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WASHINGTON – In 2016, Michelle Obama's words became the Democratic's creed to counter the ram of Donald J. Trump's presidential campaign: "When they go to the lowest, we go to the highest."
Two years later, the call of the "high" seems weak.
As much as political tensions or debates within the party, this question of tone – how to fight effectively Mr. Trump without sinking into a pale imitation – is perhaps the central cleavage of this democratic moment (and the next, with the 2020 campaign imminent).
How will the Democrats choose to revise Ms. Obama's sentence, when Mr. Trump allegedly uttered insults from the White House and the rally scene – his bully's platform before the middle of the day? l & # 39; year?
"When they go low, we kick them," said Eric H. Holder Jr., former attorney general of the Obama administration and possible candidate for 2020, this week.
"When they go low, I answer them harder," Michael Avenatti, the ubiquitous cable advocate, flirting with his own presidential career as a Trump brawler, said a crowd in Iowa during the summer.
Few but Mrs. Obama seemed inclined to defend the original chorus. "Fear," Ms. Obama told NBC on Thursday, "is not an appropriate motivator." The hope prevails.
But for many Democrats, this does not seem to be winning, at least for the moment.
It's one thing for Mr. Avenatti, the party's anti-Trump telegenic identity, to grab that kind of rhetorical real estate. But more and more, a large part of the Democratic establishment seems to be moving in this direction, channeling the just anger of the progressive base.
According to the Democrats, going high in the hierarchy has given them a Trump administration and a minority status in Congress. At the top, they got a Supreme Court judge charged with sexual assault, appointed by a president accused of sexual assault (both deny it).
"You can not be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you represent," Hillary Clinton told CNN this week. "If we have the chance to win back the House and / or Senate, that's when civility can start again. But until then, the only thing Republicans seem to recognize and respect is strength. "
Clinton seems unlikely to recommend to the next generation her "Stronger Together" campaign slogan. Yet, if she had not been able to reflect the national mood during her last race, the Democrats had spent years before trying to project outrage in the right proportions.
Former President Barack Obama might seem sacked, without ever losing sight of the minefields beneath the feet of a black politician emitting fury.
Mrs. Clinton, before her turn as a stateswoman and grandmother in 2016, had put her candidacy for 2008 on a hardness at the height of any man.
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is touted as a Democratic rarity: he did not want to give up the white voters of the working class who had raised Mr. Trump, but was not afraid of to face the president.
The result: a well located house.
"If we were in high school," said Mr. Biden earlier this year, "I would take him behind the gym to beat him."
Although the wisdom of such a showdown in a national race has not yet been tested, this year's Democratic primary season has shown that many voters are willing to reward more insurgent energy within party. The upheavals of animated progressives such as Ayanna Pressley in Massachusetts and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York were fueled, to a large extent, by their impatience with the incumbents they lacked Ms. Pressley called it "activist leadership," even though they generally voted as the Liberals wanted.
At the same time, many Democrats have warned against adopting anger as an organizing principle, suggesting that to draw attention to Mr. Trump's disregard is only if the electorate also understands what the party represents.
"Rabies is good. Rabies encourages people to be vigilant, "said Amanda Litman, a former Clinton campaign assistant who now oversees Run for Something, a group dedicated to recruiting candidates for the first time. "That being said, it's not necessarily sustainable. It's hard to be angry for two years.
She reconsidered after a moment. "Or at least, it's hard to be angry in a productive way," said Ms. Litman. "I have been angry for two years."
Democrats also risk playing in the hands of Mr. Trump and his Republican compatriots, who have Their opponents are described as a threatening and undisciplined "crowd" – a cornerstone of their closing message before the November elections, particularly after the protests sparked by Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh's confirmation. Republicans have been less vocal about Trump's aggressive language over the years, including encouraging physical reactions to protesters at rallies and suggesting that "second-amendment people" could arrest Ms. Clinton.
Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, quoted Clinton and Holder as saying, "We will not let the mafia's behavior overwhelm all Americans who want to legitimately participate in the decision-making process."
Later on Thursday, Mr. Holder tweeted a clarification many Democrats did not think it was necessary: he did not literally tell his supporters to hit the Republicans, as all his remarks made clear.
"I am saying that Republicans are undermining our democracy," he wrote, "and that Democrats must be tough, proud, and uphold the values we believe in."
(Mr Holder should not be confused with Mr Avenatti, who had actually proposed a mixed martial arts fight in three rounds with Donald Trump Jr. for charity works.)
For other candidate countries for the 2020 strategy, recent months have been a field test for how to navigate the new world.
Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey balanced a "Lead with Love" playbook to urge political opponents to play a leading role on the Senate Judiciary Committee when confirmed by Kavanaugh, when Democrats tried to break his appointment.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts – among the most outspoken Democrats in responding to Mr. Trump on his favorite social media – marks his speech with the word "fight" so often that it may sound like a subliminal message. The title of his book last year: "This Fight Is Our Fight".
At the mid-point, the zeal of the candidates was often dictated largely by the postal code.
"It depends on the level of Republican repression," said Steve Israel, a former New York Congressman and chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "If they go down in North Dakota, you are proposing to build a bridge to bring them back. If they go bad in Brooklyn, New York, you hit them in the head with a two-by-four. "
In the Senate's most prominent race this year – between Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Beto O. Rourke – Mr. O. Rourke tested the limits of this strategy by preaching the high resolution and the understanding in the red corners of Texas. and refusing to moderate his liberal policy.
This approach has earned him tens of millions of dollars in donations and a viral celebrity within the party. His stylistic contrast with Mr. Cruz was revealed during an exchange-debate last month.
"True to form," Mr. O'Rourke snapped.
And this is the case: Recent polls show that Mr. Cruz is clearly ahead.
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