According to Axios, during a recent meeting with Democratic operatives, committee chairman Tom Perez announced a new strategy to target Trump's "performance as president".
"Prosecute the case that he is bad at his job and it is hurting people in real ways", the DNC chairman emphasized, cited by Axios.
As the 2020 presidential election nears, Democrats have compiled a new trove of data concerning the incumbent president through a study of some 7,000 lawsuits in all 50 states. In addition, they have filed "thousands" of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to get more evidence on Trump's practices and policies.
The Dems have examined numerous cases to find out how Trump has failed to deliver on his promises and how American farmers and truckers feel about the president's tariff war with China.
"Using Trump's specific actions and broken promises is how DNC chairman Tom Perez is advising party officials and surrogates to define him in states he won in 2016 that they think are crucial to their 2020 election efforts", the media outlet stated.
Why the Dem Effort to Dig Up New Dirt on Trump is Doomed
According to American scholars, it is unlikely that Democrats will manage to dig up new and damning evidence against the US president.
"No President has had more 'opposition research' done on him than Donald Trump", says Arizona Republican Congressman Paul Gosar. "The problem for the Democrats is that Trump has lived his life, and managed his affairs, openly for years. There are so few legitimate issues that the Democrats have to revert to making up opposition research".
Gosar points out that the "Russia hoax" – the story about alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow, that was largely based on ex-MI6 agent Chistopher Steele's 'dossier' – "was proven to be fake opposition research".
"I think Americans should brace for more fake claims and fake allegations", Gosar foresees.
Sean D. Foreman, a professor of political science at Florida-based Barry University, echoes Gosar: "People’s opinions on Donald Trump are set", he notes. "Like him or not, there does not seem to be any new information that will change people’s perceptions of President Trump".
"It does sound like a good strategy to hold Trump accountable for the things he has said and for any broken promises made along the way", the academic continued. "But, again, people already seem to support or oppose Trump based on their views of him personally, so not much will change".
Foreman believes that efforts by the Democratic Party will not have much of an impact on the 2020 elections.
Stan Vaughan, a former candidate for the US Congress in Nevada, is confident that the DNC's initiative is doomed.
"The Democrats will fail", he observed.
Trump's Trade War With China & Economic Rise
Trump's China strategy is also in the DNC crosshairs, while the US remains largely divided over a trade war by Washington with Beijing that has been raging since March 2018.
On 1 September, the US imposed 15 percent tariffs on Chinese goods worth $112 billion as the first step in the president's plan to place new taxes on $300 billion of Chinese imports by the end of 2019. Beijing responded with new tariffs on $75 billion worth of US products, including American crude oil.
In mid-June 2019, Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, a national campaign against tariffs supported by roughly 150 American trade groups, sent a letter to Trump ahead of the 28-29 June G20 summit in Osaka, urging the president to resolve his trade friction with China. The letter was signed by some 661 US companies and associations.
In response, on 21 June, a Coalition for Prosperous America (CPA), a nonprofit organisation aimed at reforming US trade policy, submitted a letter to the president inked by over 600 American companies, praising the White House tariff strategy.
"This is a tough point for understanding the US campaign for president", Foreman suggests. "We are finding much evidence recently that people may vote in a way that is contrary to their economic standing. These seemingly irrational economic decisions may be defended by other interests, like 'America First', or standing up for some abstract principle".
Gosar argues that "a fair assessment of the trade wars so far is that President Trump has succeeded in negotiating more favorable terms for the United States and the economy has reflected that".
"The United States is winning the trade wars and it took a president with true vision and fortitude to finally redress the imbalances prior administrations allowed", he opined.
Gosar cites the fact that despite tensions with China, the US economy is doing "exceptionally well" under Trump.
There is, however, no unity on this issue as well. In February 2019, the White House reported that the US economy reached 3 percent growth in 2018 for the first time in 13 years, citing the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). That data was challenged by the US Commerce Department in July. According to government estimates, the economy is growing 2.5 percent in the 12 months through the fourth quarter of 2018, and is facing a relative slowdown.
RNC is Preparing a Counter-Strike
While Democrats prepare for the 2020 presidential election Republicans are not sitting quietly, according to the observers.
"Absolutely we should expect to see this same tactic from the Republicans", says Foreman. "I am sure they have 'binders' full of information on and statements by Joe Biden already and probably on Elizabeth Warren, too. This is part of the political game".
Vaughan is more specific: "Informational countermeasures by groups such as America Rising, the Outliers and Bullpen Strategy are examples of countermeasures in the works".
In March 2019, the Republican National Committee hired a small, unknown company, the Outliers Group, to conduct opposition research on Democrats for the 2020 campaign.
For its part, America Rising, a Virginia-based political action committee (PAC) is much better known: the group recently targeted the Environmental Protection Agency, an agency that has consistently refuted the president's claims on the environment and climate change.
Bullpen Strategy Group, a Republican consulting firm formerly known as Definers Public Affairs, is undergoing rebranding after using Facebook to detail the funding activities of George Soros.
According to Axios, Trump's campaign will double down on targeting social media and the political opinions of left-leaning media sources during the 2020 race.
The views and opinions expressed by the speakers do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.