The Democrats' Gorsuch dilemma

Moreover, advocates of wall-to-wall opposition point to the success of the Tea Party in 2009-2010 as evidence that you don’t need to play to the center to win — that, arguably, it’s better to focus on energizing your base. That base would not only be deeply demoralized by any let-up in the opposition to Trump; it would consider the downgrading of priorities like reproductive rights to be an outright betrayal.

The Democratic Party faces a two-headed problem. Its base doesn’t trust its leadership, and so when the leadership says this isn’t the hill to die on, they suspect betrayal. But that same base is too inefficiently distributed to win a close national election. The Democrats have to find ways to expand their coalition while simultaneously convincing their base that they can be trusted.

Whether by instinct or through good advice, Trump has hit on a perfect move to frustrate that goal.

To regain the initiative, Democrats need to focus their approach to Gorsuch on their fears of Trump. Ask him about the rights of non-citizens. Ask him about war powers. Ask him about political interference in regulatory oversight. Ask him about anti-trust. Ask him about government surveillance. Ask him about whistleblowers. Heck, ask him about the emoluments clause if you want. Make it look like you’re not trying to get business done or to make reasonable compromises — make it look like you’re trying to see if Trump might have played himself.