Subject: For research: sample op-ed
From: "Walsh, Tom" <[email-masked]>
To: RR2 <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 9 May 2016 16:37:33 -0700

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Miranda, Luis" <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>>
Date: May 9, 2016 at 7:35:04 PM EDT
To: "Walsh, Tom" <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>>, "Walker, Eric" <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>>, "Paustenbach, Mark" <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>>
Subject: RE: For edits: Draft sample op-ed

Suggest flipping to add personalization higher up. See below.

From: Walsh, Tom
Sent: Monday, May 09, 2016 7:00 PM
To: Miranda, Luis; Walker, Eric; Paustenbach, Mark
Subject: For edits: Draft sample op-ed

Sample Trump Op-Ed

Divisive, Reckless and Dangerous: The Trump-Ryan Agenda is a Recipe for Disaster
(Key Issues: Taxes, Economy, Women’s Health, Immigration)

Donald Trump’s recklessness would hurt our economy, diminish our standing in the world, make our communities less safe, and leave the working families of [State] behind. He is divisive, dangerous, and he lacks the judgment and temperament to be president.

In states with Republican state leadership: Here in the state of [XXX], we already know the damage Republican leadership can do. Governor [XXX], and/or the Republican-led legislature have implemented more of the same backwards policies from the Republican playbook. (state-specific examples) We need Democratic leadership to carry us forward.

In states with Democratic state leadership: Here in the state of [XXX], Governor [XXX], and/or the Democratic-led legislature have fought for policies that have expanded opportunity, protected civil rights and helped working families prosper. (state-specific examples)

What Trump is promising is what we already know we can expect from the GOP. For years the Republican Party has elevated extreme voices, using divisive campaigns that sought to exploit unfounded fears for political gain. And despite his best attempts at portraying himself as an independent outsider with new ideas, he has embraced the same disastrous, failed policies that today’s top GOP leaders, like House Speaker Paul Ryan, have long fought for.

A Trump presidency would advance Ryan’s policies, erase the real economic progress of the last seven years under President Obama, hurt  working families, turn back the clock on women’s health, and deepen divisions on immigration reform.

Both Trump and Ryan would block an increase in the minimum wage. Both have vowed to defund or shutdown Planned Parenthood. Trump has made absurd claims about building a “great wall” on our southern border, while Ryan has voted repeatedly for building a border wall. Both have vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would jeopardize health care for 20 million Americans. And both men have proposed tax plans that would overwhelmingly benefit the rich and slash the top income tax rate to 25 percent.

Trump’s tax plan would cost the country $9.5 trillion to implement – more than any other Republican plan proposed – while violating his own pledge to eliminate the national debt.

This week as Trump and Ryan meet at RNC headquarters, presumably in an attempt to repair the damage of their vicious primary, it’s a stark reminded that the Trump-Ryan agenda is a real threat, and that if we allow it to take hold over the next four years it would come at a severe cost for the vast majority of Americans.

A Trump presidency would only drag us backwards. His campaign has damaged America’s relationships across the globe. His record of denigrating women has only gotten worse throughout this campaign, and at the same time that his divisive rhetoric has made our communities less safe. 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.

When the last Republican president left office, our economy was losing 800,000 jobs a month. The Trump-Ryan agenda is offering more of the same, or worse, and the American people cannot afford to let Trump bully his way into the Oval Office.

We need to elect more Democratic leadership from the top of the ticket down to build on the progress of the last seven years under President Obama – with 74 straight months of private sector job growth, the longest streak on record, and 14 million new jobs created. 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 Election Day on November 8th.