Subject: First Draft on Politics: Donald Trump Borrows From the Sanders Playbook to Woo Democrats
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Date: Tue, 17 May 2016 07:15:56 -0400

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Tuesday, May 17, 2016

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Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont at a stop in Bowling Green, Ky., on Saturday.

Austin Anthony/Daily News, via Associated Press

Donald Trump Borrows From the Sanders Playbook to Woo Democrats

By ASHLEY PARKER AND JONATHAN MARTIN

Good Tuesday morning.

Donald J. Trump recently coined a dismissive nickname for Bernie Sanders — “Crazy Bernie.”

But that has not stopped Mr. Trump taking lessons from Mr. Sanders – the Vermont senator whom he also frequently praises from the stump — on how to run against Hillary Clinton, his likely opponent in the general election.

On a range of issues, Mr. Trump seems to be using a page from the Sanders playbook, expressing a willingness to increase the minimum wage, suggesting that the wealthy might pay higher taxes than under his original proposal, attacking Mrs. Clinton from the left on national security and on Wall Street, and making clear that his opposition to free trade will be a centerpiece of his general election campaign.

As Mr. Trump lays the groundwork for a showdown with Mrs. Clinton, he is staking out a series of populist positions that could help him attract working-class Democrats in November. But in doing so, he is exacerbating the trepidation that some Republicans already feel about his candidacy, at a moment when the party typically rallies to its nominee.

Asked how Mr. Trump could reassure his party, Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, suggested the party standard-bearer needed something close to a complete overhaul. “He could start by saying, ‘I was just kidding,’ ” Mr. Flake said, bemoaning what he called Mr. Trump’s “protectionist” approach.

Yet Republicans hoping that their nominee-in-waiting will suddenly shed his brand of hard-edge nationalism to appeal to the party’s mainline leaders look set to be disappointed. In an interview, Mr. Trump said that if he were president, the North American Free Trade Agreement would be “renegotiated and probably terminated.”

Mr. Trump’s approach has scrambled longstanding assumptions about how the two parties can position themselves in a general election fight, and could augur at least a short-term shift in how a Republican presidential nominee campaigns.

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What We’re Watching Today

•

Kentucky and Oregon hold their primaries, with Mr. Sanders looking to build on his recent victories against Mrs. Clinton.

•

As those states vote, Mr. Sanders will hold events in California, which holds its vote on June 7. Neither Mrs. Clinton nor Mr. Trump has public events on their schedules.

•

Megyn Kelly’s much-anticipated interview with Mr. Trump, who has been highly critical of her for questions she asked during Republican debates, will air on Fox.

•

Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew will deliver the commencement address at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.

Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press

Rift Between Labor and Environmentalists Threatens Democratic Turnout Plan

By JONATHAN MARTIN

A group of construction unions threatened to boycott a big new Democratic get-out-the-vote operation this fall unless a wealthy campaigner against climate change is barred from it.

Rob Kerr/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Hillary Clinton Shapes Potential Role for Bill Clinton

By AMY CHOZICK

Remarks that her husband would focus on economic growth in her administration raise questions about how such an arrangement would work.

Hillary Clinton, in Kentucky, Fights to Avert a 2-Loss Tuesday

By THOMAS KAPLAN

On a day with two Democratic primaries, Mrs. Clinton was hoping for a victory in Kentucky, but Bernie Sanders was expected to win easily in Oregon.

From Sanders Supporters, Death Threats Over Delegates

By ALAN RAPPEPORT

Supporters of the Vermont senator were incensed at a Nevada Democratic convention they say epitomized a rigged political system, with some threatening officials online.

On Washington

‘Who Is This Guy?’ In Connected Political World, Few Know Donald Trump

By CARL HULSE

An unusual lack of personal familiarity with Mr. Trump is partly behind political veterans’ awkward courtship with the presumptive Republican nominee.

Stay tuned throughout the day: Follow us on Twitter @NYTPolitics and on Facebook for First Draft updates.

The Upshot

Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press

Public Health

A Single-Payer Plan From Bernie Sanders Would Probably Still Be Expensive

By MARGOT SANGER-KATZ

To match the costs in other countries would require paying doctors and nurses far less and using fewer new and high-tech treatments.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The 2016 Race

Could Elizabeth Warren Have Beaten Hillary Clinton?

By NATE COHN AND TONI MONKOVIC

A weekly Upshot conversation leads off with a hypothetical: Given Bernie Sanders’s strong run, could Ms. Warren have done even better?

Our Other Favorites From The Times

Donald Trump Said to Hire Pollster as Campaign Strategist

By MAGGIE HABERMAN AND ASHLEY PARKER

Tony Fabrizio, who has decades of presidential campaign experience, joined the Trump team in recent weeks, two people briefed on the hiring said.

Donald Trump Hits Back at British Officials David Cameron and Sadiq Khan

By ALAN RAPPEPORT

Mr. Trump said he “will remember” critical and “very nasty” comments made by Mr. Cameron, Britain’s prime minister, and by Mr. Khan, London’s mayor.

The Day Bill Clinton Met Ted Cruz

By MAGGIE HABERMAN AND MATT FLEGENHEIMER

In the heat of the campaign, a chance encounter at a small airport in Alabama put the two political foes face to face.

Obama Defends Transgender Directive for School Bathrooms

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS

The president made his first public comments on a directive released last week that has added fuel to a searing national debate over transgender rights.

Scandals Embroil Alabama Governor, Speaker and Chief Justice

By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON

Impending trials reach to the top of three branches of government, and the prosecution could lead to a meltdown of the state’s political system.

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What We’re Reading Elsewhere

•

Newsweek writes that although the megadonor Sheldon G. Adelson has pledged to spend vast amounts to support Mr. Trump, few other big donors have so far rallied to his corner.

•

The Washington Post looks at two Democrats in Kentucky who “are fighting over who hates Obama and Clinton the most.”

•

And The New Yorker offers tips on how to talk to your children about “safe political intercourse and the dangers of engaging in the process before they’re ready.”

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