Work with Trump? Democrats say they will, occasionally

WASHINGTON — U.S. Democrats are signalling a willingness to help Donald Trump implement parts of his agenda, while avoiding the obstruction-at-all-costs stance their opponents used against Barack Obama.

The clearest signs emerged over the weekend. The most powerful Democrat in Washington did talk-show interviews where he announced his intention to take a case-by-case approach — fight Trump on some issues and help him pass others.

That stance has as much to do with the party’s own political calculus as it does with the unusual ideological malleability of the incoming commander-in-chief, dubbed by one Washington Post writer as the first-ever Independent president.

They may be disgusted by what they see as Trump’s race-baiting, they may abhor some of his policies but, from time to time, they really agree with him. That includes the top Democrat in the Senate.

Chuck Schumer has signalled three broad areas of agreement, where the party might refrain from filibustering bills in the upper chamber: reform of trade laws, infrastructure spending and ending a tax loophole on carried interest popular with wealthy investors.

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“My test is the specifics. We’re not going to work with him for the sake of working with him,” Schumer told NBC’s Meet The Press. “We’re not going to oppose him just because it’s something Trump sponsors.

“Surprisingly on certain issues candidate Trump voiced very progressive and populist opinions. … These are things that Democrats have always stood for and, frankly, Republicans have always been against.”

Progressive firebrand Bernie Sanders added a fourth point of commonality in a speech last week — Trump’s promise to seek six weeks paid maternal leave. Sanders pointed out that other developed countries have at least 12 weeks, but added: “This is a start.”

Sanders didn’t get many cheers when he said that. The audience reaction was far more exuberant when he mentioned fighting Trump. Sanders promised to stand up to bigotry, sexism and homophobia, plus draw attention to Trump policies that hurt working people: “We are going to hold (him) to account.”

This points to a potential flaw in the Democratic strategy.

A new study by Pew Research finds a clear majority of Democrats want to fight Trump. Nearly two-thirds of Democratic voters told Pew their leaders should stand up to him on important issues, even if means less gets done in Washington. Just 32 per cent wanted the party’s leaders to work with him, if it means disappointing Democrats.

That’s even more hostile than what Pew recorded eight years ago from Republican voters, regarding Obama.

That partisan hostility was enough to scare Republican leaders away from working with Obama — on immigration reform, for instance. It’s unclear Democratic voters will be any more thrilled about signs of amity, like a weekend tweet from the president-elect.

“I have always had a good relationship with Chuck Schumer,” Trump tweeted. “He is far smarter than (predecessor Harry Reid) and has the ability to get things done. Good news!”

Schumer made sure to insist in every interview that he doesn’t actually know Trump all that well. He’s Trump’s home-state senator from New York, received campaign contributions from him, but says they never socialized.

He promised to fight Trump on certain issues — including if his presidency takes what Schumer called a dark and divisive turn.

Some progressives say it already has. Some argue fearful minorities don’t have the luxury of caring about a productive legislative session. They’re more worried about the Muslim-immigrant registry being floated by one of Trump’s advisers and the threat to deport millions of undocumented people.

Yet the strategy of case-by-case co-operation was endorsed over the weekend by none other than Obama himself.

The president urged his party to avoid repeating what Republicans did to him. The party’s congressional leaders met the day of his 2009 inauguration and agreed to stall whatever they could, in order to render his presidency unsuccessful.

Some Democrats fume that the strategy worked.

Republicans blocked infrastructure plans, a public health care option, social policies like parental leave; then argued Washington was broken. They dominated state and congressional races and won with an outsider who promised to fix everything.

Obama urged his allies to keep fighting for their causes — even if it sometimes means working with Trump.

“That’s not why the American people send us to Washington, to play those games,” Obama said.

“If… (something’s) good for the American people, find a way to work with him.”

Alexander Panetta, The Canadian Press