The intense focus in Washington on the investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is not expected to become a dominant theme for Democrats on the campaign trail as the party continues grappling with how to talk about President Trump.

Trump, his sagging popularity, his conservative policy ideas and the investigation now embroiling his administration are a major preoccupation for Democratic leaders, who might relish watching the White House struggle but who vividly remember that the "Stop Trump" message fell flat last year.

The Russia investigation "is important to talk about, but I don't think it's something that you can focus entirely on," said Ken Martin, chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

In each race, "it's not enough just to say that Trump and his allies are bad people," Martin said. "We have to be able to move beyond it and start giving people a reason to vote for Democrats."

In Minnesota, Martin and his party will be working next year to hold the governor's mansion and a U.S. Senate seat and turn out voters in at least four competitive congressional districts.

In Ohio, Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper is hoping to retake the governor's mansion, hold a Senate seat and claw back a congressional district or two.

"We don't spend a lot of time around here talking about Vladimir Putin and James Comey," he said. "I'm as frustrated as anyone by what Comey did and that Putin interfered, and Congress should get to the bottom of that, but if that's what we talk about . . . we will lose again."

Pepper, who spoke the night before indictments were unsealed Monday, added that the way Ohio Democrats will win next year "is by getting a core message that appeals across all 88 counties."

But Guy Cecil, president of the Democratic super PAC Priorities USA Action, said that despite the reservations of some, the Russia story will be part of the party's 2018 focus, especially after the indictments.

"That took what had been a complicated story and it simplified it," he said.

The story, Cecil said, would have the greatest impact on "white, college-educated voters who all along had conflicted feelings about Trump" but voted against Hillary Clinton after Comey announced a last-minute decision to briefly reopen the investigation of the former secretary of state.



Tom Steyer speaks in San Francisco on Oct. 24 at a rally calling for the impeachment of President Trump. (Jeff Chiu/AP)

Also complicating the party's response to the investigations is that a prominent party stalwart may also end up entangled in the Mueller probe.

On Monday, Tony Podesta, a Democratic power lobbyist and the brother of John Podesta, a longtime Democratic adviser who led Clinton's presidential campaign, announced that he is stepping away from his lobbying firm amid questions about the work he did with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business partner Rick Gates, who were indicted Monday.

[Amid swirl of controversy, Democratic power lobbyist Podesta steps down]

Across the country, Democratic political consultants and progressive groups agreed that mentions of the ongoing investigation will resonate best in areas where Trump is deeply unpopular. It may also help make broader anti-incumbent arguments about the need to clean up Washington or preserve American democracy.

"It isn't directly relevant for every campaign, but if you're running for Congress, it sure is," said Rodd McLeod, an Arizona-based consultant working with congressional and state legislative candidates. "Congress's job is to be a check on Donald Trump, and right now Congress is failing."

[Three former Trump campaign officials charged by special counsel]

Since the end of the effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the grass-roots Indivisible project, a network of citizen groups, has focused more on building opposition to tax cuts than on the Russia probe.

"We went through the exact same thing during the Trumpcare fight. Comey was fired, and Mueller was appointed, and we had to try to focus the field: 'Yes, this is bonkers, but keep your eye on the prize,' " said Ezra Levin, the co-founder of Indivisible. "Where we have leverage is through the legislative process — that's where constituent power actually works."

MoveOn.org is working with two dozen smaller groups for a "day of action" if Trump fires Mueller; a website, at trumpisnotabovethelaw.org, is already being used to organize it. But Ben Wikler, MoveOn's Washington director, said the group was using this week to protest the rollout of the Republicans' tax-cut bill, not double down on Russia news.

"People will be in the streets if Mueller is fired," Wikler said. "But public pressure isn't going to change how Mueller conducts his investigation. It can affect whether Congress cuts taxes for the rich."

Out on the campaign trail, the investigation could prove to be an especially tricky subject for the 10 Democratic senators facing reelection next year in states Trump won handily, and on the dozens of Democratic House candidates running in exurban or rural swing districts.

During a recent town hall meeting in Washington, Mo., Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) pulled questions out a fishbowl that attendees had written and submitted as they walked in the door. The first asked whether Congress can "stop President Trump from lying to the American people every day."

McCaskill shook her head, didn't answer and moved on to the next question. Later, she pulled out a question asking whether Trump would be impeached.

"I don't support impeaching the president. I don't believe there's anything that's occurred that requires an impeachment, and so I'm not in favor of that," she said before moving on.

Other Democrats up for reelection next year are speaking about the investigation in measured tones.

"I consider it a truth hunt and not a witch hunt," Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said Monday on "CBS This Morning" when asked to react to Trump's characterization of the investigation. "We owe it to our democracy."

"What I want to know is how far this went, who was involved and who gave the orders," she added.

In the battle for the House, Democrats say they may have a unique opportunity by virtue of the people they have running. The party's unprecedented wave of recruits includes military veterans such as Jason Crow, running against Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.); former intelligence officers such as Abigail Spanberger, running against Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.); and senior government officials such as former State Department official Ed Meier, running against Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.).

But Monday, as the indictments of Trump campaign officials dominated the news, none of those candidates responded with statements. Neither did the Democratic candidates in next week's closely watched races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is running for reelection next week and has frequently plunged into national debates, but on Monday he campaigned for a "millionaire's tax" that would fund transportation and rode the New York subway with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — and didn't opine on the indictments.

Some Trump critics are going further with the story than Democrats might like. Ryan Clayton, an organizer with Americans Take Action who was arrested last week after tossing Russian flags at Trump during a visit to the Capitol, said that the indictments demonstrated why protests were needed to stop "fascism" in the United States.

"Now whenever someone starts talking about Hillary and uranium, all we have to say is: Yeah, check the news about Manafort," Clayton said. "I look forward to the day that Trump and his associates are getting marched to jail in orange jumpsuits. That will send the message that you can't collude with a foreign power to undermine democracy."

And shortly before the indictments were unsealed, billionaire donor Tom Steyer began a multimillion-dollar television ad campaign calling on Congress to begin impeachment proceedings for Trump. He is planning to travel the country to build awareness, with plans to stop this week outside the district office of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), a longtime critic of President Barack Obama who Democrats say isn't being tough enough on Trump.

"This isn't about doing what's the best move politically or tactically — this is about doing what's right," said Steyer spokeswoman Aleigha Cavalier.

In a recent interview, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Steyer's push for impeachment is "one that no one could disagree with in terms of the justification." But she said she and her caucus would stay focused on defeating the Republican tax plan.

"I say to the members it's no use talking about him," she said. "He's self-evident. So why don't we just talk about what we want to do."

James Hohmann and Michael Scherer contributed to this report.

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