To counter President Trump’s first major address of his second term, Democrats in Congress selected a middle-aged woman senator with a background in national security to deliver a simple, centrist message, devoid of partisan animus, aimed at voters across the political spectrum.
But the lasting image of Democratic pushback to Mr. Trump on Tuesday night may have come instead in the form of a liberal 77-year-old congressman waving his cane as he shouted at the president in a protest that got him ejected from the House chamber.
The contrast reflected the clash within the Democratic Party as it tries to find an effective message to counter an unbound president who is defying laws and norms while dominating the public’s attention. Under pressure from a restive progressive base, some want to position themselves as part of a party of aggressive resistance to Mr. Trump. Others see a political center that can be peeled away through a sober appeal to center-leaning voters feeling adverse impacts from the president’s policies.
The competing strategies were on display as congressional Democrats face critical decisions in the coming days over how much to obstruct Mr. Trump’s agenda as he tramples over the power of the legislative branch. Most immediately, with government funding set to expire on March 14, Democrats must decide whether they will vote for legislation to avert a shutdown or refuse to do so at a moment when Mr. Trump is defunding and dismantling federal programs all on his own.
The range of responses on Tuesday night was also a reminder that Democrats, locked out of power at every level of the federal government, cannot do much of anything right now to stand in Mr. Trump’s way.