House Democrats wrestle in Trump's news cycle

House Democrats can not escape Trumpmania.

President Nancy Pelosi and her colleagues live in a painful new reality fueled by the ascension of Donald Trump – a climate of scandal characterized by a five-minute information cycle that's impossible to control.

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"When did we ever have a presidency when the news cycle is dictated in the morning by what he's tweeting?" Asked Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.). "You work overtime to defend your cause, and it's like raising the bar higher, you realize how difficult it is to work in this environment."

Since the beginning of their majority, House Democrats have struggled to get their message across beyond Trump's daily drumbeat on tweets and scandals. But as Republicans in the House have found to their detriment, the media is now acting at Trump's speed while Democrats are forced to legislate at the speed of Congress.

The result is a confusing message that has fueled anxiety among dozens of new members working in the red districts who are increasingly desperate to talk about their program. Senior Democratic leaders also worried about how they would lead the party as Trump began his re-election campaign.

"With social media, with news 24 hours a day, with Donald Trump, we are learning to do more than one thing," said Representative Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.). "We must tackle these unnecessary problems while understanding that the key is to do our legislative work."

This is not entirely Trump's fault. Some of the distractions came from the very ranks of Democrats: a superstar rookie like Alexandra Ocasio Cortez (DN.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) And their army of followers at Twitter – which according to lawmakers are a another symptom of the rise of politics based on personality.

"I think if you read the newspapers and watch TV and ask who the new members of Congress are, you propose three names," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md) told reporters Tuesday. .).

According to the Democrats, this is a very different climate from the last time they came to power in 2006 and this partly explains their initial difficulties as a new majority.

At first, the Democrats in the House were overwhelmed by this 35-day closure. Since then, Pelosi and his senior aides have begun to engage in a strong political agenda, but many grassroots democrats are concerned that their policies may not shape the media's rhetoric.

The House voted the biggest vote on gun reform in 25 years, but the headlines were written in place of Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen. The House voted on an extensive program of ethics reform, but was overshadowed by an internal dispute over the comments of Representative Ilhan Omar criticizing pro-Israel defenders.

"I did not think that 15 years ago, an inappropriate comment from a Freshman member of Congress would have triggered a whole week of national conversation – it's at most a story of a day." said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), referring to last week's fury over Omar (D-Minn.).

"He brought a factor of superficiality and entertainment to politics," said Khanna about Trump.

Some legislators could have avoided some headaches. For example, the House Judiciary Committee could have scheduled its long-awaited hearing with Trump's former lawyer and repairman on a day when the House was no longer considering its first set of firearms control measures in Canada. two decades.

But the Democratic caucus itself has raised a lot of other issues, including the disproportionate influence of newly elected liberals, such as Tlaib, who has been in the headlines since she said she wants to "attack the prosecutor".

"It's absolutely, radically different," said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat from eight mandates.

"Trump was designed in such a way that it set fire to the most liberal component of the Democratic Party, which was previously silent but still extremely liberal," Cleaver added. "They became so upset that it put a strain on the party structure – our infrastructure – that I did not see."

Pelosi seems aware of all that has changed in the media environment since his last appointment.

On Monday, she actively declared that she would "make the headlines" by distancing herself from the impeachment.

"She was able to capture the day, so to speak," said Larson de Pelosi. "It has reoriented the news cycle from where it was and where it was heading … it is there that senior leaders like this one and the intelligence services intervene. "

A prominent Democratic Councilor pointed out that today, as the House passes a resolution to make the Mueller Report public, the discussion on impeachment was inevitable.

"So, the moment of his appearance was perfect," said the assistant.

Nevertheless, while the comments could offer the moderates a long-term advantage by offering them coverage against the impeachment, the decision divided the Democrats and somewhat diverted the party.

The Democrats arrived at the Capitol this week with the firm intention of raising the bar after a few difficult days of internal conflict within their party. They were eager to unveil a bill that would protect more than 2 million "dreamers" against deportation and another dedicated to extending LGBT rights.

Senior Democrats, such as Speaker of the House Conference, Hakeem Jeffries, were confronted with a series of questions asked by reporters on Tuesday to clarify, defend and dissect Pelosi's claims that she was opposed to Trump's indictment because it "is not worth it".

"Donald Trump is like the wizard of Oz. It creates all these images – this chaos, this crisis, this confusion, "said Jeffries, Democrat # 5, at his weekly press conference aimed at defining the democratic narrative for the week. "No, it's Trump's administration for two years."

After calmly responding to many of the issues surrounding the impeachment, Jeffries began drawing up a long list of what he saw as recent achievements by House Democrats, ranging from Trump's victory to the closing of the first law. important on gun control for decades.

"If you had read the reviews over the past week, you would feel like we are in chaos, crisis and confusion," said Jeffries as he began to go through the list, ending this week by presenting big bills with LGBT immigration and equality.

"Does this sound like chaos, crisis and confusion?" Continued Jeffries. "Next question."

The greatest democrats say they are urging members to line up behind the party, exercising the same sort of message that allowed the Democrats to win back Parliament. But they also recognize that it's difficult, especially for those over 60 who are coming to Washington for the first time, many of whom have no legislative experience.

"I think a lot of people think because we were so focused [during the campaign]we did not go with all the little distractions we had, but we managed to cross the finish line, "said representative Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), who heads the field arm Democrats of the House. "Very quickly, now we are sworn in as a new session of Congress and the distractions are constant."

Representative David Cicilline, who leads the House Democrats' messaging strategy, said he personally urged his colleagues to deploy campaign tactics – "simplicity and repetition" – to set this year's agenda.

"We obviously do not have the ability to control the information cycle," said Cicilline. "It's a challenge, but it's the nature of the work we're in."