Subject: DNC Talking Points - West Virginia, Nebraska Primaries
From: "Paustenbach, Mark" <[email-masked]>
To: "Paustenbach, Mark" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Miranda, Luis" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 11 May 2016 01:28:02 +0000
List-Id: <talkers.dnc.org>

5.10.16 - West Virginia, Nebraska Primary Talking Points

Topline Message:

*         With his lock on the Republican nomination, Donald Trump has ensured that his Party's problems won't be limited to convention chaos -- he's going to force GOP races big and small across the country to have to own his ugly, divisive and dangerous rhetoric all the way to the general election.

*         That's why the party faithful -- from senior leaders to the voters of Nebraska and West Virginia today -- have started to fret publicly about their party's deepening divides, and stumble with no real strategy for embracing their divisive and dangerous standard bearer. Democrats, on the other hand, have shown in state after state that our voters are excited about our primary, and optimistic about both of our candidates.

*         But we're not taking anything for granted, we're going to hold Trump and Republicans up and down the ballot accountable for their repeated promises to drag our country right back to the reckless policies that were in place in 2009 when the last Republican president left office; when we were losing 800,000 jobs a month; and, when countless Americans lost their homes and savings. The American people can't afford to let a Republican into the White House.

Key Points

*         Today Ted Cruz refused to throw his support behind Trump, adding his name to the growing list of GOP leaders distancing themselves from the party's nominee - a list that includes former presidential candidates Mitt Romney and John McCain, and the entire Bush family, who all said they won't attend their own convention this year.

*         And as we look toward Trump's upcoming meeting with Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan this Thursday at the RNC, it's clear that any signs they'll show of camaraderie on the way out will be purely cosmetic.

*         That division isn't just happening at the top --- it's visible all the way down to the grassroots of the Republican Party. In exit polls today, just ten percent of Republican voters in West Virginia and three percent in Nebraska said they think their party is united.

*         While Republican candidates across the country up and down the ballot are tearing out their hair trying to decide between standing beside Trump -- the dangerous and reckless candidate they created -- or avoiding their own convention to distance themselves, Democrats are poised to ride enthusiasm and support for our candidates into November.

*         In contest after contest, Democratic voters are reporting their enthusiasm for both of our candidates, while Republicans report that their primary has divided their party.

*         The national trend favors Democrats, who have seen in exit polls week after week that our voters are excited about our primary.

o    In Indiana last week, three-quarters of Democrats said they've been energized by the nomination contest, while nearly six in ten Republicans said they think their party has been divided.

o    In Pennsylvania the week before, the story was the same, as it was in New York the week before that, and Wisconsin before that.

*         Democrats are building the infrastructure for the general election, and we're doing it with voters enthusiastic because they see our candidates have the right ideas to build on the progress of the last seven years.

*         We've seen a record 74 straight months of private-sector job growth creating over 14 million new jobs, and 20 million people have health care who didn't before. We must elect a Democrat as our next president to keep America on the right track and moving forward.

Divisive, Reckless and Dangerous:

Donald Trump Lacks the Judgment or Temperament to be President

Donald Trump's recklessness would hurt our economy, diminish our standing in the world, and make our communities less safe. Trump is divisive and dangerous, and he lacks the judgment and temperament to be president.

*         Trump's impending nomination is a reminder that for years the Republican Party has elevated extreme voices, using divisive campaigns that sought to exploit unfounded fears for political gain.

*         Just like Republicans in Washington have done for years, Trump is only looking out for himself. His plans would benefit those at the very top and economists have predicted that his policies could cause a global recession. He would drag our country back to where we were when the last Republican president left office, when we were losing 800,000 jobs a month. The American people can't afford to let Trump bully his way into the Oval Office.

*         Trump has already damaged America's relationships across the globe. His record of denigrating women has only gotten worse throughout this campaign. His divisive rhetoric has made our communities less safe. And his business record is riddled with embarrassing failures that make it clear the American people can't afford to let him get anywhere near the White House.

National Security: Even as a candidate, Donald Trump has damaged America's relationships across the globe. In the White House, he would undeniably make America less safe.

*         Donald Trump has no foreign policy experience and rather than seeking the advice of well-respected experts, Trump relies on his own misinformed ideas and in his own words, on his "good brain."

*         Trump has falsely claimed that he knows "more about ISIS than the generals" and recommended that the U.S. military commit international war crimes.

*         Trump's threat to pull back from our most important military alliances<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-trump-and-the-end-of-nato/2016/03/04/e8c4b9ca-e146-11e5-8d98-4b3d9215ade1_story.html> like NATO, pull aid from our allies like Israel, and his gushing praise for dictators would put our country on a dangerous path.

*         Trump has refused to rule out using nuclear weapons on European territory, and wants to allow countries that don't currently have nuclear weapons to get them, reversing long-held goals of international nuclear disarmament.

Wrong on Women: Donald Trump has a decades-long record of denigrating women and promoting misogyny. His policies would make it harder for women to make their own choices when it comes to their health care or their career.

*         Trump once said you had to  treat women "like s**t" and has spent decades doing so himself by calling women names - "fat pig," "slob," or "bimbo" - and saying a man needs a woman to support him at home rather than always be "griping and bitching."

*         Trump would take away a woman's right to make her own healthcare choices and has said women who had abortions should be punished - but not the doctors that performed them - and opposed exceptions for health of the mother because he thought women would use a cold as an excuse to have an abortion.

*         Trump thinks ensuring equal pay for women should just be left up to "the marketplace" and once suggested family leave policies should actually be scaled back and noted pregnancy was "an inconvenience for a business." Trump complained that when he employed mothers, they were not giving him "100 percent."

Divisive and Dangerous: Donald Trump exploited racial anxieties and cultural fears in the pursuit of getting elected - to the point where his rallies have sparked violence against people of color, protestors, and the media.

*         Trump spouts hateful and dangerous lies about Muslims and called to surveil mosques, to ban Muslims from entering the country and to create a database of all Muslims in America - including U.S. citizens - and could not answer when pressed on how this would be any different from Nazi Germany.

*         Trump called Mexican immigrants "rapists" and criminals and said they brought disease into the country, said you needed to check if Native Americans were "real Indians," and claimed that a "well-educated black has a tremendous advantage" - but apparently not an advantage in finding housing in Trump properties, because in the 1970s, the Trump Organization was sued for discriminating against Blacks and Puerto Ricans.

*         Trump has been endorsed by former  KKK leader David Duke, and his candidacy has been used as a recruiting tool for the white supremacist movement, which is no surprise since Trump refused to disavow David Duke and the KKK four times in one interview.

*         Trump has fostered violence against protestors at his rallies, suggesting that a Black Lives Matter protester maybe "should have been roughed up," promising to pay the legal fees if someone would "knock the hell" out of a protester and reminiscing about the old days when a protester would be "carried off on a stretcher."

*         Trump repeatedly threatened the First Amendment by calling to "open up" libel laws so he could sue reporters whenever they printed a story he did not like, made it a practice of banning media outlets he did not like from covering his rallies, and thought "closing" parts of the Internet was a rational strategy to combat ISIS.

Reckless on the Economy, Making Millions at the Expense of Hardworking Americans: Though he plays the part of a wealthy and successful businessman, Donald Trump's real life record is a reminder that he would endanger the entire global financial system and promote policies that hurt everyday Americans.

*         Despite his tough talk on trade deals and the loss of American jobs, Donald Trump manufactured his clothing line in countries he rails against, like China and Mexico - a reminder that he made millions at the expense of American workers and on the backs of foreign labor.

*         His Trump "University" fleeced thousands of Americans simply looking to get ahead.

*         Trump's businesses have repeatedly gone bankrupt, leaving investors, contractors and small businesses holding the bag for his bad business decisions.

*         Trump's unfounded predictions<http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/03/trump-predicts-very-massive-recession-in-us.html> of recession under President Obama and warnings against investing in the stock market are reckless.

*         Economists have actually predicted Trump's policies could start an international trade war and even destabilize the global economy<http://www.cbsnews.com/media/is-donald-trump-a-menace-to-the-global-economy/>.

*         Trump's tax plan would overwhelmingly benefit the rich while costing the country $9.5 trillion to implement -- more than any other Republican plan proposed. It also violates his pledge to eliminate the national debt.

*         Trump actually said at one of the Republican Party's debates that wages were "too high" and opposed raising the federal minimum wage

*         Trump wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would jeopardize health care for 20 million Americans who've been able to get coverage under Obamacare.

How Democrats Will Win

Republicans couldn't unite against Trump and failed to stand up to him during their primary because they were playing to the same extreme base of their party. Democrats will be united and hold Donald Trump accountable every day until November 8th.

*         Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have been clear they'll work hard in November to ensure we don't let a Republican like Trump drag our country backward.

*         While we recognize that any campaign will see the intensity level rise down the stretch, we expect our candidates to maintain a tone that helps us build toward the general election.

*         Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have drawn sharp differences with one another, but overwhelmingly they've been focused on substance and how to best move America forward.

*         Because the Party's platform is a statement of our values, the DNC is committed to an open, inclusive and representative process. Both of our campaigns will be represented on the Platform Drafting Committee, and just as we did in 2008 and 2012, the public will have opportunities to participate.

*         Democrats know that we're stronger when more voices are heard, and when we stand together to move our country forward, we'll see that in Philadelphia at our convention.

Mark Paustenbach
National Press Secretary &
Deputy Communications Director
Democratic National Committee
W: 202.863.8148
[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

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