Preet Bharara will lead a discussion on “defending integrity and fighting for justice,” according to a schedule obtained by POLITICO. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images Preet Bharara, Tom Perez join Biden at Democrats' annual retreat

House Democrats head to their annual retreat this week with one goal: Unite behind a winning election message that can at once counter and transcend President Donald Trump’s divisive “America first” politics.

Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney from New York fired by Trump, and Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez will join former Vice President Joe Biden and a slate of other speakers aimed at helping Democrats energize their base and woo the working class voters who swept Trump into the White House.


Democrats say their goal is to leave the three-day confab in Cambridge, Md., better equipped to cut through Trump’s stranglehold on the news cycle while also not alienating the blue collar voters who were crucial to his victory – and could propel Democrats back into power in the House.

Democrats need to scoop up 24 seats to take back the House and they’ve got history – midterms are generally favorable to the party not in the White House – and a string of Republican retirements on their side. But the infighting that dominated the party after the 2016 election is still an undercurrent that Democratic leaders have yet to resolve.

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The party’s liberal base is demanding a more aggressive response to Trump. It wants Democrats to unite behind an impeachment push now, while the center-left has argued that the road to the majority runs through the middle and lawmakers should focus on an economic message they can sell to voters back home.

House and Senate Democratic leaders unveiled their “Better Deal” economic agenda last summer, but the message has failed to gain much traction as Capitol Hill lurches from one Trump-related crisis to another.

But Democrats insist their ideological differences won’t keep the party from rallying behind a single message in the months leading up to the midterms.

“We’re fighting to advance an agenda that puts all Americans on the path to financial security and uplifts communities so students can learn without amassing a lifetime of debt," Lauren French, a spokeswoman for House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), said in a statement. The goals also include helping people "secure good-paying jobs and meaningful careers" and seniors to "retire with dignity," she said.

Biden will deliver the keynote speech Wednesday at the retreat, officially themed “United for a Better Tomorrow.” The former vice president’s appearance – a potential 2020 contender who some Democrats believe is their working-class answer to Trump – was first reported by POLITICO last week.

Later in the day, Bharara will lead a discussion on “defending integrity and fighting for justice,” according to a schedule obtained by POLITICO.

Bharara, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump — and frequent Twitter foil — since he was fired last March, is one of several speakers addressing communities who have been on the other end of the president’s ire — from African Americans to undocumented immigrants.

A trio of civil rights advocates, including Heidi Beirich, an expert on white supremacy who works at the Southern Poverty Law Center, will lead a panel on “communities under threat.” And Democrats will hear from separate panel with speakers from the Latino Victory Fund and the Human Rights Campaign on Thursday.

Trump famously equivocated in condemning the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville last fall. He has made disparaging comments about people of color, most recently describing Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as “shithole countries.”

At the same time, the 193-member caucus will hear from several speakers aimed at helping Democrats fine tune their blue-collar pitch. Joan Williams, author of White Working Class, will speak to the group while some of the caucus’ most vulnerable members will lead a separate session.

Maria Urbina, Indivisible's political director, will also address the caucus. And Aasif Mandvi, the actor and comedian, will headline dinner on Thursday.

Most recently Mandvi was trolling Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) for boasting about a woman’s $1.50 weekly paycheck boost as a result of the Republican tax cut law. Democrats piled on Ryan after he deleted the tweet Saturday.

Senate Democrats held a brief, separate retreat last week.

