THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

In the latest New York Times effort at concern trolling the Democrats, they worry that candidates who seek to find out what the voters in their districts actually want may be a bigly problem for the Democrats.

House Democrats, looking to wrest control of the chamber from Republicans in November, are discarding the lessons of successful midterms past and pressing only a bare-bones national agenda, leaving it to candidates to tailor their own messages to their districts.

It is a risky strategy, essentially putting off answering one of the most immediate questions facing the Democratic Party after its losses in 2016: What does it stand for? The approach could also raise questions among voters about how Democrats would govern.

Democrats say they have answered that question with a recently adopted slogan, “For the People,” a skeletal, three-point platform and a longer version, called “A Better Deal.” But with anti-Washington sentiment simmering; a deep divide between the party’s moderates and its left flank; and the brand of the party’s longtime leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, toxic in large sections of the country, they have concluded that a unified campaign framework emanating from Capitol Hill would do more harm than good.

And as Tuesday night’s election results made clear, the primary season drawing to a close has made the search for a unifying message that much more difficult, elevating self-described democratic socialists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York and Rashida Tlaib in Michigan to argue policy with a Trump-voting populist like Richard Ojeda in West Virginia and a centrist like Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania.

So across the country, Democrats will rely on their energized base and a loose message centered on a core promise of lowering health care costs and building a case that Republicans are using the government for their own advancement, which candidates are adapting as they see fit. If they are going to have a “blue wave,” Democrats say, it is going to come in varied hues.

“We trust our candidates to know their districts and the challenges facing their communities better than anyone,” said Representative Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, the chairman of the House Democrats’ campaign arm.

The Times seems to feel that if the Democrats don't all unite under some policy squuezed out of some overpaid DC wanker, they haven't got a chance. The Democrats, on the other hand, feel that representing the needs and wishes of their district is more in line with government outlined by the Founding Fathers. Pity the Democrats don't show more respect for their corporate masters like the Republicans do. The New York Times would never concern troll the GOP.