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Democrats Eager to Woo Republicans Who Are Wary of Trump Democrats Eager to Woo Republicans Who Are Wary of Trump
(about 1 hour later)
PHILADELPHIA — They saluted the valor and vigor of the American armed forces. They quoted Ronald Reagan and Theodore Roosevelt, iconic Republican presidents of the 20th century, as well as a beloved Republican former first lady. They talked plainly about faith, about instilling good family values, about the uniqueness of the American experiment.PHILADELPHIA — They saluted the valor and vigor of the American armed forces. They quoted Ronald Reagan and Theodore Roosevelt, iconic Republican presidents of the 20th century, as well as a beloved Republican former first lady. They talked plainly about faith, about instilling good family values, about the uniqueness of the American experiment.
For four days here, the Democratic Party sought to flip the magnetic poles of American politics, seizing on Donald J. Trump’s unlikely rise to invade intellectual and rhetorical terrain held by the Republican Party for most of the last four decades. Over four days here, the Democratic Party sought to flip the magnetic poles of American politics, seizing on Donald J. Trump’s unlikely rise to invade intellectual and rhetorical terrain held by the Republican Party for most of the last four decades.
While Mr. Trump’s convention in Cleveland described the United States as cheated, hapless and weak, a parade of prominent Democrats here summoned a country of limitless ingenuity, profound strength and majestic moral authority.While Mr. Trump’s convention in Cleveland described the United States as cheated, hapless and weak, a parade of prominent Democrats here summoned a country of limitless ingenuity, profound strength and majestic moral authority.
For the Democrats, it was a carefully calibrated, precisely drafted assault on the Republican coalition. For months, they have sought to tar Republican politicians with Mr. Trump’s essence, arguing that the New York developer and reality star was the true id of a Republican Party marbled with political extremism and racial antagonism.For the Democrats, it was a carefully calibrated, precisely drafted assault on the Republican coalition. For months, they have sought to tar Republican politicians with Mr. Trump’s essence, arguing that the New York developer and reality star was the true id of a Republican Party marbled with political extremism and racial antagonism.
But in Philadelphia, they presented Mr. Trump to Republican voters as a dangerous rogue, offering adherents of the party of Lincoln a “home for you right here in the Democratic Party,” as Tim Kaine, the nominee for vice president, said on Wednesday. That message was amplified on Thursday night, when Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech was preceded by remarks from a former aide in the Reagan White House and an official at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, both backing Mrs. Clinton. But in Philadelphia, they presented Mr. Trump to Republican voters as a dangerous rogue, offering adherents of the party of Lincoln a “home for you right here in the Democratic Party,” as Tim Kaine, the nominee for vice president, said Wednesday. That message was amplified on Thursday night, when Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech was preceded by remarks from a former aide in the Reagan White House and an official at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, both backing Mrs. Clinton.
“I’ve never voted for a Democrat in my life,” said the former aide, Doug Elmets, a California-based Republican consultant who worked as a speechwriter for President Reagan. “What you see is really no longer the Republican Party, but the party of Donald Trump.”“I’ve never voted for a Democrat in my life,” said the former aide, Doug Elmets, a California-based Republican consultant who worked as a speechwriter for President Reagan. “What you see is really no longer the Republican Party, but the party of Donald Trump.”
For some Republicans, the two weeks of back-to-back party conventions presented a head-spinning inversion of iconography and professed values, one they feared could provoke a more permanent departure from Republican ranks by middle of the road voters faced with a choice between the Democrats and Mr. Trump. In interviews and on Twitter, they voiced frustrations that Mr. Trump had let the Democrats steal some of their best material. For some Republicans, the two weeks of back-to-back party conventions presented a head-spinning inversion of iconography and professed values, one they feared could provoke a more permanent departure from Republican ranks by middle of the road voters faced with a choice between the Democrats and Mr. Trump. In interviews and online, they voiced frustrations that Mr. Trump had let the Democrats steal some of their best material.
“What is Obama talking about? He’s talking about the Constitution. He’s talking about personal freedom,” said Craig Shirley, a conservative author and Reagan biographer, referring to the Wednesday speech in which President Obama invoked his Scotch-Irish roots and the homespun values of humility and hard work.“What is Obama talking about? He’s talking about the Constitution. He’s talking about personal freedom,” said Craig Shirley, a conservative author and Reagan biographer, referring to the Wednesday speech in which President Obama invoked his Scotch-Irish roots and the homespun values of humility and hard work.
“Moving out several paragraphs, Reagan could have given that speech,” Mr. Shirley added. “This might be part of a dialectical change in American politics.”“Moving out several paragraphs, Reagan could have given that speech,” Mr. Shirley added. “This might be part of a dialectical change in American politics.”
As in any newly staged production, there were stutters. No American flags were on stage during first day of the convention, promoting Twitter titters on the right. Not until the third day, Wednesday, did a prominent speaker tackle ISIS and terrorism, a top concern for many moderates and, polling shows, for married white suburban women, a longtime Republican-leaning chunk of the electorate that has fled Mr. Trump’s candidacy. As in any newly staged production, there were stutters. No physical American flags were on stage during first day of the convention, promoting Twitter titters on the right. Military veterans on Thursday were heckled by shouts of “no more war” from supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont (though they were overwhelmed by other delegates, on-message, chanting “U.S.A.”).
And not until the third day, Wednesday, did a prominent speaker tackle ISIS and terrorism, a top concern for many moderates and, polling shows, for married white suburban women, a longtime Republican-leaning chunk of the electorate that has fled Mr. Trump’s candidacy.
“The Democratic speeches so far have done a very good job of co-opting Republican language on exceptionalism and patriotism,” said Rory Cooper, a Republican consultant who worked for Eric Cantor, the former House majority leader. “But the absence of any mention of ISIS or how to deal with it has been a glaring error for the Democrats. The disaffected voters who could be open-minded to Clinton consistently rank that as an issue very important to them.”“The Democratic speeches so far have done a very good job of co-opting Republican language on exceptionalism and patriotism,” said Rory Cooper, a Republican consultant who worked for Eric Cantor, the former House majority leader. “But the absence of any mention of ISIS or how to deal with it has been a glaring error for the Democrats. The disaffected voters who could be open-minded to Clinton consistently rank that as an issue very important to them.”
It remains to be seen whether Mrs. Clinton — an enduring and deeply polarizing figure in American politics, distrusted by many voters — can stir the kind of Republicans who are wary of Mr. Trump. And if the Democratic Party’s discourse seemed to move to the right this week in Philadelphia, its policies have been marching steadily left, in part under pressure from Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and a progressive movement that is steadily gaining strength in Democratic circles. It remains to be seen whether Mrs. Clinton — an enduring and deeply polarizing figure in American politics, distrusted by many voters — can stir the kind of Republicans who are wary of Mr. Trump. And if the Democratic Party’s discourse seemed to move to the right this week in Philadelphia, its policies have been marching steadily left, in part under pressure from Mr. Sanders.
Those tensions were also on display in the Wells Fargo Center, where dismayed Sanders supporters staged last-ditch efforts meant to mar Mrs. Clinton’s nomination, and outside in parking lots, where protesters burned American and Israeli flags. But much of the official program — and the images beamed to millions of viewers at home — mostly presented a tableau of the vital American center, with Mr. Trump as a dangerous and even deranged aberration. Those tensions were also on display in the Wells Fargo Center, where dismayed Sanders supporters staged last-ditch efforts meant to mar Mrs. Clinton’s nomination, and outside in parking lots, where protesters burned American and Israeli flags. But much of the official program — and the images beamed to millions of viewers at home — presented a tableau of the vital American center, with Mr. Trump as a dangerous and even deranged aberration.
As the Republicans did in 2004, when they invited Senator Zell Miller of Georgia, a Democrat, to deliver a keynote address excoriating his own party’s nominee, the Democrats turned to a prominent outsider to make the case against Mr. Trump. On Wednesday, former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, a Republican-turned-independent, vouched for Mrs. Clinton. Like Mr. Kaine, he was careful to speak directly to voters who were uncomfortable with conventional Democratic ideology. As the Republicans did in 2004, when they invited Senator Zell Miller of Georgia, a Democrat, to deliver a keynote address excoriating his party’s nominee, the Democrats turned to a prominent outsider to make the case against Mr. Trump. On Wednesday, former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent, vouched for Mrs. Clinton. Like Mr. Kaine, he was careful to speak to voters uncomfortable with conventional Democratic ideology.
“I know what it’s like to have neither party fully represent my views or values,” said Mr. Bloomberg. But whatever disagreements he had with Mrs. Clinton, he told the country, “We must put them aside for the good of our country.” “I know what it’s like to have neither party fully represent my views or values,” he said.
Incumbent parties always paint a rosier picture of the country’s fortunes than the party out of power. But in the years since Vietnam, even when they have been in power, the Democrats have often found themselves more comfortable in the role of loyal opposition, defining and critiquing their country’s faults rather than exalting its history and traditions. That behavior has vexed and complicated Democratic politics for decades, as the two major parties traded the mantle of, as Mr. Shirley put it, “the party of the future.”Incumbent parties always paint a rosier picture of the country’s fortunes than the party out of power. But in the years since Vietnam, even when they have been in power, the Democrats have often found themselves more comfortable in the role of loyal opposition, defining and critiquing their country’s faults rather than exalting its history and traditions. That behavior has vexed and complicated Democratic politics for decades, as the two major parties traded the mantle of, as Mr. Shirley put it, “the party of the future.”
Some saw echoes of previous realignments, drawing parallels to the original neoconservative movement that began in the late 1960s, when hawkish Democrats began turning on the party in opposition to the counterculture and to the Democrats’ growing anti-interventionism in foreign affairs. But in recent weeks, some Republicans were seeing echoes of previous realignments, drawing parallels to the original neoconservative movement that began in the late 1960s, when hawkish Democrats began turning on the party in opposition to the counterculture and to the Democrats’ growing anti-interventionism in foreign affairs.
Today, it is conservative intellectuals who are wavering from their party, repelled by Mr. Trump and viewing him as indifferent if not hostile to their core beliefs. Some pointed to his praise for Russia and his recent statement — echoing what they see as the moral relativism of the left — that the United States was too troubled to have “a right to lecture” Turkey for its crackdown on civil liberties. Today, it is conservative intellectuals who are wavering from their party, repelled by Mr. Trump and viewing him as indifferent if not hostile to their beliefs. And Democrats are beckoning.
“He is doing what Democratic nominees would never do,” said Pete Wehner, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a former aide to President George W. Bush. “He is going way beyond what a Democratic nominee ever did.” “I think they’re trying to become the party of patriotism, the party that loves America, that is proud of America, that defends America,” said Pete Wehner, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a former aide to President George W. Bush.
Mr. Wehner pointed to Mr. Trump’s praise for Russia and his recent statement that the United States was too troubled to have “a right to lecture” Turkey for its crackdown on civil liberties.
“He is doing what Democratic nominees would never do,” Mr. Wehner said. “He is going way beyond what a Democratic nominee ever did.”