Trump's team gunning for potential 2020 reelection rivals

[DonViejo]

Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown are among the Democrats that Trump allies are looking to undermine or defeat.

By GABRIEL DEBENEDETTI 09/18/2017 05:04 AM EDT

Allies of Donald Trump have begun plotting to take down or weaken potential Democratic challengers in 2020, including several who will be on the ballot in next year’s midterms.

The 2018-focused work ranges from a major donor-funded super PAC designed to blemish Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s image, to a full-scale effort to defeat Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown outright before he gets the chance to take on Trump. Beyond that, after months of monitoring dozens of potential challengers, Trump allies are building research files and crafting lines of attack on Democrats seen as most threatening to Trump and who will be on the ballot next November.


The patchwork push is less organized than past efforts orchestrated by presidential reelection campaigns. But it’s beginning to resemble Republicans’ successful attempt to drag down Hillary Clinton before she announced her 2016 run. Plus, with Trump under siege from Democrats and Republicans — and with his team wary of a GOP primary challenge — it’s more confirmation that Trump allies are already maneuvering for a bruising 2020 campaign.

The bulk of the early preparations underway focus on seven possible 2020 Democrats who are up for reelection in 2018. Within the Republican National Committee and Trump-aligned outside groups in recent months, operatives have regularly met to discuss plans for constructing the research material, money and staff they’ll need to chip away at Democratic White House hopefuls’ reputations in 2018 and 2020.

“There’s wisdom in putting the 2018 Democratic candidates on notice — and some Republicans who are making noises as well — that there is going to be a well-funded, diverse set of groups that will be taking them on,” said Matt Schlapp, the American Conservative Union chairman and former George W. Bush political aide who is close with Trump’s White

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http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/18/trump-team-guns-for-2020-rivals-242781

[bettyellen]

1. Dems need to really unify in the face of this. Not pick up bits of the propaganda.

And amplify them for the GOP.