Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Recent bombshell headlines about Donald Trump have reminded many Americans of his chaotic tenure as president. Democrats don\u2019t hate it.<\/p>\n
As they face a serious enthusiasm gap<\/a> going into the midterms, some Democrats are quietly reveling in how salacious reports about Trump and his allies \u2014 not to mention this week\u2019s sex-and-drugs scandal in the House GOP \u2014 could help awaken their base. The two parties are still a long way from November, but Trump and the GOP\u2019s other lightning-rod figures are giving Democrats just the political foil they’ve been looking for as virtually everything else has gone the Republicans\u2019 way.<\/p>\n Now they need to make sure voters remember it, instead of the governing troubles that have plagued the party for the past year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe still have a villain. We\u2019ll have to remind people of what that was like. And that sure scares the hell out of me,\u201d Rep. Scott Peters<\/a> (D-Calif.) said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor God’s sake, how did we get to the point where … the base voters are so mad about two of our own senators, rather than Mitch McConnell<\/a> and Donald Trump and Jan. 6? That is a tremendously mismanaged situation,” he added.<\/p>\n What\u2019s not clear, however, is whether anti-Trump energy can give Democrats sustained momentum \u2014 it’s a nebulous prospect for a party that\u2019s seen its biggest priorities stalled while the costs of everything from gas and groceries continue to shoot up.<\/p>\n Focusing on Trump and other GOP rabble-rousers will hardly be the only item in Democrats\u2019 midterm playbook this year. The party would much rather run on what they\u2019ve gotten done with their two years in power, particularly in battlegrounds. But some Democrats still acknowledge that perhaps the best way to gin up their base is a time-honored trick that Trump himself has mastered: fear.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the things that motivates voters is fear, and a lot of this is causing a lot of fear among not just Democrats but also rational individuals everywhere,\u201d said Rep. Ted Lieu<\/a> (D-Calif.), who tweeted this week that he planned to make scandal-plagued Rep. Madison Cawthorn<\/a> (R-N.C.) the \u201cface and voice of the @HouseGOP<\/a>.\u201d (Cawthorn, who insinuated that fellow Republicans had invited him to orgies and done cocaine, is set to appear at a Saturday rally alongside Trump.) <\/p>\n \u201cIf the Democrats lose the majority \u2026 then people are going to truthfully get away with stuff unimaginable,\u201d Rep. Bill Pascrell<\/a> (D-N.J.) said. While Democrats may be \u201cimperfect,\u201d he said, Republicans \u201csure as hell haven\u2019t done a damn thing.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the plan for everyone: The most vulnerable Democrats have little interest in nationalizing the election, since turning Trump into a villain doesn\u2019t exactly help in GOP-friendly turf they must defend. Most are already planning to run mayoral-style races \u2014 playing up local issues and training their attacks entirely on their own opponents \u2014 to make it less of a referendum on President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n But while centering a campaign around Trump may not be helpful, even some frontline members are privately entertaining some campaign focus on the House GOP\u2019s biggest firebrands, including Cawthorn and Reps. Matt Gaetz<\/a> (R-Fla.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/a> (R-Ga.). Their argument: Things may not be going great for Democrats, but wouldn’t it be worse the other way?<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, do you want to hand the keys to the government to these folks?\u201d said Rep. Dan Kildee<\/a> (D-Mich.). \u201cThey\u2019re scary. They\u2019re nuts.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, Kildee \u2014 who\u2019s running in his first tough reelection in years in a newly redrawn seat \u2014 said Democrats can\u2019t ignore issues like the economy and inflation, or even something seemingly mundane like overseas shipping reform. \u201cTo the extent [the Republican] side continues to play that whipped-up frenzy, paranoid game, it\u2019s probably not helpful to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Democrats hope that putting Trump and his inner circle top of mind will energize many of their voters who may otherwise have tuned out after a rocky few months for the party. Biden\u2019s approval rating has sagged as Democrats failed to resurrect some of the most popular pieces of their agenda \u2014 from universal pre-K to expanding the child tax credit. Even as key parts of the economy improve, such as this week\u2019s jobless report, inflation remains at a 40-year high.<\/p>\n But, in recent days, Trump scandals and GOP turmoil have dominated those issues in the headlines.<\/p>\n Last Monday, a federal judge ruled Trump likely committed felony obstruction<\/a>. On Tuesday, Trump called on Vladimir Putin<\/a> to release dirt on Hunter Biden, even as the Russian president continues to wage a war against Ukraine. The same day, CBS and the Washington Post reported on a seven-hour and 37-minute gap in the White House\u2019s call records on Jan. 6<\/a>, though CNN has since reported a non-nefarious explanation<\/a> could easily account for the omission. And last week, Rep. Mo Brooks<\/a> (R-Ala.) told POLITICO \u2014 shortly after Trump pulled his endorsement for Brooks’ Senate run \u2014 that Trump has continued to try to overturn election results<\/a> after he left office.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the fallout from texts from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas\u2019 wife Virginia Thomas, known as Ginni, has continued to roil Capitol Hill as Democrats called on the justice to resign or recuse himself from Jan. 6-related cases.<\/p>\n \u201cI do think the Ginni Thomas stuff, the Mo Brooks \u2014 all that helps our turnout a lot because people are excited,\u201d said Rep. Don Beyer<\/a> (D-Va.), a frequent Trump antagonist.<\/p>\n And the Democrats\u2019 turnout fears are real. Both the 2018 and 2020 elections saw record numbers of voters; the 2018 House ballot went in Democrats\u2019 favor, but not as significantly two years prior, when Trump himself was on the ballot. It\u2019s far less certain Democratic voters will flood the polls this cycle, particularly if Biden\u2019s approval ratings don\u2019t make a dramatic turnaround.<\/p>\n A recent NBC News poll showed that Republicans held a 17-point advantage when it came to voter enthusiasm, an ominous sign with just over 200 days until voters go to the polls.<\/p>\n