The Wall Street Journal - USA (2020-12-07)

A4| Monday, December 7, 2020 PWLC101112HTGKRFAM123456789OIXX **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

POLITICS

backing Ronna McDaniel, a

close ally, for another term as

chairwoman.

Strategists said candidates

need to avoid tangling with Mr.

Trump and his loyal following,

while boosting their profiles.

David Kochel, a Republican

strategist in Iowa, said, “In the

near term it presents real chal-

lenges for organizing.”

“I don’t think it should stop

people from coming in,” he said.

“But it’s a messaging challenge.”

Iowa GOP chairman Jeff

Kaufmann said any Republican

is welcome in the state and

that doesn’t mean they are run-

ning for president. But Mr.

Kaufmann—who said that 2024

commentary shouldn’t be con-

sidered an acknowledgment

that Mr. Trump lost—added: “I

don’t see any avenue in Iowa of

another Republican replacing

Donald Trump as the lead Re-

publican in our state.”

Potential 2024 candidates

have adapted to Mr. Trump’s

signals, talking up his appeal to

the party base and saying he

would be the front-runner.

“President Trump did great

things for the nation and has

the support of so many Ameri-

cans,” said a spokesman for

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. An

Mr. Harris added another

consideration: whether Mr.

Trump, who will be 78 years

old in 2024, can continue to

dominate the conversation.

“The symbiotic relationship be-

tween Trump and the media

will be put to the test once he

is no longer at the center of the

political universe,” he said.

Derided by 2016 GOP primary

rivals as a con man, Mr. Trump

has infused the GOP with a pop-

ulist energy reflected in stances

on trade and foreign policy, and

even in defeat he is the undis-

puted party leader. Trumpism is

likely to outlast him, but his

2024 consideration challenges

those angling as his heir.

Veteran New Hampshire

strategist Tom Rath, who ad-

vised Mr. Romney and George

W. Bush, sees a path for a more

centrist figure to articulate a

different vision with appeal to

some of the voters Mr. Trump

alienated.

“Trump is always going to

have a unique hold on the atten-

tion of people,” Mr. Rath said.

“Sooner or later we’re going to

start talking about winning—

winning and governing.” He

added: “We’ve got to get youn-

ger. We can’t bring the same

team back into the playoffs.”

adviser to Mr. Hawley said that

should Mr. Trump run, Mr.

Hawley would support him.

“He’s earned that deference

for what he’s done with the

party and what he’s accom-

plished,” said South Carolina

GOP chairman Drew McKissick.

On Tuesday, the chairman at-

tended a holiday party at the

White House where Mr. Trump

said he was fighting to win the

current election but added to

raucous cheers, “Otherwise, I’ll

see you in four years.”

The timing of any decision

by Mr. Trump remains in flux.

Some advisers say it could

come soon, while others believe

he will let the prospect linger.

“I don’t think he’ll say he’s run-

ning or anything formal,” said a

confidant who recently spoke

to the president. “A lot of peo-

ple want him to. But he’s got to

make money.”

The president is

raising millions for a

PAC that can fund a

future campaign.

BYBETSYMCKAY

Expert in

Infectious

Diseases

Tapped for

CDC Chief

votes in his losing effort this

year—demonstrated his grip on

the party base with Saturday’s

rally in Georgia for two sena-

tors locked in tight runoff elec-

tions. “Four more years, four

more years,” a shoulder-to-

shoulder crowd chanted. He is

raising millions of dollars for a

newly formed political commit-

tee that can fund future cam-

paign activity.

“Trump blocks out the sun

on all of the other prospective

candidates,” said Kevin Mad-

den, a former adviser to Mitt

Romney, the 2012 GOP presi-

dential nominee and now a sen-

ator from Utah. “You show up

in New Hampshire and talk

about the future of the GOP,

you immediately put a target

on your back with Trump and

his followers. Are you willing to

take that fight on?”

But consultants to would-be

candidates privately say they

will encourage trips to early

voting states to help key-state

Republicans up for election in

2022. Among the potential con-
      tenders are Vice President Mike
      Pence, Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas,
      Marco Rubio of Florida and
      Josh Hawley of Missouri, for-
      mer South Carolina Gov. Nikki
      Haley, Secretary of State Mike
      Pompeo and Maryland Gov.
      Larry Hogan.
      A number of potential candi-
      dates, including Mr. Trump,
      have been invited to the Repub-
      lican National Committee’s win-
      ter meeting in January. Politico
      earlier reported on the invites.
      Mr. Trump won’t officially re-
      tain control of the RNC when
      he leaves office, though he is

ContinuedfromPageOne

GOP Field

For2024Is

In Limbo

After suffering losses in con-
gressional races across the
country, some Democrats are
pushing the party to re-evalu-
ate its focus on health care and
prioritize the economy ahead
of two key Senate races in
Georgia.
Health care was the most-
mentioned issue across all
Democratic presidential and
Senate television ads, airing
nearly 1.5 million times, in the
2020 election cycle, according
to data from political ad tracker
Kantar/CMAG. Democrats made
defending the Affordable Care
Act a top issue in Supreme
Court confirmation hearings
weeks before the election and
promised on the campaign trail
to protect the law.
Democrats took the House
majority in 2018 after centering
their campaigns on the Trump
administration’s efforts to chip
away at the health law. But after
the party lost multiple House
seats and underperformed in
several Senate races this year,
some former candidates and
strategists who worked on 2020
campaigns say Democrats
should have focused more on
people who were losing their
jobs and struggling to pay rent.
“I think that the message
needs to shift more towards
the economy,” said Rep. Debbie
Mucarsel-Powell, who lost her
race in November in a Miami-
Dade County district that
swung toward President Trump
after voting overwhelmingly for
Hillary Clinton in 2016. “There’s
a lot of fear that many people
here will not be able to get
back to work.”
Following the election, Ms.

Mucarsel-Powell wrote an opin-

ion column that in part argued

Democrats need to focus on the

economy to win back support

among Florida Latinos.

President-elect Joe Biden

won after campaigning heavily

against what he described as Mr.

Trump’s mismanagement of the

pandemic, which has killed more

than 282,000 people in the U.S.

Mr. Biden said getting the virus

under control was necessary for

businesses and schools to get

back to normal operations and

to rebuild the economy.

He made other economic

promises, such as raising the

minimum wage to $15 an hour

and forgiving some student-

loan debt, but they weren’t as

prominent in the general-elec-

tion campaign.

Chris Meagher, a spokesman

for the Democratic National

Committee, said the party’s

messaging was successful: “We

took back the House in 2018,

we continue to have the major-

ity in 2020 and we beat an in-

cumbent president on that

message.”

A Wall Street Journal/NBC

News poll the month before the

election found the economy

was the most important issue

to voters, followed by the coro-

navirus and health care. Voters

said they trusted Republicans

most to deal with the economy,

while they gave Democrats the

lead on health care.

Brad Woodhouse, executive

director of the health-care-fo-

cused Protect Our Care, said his

group’s surveys have shown

coronavirus relief is the top is-

sue for voters. He said protect-

ing people with pre-existing

conditions and the Affordable

Care Act are “not as resonant

at this very minute,” though he

noted Democrats can still link

those issues to their response

to Covid-19.

In addition to the pandemic,

Democrats campaigned on a

lawsuit from GOP-led states

seeking to invalidate the 2010

health law. The Supreme Court

heard arguments Nov. 10, and a

decision is expected before

June. After health care and cor-

onavirus, jobs and unemploy-

ment was the No. 3 issue in

Democratic ads; it was the sec-

ond-most-mentioned issue in

Republican ads.

Health care was the top is-

sue mentioned in Republican

ads as well, as they criticized

Democratic candidates for a

push in the progressive wing of

the party to end private insur-

ance and extend Medicare to all

Americans. Mr. Biden and many

other Democrats didn’t support

that, instead backing an expan-

sion of Obamacare by adding a

public-insurance option.

BYTARINIPARTI
ANDELIZACOLLINS

Democrats Debate Campaign Messaging

President-elect Joe Biden won after campaigning heavily against what he described as President Trump’s pandemic mismanagement.

JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS

Kansas Republican National

Committeeman Mark Kahrs sees

Mr. Pompeo as a possible chal-

lenger to Kansas Democratic

Gov. Laura Kelly in two years.

Mr. Pompeo dismisses all

the talk of the political future.

“I haven’t even given what

happens on January 21 enough

thought to comment,” he said,

referring to the day after the

inauguration.

As secretary of state, Mr.

Pompeo has brought an uncom-

promising approach to rivals

including China and Iran. He

has focused on issues that reso-

nate with the conservative base

of the Republican Party, includ-

ing religious freedom and abor-

tion, while backing President

Trump’s “America First” for-

eign policy. He avoided the fate

of other senior officials who

tangled with the president and

ended up being dismissed.

Mr. Pompeo has combined

overseas travel with domestic

tours of political battleground

states, voicing the related

themes of confronting China

and Iran, keeping religion cen-

tral in public life and avoiding

international groups when

they don’t serve U.S. interests.

Some Democrats have said

Mr. Pompeo has used his cabi-

net perch to boost his own

brand ahead of a political run, a

suggestion Mr. Pompeo denies.

“I don’t ever think about that.”

Mr. Pompeo was the focus

of a recruitment effort by Sen-

ate Majority Leader Mitch

McConnell (R., Ky.) regarding

the race for the open Kansas

U.S. Senate seat in 2020. The

secretary discussed the race

with GOP power brokers but

opted to remain in his post.

“It’s something I was never

seriously considering,” Mr.

Pompeo said.

WASHINGTON—Mike
Pompeo, who spent four years
overseeing the Trump adminis-
tration’s foreign intelligence and
international-relations appara-
tus, plans to move back to Kan-

sas, where supporters and ob-
servers say he is well positioned
for domestic political pursuits.
In an interview, Mr.
Pompeo said he and his wife
aim to return at some point to
Kansas. As a congressman, he
represented the state’s Fourth
District for six years.
The secretary of state de-
clined to rule out possible fu-
ture runs for public office,
saying he hasn’t thought much
about what is next. But long-
time supporters see Mr.
Pompeo leveraging his na-
tional and international stat-
ure for a future run for gover-
nor, U.S. senator or, one day,
president or vice president.
“From the perspective of
what I’m hearing within the
party, he can do whatever he
wants,” said Mike Kuckelman,
chairman of the Kansas Re-
publican Party.

ByWilliam Mauldin,

Lindsay Wise

andCourtney McBride

Pompeo Set to Begin

New Chapter in Kansas

Mr. Trump, campaigning in Georgia Saturday for two senators, was cheered with ‘Four more years!’

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

President-elect Joe Biden has

tapped Rochelle Walensky as the

next director of the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention,

according to a person familiar

with the decision, bringing a re-

spected infectious-diseases ex-

pert to the helm of a critical but

demoralized agency that has

struggled in its response to the

coronavirus pandemic.

Dr. Walensky, chief of infec-

tious diseases at Massachusetts

General Hospital and a profes-

sor of medicine at Harvard

Medical School, will succeed

Robert Redfield, who has led

the CDC since 2018. The posi-

tion doesn’t require Senate

confirmation.

Dr. Walensky faces a chal-

lenging assignment: leading the

agency back to the front-line

role it traditionally plays in

fighting epidemics, and battling

a surge in the pandemic that

has sent the number of hospi-

talizations and deaths soaring.

For months, the White

House played a hands-on role

in shaping the federal govern-

ment’s public health recom-

mendations, sometimes heavily

editing or overruling guidance

from the CDC on matters such

as social distancing in bars, res-

taurants and houses of worship.

The agency has also suffered

from its own mistakes, includ-

ing errors that led to a delay in

the rollout of a critical corona-

virus diagnostic test that could

have caught infections earlier

in the pandemic.

The CDC has become in-

creasingly visible in recent

weeks in fighting the surge, by

shortening the recommended

quarantine period to reduce the

burden on individuals and or-

ganizations. On Friday, it

warned the public to take self-

protection measures, such as

wearing masks indoors and in

some outdoor settings, as the

virus has become entrenched in

communities.

Like Dr. Redfield and many

others leading the federal re-

sponse to the Covid-19 pan-

demic, Dr. Walensky draws her

expertise from an extensive

background in HIV. She is a pol-

icy researcher known for her

work showing the cost-effec-

tiveness of HIV testing, care

and prevention strategies.

preme Court last month heard

arguments in the case. The

Trump administration has

asked the court to strike down

swaths of the ACA.

Mr. Becerra, 62 years old,

served in the House of Repre-

sentatives from 1993 to 2017.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Bec-

erra didn’t return an email

seeking comment.

A spokesman for the Biden

transition team declined to

comment.

The nominee will play a

pivotal role in driving Mr. Bi-

den’s health agenda and help-

ing to shape the new adminis-

tration’s response to the

coronavirus pandemic. The

HHS secretary oversees the

Food and Drug Administration

and the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention.

Mr. Becerra was the first

Latino on the House Ways and

Means Committee. He is the

son of Mexican immigrants.

He has served as chairman of

the House Democratic Caucus

and was the ranking member

of the Ways and Means Sub-

committee on Social Security.

Mr. Becerra was the first in

his family to receive a four-

year degree, majoring in eco-

nomics at Stanford University.

He earned a law degree from

Stanford Law School.

In addition to working to

preserve the Affordable Care

Act, Mr. Becerra in July was

among three state attorneys

general who led a coalition

suing to halt a Trump admin-

istration rule rolling back pro-

tections against discrimina-

tion for people who are

lesbian, gay, bisexual and

transgender.

Mr. Becerra emerged as a

“clear front-runner” for the

role late last week, according

to a person familiar with the

process. That person attri-

buted Mr. Becerra’s rise to his

record on health-care issues in

California, including his bipar-

tisan work to expand access to

Covid-19 treatments and focus

on anti-vaping initiatives

among youth.

Mr. Biden was specifically

impressed by an antitrust law-

suit Mr. Becerra filed against

Sutter Health resulting in a

$575 million settlement last

year, the person said, as well

as his personal story as the

first in his family to graduate

from college.

Although Mr. Becerra has

endorsed Medicare for All, the

single-payer health-care plan

championed by Sen. Bernie

Sanders (I., Vt.), people famil-

iar with the process said he

supports Mr. Biden’s plan to

expand health-care access

through a public option.

President-elect Joe Biden
plans to nominate California
Attorney General Xavier Bec-
erra to lead the Department of
Health and Human Services,
according to people familiar
with the decision, selecting a
legal advocate who has waged
battles to preserve the Afford-
able Care Act.
Mr. Becerra led a coalition
of 20 states and Washington,
D.C., in a legal defense of the
ACA after Republican-led
states brought a lawsuit seek-
ing to invalidate the Obama-
era health law. The U.S. Su-

BYSTEPHANIEARMOUR
ANDSABRINASIDDIQUI

Becerra Is Biden’s Pick to Lead HHS

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