"When they go low, we....."

[link:https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/23/democrats-michelle-obama-trump-837499|Politico

LAS VEGAS — It became a hymn of the 2016 campaign: “When they go low, we go high.” Michelle Obama’s aspirational rhetoric struck a chord with Democrats at a time when few believed Donald Trump could win.

But two years later — and with the coarse reality of Trump’s presidency wearing on — “We go high” has lost its resonance for many Democrats out of power in Washington and filled with rage. In the run-up to 2020, the party is sharpening its edges for a brawl.

Joe Biden, the former vice president, said of Trump’s treatment of women this year, “If we were in high school, I’d take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him.” Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who is also considering a run, told a crowd in Iowa, “When they go low, I say we hit harder.”

Or as Sean Clegg, a longtime Democratic strategist in California, put it: “When they go low, we kick ’em in the nuts.”