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Democrats may have lost the House and the Senate over the past eight years, but they always had one thing, President Barack Obama and his veto pen in the White House. On January 20, Republicans will find themselves with all the power in Washington for the first time since 2006. As NPR's Scott Detrow reports, the capital's new power dynamic is forcing Democrats to make some tough strategic choices about how they're going to work as a minority party.
SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE: The starting point in the conversation Democrats are having with themselves right now is this - Republicans in Congress spent almost all of the past eight years opposing President Obama, and they seem to have reaped a lot of political rewards for the block opposition. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is quick and careful to reject that approach.
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NANCY PELOSI: We always, you know, always trying to find a place where we can find a common goal - giving them credit or saving face or whatever it happens to be.
DETROW: But when Pelosi and other Democrats talk about working with Trump, that common goal is conditional. They say Trump would have to be willing to do things they care about like maybe follow through on a promise to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on infrastructure projects. But otherwise, Democrats are confident that drawing out their differences with the new president will be a winning strategy.
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PELOSI: But our big leverage is the public.
DETROW: Differences on things like not changing Medicare and Social Security. That's the exact playbook that worked well for Pelosi in 2005 and 2006 when Democrats ended up winning back control of Congress. It's why while Republicans are talking about repealing Obamacare, incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is warning about Medicare.
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CHUCK SCHUMER: Republicans here in Washington are gearing up for a war on seniors, and they shall not, they must not prevail.
DETROW: Schumer says Senate Democrats will give one heck of a hearing to Tom Price, Trump's pick for the Department of Health and Human Services. Democrats think they can generate a lot of positive headlines by grilling Trump's cabinet picks. Here's Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut.
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CHRIS MURPHY: These are with a few exceptions radical nominees, the likes of which we have never seen in the history of this country.
DETROW: Cabinet confirmations, they say, will be a way to keep emphasizing the things they've been criticizing Trump for like not releasing his tax returns. But highlighting contrasts can only go so far when Republicans set the congressional agenda. At some point, Democrats still face a choice. Do they do their best to block every single big initiative or try to work with Republicans to make it more Democrat-friendly? Sarah Binder studies Congress at the Brookings Institution.
SARAH BINDER: On most measures whether it's spending bills, deregulation, repeal Dodd-Frank - that all requires cooperation from at least eight Democrats, and that's hard to see. So I think Democrats do have leverage.
DETROW: The hardest political calculus could be Obamacare. Republicans can repeal it without any Democratic votes, but they need Democratic support in the Senate to pass a replacement plan. Many Democrats might want to work with Republicans to keep as much of Obamacare as they can, but helping give Trump a big legislative accomplishment could make him more popular. And it could anger progressive activists. Just listen to Michael Moore, appearing on a CNN show hosted by Van Jones.
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MICHAEL MOORE: It is the responsibility of this minority of Democrats in Congress...
VAN JONES: Oh, wait. Hold on. Hold on.
MOORE: ...To block, obstruct, disrupt and do whatever they can.
DETROW: Nancy Pelosi knows Democrats all across the country are anxious, but she's urging patience as the party tries to make its case to voters.
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PELOSI: Somebody used the analogy of it's like telling somebody they're - they married the wrong person or their art is fake.
DETROW: The first scenario was something many people have seen happen to a friend or family member, the second maybe not as much. Still, Pelosi says it doesn't help when you're the one who breaks the bad news.
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PELOSI: They bought it. They'll find out sooner or later whether they made a mistake.
DETROW: Pelosi has seen voters reject Democrats, come back to the party and then reject them again. She says she is patient enough. Democrats will continue to point out the key differences between the parties and wait for voters to eventually come back. Scott Detrow, NPR News.