Transcripts For CSPAN3 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20160714 :

Republican convention. As chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, congressman ben lujan is in charge of democrats efforts to win back a majority in the house of representatives. He spoke about the dcccs history and the effect that donald trump is having on house races. From the National Press club in washington, this is an hour. Good morning. Good morning, everyone. My name is thomas burr. Im the washington correspondent for the Salt Lake Tribune and the 109th president of the National Press club. Id like to welcome our guest today, congressman Ben Ray Lujan, chairman of the Democratic Campaign committee. The National Press club has hosted nearly every president since our founding in 1908. I should note weve had a lot more visit in modern times from our friends in the legislative branch, including a good couple dozen house and Senate Members in the last couple of years. Congressman, thank you for joining us. Im going to turn the microphone over to bob wiener from our Newsmakers Committee to introduce yourself. And i look forward to asking you some tough questions in a minute. Thanks, tommy. You can sit right here, if you like. You got your mark. Okay. Great. And again, welcome to the National Press club where news happens. And today is no exception. Im bob wiener. Im the newsmakers event coordinator, and today Democratic Congressional Campaign Chair Ben Ray Lujan will address us, highlighting the shifting house battlefield and efforts to tie the gop to donald trump. Congressman lujan will outline the House Democratics offensive strategy, messaging, targeting, voter outreach and highlight not only the battlefield, but unew approaches to tie house members to donald trump. He represents new mexicos third Congressional District. That includes santa fe and northern new mexico. And he served in Congress Since 2009. He was selected by House Democratic leader nancy pelosi to chair the dccc in november 2014 after serving as chief deputy whip. The congressman serves currently on the energy and Commerce Committee and the subcommittees on communications and technology and health. And he told me something on the way in. He was born the night his father won reelection for county commission . Born the night his father won reelection for county commission, a primary in 1972. So politics is literally in his blood. And a similar National Press Club Newsmaker with the National Republican Congressional Committee chairman bob waldon will be held september 8th. Now the date is now set. The politico of a week ago has a headline with a story. Congressman lujan will tell us if thats really slim or if there is a chance or if there could be gains, if there wont, what the why, the strategies might be that could be effective. So we very much look forward to having the congressman. Just a few introductions in addition to tommy burr who is the National Press club president. And were so honored to have tommy here. Also, i want to introduce ben laskey, ben, stand up, our onsite coordinator who will carry well, unless, katie, you want it. Ben, you decide. Or katie schultz, our superstar intern. Katie, if you would stand up. Well divide giving the mic to our questioners through the two of you. Also, my wife, dr. Patricia berg. And i like to say that pat has a real job. She is the director of the Breast Cancer laboratory at George Washington medical center. Discovered a gene activated in 80 of women with Breast Cancer. 70 of men with prostate cancer. So thats the kind of lifesaving work that im so proud of what pat does. Meredith kelly. Where are you, meredith . The congressman actually, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee National Press secretary and Media Coordinator has been enormously helpful. And we thank meredith for all your work in making this event happen. Joanne booze is out in the corner, our Newsmakers Committee liaison. She does a spectacular job in making sure everything is taken care of. Congressman lujan, thank you very much. And the mic is yours for a brief Opening Statement and followed by questions and answers. Thank you so much. Really appreciate that. Well, bob, thanks for the kind introduction and the great words. Dr. Berg, thank you for your work as well. Tommy, thanks for your leadership and all your responsibilities as well. And for having a big part in bringing us all together today. So i guess first off, everyone, good morning. Its going to be with each and every one of you today. With the president ial race set and congressional primaries drawing to a close, the dccc is hitting the ground running. With democratic victories across the country on november 8th, we at the dccc are making an early unprecedented investment in an aggressive nationwide campaign. Its a campaign with a simple message. Donald trump is a bully, a bigot. The most divisive politician in a generation, the most unqualified president ial nominee in our nations history. And every House Republican who failed to stand up to him bears responsibility for his rise. This week the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched a sevenfigure National Advertising campaign cable and digital. Our goal, to find the toxic republican brand and tie donald trump to these incumbents like an anchor before their campaigns even set sail. Lets be clear. Republicans have brought this upon themselves. Over the last year and a half, republicans have had the opportunity to stand up to donald trump when it mattered most. But instead, they just fell in line. There has never been a shadow of a doubt that donald trump is a dangerous and ill fitted person to be commander in chief, yet House Republicans stood idly by as he marched towards the republican nomination. So now House Republicans can hide when donald trump goes to visit them in their districts, but they cant cut and run away from the fact that his is the face of their party. But its worse than that. By standing with donald trump, republicans are aiding and abetting trump in his hate, his bigotry, his racism and his misogyny. Like sidekicks to the schoolyard bully, House Republicans are allowing trump to embrace fear and divisiveness, and to out the truly dangerous policy proposals. This goes beyond politics. It goes to character. When a leader in your party is dividing americans against each other and attacking women and minorities and immigrants and veterans and people with disabilities, how you react is a test of your leadership. And by falling in line with trump, House Republicans failed that leadership test. They have put their party over the good of our country, just as they have over and over again since republicans took the majority in 2010. And we refuse to let them off the hook. Now you may have been surprised with some of the ads that you may have seen over the last week. Indeed, this is an unconventional strategy and an unconventional year. But deploying early in the cycle is critically important. Were in a National Election focused on one person and one person only, donald trump. With this national ad were framing the debate to make sure that republican incumbents cant escape the impact of their partys disastrous choice for president. Make no mistake. This is just the beginning. The opening salvo to the general election. With outstanding candidates in more than 65 competitive districts, democrats are prepared to take advantage of every opportunity in the National Environment. The National Republican Campaign Committee still may desperately grass top the claim that they will add and expand to their majority, but its laughable there is not one there has not been one notable rating change in a democratic held district that favors republicans this cycle. To the contrary, political pundits may have made democratic rating changes to benefit democrats. The dccc has been on offense since day one recruiting deep into the battlefield to expand our map and prepare for whatever opportunities come our way. Today i want to share with you three key observations as we survey the house battlefield and our strategies ahead. First, the demographics were already shifting in our direction. In 2015, the dccc conducted an extensive analysis of how the electorate is changing and growing over time. To identify where the House Majority will come from, now and in the future. The bottom line is that the natural trends in the National Environment work in democrats favor. The electorate is getting younger, more diverse, and more democrats are moving from densely packed cities into republican districts in the suburbs. Overall, these changes will be a net positive for democrats in the years to come. This means democrats are going to become increasingly competitive in districts with growing communities of color, near universities, in suburbs, and with large populations of moderate and independent voters. Second, donald trump is accelerating that shift. You all know that trump is underwater with women, millennials, hispanic, african americans, asian americans, but whats important to remember when considering the house races is that donald trump is also deeply unpopular with suburban voters and dependents and those with college degrees. These are the very same voters that were already starting to come our way in the years ahead. But trump accelerates that. Third, our map only gets better from here. Listen, ill be honest with all of you. Democrats face a challenge this year thanks in part to the 2010 republican gerrymandering. Its not an infinitely expanding battlefield. But the winnable districts are increasingly becoming much more competitive. Districts that would have been 5050 tossups under a conventional president ial year without donald trump, like texas 23, illinois 10, florida 26, are now leaning in favor of democrats. Our competitive battlefield then pushes into republicanleaning districts with strong candidates in place to challenge a weak republican incumbent. These races are now undeniably competitive, places like new jersey 5, utah 4, or california 25. And this shift also allowed us to recruit and compete in lean and likely republican districts, where we have never mounted a credible challenge before, places like florida 7, minnesota, 3. New york, 22. Were now seeing and hearing the shift on the ground as we talk to voters in these districts, and the data bears it out. In an assessment of dccc polling from over 20 districts in our original core battlefield districts, the dccc has seen an average eightpoint shift for the democrat in the named head to head vote since 2015. Thats an important point and thats real data. The generic democrat has also improved by an average of over five points against the generic republican. Now in an assessment of president ial favorability in 40 swing seats in 2016, Hillary Clinton has a Net Advantage of nine points over donald trump on average. Again, on those 40 swing seats across the country. In other words, weve seen positive movement in competitive house races. That happened without paid communications purely as a result of the National Environment. Were optimistic for that growth to continue, just as it did today. The dccc has added five new races from our red to blue program and ten new candidates to our emerging Races Program that we announced just this morning. This brings the number of races in the top tier category to 48 races total. Its another exciting step in the right direction. And let me just say this. Donald trump may give democrats an extra boost this cycle, but weve been preparing for this kind of Aggressive Campaign since before he opened up his mouth. Once i became chairman, i set the dccc on an aggressive offyear endeavor to prepare for whatever might come our way in 2016. For the first time, the dccc has brought data and analytics inhouse. We put a premium on hiring a diverse and local field staff deployed months earlier than ever before, to build a lasting democratic infrastructure in districts across the country that wont just help us in 2016, but in 2018 and beyond. And weve established a targeted messaging operation so that campaigns can communicate with voters in the smartest way possible, especially with millennials, people of color, and women. Now let me walk you through three Strategic Priorities the committee moving forward. First, we will arm our campaigns with the smartest data, analytics and field programs. In conjunction with Hillary Clintons campaign and other al tlierks dcccs inhouse data and analytics infrastructure has allowed us to build the first trump model. Drawing from live data in targeted states and districts, the model will measure and predict which voters are likely to have an unfavorable view of donald trump, typically independents or moderate republicans, and often women. From the moment donald trump launched his campaign, trump has been intent on driving out republicans who oppose him and tossing them right out of the party. We intend to welcome them into ours. Once we find these voters, our campaigns will reach out to them with a specialized compelling message against the republican representative in congress. This will happen at the door, on the phone, through campaign literature, and in other communications. What will those messages be . That leads me to the second element of our strategy. Deepening the tie between House Republicans and the toxic trump through every type of communication with voters. In every Campaign Office in america, republicans are struggling to deal with trumps devastating impact on the races. We intend to make their jobs even harder. This means aggressive ofly getting House Republicans on the record regarding the party frontrunner. Republicans, take notice. You may try to claim there is a difference between supporting trump and endorsing him, but its time to throw your thesaurus and face the fax. If donald trump is your nominee, he is your problem and your responsibility. You break it, you buy it. House republicans will have to answer for trumps unpredictable, dangerous, and hateful comments on a daily basis. Beyond the day to day madness of trump, the connection we draw for voters will also be one of substance and policy. House republicans continue to take out hateful positions and take trumplike votes that attack dreamers, allow discrimination over the lgbt community, limit a Womans Health care rights, and even protect the confederate battle flag. And while Barbara Comstock may avoid using trumps name as if he is voldemort, she once recommended that immigrants be tracked by fedex packages. Thats a policy that in virginias tenth district will be Crystal Clear on. Mike coffman may try to change history books in his highly diverse district, he attacked immigrants and once joined the Birther Movement to question whether president obama is an american. Sadly, that list goes on. But that ugly track record of House Republicans only reminds us of our ultimate goal, winning seats. The third strategy is simple. We must make the math even harder for House Republicans in swing districts. Let me tell you what i mean by that. On election day, to get to 50 plus one, lee zeldan must widely appeal to Republican Base that choose trump over 16 other candidates and be able to attract independents, people of color and even democrats. You see the problem. Whether theyre with them or theyre against him, theyre alienating that base. Already there are two factors this year that make this harder for these vulnerable republicans. First, its a president ial year. When turnout is higher, and when more people vote, democrats just happen to do better. And second, of course donald trump has fractured the Republican Base, turned off independents, and absolutely repelled key voters like latinos. Then as i mentioned before, the dccc will add one more x factor to that mathematical equation. Through an intense geo voters and aggressively target independent, undecided and moderate reports with a persuasive program. At the end of the day, this will be an unsolvable equation for House Republicans in swing districts in november. Now,