Biden to headline House Dems’ retreat: report

Vice President Joe Biden will headline the annual strategy retreat for House Democrats’ campaign arm later this week, according to Politico.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is gathering in Santa Fe, N.M., for three days starting Friday as they map out a strategy to gain seats this November.

{mosads}Biden will address assembled lawmakers Saturday. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), the DCCC’s chairman, are leading the retreat.

Reps. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) and Denny Heck (D-Wash.), the DCCC’s two recruitment chairs, are also attending the event, as are Democratic House candidates, the report said.

The DCCC outraised its Republican counterpart by nearly $1 million in February, according to reports. The Dem group raised $7.1 million, ending with $37 million cash on hand.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, in contrast, pocketed $6.3 million in February, giving it $39 million in the bank overall.

Democratic leadership last month predicted that Donald Trump could spell disaster for Republicans if he becomes their presidential nominee. Democrats up and down the ticket plan on linking their GOP rivals to Trump.

“Trump is the Republican nominee for all intents and purposes,” Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Fla.) said on March 16. “The math is impossible any other candidate to take the nomination.”

Luján said Trump’s bid would help Democrats “expand the battlefield and win big in November” but declined to predict it would cost the GOP its House majority.

“Now that the Republican primary has taken shape, Trump will inflict more harm on down-ballot Republicans,” he said. “This is bad news for the GOP. As Trump continues to drive the narrative in offensive and unpredictable ways, Congressional Republicans will be unable to escape its impact.”