Retired Lt. Col Amy McGrath represents the perfect candidates Democrats are trying to recruit. | POLITICO Screengrab null What House Democrats want 2018 to look like

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- WHAT HOUSE DEMOCRATS WANT 2018 TO LOOK LIKE -- MARK PUTNAM, the top-flight Democratic ad maker, has cut a spot for Ret. Lt. Col. Amy McGrath, who is running against Rep. Andy Barr in a solid Republican district in Kentucky. The spot tells the story of McGrath’s career -- she was the first female Marine to fly in an F-18 in combat and flew in 89 missions bombing al Qaeda and the Taliban. The ad has some familiar themes: Barr -- who she says is Mitch McConnell’s hand-picked congressman -- wants to take health care away from people, according to McGrath. But the spot also highlights another theme in 2018: House Democrats are especially interested in veterans jumping in the race. The imagery in this ad shows how they might employ military ties in the midterm.

“This is my new mission: to take on a Congress full of career politicians who treat the people of Kentucky like they’re disposable. Some are telling me a Democrat can’t win that battle in Kentucky. That we can’t take back our country for my kids and yours. We’ll see about that.” The ad ends showing her Marine dress uniform with all her medals, decorations and her personal sword, with the text “Amy McGrath: Democrat for Congress” on the screen. The two-minute spot http://bit.ly/2vohv5j


BUT, BUT, BUT -- “Democrats snub new party message,” by Gabe Debenedetti, Elana Schor, and Heather Caygle: “Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill will spend the next 15 months talking up the new ‘Better Deal’ economic message they unveiled last week. What’s not clear is if anyone else will follow. The national party remains far from consensus on a unified message -- Democrats can’t even agree on whether the party needs one. … [N]ot every incumbent wants to be associated with the party’s message. And many of the party’s influential constituent groups and moneyed organizations are busy pursuing their own messaging and branding initiatives, and remain in the early stages of their own investigations into what went wrong in November. Some — including the Democratic National Committee and individual state party committees — are busy preparing their own, independent lines of messaging.” http://politi.co/2uTGyKi

