Ex-Clinton campaign staffer: Dems have not written off Trump supporters

Democratic candidates are not writing off President Trump’s supporters in the November midterm elections, despite a time of fierce political divisions, according to a former Hillary Clinton campaign staffer.

Joel Payne, former director of African American Paid Media for Hillary for America, said Democrats will need the support of all the voters they can get in order to reclaim the House.

“I don’t think Democrats have written off Trump supporters,” Payne told Hill.TV’s “Rising.”

Winning over members of Trump’s base will be no easy task, especially in the increasingly polarized political environment. Divisions between Republicans and Democrats on fundamental political values reached record levels under the Obama administration, and they’ve widened since Trump took office, according to a study by the Pew Research Center.

Still, Payne said Democrats have already won over several red districts. He cited Rep. Conor Lamb’s (D-Pa.) special election victory as one example.

At the same time, Payne says Democrats are trying to win over more voters – without necessarily compromising their political ideology, which has become the subject of much debate recently as the party looks toward its future.

“I think Democrats, though, want to make sure that they’re holding true to their party values and they’re making sure that’s not getting lost in the sauce,“ Payne told Hill.TV.

The Democratic Party has been moving further to the left in some races, as evidenced by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D) shocking upset over a 10-term Democratic incumbent, Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), in a primary last month. A self-described democratic socialist, Ocasio-Cortez’s platform includes a call for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and supporting “Medicare for all.”

Still, national Democrats’ preferred candidates, who have taken more moderate stances on some issues compared with progressives, are in position to possibly win back some seats in swing districts. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “red to blue” candidates have won 27 out of their 29 primaries.

— Tess Bonn