Less than a week before Mr. Trump is sworn in, there is a widening disconnect among Democrats over how to challenge a leader whose talent for stirring controversy can blur, rather than sharpen, the lines of attack against him.
Democrats, here and in Washington, say it is folly to engage him on his preferred terrain of insults and bombast. They suggest that one of Hillary Clinton’s mistakes was to try to isolate him from the Republican Party by portraying him as an aberrant figure.
The more effective course, Democrats say, is to focus on policy and assail Mr. Trump for not living up to his populist promises as he installs a largely wealthy cabinet and begins rolling back the Affordable Care Act.
“I think it’s a dangerous game to chase every new outrage,” said Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, a new member of his party’s leadership. “We’re going to have to make the case that voters were sold a bill of goods and this is a hard-right president and hard-right Congress.”…
Democrats, however, seem to have trouble following their own advice.
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