chris Stirewalt headed over to CPAC with a little pop quiz for attendees all in good fun. Answers range from weird to wacky to thoughtful to hilarious. WATCH HERE.

AUDIBLE: PASS Sooner or later, I'm going to eat your ass. Gov. Jim Justice, D-W.Va. in an interview with radio host Hoppy Kercheval in which Justice was describing himself as a grizzly bear and a Republican state senator with whom he is feuding as a barking poodle.

PLAY-BY-PLAY Pence at CPAC: ObamaCare nightmare close to being over - Fox News

Trump transition team raised $6.5 million through mid-February in part through cabinet members families, corporations - USA Today Bannon talk at CPAC meant to reassure conservatives nervous about Trump - NYT

Trump says the U.S. needs to step up its nuclear arsenal - Retuers Ivanka, Jared Kushner pushed to strike critical language on climate change from executive order - The Hill

McCaul says we dont need a 2,000-mile wall - Politico

Poll: Large majority think Russian communications should be investigated - CBS News

ObamaCare reaches highest approval rating yet - Pew Research Center

Fla. Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz calls on Trump to release tax returns - WaPo

Montana GOP leader opposes mail-in ballots in election to replace Zinke - Great Falls [Mont.] Tribune

ANY GIVEN SUNDAY As the nations governors prepare to gather in Washington for their annual meeting two chief executives at the forefront of major policy fights, Wisconsin Republican Scott Walker and Virginia Democrat Terry McAuliffe sit down with Mr. Sunday to forecast the fights ahead. Watch Fox News Sunday withChrisWallace.Check local listingsfor broadcast times in your area.

#mediabuzz -HostHowardKurtzhas the latest take onthe weeks media coverage. Watch #mediabuzzSundays at 11 a.m. ET.

ITYW: Sunday, funday - Did you miss your fix of this weeks Ill Tell You What podcast? Well, you can always listen and subscribehereOR tune in to Fox News Channel on Sirius XM channel 450 or onFox News TalkSundays at 8 a.m. ET starting this weekend. FROM THE BLEACHERS Why isnt anyone talking about the two countries responsible for 50% of the industrial worlds CO2 emissions in 2013? Two countries with 45% of the worlds population but little in environmental controls. If you want to stop rising CO2 levels, how is it done without huge efforts by China and India? Two countries identified as emerging industrial economies. Les Pappas, Scottsdale, Ariz. [Ed. note: Well, some people are talking about it, but the fact is it seems highly unlikely that any action will be taken on that front anytime in the next four years. And while your point is well taken, we also remember that if Britain and Germany had told the U.S. to scale back our industrial revolution in the 1880s, we would have scoffed too.] Your estimate that perhaps ten percent of the country is illegal seems way too high. Pew puts it 3.5 percent. Brien Downes, Delmar, N.Y.

[Ed. Note: I was told there would be no math! No, you are quite right. That was my simple sloppy calculation. The Pew estimate of 11 million illegal immigrants out of a total population of 318 million is as close to authoritative as we are likely to get. Good catch.]

Shareyour color commentary:Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COMand please make sure to include your name and hometown.

WE USED TO CALL THIS CHILDHOOD Travel and Leisure: A new school has opened in Maine with the intent to teach millennials how to do things like manage taxes, eat nutritionally, and balance relationshipsAKA how to be an adult. The Adulting Schooloffers classes and events around Portland, Maine to teach beginner adults how to become pros at folding a fitted sheet or actually meeting people at networking events. It also hosts social media groups and webinars to instruct on adulting from afar. Although the courses may seem like mundane experiences everyone must struggle through once in their life (The Adulting Schoolhas been criticized for coddlingmillennials), the idea for the school sprung from the mind of a psychotherapist. Co-founder Rachel Weinstein noticed that large groups of millennials she worked with were grappling with many of the same issuespaying bills on time, cooking nutritional dinners, etc.

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES The border tax is complicated, difficult to understand, and incredibly intrusive. It's about as intrusive a step as you can imagine for government to step in. Charles Krauthammer on Special Report with Bret Baier. ChrisStirewaltis the politics editor for Fox News.SallyPersonscontributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign uphere.

Chris Stirewalt joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in July of 2010 and serves as digital politics editor based in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he authors the daily "Fox News First" political news note and hosts "Power Play," a feature video series, on FoxNews.com. Stirewalt makes frequent appearances on the network, including "The Kelly File," "Special Report with Bret Baier," and "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace." He also provides expert political analysis for Fox News coverage of state, congressional and presidential elections.

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How broken are Democrats? - Fox News

Democrats in control of the House advance their preferred plan to fully fund Washingtons K-12 system, as school-district leaders warn Republicans about pending layoffs without action on a levy cliff.

Seattle Times staff reporter

As the Washington Legislature approaches the halfway mark of its 105-day session next week, lawmakers have made incremental progress in a five-year-long effort to finally resolve the landmark McCleary school-funding case.

Democrats in charge of the House passed their preferred fix, which now goes to the GOP-led Senate.

Republicans, meanwhile, continue to ignore calls to delay a so-called levy cliff that school officials warn could trigger layoffs.

And some lawmakers even crossed party lines accidentally in a mistaken vote for the opposing sides legislation.

Heres a roundup of the McCleary action over the past week:

On Monday, a broad array of advocacy groups took advantage of the Presidents Day holiday to storm the Capitol grounds.

Educators, health-care workers, abortion-rights activists, Teamsters, parents, students hundreds gathered outside the statehouse to call for a fully funded education system but not at the cost of other public services.

Inside the Capitol, Republicans criticized Democrats for their proposed McCleary solution.

GOP lawmakers have argued that plan doesnt offer a specific way to pay for Democrats wish list of higher teacher salaries, smaller class sizes and more.

Democrats didnt take the political punches lying down.

On Tuesday, they urged Senate Republicans to pass a bill to delay the levy cliff that next year would automatically lower local property-tax rates for schools.

That could cost districts about $350 million if the state doesnt increase its education spending by that amount.

But some in the GOP have balked at the proposal and argue the threat of a cliff will persuade lawmakers to settle McCleary with more urgency.

Keeping track of all the twist and turns of the debate seems to even confuse lawmakers themselves.

On Wednesday, The News Tribune reported two Republicans mistakenly voted for the Democratic plan.

A quick revote ensured that bill passed along party lines.

Also Wednesday, legislative staffers released new numbers that corrected mistakes in estimates of how much the GOPs proposed McCleary fix would cost homeowners.

In Seattle, the revised numbers show the average property-tax bill would rise by $628 in 2019 and $686 in 2021, wrote Joseph OSullivan for The Seattle Times. The original estimate was $250.

As for next week, educators in Seattle could begin to feel the impact of the impending levy cliff.

Unsure if theyll be able to count on collecting as much as they have been from local taxpayers, districts like Seattle are planning for the worst.

Seattle Public Schools plans to notify principals by Feb. 28 of possible staffing reductions.

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McCleary roundup: House Democrats approve bill; no movement on ... - The Seattle Times

David Brock speaks at the Clinton School of Public Service in Arkansas, March 25, 2014. | AP/Danny Johnston

Soapbox

Democrats need to embrace a new vision. That means dumping the failed leaders of the pastincluding David Brock.

By Leah Hunt-Hendrix

February 24, 2017

As Democrats and progressives rebuild for the Trump era, they need a bold vision and a new strategy. Now is not the time to re-litigate the fractious intraparty fights of years past. Instead, they need to rally around new leaders who offer a truly transformative way forward.

During the 2016 primaries, Democrats had a choice between an establishment candidate campaigning on her hard-won experience and insider credentials, or a liberal populist buoyed by a sea of small-dollar donors calling for big change. Democrats went with the status-quo candidate and experienced a general-election loss that grows more devastating with each day of the Trump presidency.

Story Continued Below

Clearly, we must face the fact that most Americans want significant changes. But rather than embracing this core lesson of 2016, Democratic establishment leadersthe very people who just lost the most important election in modern historyare using that defeat to grab more money and power, distracting allies from their failures by redirecting attention to the very real damage being done by Republicans. They embrace the same broken tactics, privileging well-connected insiders and an uninspiring agenda that was part of what led to their catastrophic losswhich would all but ensure further losses, more infighting and a deeply divided opposition to the Trump agenda.

Take, for instance, the continued prominence of David Brock and his organizations as centerpieces of the party apparatus. Brock is a conservative journalist-turned-liberal political strategist who some have called Hillarys attack dog. To many progressives, Brock represents the insider, establishment wing of the partythe Wall Street Democrats whoi have roused the ire of Americans who rightly feel that theyve been sold out. As a longstanding member of Hillary Clinton's team, during last years primaries, Brock orchestrated attacks on Bernie Sanders were brutal and unfairas when he proclaimed that it seems black lives dont matter much to Bernie Sandersand exacerbated divides within the Democratic Party.

Now that the election is over, Brock is calling for unity. Days before Trumps inauguration, he even wrote an open-letter apology to Sanders for his past insults. But Brocks recent machinationsincluding a January conference where he promoted his own organizations amid chatter that hell launch a Koch Brothers-style donor networkshow that he and those like him have no interest in learning from or adapting to what the country needs in this moment. Establishment figureheads are calling for Democrats to unify behind a common agenda, but its an old agenda with amorphous values, one that is more focused on defeating the right than on creating an economy and society that lifts up all people.

Brock is just one part of a broader constellation of insider efforts to maintain the dominance of the neoliberal wing of the Democratic Party against a rising progressive populism. Another such group is Third Way, the centrist think tank featured prominently at Brocks January conference. Third Ways president, Jonathan Cowan, is open about his intent to steer the party away from the likes of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and back toward an uninspiring, Republican-lite, status quo agenda (which makes sense given that a major component of Third Ways budget comes from donors on Wall Street). Even now, in the wreckage of the 2016 election, Third Way has launched a $20 million effort to win back white working-class voters in the Rust Beltseemingly ignorant of the fact that the pro-Wall Street, pro-free trade economic policies that Third Way has long promoted helped lead to the Rust Belts demise.

Whether Brock or Third Way, these establishment players and institutions are narrowly focused on taking down the right in a game of hyperpartisan insider powerplays. They fail to recognize that our country is indeed suffering from major structural problemsproblems that demand a fresh approach. For Democrats to continue following those who brought us to this precipicethose who were, essentially, the architects of our 2016 losswould be a huge and historic mistake. It would reinforce what Americans, progressives especially, hate most about politics: that it has become an arena for a well-connected, powerful few who enjoy a consequence-free existence.

In this moment, progressive donors face a stark choice. They have the option of turning back the clock and freezing us in time at the exact moment we desperately need to leap forward. What donors choose to do during this timeand who they choose to follow and fundwill have significant and lasting impact. Their resources will help determine which people, programs and policies have the capacity to move forward. Will they choose the establishment path that represents little more than the lesser of two evils? Or will they try to build something more visionary: an inclusive progressive populism that can combat the ethno-nationalism now in ascension, offering hope in the face of Trump-era fear and despair?

If they take the former path, we are essentially doomed; with the latter, hope abides. Here is what that hopeful, radical vision could look like.

Espouse real values, not propaganda. Brock wants to create a new Breitbart of the Left, a propaganda machine. This is the last thing progressives need. Instead of fake news and propaganda, we need to get real and define the values that we want to define our country.

For what its worth, the right offers a vision of personal freedom and independence, however disingenuous and manipulative that may be. And they also offer communitythough that community is created through exclusion.

Ours must be a community created through inclusion. But people will never feel included if progressives embrace the same old losing playbook and elevate the same powerful insiders to positions of privilege. Instead of propaganda, Democrats need to articulate values and vision for Americato spread messages Democrats truly believe in, messages that resonate on an emotional level and speak to peoples real material concerns. If the Democratic Party cant offer something inspirational that is grounded in the core values of justice, equality and solidarity, we may need to build a party that does.

Seriously take on economic inequality, Wall Street and corporate power. Millions of Americanswhether theyre people of color, white, immigrants; whether they live in cities, suburbs, small towns or the country; whether theyre Republicans, Democrats, independents, voters or non-votersliving in poverty or struggling to make it from paycheck to paycheck. Millions are unemployed or underemployed, choosing between health care, heat or housing. Many more feel like theyre slipping behind and lack the economic security they once had.

America has moved from a production-based economy to a financialized one that is producing less and less value for the majority of the population, while funneling profits to the wealthiest. Half a century ago, the U.S. had strong antitrust regulations, corporations could not spend unlimited sums on elections and workers had vehicles to voice grievances and bargain for fair pay. Today, the vehicles that support working people have broken down from neglect.

One need not be anti-capitalist to understand that the Democratic Party is complicit in this, having allowed for policies that deregulated the finance sector (under President Bill Clinton), allowed for the privatization of many public goods (including the weakening of the public education system through the promotion of charter schools) and bailed out Wall Street banks without taking measures to truly address the needs of struggling working Americans. These issues must be reckoned with, and if we cant propose a radically progressive economic agenda that offers a vision for transforming the financial industry and guaranteeing dignified jobs, then we should not be surprised when right-wing populism wins.

Stand up for racial justice. The Democratic Party establishment has long taken communities of color for granted, assuming they have their votes and creating a one-sided extractive relationship. They should not expect that people of color will turn out for them when they offer nothing in return.

Some liberals would argue that Democrats should have paid more attention to working-class whites, and made a mistake by overemphasizing racism and identity politics and political correctness. These analyses are, at best, simplistic. And they rely on an incorrect frame that makes economic and racial concerns either/orthat pits those concerns against one another, as though theyre mutually exclusive. Economic justice and racial justice arent competing, contradictory values. Theyre mutually reinforcing. Democrats and progressives must resist this binary and fight for policies that lift up all boats.

If Democrats actually make racial justice a core principle, they would not only be on the right side of history, but might in fact have the power to rebuild a party that is in a changing Americas own image. While Trump is feeding into a global right-wing populist wave that pits working-class white people against immigrants and people of color, Democrats have a chance to create an alternative that recognizes Trumps tactic for what it is: a way of scapegoating people of color while the ruling class continues to profit off a broken system. Its a historic opportunity to forge a progressive, multiracial populism that tackles corporate power and rectifies our broken economy while also lifting up a vision of pluralism.

Build local and state power through permanent political organizations rooted in community. One of biggest mistakes that Democratic donors continually make is short-term thinking around elections. Too often, campaigns helicopter into communities with an ask and an agenda, laying down temporary infrastructure in the form of short-term organizers, renting storefronts for a season, wasting hundreds of millions on high-priced consultants and TV ads, without any long-term strategy.

Its a quick hitdonors seek the instant gratification of investing directly in a candidate, rather than building something that might last. And thats a problem not only because it leaves Democrats to lurch from election to election without any sense of continuity or any overarching strategy, but also because its incredibly expensive and inefficient.

The right has done a fantastic job of building strong, permanent infrastructure that has become the backbone of innumerable campaigns and candidates. Such organizations exist on the left, like New Florida Majority, the Texas Organizing Project, and the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, but they are drastically underfunded. Democrats need to build institutions that are rooted in communities, build local leadership, conduct voter engagement throughout the year, win elections (of course), and hold elected officials accountable.

Embrace new leaders. Its time for Democrats to rethink who they want to follow, and the kinds of people they want to lead. With respect, those who have led the Democratic Party and have brought it to this point should step aside.

The party needs a new vision. And it has a good starting place. Democrats have some visionary, inspiring elected officialsRep. Keith Ellison, Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Minnesota State Rep. Ilhan Omar, to name a fewand the party needs more like them. There is amazing work being done on the ground by people like Rashad Robinson at Color of Change, Heather McGee at Demos, and leaders of myriad state-based organizations whose effortswith more supportoffer a real vision for the Democratic Party. There are talented leaders who are ready to help change course, but for any of this to be fully realized, progressive donors need to break free from the clenches of the establishment and begin to make different kinds investments.

Four weeks into the Trump presidency, the resistance is in motion, but whether this anti-Trump energy catalyzes into an effective opposition with a coherent political agenda will depend, in large part, on access to financial resources to build the long-term capacity and infrastructure required to win on all levels. Donors will need to step up in a big way, resourcing bold strategies and leaders who are going to challenge the establishment.

Going forward, the Democratic Party needs to make clear that Democrats will be held accountable, not just by their opposition to Trump, but by their embrace of an agenda that truly addresses the deep scars of racism and economic inequality that mark our country.

If the party cant be transformed, it shouldnt expect to survive.

Leah Hunt-Hendrix is the co-founder and executive director of Solidaire, a community of individual donors and foundation allies committed to funding progressive social movements.

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The Wrong Way to Rebuild the Democratic Party - POLITICO Magazine

Democrats were decimated at nearly every level of government over the past six years. Republicans control the House and may well do so for the foreseeable future; the party is looking at a very favorable Senate map in 2018. Democrats control just 31 of the 99 state legislative chambers across the country and have a measly 16 governorships.

The oppositions glimmer of hope: Democrats have 22 state attorneys generalenough to gum up the works for President Donald Trump's agenda when congressional Democrats can't.

And these AGs aren't humble about this point.

New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman told CNN, "There's a sense of urgency and a real sense that we are now the guardians of the rule of law in the United States." New Mexico attorney general Hector Balderas told the New York Times, "It does seem that we are becoming, potentially, the fourth branch of government."

That fourth branch is responsible for Trump's chief policy setback so far. Washington state attorney general Bob Ferguson sued to stop the president's executive order restricting travel from seven Middle Eastern countries. Washington state, later joined in the suit by Minnesota, won a temporary restraining order against the administration, which was upheld by the 9th Circuit.

Other Democratic attorneys general haven't wanted to be left out: Many signed a statement condemning the executive order shortly after Trump issued it, denouncing the order as "unconstitutional, un-American and unlawful." A total of 18 attorneys general joined in an amicus brief supporting Washington state.

Extreme vetting will hardly be the only target of litigation. A group of Democratic AGs, led by Connecticut's George Jepsen, has already filed a motion to protect the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency with wide-ranging powers created under the Dodd-Frank law, which Trump wants to roll back. The AGs want the courts to defend the bureau, even though a district court last fall found the structure of the CFPB to be unconstitutional.

The Democratic AGs have a lot on their plate. They've stated their plans to challenge a reversal of the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan and other Environmental Protection Agency rules; to protect sanctuary cities; to push back against potential voter integrity measures from the Justice Department; and to protect funding for Planned Parenthood and contraception.

Virginia's attorney general, Mark Herring, is pushing for more power to prosecute hate crimes because he doesn't think Trump's Justice Department will.

Such state challenges to federal authority might almost make one think Democrats have discovered federalism. Republican AGs such as Greg Abbott, Scott Pruitt, Pam Bondi, and Ken Cuccinelli became stars challenging the Obama administration on Obamacare, immigration, and environmental rules (as chronicled in these pages by Fred Barnes, "The Last Redoubt," July 22, 2013). So why is it any different when Democrats do it?

"Conservative attorneys general have had some success at this, but progressives have a broader agenda," says Curt Levey, president of the Committee for Justice and a senior legal fellow with FreedomWorks. "Conservatives will use state litigation to fight government action. The left has always used litigation as another means of legislation."

Still, the Republican AGs who hounded the Obama administration were following the Democrats' lead. It was a dozen Democratic state attorneys general who sued to force President George W. Bush's EPA to regulate greenhouse gases. It resulted in a 5-4 ruling that gave states wide latitude for bringing lawsuits. And of course, well before that was the pioneering model for activist attorneys general: the tobacco wars of the 1990s, in which states sued to force tobacco firms to pay for Medicaid costs attributed to smoking.

But don't expect a repeat of the successful tobacco litigation, says Peggy Little, a constitutional litigation attorney in Connecticut: "So many states cite the tobacco model, but there is a much more even spread with Republican and Democratic attorneys general," she says. "With tobacco, you had 46 states. It's not the same today."

Democrats aren't expecting any Republicans to join their litigation, which has an air of election fundraising about it. The Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA), for example, is an arm of the Democratic National Committee. After the Washington state victory, DAGA posted on its Facebook page: "Tonight is a win for The Constitution, for the idea that no man is above the law. Democratic AGs will lead that fight. Chip in and stand with them."

When it comes to sparring with Trump, New York's Eric Schneiderman may have the most experience. He brought the civil fraud suit against Trump University (which, after the election, Trump settled for $25 million without admitting guilt). New York provides expansive powers to its attorney general over the state's businesses and financial institutions. Schneiderman may use those expansive powers to turn over every rock of the Trump corporate empire based in New York state, making himself a de facto special prosecutor.

But is this sort of national activism what states have attorneys general for? No, says Hans Bader, senior attorney for the Competitive Enterprise Institute: "There is always an incentive to sue because that's what they do. The traditional role of state attorneys general was supposed to be to defend and advise state agencies, not being roving inquisitors."

Fred Lucas is the White House correspondent for the Daily Signal and author of Tainted by Suspicion: The Secret Deals and Electoral Chaos of Disputed Presidential Elections.

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The Democrats' Last Hope - The Weekly Standard