DCCC Memo: The Conventions & Pivot into General Election

TO: Interested Parties
FR: Meredith Kelly, DCCC National Press Secretary
DT: July 18, 2016
RE: The Conventions & Pivot into General Election

Conventions are the pivot into the general election, and House Republicans are marking that critical moment by falling in line with Donald Trump. Speaker Paul Ryan is leading that effort with his speech at the Convention on Tuesday night, even as Trump promotes dangerous policies and divides Americans against each other on a daily basis. Just as general election voters start to fully engage, House Republicans are putting party loyalty over our country by getting behind their official nominee.

Here are a few key takeaways on the Republican and Democratic National Conventions and what they mean for the days until November 8^th:

• At the Republican National Convention, the Republican establishment will fall in line behind Donald Trump — but the American people will reject this.  
  • General election voters know who Donald Trump is – they will now further associate him with the Republican brand & GOP House members: General election voters – regular people who are shocked and disgusted with Trump and what has happened to the Republican Party’s standards – will also be turned off by House Republicans’ support for Trump. More and more, it will be clear that House Republicans are his willing sidekicks, and are eager to implement his ugly vision for our country.
  • This won’t be “great” for Republicans: At Donald Trump’s request, Hill Republicans described their meeting in Washington D.C. last week as “great” and now Speaker Ryan and Kevin McCarthy will speak at the GOP Convention in support of their nominee. This does nothing to change the fact that independent and moderate Republican voters aren’t “great” with the state of the GOP. These political maneuvers are like putting a bandaid over the gaping fracture that is the Republican Party as a whole. Republicans will emerge from their convention as damaged and dysfunctional as ever.
• Following the Democratic National Convention, Democrats will be truly unified and will provide a positive contrast to Republicans.
  • The Conventions will bring Democratic unity: Democrats, from Hillary Clinton to the races down-ballot, will greatly benefit from the unity and momentum coming out of the Conventions. This is a coalescing of Democratic enthusiasm for Secretary Clinton, combined with a disgust and fear of Donald Trump and his potential to become our Commander in Chief.
  • The Conventions will bring beneficial contrast: Until now, general election voters have been viewing the election largely through the lens of Donald Trump – and, again, they don’t like what they see. Following both Conventions, general election voters will truly tune into the entire cast of candidates on the ballot, particularly taking note of Republicans that have fallen in line with Trump. This broader assessment of the choices before voters in November will not only benefit Hillary Clinton in her race against Trump, but also the House Democratic candidates who will hold Republicans accountable for failing to stand up to their ugly standardbearer.

The majority of House Republicans in swing seats are likely to skip the trip to Cleveland this week, which is truly irrelevant to the discussion. What matters is that Independents, moderate Republicans, women, and others across the country will watch in horror as the Republican Party officially hands the baton to Trump. These voters will see on full display the disturbing state of the Republican Party, which will negatively impact their view of all House Republicans running with this divisive standard-bearer.

As you navigate the floors of Cleveland and consider the impact of Trump on down-ballot Republicans, here’s a helpful tracker of the current positions of targeted House Republicans on their nominee Donald Trump.