Congressman Seth Moulton on a path forward for Democrats: compromise and frank debate

With President-elect Donald Trump heading back to the White House, and Republicans holding majorities in the U.S. House and Senate, members of Massachusetts' all-Democratic congressional delegation are facing the next two years in the minority.

WBUR's Anthony Brooks spoke to U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton about the path forward for the party. The Salem Democrat is a moderate, who argues compromise is the best way to push back against Trump's agenda.

On this week's electoral college count that certified Donald Trump will be the country's next president:

"It's amazing that when Trump wins an election, there's a peaceful transition of power. But when he loses, all of a sudden, most of the Republican party goes against our Constitution, goes against our democracy, and literally tells millions of Americans that their votes don't count. That's un-American, it's undemocratic, and it's a frightening precedent that was set for the future of our country. But what's worse is if Trump comes into office and pardons these criminals, that sends the message that this is OK — that if you don't like the result of a future election, you can start an insurrection to try to overturn it."

On being in the minority party and working with Republicans in Congress:

"First, there's the question of just how we fight the extremist Trump agenda in Washington over the next two years. But then there's also the question of how we start winning elections again, so that we can win the midterms two years from now and ensure that there's a check on [Trump's] power.

"We can't just oppose everything, or we'll lose on everything. We've got to pick our battles, and we've got to be willing to put forward bipartisan compromise solutions that are better alternatives than his most extremist plans, because if we do that, we might win a few Republican votes over to our side and derail the worst parts of the Trump agenda. But if we just stick in our ideological corner, refusing to compromise on anything, then Trump will just jam everything through Congress."

"If we just stick in our ideological corner, refusing to compromise on anything, then Trump will just jam everything through Congress."

U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton

How Democrats can seek bi-partisan compromise to moderate Trump's immigration plan:

"Just a few months ago, we had a bipartisan immigration proposal. Trump was the one who derailed that because he said he wanted to make it an election issue. He played politics with immigration. So, we've got to get back to forwarding that bipartisan agenda. And I know that there are members of our party who oppose that. But if you oppose that today, and you refuse to allow it to have a hearing, we're just going to lose on the vote in the House and the Senate, and Trump's more extreme immigration proposals are going to get through."

On Democrats finding a strategy beyond blocking Trump:

"We can't just be the party the party of 'no.' Republicans charged Democrats with something they called 'Trump derangement syndrome.' The idea is that Democrats just reflexively opposed every single thing Trump suggested, and there's actually a little bit of truth to that.

"In many cases, it was an unfair charge, but to some degree, many Democrats just wouldn't even entertain an idea coming from the first Trump administration. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, right? Every once in a while, we might see something worthwhile discussing or debating — or even advancing — coming from this administration. And if we can show, as Democrats, that we're willing to entertain good ideas, no matter where they come from in America, that will put us in a better position to win elections going forward."

On why Democrats lost the presidential election — and their path forward:

"There are three major things the Democratic Party needs to do. One, we need to make a concerted effort to listen to Americans and stop preaching down to them. The second thing is we need to curb the influence of special interest groups and lobbyists, because often it's these special interest groups that push us into ideological corners and prevent us from having these conversations. And third, we need to empower a new generation of leaders in the party. I'd like to see a real disruptive leader as the head of the DNC.

"When I wrote a Washington Post op-ed talking about some of the party reforms that I think we need to make, the response has been incredible. I've had people from all across the party — even the most left-wing corners of the party — come up and say, 'Seth. You're right.' But they always say it very quietly to be sure that the person sitting next to them doesn't hear. And that's the problem we have right now. We're not even willing to entertain these debates in our party."

On the blowback Moulton received in November, when he said he doesn't want his daughters to get "run over" on the sports field by transgender athletes:

"The backlash proved my point. I knew it would happen, and that's exactly the point I was trying to make — that we can't even have these debates in our party. My own Democratic Party of Massachusetts just immediately denounced me. What does that say about our party that we're just so quickly willing to attack our own instead of actually have thoughtful debates about these issues? Americans see this, Americans get this, and that's why a lot of Americans said, 'enough.' "

On veteran Democratic political consultant James Carville's comment that the party needs to move away from political correctness and to "stop talking like NPR":

"Look, I love NPR, but are you guys sometimes a little out of touch? Yeah! I mean, that's true. You got to get back down to earth. I mean, there's nothing worse than the language police."