Democrats debate whether to fight Trump's persona, or his ideas

There are still plenty of sore feelings about last fall's election for the party stalwarts at the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting.

State party officials are frank about the strategic errors and messaging problems that made it a campaign they'd rather forget, and they hope to turn things around before the 2018 election.

As Oregon Democratic Party Executive Director Brad Martin pointed out, there's no time to waste in ground-level organizing and sustained voter awareness efforts outside Republican-dominated Washington.

"That's our task in the next 620 days: to make sure we resist, to hold President Trump accountable," Martin said.

The word "resist" has been adopted by Trump's opponents as a rallying cry. It's plastered on signs at protests, used by lawmakers in the corridors of government and is a mainstay on social media platforms.

Interim DNC Chair Donna Brazile, who leaves office on Saturday, said Democrats would be wise to focus their energy on fighting Trump's ideas rather than make his persona the issue.

"I think the American people are tired of the kind of the hyper-partisanship, the us versus them mentality," she said. "The Democratic Party has to begin to focus on those values that unite us as Americans and not just partisans."

Democrats spent a lot of time last year attempting to portray Trump as dangerous and too little explaining what their party's candidates were for, Brazile said.

One of the candidates to replace Brazile is South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. He said it won't do Democrats any good to get into an insult battle with Trump.

"We have to resist him, but it's not all about him. It's about people at home, in their lives and how it is affected by what goes on."

In a CNN debate Wednesday night among the DNC chair hopefuls, Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison said Trump has done things that "legitimately raise the question of impeachment."

Ellison cited ongoing concern about Trump's business entanglements. He said the issue isn't just Trump, but the integrity of the presidency.

"I think that we need to begin investigations to not go after Donald Trump but to protect our constitution and the presidency of the United States — to make sure that nobody can monetize the presidency and make profit off of it for their own gain."

Another candidate for Democratic Party chief, former Labor Secretary Tom Perez, said in the CNN debate that his party needs to take the fight to Trump by focusing on his agenda.

"When we lead with our values," Perez said. "When we lead with our conviction, that's how we succeed."

While Democrats in Atlanta sorted through what went wrong and where to go next, Republicans were in a celebratory mood at a conference in Washington.

The Conservative Political Action Conference featured top Republican lawmakers and prominent figures from the White House.

Senior presidential adviser Steve Bannon said Trump won't waver in the face of stiff opposition, no matter how much Democrats and other forces push back.

"He's going to continue to press his agenda. And as economic conditions get better, as more jobs get better, they're going to continue to fight," Bannon said. "If you think they're going to give you your country back without a fight, you're sadly mistaken."