2020 elections

The party’s liberal and moderate factions traded jabs on taxes and health care this week in the presidential race.

That didn’t take long.

Barely a month into the 2020 Democratic primary, rifts between the party’s liberal and moderate factions burst open this week — pried loose by an intraparty feud over health care and taxes that could define the battle to take on President Donald Trump.

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It started with Sen. Kamala Harris’ comments at a town hall Monday that she backed eliminating the health insurance industry in order to achieve Medicare for all. Distancing herself from the proposal on CNN the next day, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) cautioned against immediately “changing our entire insurance system where over half of Americans get private insurance.”

It wasn’t just health care. By the end of the week, Democratic contenders were sparring over taxes — specifically the wave of proposals to soak the ultra-rich.

“I’m a little bit tired of listening to things that are pie in the sky, that we never are going to pass, are never going to afford. I think it’s just disingenuous to promote those things. You’ve got to do something that’s practical,” implored former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, himself a billionaire.

Elizabeth Warren wasn’t having it. “Billionaires like Howard Schultz and Michael Bloomberg want to keep a rigged system in place that benefits only them and their buddies,” she shot back.

Though still gentle compared with the barbs traded by Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders at the height of the 2016 primary, the week’s skirmishes over health care and taxes have come unexpectedly early to the 2020 contest, presaging a volatile year ahead. And despite Democrats’ focus on Trump’s cratering public approval ratings, the week served as a reminder of the party’s own divisions, raising warnings about the prospect of improving Trump’s hand.

“We have no center in either party, and we have extremes in both parties,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime Democratic strategist based in New York. “The question is, ‘How does that work itself out? Not well. Not well because it creates greater conflict … If you have greater conflicts, how do you get together around one candidate? The only joining force here is dislike of Donald Trump.”

Policy disputes are a typical part of contested presidential primaries, and Jaime Harrison, associate chair of the Democratic National Committee, said they are likely to be especially pronounced in a contested race where “you’ve got a bunch of smart people who have been thinking and working in policy for all of their lives.”

“When people step into this arena and get engaged, you’re not going to wait until the very last minute to say how you’re different from your opponent. You’re going to lean into it,” said Harrison, a former South Carolina state party chair. “I think it’s good for the Democratic Party to decide where it is, what it wants, what it values, and what’s going to be the hallmark for the party going into 2020.”

Yet Mike McCauley, an alumnus of former President Barack Obama’s campaign and administration and a Democratic strategist in South Carolina, said he’s been surprised at how early the policy debate has emerged — particularly when the field of candidates isn’t even set.

“But when you have a field that’s this open, maybe that’s how you separate the wheat from the chaff,” McCauley said. “Folks either step in the mud or they shine.”

McCauley lauded Harris’ decision to appear in the CNN town hall this week in Iowa — “I think it took a lot of guts,” he said.

And McCauley predicted that the Harris campaign’s decision to stick by her answer on Medicare for all and eliminating the private health insurance market, while providing the context that she’s also backed less far-reaching bills in the Senate, would strike an early chord not just on the far left, but beyond.

“Owning where you’re at and who you are and not trying to quibble about it or turn tail earns respect from people in places like South Carolina — or Iowa and New Hampshire, for that matter,” he said.

On Thursday, Sanders added to the early catalog of progressive policies coming out of prospective presidential campaigns, introducing legislation that would expand the federal estate tax. Sanders’ office said his plan would raise $2.2 trillion by taxing estates of people who inherit more than $3.5 million — far lower than the current $11 million threshold.

Sanders’ proposal followed the release of Warren’s “ultramillionaire” tax proposal. Harris has proposed an alternative tax break, meanwhile, focused more squarely on middle-income earners. Her plan would give a $6,000 tax break to families earning up to $100,000 annually.

Amid the policy push by progressives, Bill Bloomfield — a prominent California donor who ran against former Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman as an independent in 2012 — said there’s an opening for a moderate Democrat like Bloomberg, whom Bloomfield plans to support if he runs.

The Democrats staking out progressive positions on health care and tax policies, Bloomfield suggested, “are fishing from a small pond.” Meanwhile, Bloomfield said that Bloomberg’s plainspoken, practical approach, combined with his positions on gun control and the work he did to help elect Democrats in the 2018 midterms, give him areas where he can appeal to a broader Democratic electorate and become a surprise in Iowa and New Hampshire.

He also sees the Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat former New York mayor as the most formidable challenger to Trump in the general election.

“If I were Donald Trump,” Bloomfield said, “I would hope like heck that the nominee isn’t Michael Bloomberg.”

Among progressive Democrats in the top tier of the 2020 field, policy differences on issues ranging from health care to taxes and climate change are relatively minor, and so far they have drawn less attention than potential candidates’ biographies. Michael Ceraso, a Democratic strategist who worked on the presidential campaigns of Sanders and Obama, said Democratic voters in 2020 are more likely to consider a candidate’s record than any policies they propose.

“I think it’s the past that is going to be evaluated a lot harder than these Senate bills that folks are introducing now to try to get some media attention,” he said.

And the week also showcased Democratic unity when Schultz announced that he was considering an independent run for president.

Fearful that a third-party candidacy could siphon votes from the Democratic nominee, potentially handing Trump a second term, Democrats of every stripe piled on Schultz this week, relentlessly criticizing the former Starbucks chief executive.

“He’s kind of uniting the Democrats,” said Sean Bagniewski, chairman of the Polk County Democrats in Iowa. “So the people who maybe felt they were far apart on health policy or tax policy are now all kind of agreeing that we don’t like the way that he’s attacking us.”

On that issue, he said, “You almost see all the different factions uniting.”

white house

The president’s Tuesday night address might also include a ‘warm and fuzzy’ gesture to his recent nemesis, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to a White House aide.

President Donald Trump is telling conservative allies he wants to incorporate firm anti-abortion language into his State of the Union address Tuesday, and potentially include an anti-abortion figure among his list of invitees, according to four sources familiar with his plans

Trump sees an opening to energize his evangelical supporters and capture moderate voters who administration officials believe may be turned off by widespread coverage of New York’s newest abortion law, which allows for termination of some pregnancies after the 24-week mark for health reasons.

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The issue is one of many the president will address in a Tuesday night speech, which aides say currently clocks in at about one hour. Although it comes amid an ongoing standoff with congressional Democrats over a wall Trump wants to build along the southern border, people familiar with its contents say it will range widely and include a call for bipartisanship.

Trump is even expected to deliver what one Republican close to the White House called a “warm and fuzzy” overture to his recent nemesis in the border wall fight, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who will be sitting a few feet behind the president atop the House chamber’s dais.

Abortion has crested as an issue for conservative legal activists in recent days after New York’s Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, signed the late-term abortion bill last Tuesday. Trump has discussed the issue with prominent conservative Christians, including on a phone call this week with Faith & Freedom Coalition President Ralph Reed, a White House official confirmed to POLITICO.

“The president wants to reaffirm his commitment to pro-life things,” said the Republican close to the White House, adding that Trump doesn’t want his third appearance before a joint session of Congress to be “all fire and brimstone.”

The issue gained more currency on Wednesday after Virginia’s Democratic governor, Ralph Northam, defended a similar bill introduced in his state Legislature. In an interview with The Daily Caller later that day, Trump said he was “surprised” at Northam’s comments.

Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., one of Trump’s biggest evangelical defenders, said the high-profile speech would be an ideal time for the president to weigh in on the debate over late-term abortion.

“The legislation in New York and Virginia is really forcing his hand and he’s reacting to people who have just gone off the rails. I don’t think he’s going to mention it for political reasons because I don’t think it will help him much politically,” Falwell said. “I think he’s doing it because he really believes it’s important to protect life.”

Trump, who has publicly supported abortion rights in the past, has maintained strong support from religious conservatives who might otherwise be turned off by his persona thanks to his administration’s attentiveness to their social-conservative agenda.

It is unclear whether Trump will directly mention the Virginia or New York abortion laws, and to what extent he’ll broach the politically charged topic. Two people who spoke with him recently said it’s unlikely that he would call out Northam by name.

The White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has been known to wait until the day of the State of the Union to share excerpts with allies and to release a list of the president’s and first lady’s guests.

Trump and his team of speechwriters have spent the past several weeks soliciting feedback from a range of outside advisers, agency heads and Republican lawmakers.

A current administration official said White House policy adviser Stephen Miller has taken the lead on developing the speech in Trump’s voice, while much of the heavy lifting is being handled by two other White House speechwriters: Vince Haley and Ross Worthington, who were both involved in last year’s address.

Trump typically takes each new draft back to his private residence to mark up with a black felt-tip pen before discussing his suggestions and additions with Miller.

Despite the divisiveness of a topic like abortion, White House aides say the president’s principal goal is to project a message of unity by closely mirroring the overall tone of his 2018 State of the Union speech, in which he described the public as “one American family,” eschewing the “American carnage” rhetoric of his inaugural address.

“It will focus on the bipartisan achievements we’ve already had, and look toward things that should be areas where we can work together” with Democrats, a White House official said.

“I really think it’s going to be a speech that is going to cover a lot of territory, but part of it is going to be unity,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.

Such talk — and any personal outreach to Pelosi — would mark a stark shift from Trump’s public remarks and tweets throughout the 35-day partial government shutdown that ended last week, during which he bashed congressional Democratic leaders and threatened to invoke emergency powers to pay for his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump will be giving his speech a week later than planned thanks to Pelosi, who insisted he delay the annual event until after the government was fully reopened. Trump responded by canceling a military flight that was to take Pelosi and several of her House Democratic colleagues on a fact-finding trip to Afghanistan.

White House officials said Trump venerates the annual State of the Union tradition, seeing it as an opportunity to look presidential and put pressure on Democrats to work with him. In addition to discussing border security and immigration, Trump plans to call for bipartisan infrastructure legislation, as well as measures to lower drug prices, two issues on which Pelosi has signaled she is willing to work with Trump.

The president is also expected to touch on trade, which re-entered the news cycle this week as several Chinese officials came to Washington for a fresh round of talks with the administration. Trump might specifically mention a House bill introduced last week by Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) that would give him broad authority to raise tariffs in response to actions taken by other countries, even though the legislation is seen as dead on arrival in the Democrat-controlled lower chamber.

On immigration, perhaps the most difficult topic Trump must navigate during his remarks, a source close to the White House said he is searching for a way to balance his desire for more forceful immigration enforcement tactics with softer language on the overall issue. This person said Trump thought he did this well during a naturalization ceremony in the Oval Office earlier this month and is even considering inviting one of the newly naturalized citizens to sit in his box during the address.

An initial draft of the speech is already complete, but it remains a work in progress, with senior aides like press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, national security adviser John Bolton and others offering suggestions.

Speech prep will intensify in the coming days and Trump is expected to do at least one dry run of the address next week, reading from a teleprompter to mimic the conditions of the House chamber.

Whatever his speech text says, one close friend of Trump’s noted that the president can always ad-lib unpredictably, scrambling the best-laid plans of his aides.

“If past is precedent, the hardest job in the room that night is the guy who works the prompter,” the friend said.

Sabrina Rodriguez contributed to this report.