Jan 26, 2017

Dems head to WV to practice speaking with Trump voters

Charlie Neibergall / AP

After a devastating 2016, Dems are focused on making a comeback in 2018, where they'll have 9 Senators up for reelection in Trump states. Their strategy? Learning to both talk and listen to Trump's fanbase — Hillary's downfall.

Democrats gathered in West Virginia for a series of workshops, according to a draft schedule Politico snagged. The event included:

"Discussion with Trump voters"
"Speaking to those who feel invisible to rural America"
"Listening to those who feel unheard"
"Rising America — They feel unheard too."

Before studying tactics for reaching out to rural America, they had a reception of wine, cheese and a history lesson on Harper's Ferry.

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Scott Rosenberg

6 mins ago - Technology

The U.S. is now playing by China's internet rules

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

President Trump's crackdown on TikTok suggests that the U.S. government is starting to see the internet more like China does — as a network that countries can and should control within their borders.

The big picture: Today's global internet has split into three zones, according to many observers: The EU's privacy-focused network; China's government-dominated network; and the U.S.-led network dominated by a handful of American companies. TikTok's fate suggests China's model has U.S. fans as well.

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Alayna Treene

16 mins ago - Politics & Policy

GOP plans "nightly surprise" for revamped convention

President Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Photo: Bill Clark/Getty Images

The reworked Republican National Convention will be a four-night spectacle including still-under-wraps venues, a 10 p.m. "nightly surprise" and guests and themes playing to "the forgotten men and women of America," two senior Trump campaign officials involved tell Axios.

Driving the news: The messaging will focus heavily on "very granular details" of what a second term for President Trump would look like — answering a question Trump left hanging in a Fox News event earlier this summer — and attack cancel culture, "radical elements" of society and threats to public safety.

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Margaret Talev

46 mins ago - Health

Axios-Ipsos poll: Fear of voting

Data: Axios/Ipsos poll; Note: ±3.0% margin of error for the total sample; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

Democrats are twice as likely as Republicans to worry about in-person voting — with nearly two in three seeing it as a large or moderate risk to their health — according to this week's installment of the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

Why it matters: This could pose a significant disadvantage for Joe Biden and other Democratic candidates in November if the pattern holds — especially in states where high infection rates persist, or where there are significant hurdles to mail-in, absentee or early voting.