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Democrats need new playbook to confront Trump, Kamala Harris pollster tells party

Democrats need new playbook to confront Trump, Kamala Harris pollster tells party

As President-elect Trump gets ready to return to the White House, a leading Democratic pollster and strategist highlights that her party needs a new game plan to confront the former and soon-to-be future president. “The 2025 playbook cannot be the 2017 playbook,” Molly Murphy, a top pollster on Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, emphasized as she gave a presentation at the first meeting of the Democratic National Committee’s executive committee since last month’s election. Trump’s convincing win over Harris — he captured the popular vote and swept all seven key battleground states — as well as the GOP flipping the Senate and holding on to their fragile majority in the House, has Democrats searching for answers as they now try to emerge from the political wilderness. Murphy, pointing to post-election polls, said most Americans give the president-elect a thumbs up on how he’s handling his transition, and that Trump will return to the White House next month more popular compared to eight years ago, when he first won the presidency.  REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIR SPELLS OUT THE PARTY’S 2026 GAME PLAN And she noted that voters “give him a pass on the outrageous” comments he continuously makes because they approve of his handling of the economy.  Murphy, in her comments Friday as DNC leaders huddled at a hotel near the U.S. Capitol, said the Democrats’ mission going forward is to change that perception. “We want to focus on this term … and tell the story about how this term is worse and things are not going to be good for the American people,” Murphy said. The Democrats’ message should be “Donald Trump does not care about you. He is going to screw you,” Murphy argued. “As a north star, I think we need to stay focused on … the economy and costs.“ “A lot of people are expecting the price of milk to go back where it was,” Murphy noted.  TRUMP ALLIES TURN UP THE HEAT ON HOLDOUT GOP SENATORS  She said Democrats need to borrow a page from the GOP’s 2024 campaign playbook: “We can do what they did to us … even if the economy is stronger, costs are still going to be too high for people.” And she added that Democrats need to spotlight what she called unpopular parts of the Trump agenda, including “tax breaks for the wealthy” and “letting corporations drive up prices and making you pay for it.”  And she said the party needs to frame Trump’s proposed tariffs on key American trading partners “a sales tax on the American people that will drive up prices,” which was a line that Harris used on the campaign trail. Murphy also spotlighted that Trump and Republicans made gains with key parts of the Democratic Party’s base – younger voters, Latinos, and Black voters because of the economy, but also because of the Democrats’ “wonky” messaging. “A lot of times we’re talking about polices,” Murphy said, while Republicans have “culture conversations that create a connection between the party and the people that go beyond polices.” DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR FRONT-RUNNER OFFERS ‘UNCOMFORTABLE’ ADVICE Murphy argued that “these culture conversations that conservatives have been able to have in an organic way have been able to draw a connection that we know is not supported by policy … and we know that we have a lot of shared values with these working Americans and we need to find ways to have more authentic connection points there.” DNC chair Jaime Harrison complimented Murphy’s presentation.  But, Harrison, who is not running for a second four-year term steering the national party committee, pointed to the next White House race and offered that the party should also target Vice President-elect Sen. JD Vance. “I think it will be a big error on our part if we focus all of our attention on Donald Trump and not JD Vance, particularly as we start to look at the 2028 race,” Harrison highlighted.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt sold Christmas trees to local residents on his own estate in the 1930s

President Franklin D. Roosevelt sold Christmas trees to local residents on his own estate in the 1930s

Franklin D. Roosevelt had many Christmas traditions he took part in with his family and White House staff during his time in office.  Roosevelt was born in 1882 in Hyde Park, New York, a place he called home throughout his life.  The start of Roosevelt’s time in the political sphere started in 1910, when he was elected to the New York Senate. ‘HOME ALONE’ HOUSE AND OTHER POPULAR CHRISTMAS MOVIE LOCATIONS TO VISIT IN AMERICA Soon after, in 1912, he stepped into the role of chairman of the Forestry Committee of the New York Senate.  At this time, he began to plant trees on his land, which he continued for 34 years, according to the National Park Service website.  By the 1930s, Roosevelt had gotten into the rhythm of having 20,000 to 55,000 trees planted on his land annually, according to the National Park Service.  During the 1930s, Roosevelt began to grow Christmas trees on his estate in Hyde Park, according to the National Christmas Tree Association.  Some of the Christmas trees grown on the estate were sent to Winston Churchill, according to the National Park Service.  25-30M CHRISTMAS TREES ARE CUT DOWN ANNUALLY, DISPLAYED IN HOMES, BUSINESSES ACROSS THE US Holiday spirit was on full display in the White House during Roosevelt’s time in office.  Roosevelt, who spent 12 years in office, the longest term of any U.S. president, spent many of his Christmases the same way while in the White House.  Roosevelt spent 10 consecutive Christmases in the White House, and the last two at home in Hyde Park, according to the White House Historical Association.  Staples of a Roosevelt Christmas included a Christmas Eve party held by the president and the first lady for White House staff and the lighting of the National Christmas Tree, per the source.  It was 1933 when Roosevelt gave his very first holiday message, his “fireside chat,” to the nation. GROVER CLEVELAND, FRANCES FOLSOM’S WEDDING: THE ONLY U.S. PRESIDENT TO MARRY INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE On Christmas morning, the president often spent time with family attending services and opening presents with his grandchildren.  The annual Christmas feast included dishes like roasted turkey, chestnut dressing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, pineapple salad, with plum pudding, eggnog, ice cream and cakes for dessert, according to the White House Historical Association.  Roosevelt’s long span in office included devastating events in history, like the Great Depression, the attack on Pearl Harbor and World War II.  During years of turmoil, Christmas traditions saw a shift. For example, during World War II, four of Roosevelt’s sons were serving in the armed forces, according to the White House Historical Association, leaving his family scattered around the globe.  During the White House holiday gathering in 1942, the gift given out to employees was “a black leather folder filled with war savings bonds,” according to the White House Association. In 1944, a scroll with the president’s “D-Day” prayer was handed out to employees.  Roosevelt’s last Christmas message was delivered from his home in Hyde Park in 1944.  “We pray that with victory will come a new day of peace on earth in which all the Nations of the earth will join together for all time. That is the spirit of Christmas, the holy day. May that spirit live and grow throughout the world in all the years to come,” he said, per the White House Association. 

‘Skeptical optimism’: Faith leaders share their hopes for the incoming Trump administration

‘Skeptical optimism’: Faith leaders share their hopes for the incoming Trump administration

Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith leaders are cautiously optimistic heading into the new year with a second Trump administration. This week, Fox News Digital spoke to leaders from various faith communities, many of whom expressed hope the incoming administration would lead in the right direction but wary that President-elect Trump would still prove himself. “There are some [Jewish] communities that feel positive and optimistic, and there are some communities that feel extremely concerned,” said New York City Rabbi Jo David, who has a private rabbinic practice. “I think there’s a mixed reaction, but there’s a skeptical optimism,” said Haris Tarin, vice president of policy and programming at the Muslim Public Affairs Council. BIBLE SALES SURGE THANKS TO FRESH EDITIONS, NEW BUYERS LOOKING FOR ‘THINGS THAT FEEL MORE SOLID,’ REPORT FINDS  Lorenzo Sewell, senior pastor at 180 Church in Detroit, said Trump has the opportunity to go down as “the greatest president in history” if he plays his cards right. “Only thing he needs to do is righteously regulate [the appropriate] resources.” Samuel Rodriguez is lead pastor at New Season, a prominent U.S. megachurch, and president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. He echoed the sense of hope that some faith leaders are feeling looking toward Inauguration Day.  “I believe we’ll see a stronger emphasis on protecting religious freedom and ensuring that faith communities are empowered to thrive,” Rodriguez said. “Policies that respect the role of faith-based organizations in society — whether they’re feeding the hungry, educating children or advocating for life — will likely take center stage. I also anticipate an administration that values the contributions of people of faith, not as something to tolerate but as an essential cornerstone of our nation.” With respect to the Jewish community, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and director of Global Social Action at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said antisemitism, particularly on social media and on college campuses, and the “embrace of the Hamas narrative,” are a top priority.  FOX NEWS ‘ANTISEMITISM EXPOSED’ NEWSLETTER: TRUMP’S WARNING TO HAMAS GIVES HOSTAGES’ FAMILIES NEW HOPE  “We expect and hope for a completely different approach on the part of the incoming administration,” Cooper said. “We expect that the billions and billions of sanction relief that President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken have given to the terrorist-sponsoring regime in Iran, that’s going to come to an end.” Cooper also said building on and advancing the Abraham Accords, a series of bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, will be important. For Tarin, the biggest hope among the Muslim community, he says, is that there is not a repeat of the 2020 order by Trump that prevented people from certain Muslim countries from coming to the U.S. “No. 2, the hope is that all Americans, including American Muslims, their civil rights and civil liberties and the issues that they’ve been advocating for are protected. No. 3, the hope is for a cease-fire and the end to the conflict in the Middle East and specifically in Gaza,” Tarin said.  He added that it would be beneficial if Trump embraced parts of the Biden administration’s national strategy on Islamophobia.  Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump-Vance transition team for comment but did not receive a response.

RNC chair reveals what role Trump will play during the 2026 midterms: ‘All the way to the finish line’

RNC chair reveals what role Trump will play during the 2026 midterms: ‘All the way to the finish line’

EXCLUSIVE: President-elect Trump won’t be on the ballot in the 2026 midterms, but Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley says that Trump will play a “significant” role in supporting GOP candidates. Republicans enjoyed major victories in last month’s elections, with Trump defeating Vice President Kamala Harris to win the White House, the GOP flipping control of the Senate from the Democrats, and holding on to their razor-thin majority in the House. Whatley argued that “as we go forward into this next election cycle, the fundamentals are going to remain the same” during an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. “We need to make sure that we are building our state parties, that we’re building our ground game, we’re building our election integrity apparatus to be in place to make sure that when we get those candidates through those primaries in ‘26, that we’re going to be in a position to take them all the way to the finish line,” he emphasized. TRUMP KEEPS WHATLEY STEERING REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOLLOWING ‘OUSTANDING’ JOB But the party in power traditionally suffers setbacks in the following midterm elections. And Trump, who was a magnate for voter turnout, won’t be on the ballot in 2026. Whatley said that even though he won’t be a candidate, “President Trump is going to be a very significant part of this because at the end of the day, what we need to do is hold on to the House, hold on to the Senate so that we can finish his term and his agenda.” TRUMP ALLIES TURN UP THE HEAT ON HOLDOUT GOP SENATORS  And Whatley predicted that “Donald Trump will be very active on the campaign trail for Republicans. And his agenda is the agenda that we’re going to be running on.” The Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee outraised the Trump campaign and the RNC this past cycle, but Whatley is confident that with the party soon to control the White House, Republicans will be even more competitive in the campaign cash race in the midterms. “We’re pretty excited about where we are in terms of the fundraising that we did throughout the course of this cycle and what we’re going to do going forward,” he said. Whatley said that his message to donors will be “we were successful in putting Donald Trump into the White House, and we need to carry forward with his agenda by keeping these House majorities and Senate majorities.” He also pushed back on the persistent questioning of the RNC and Trump campaign’s ground game efforts during the general election. “We focused very hard on low propensity voters. This was an entirely new system that we put in place over the course of this election cycle. It worked very, very well,” he touted.  And looking ahead, he said “in a midterm election cycle, low propensity voters are going to, again, be very, very important for us. So, we’re going to continue to focus on building that type of a program.” DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR FRONT-RUNNER OFFERS ‘UNCOMFORTABLE’ ADVICE Whatley spotlighted that ‘we also focused on outreach to communities that the Republican Party has traditionally not reached out to – Black voters, Hispanic voters, Asian American voters. That’s why we were able to see such seismic shifts towards Donald Trump versus where those blocks had been in 2016 and 2020. We also saw seismic shifts among young voters and women voters because we were talking to every single American voter. Our ground game was very significant.” Whatley was interviewed a week after Trump asked him to continue as RNC chair moving forward. In March, as he clinched the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, Trump named Whatley to succeed Ronna McDaniel as RNC chair. Whatley, a longtime ally of the former president and a major supporter of Trump’s election integrity efforts, had served as RNC general counsel and chair of the North Carolina Republican Party.  Trump is term-limited and won’t be able to seek election again in 2028. Vice President-elect Sen. JD Vance will likely be considered the front-runner for the 2028 GOP nomination. But asked if the RNC will hold to its traditional role of staying neutral in an open and contested presidential primary, Whatley said “we will.” And he added that “I’m very excited about the bench that we have in the Republican Party right now. You think about all the Republican governors, you think about all the Republican senators, the members of the House that we have, the leaders across the country that have been engaged in this campaign are going to be part of the president’s cabinet.” Whatley argued that the president-elect’s “America First movement is bigger than Donald Trump. He is the tip of the spear. He is the vanguard of this movement. But. It is a very big movement right now.” The chairman also emphasized that “Donald Trump has completely remade the Republican Party. We’re now the working-class party. We’re now a party that is communicating and working with every single voter, speaking to every single voter about the issues that they care about. So, as we go into 2028, we are in a great position to be able to continue the momentum of this agenda and this movement.” Unlike the DNC, which in the 2024 cycle upended the traditional presidential nominating calendar, the RNC made no major changes to their primary lineup, and kept the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary as their first two contests. Asked about the 2028 calendar, Whatley said “I’ve not had any conversations with anybody who wants to change the calendar on our side. I know the Democrats did during the course of this election cycle, not sure that it really helped them all that much.” “We’re very comfortable with the calendar as it is. But as we move towards 2028, we’ll have those conversations,” he added.