Subject: FW: DILLON: REVISED STATE GUIDANCE --- RE: what I would send to state parties
From: "Dillon, Lauren" <[email-masked]>
To: RRResearch_D <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 May 2016 15:37:01 -0700

Some edits below. Please give it another look over and make any portions I added flow better or more "facty".

There are pieces in here that I don't think we can back up so they cannot go out.

Let me know if you have questions.

From: Brinster, Jeremy
Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2016 4:13 PM
To: Dillon, Lauren
Cc: RRResearch_D
Subject: DILLON: REVISED STATE GUIDANCE --- RE: what I would send to state parties

From: Miranda, Luis
Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2016 3:47 PM
To: RR2
Subject: REVISED STATE GUIDANCE --- RE: what I would send to state parties

We had to update the frame for state events. But it's cut from what's already gone through research so should be a quick look.

SL: Guidance for events around Trump-Ryan meeting in DC this week.

Body:

Overview / Event Guide

This week, Paul Ryan and Donald Trump are coming together in Washington D.C., along with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, for a highly-anticipated meeting. This is an ideal opportunity to highlight the historic mess that is the Republican Party, with the first Speaker of the House of Representatives not ready to support fully endorse his Party's nominee, and a slew of former GOP presidential candidates, former Republican presidents and vulnerable Senate and House candidates trying to distance themselves from their standard bearer. Here's the thing: the Republican Party has elevated offensive policies and extreme voices using divisive campaigns for years, and now they're stuck with Donald Trump's reckless and dangerous campaign heading into the general election. We have to make sure we hold Republicans in Congress and in every state accountable for their Party's dysfunction as they chaotically tumble toward the general election.

And while Republicans argue, Democratic voters are overwhelming in agreement that our primary has been exciting, and large majorities would support either one of our candidates.

This meeting is also a reminder that what Trump has promised and what Republicans up and down the ballot have pushed for is the same brand of trickle-down economic policies that help those at the top while costing hardworking Americans. It's the same old Republican playbook of cutting taxes for the rich at the expense of middle-class families, opposing measures like equal pay and paid family leave, and reckless policies that would promising only to drag America back into a recession. We can't afford to go back to when we were losing 800,000 jobs a month as the last Republican president left office.

So we're asking state party communications directors to put together events around the Trump-Ryan meeting to deliver that message. We're also asking state party communications directors to echo these events with op-eds and letters to the editor in local papers, and surrogates on television and radio.

In this packet you'll find:

*         Sample talking points / message guidance

*         A sample advisory

*         A sample press release

*         A sample op-ed

*         Four sample letters to the editor
DNC can offer national surrogates to appear via satellite or phone on local television and radio broadcasts to amplify the message. Please reach out to [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]> if you would like to book one of our surrogates. Members of Congress and Senators who are currently in Washington can also use our studio to do local hits.

Here's what we're looking for in terms of event logistics:

*         Types of speakers:

o   State Party Chairs, Vice-Chairs, and EDs

o   Local Elected Officials

o   Allied Groups - Planned Parenthood, NAACP, Mi Familia Vota, etc.

o   Labor

o   People sharing personal stories

*         About 15-20 supporters

*         Signs that say "Reject the Trump-Ryan Agenda" - we have a mockup that can be found here<Trump-Ryan-Sign.pdf>.

*         A big push to get local TV to the event - studies show that local TV is the dominant player in most markets and Americans trust local TV news about 20 points more than they trust national TV news.

Republicans Are Divided, a Historic Mess of Their Own Making

*         The list of Republican leaders who refuse to fully endorse support Donald Trump got longer this week, with Ted Cruz joining the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, and a slew of former GOP presidential candidates and Republican presidents who are equally dismayed at the chaos in their own party.

*         The Republican Party has elevated offensive policies and extreme voices using divisive campaigns for years, and now they're stuck with Donald Trump's reckless and dangerous campaign as they tumble toward the general election.

*         Exit polls for weeks have confirmed that Republicans believe their primary has been divisive, while three-fourths of Democrats are excited about our primary and majorities would support either candidate.

*         But we're not taking anything for granted. Our two Democratic candidates have made it clear they'll hold Trump and Republicans up and down the ballot accountable heading toward November 8th, while sharing a vision for moving America forward with the American people. The contrast couldn't be clearer.

*         XXNAMEOFCANDIDATE/INCUMBENTXXX can't keep kicking the can down the road, Trump IS the Republican Party's presumptive nominee and [XXXNAMEOFCANDIDATE/INCUMBENTXXX]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                must [answer for endorsing Trump's hateful rhetoric and dangerous policy proposals / EXPLAIN IF THEY SUPPORT TRUMP'S HATEFUL RHETORIC AND DANGEROUS POLICIES]

Trump IS the GOP Talking Points:

*         For years, GOP leaders have pushed a cynical and feckless political strategy that obstructs any kind of progress and exploits unfounded fears of immigrants, minorities, the poor, the LGBT community and more, all for political gain.

*         They have sold hardworking Americans the empty promise of trickle-down prosperity, while strangling America's middle class with backwards economic policies that only enrich those already at the top.

*         Donald Trump's victory is the ultimate, sad culmination of the success of that strategy. Trump is not engaging in a hostile takeover of the Republican Party. Trump is the modern Republican Party.

Trump / Ryan on Taxes:

*         While the media has reported that Trump offered to be flexible in his tax plan, he didn't. All Trump said is that he'll have to negotiate with Congress, which includes the very Republican leaders he doesn't get along with. (I think this is a little confusing and unnecessary?)

*         But this doesn't mean Trump's plan isn't extreme. is by any means moderate. His Despite his attempts at sleight-of-hand, it's clear that Donald Trump's reckless tax plan is modeled on what the Republican Party has done for years, built on the same failed foundation of rewarding those at the top<http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-idUSKCN0XZ0I3> by slashing the top income tax rate. Trump's plan would bring that tax rate to 25 percent from 39.6 percent.

*         That would give<http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/first-read-why-trump-s-flip-flop-taxes-matters-n570431> the "top 0.1% of income earners like himself an average tax cut of more than $1.3 million."

*         Trump also plans to substantially<https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/tax-reform> reduce the corporate tax rate from 35 to 15 percent, instead of fixing tax loopholes that allow some large companies to pay no federal income tax at all.

*         Republicans in Congress want to slash<http://www.taxjusticeblog.org/archive/2015/10/paul_ryan_wants_to_cut_taxes_f.php#.VzCi6oQrK70> the individual tax rate for the wealthiest Americans to 25 percent. Paul Ryan and his colleagues would have also proposed cutting corporate taxes down to 25 percent - making Trump's 15 percent plan even more extreme and the perfect example of why he's not promising anything better than the Ryan Budget, just potentially worse.

*         Trickle-down economics simply doesn't work. The last two times Republicans implemented this agenda, our country was left mired in recession and facing massive deficits. Not only does trickle-down economics slow down the economy, but it means we won't have the money to pay for things like education and infrastructure and health care. (fact check)

Trump/Ryan on Debt:

*         For years, Republicans in Congress threatened the full faith and credit of the United States and threatened to breach the debt ceiling, leading one credit rating agency to remark<http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-government-shutdown-credit-rating-fitch-20150923-story.html> that any protracted fight over the issue could endanger America's credit rating.

*         Trump agrees that the United States should consider<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/trump-no-debt-default-222957#ixzz48AeHAolA> playing fast and loose with our nation's finances, even calling himself "the king of debt."

*         He also said, "you never have to default because you print the money." Such reckless positions, if implemented, could threaten America's standing in the world and lead to chaos in the global financial markets.

*         We saw what happened the last time a Republican president came in and made a mess of the economy. We have come too far since the Great Recession to hand the keys to the economy over to the folks who economists have warned could lead us into another recession. whose policies were in place when it crashed it in the first place.

*         In conclusion, Donald Trump's reckless tax policies and his suggestion that we should play chicken with the country's finances are lifted directly from the same old failed Republican playbook. Trump can ignore reality and crown himself the "king of debt," but it's clear that his economic ideas, and those of his fellow Republicans are simply bankrupt. The American people and our economy can't afford a disastrous Trump presidency.

Trump/Ryan on women's health:

*         This week marks women's health week.

*         A few weeks ago, Donald Trump said that he wanted to "punish" women who get abortions.

*         Paul Ryan and House Republicans are already implementing Trump's agenda to punish women.

*         Paul Ryan has wasted the American people's time, money, and patience with a partisan investigation of Planned Parenthood

*         Both Paul Ryan and Donald Trump want to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would mean that:

o   Women could be charged more than a man for the same health care plan

o   We would go back to the days when pregnancy and domestic violence could be considered pre-existing conditions

o   Women would go back to paying out-of-pocket for birth control

*         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."

Trump/Ryan on immigration reform:

*         Trump's dangerous proposals and inflammatory rhetoric on immigration didn't come from nowhere.

*         Before Trump came along, Republicans in Congress were holding up immigration reform, suing the President for prioritizing the deportation of criminals over families, and stoking fear of immigrants.

*         Democrats, by contrast, support comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship.

*         Immigration reform is not just the right thing to do - it reduces the deficit and helps to create jobs. In fact the Congressional Budget Office found that the immigration reform bill that passed the Senate but got blocked by Republicans in the House would reduce the federal deficit by $175 billion in the first ten years.

Eric Walker
[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>
732-991-1489
@ericmwalker<https://twitter.com/ericmwalker>