Democrats differ on how to talk about probe in campaigns

Some say putting sole focus on Russia is a losing strategy.

WASHINGTON — The intense focus in Washington on the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller is not expected to become a dominant theme for Democrats on the campaign trail as the party continues grappling with how to talk about President Donald Trump.

Trump, his sagging popularity, his conservative policy ideas and the investigation now embroiling his administration are a major preoccupation for Democratic leaders, who might relish watching the White House struggle, but vividly remember that the “Stop Trump” message fell flat last year.

The Russia investigation “is important to talk about, but I don’t think it’s something you can focus entirely on,” said Ken Martin, chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farm-Labor Party.

“It’s not enough just to say that Trump and his allies are bad people,” Martin said. “We have to be able to move beyond it and start giving people a reason to vote for Democrats.”

In Ohio, Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper is hoping to retake the governor’s mansion, hold a Senate seat and claw back a congressional district or two.

“We don’t spend a lot of time around here talking about Vladimir Putin and James Comey,” he said. “I’m as frustrated as anyone by what Comey did and that Putin interfered, and Congress should get to the bottom, but if that’s what we talk about ... we will lose again.”

Pepper, who spoke the night before indictments were unsealed, added that the way Ohio Democrats will win next year “is by getting a core message that appeals across all 88 counties.”

But Guy Cecil, the president of the Democratic super PAC American Priorities Action, said that despite the reservations of some, the Russia story would be part of the party’s 2018 focus, especially after the indictments.

“That took what had been a complicated story and it simplified it,” he explained.

The story, said Cecil, would have the greatest impact on “white college educated voters who all along had conflicted feelings about Trump” but voted against Hillary Clinton’s 2016 bid after Comey announced a last-minute decision to briefly reopen a probe against the former secretary of state.

Also complicating the party’s response to the investigations is that a prominent party stalwart may also end up entangled in the affair.

On Monday, Tony Podesta, a Democratic power lobbyist and the brother of John Podesta, a longtime Democratic adviser who led the presidential campaign of Clinton, announced that he is stepping down from his lobbying firm amid questions about the work he did with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business partner, Rick Gates, who were indicted on Monday.

Across the country, Democratic political consultants and progressive groups agreed that mentions of the ongoing investigation will resonate best in areas where Trump is deeply unpopular. It may also help make broader anti-incumbent arguments about the need to clean up Washington.

“It isn’t directly relevant for every campaign, but if you’re running for Congress, it sure is. Congress’s job is to be a check on Donald Trump, and right now Congress is failing,” said Rodd McLeod, an Arizona-based consultant working with congressional and state candidates.

Since the end of the effort to repeal Obamacare, the grass-roots Indivisible project has focused more on building opposition to tax cuts than on the Russia probe.

“We went through the exact same thing during the Trump care fight. Comey was fired, and Mueller was appointed, and we had to try to focus the field: yes, this is bonkers, but keep your eye on the prize,” said Ezra Levin, the co-founder of Indivisible. “Where we have leverage is through the legislative process - that’s where constituent power actually works.”