Article snippet: The TAKE with Rick Klein It's all connected. And it's all about Trump. President Donald Trump's two most powerful means of political communication – rallies and tweets – have been on full display, with another campaign event coming Thursday in Pennsylvania, and yet another Saturday in Ohio. The two Trump shows often seem disjointed, if not at cross-purposes. Making the case for Republican policies and candidates is one thing, but he runs the risk of making the case against them by tweeting government shutdown threats, and raging at Robert Mueller. Where the two modes of communication intersect is where strategy is revealed. To the extent that Trump is focused, his focus is on motivating his base to become midterm voters. That now includes going further than he's gone before to undermine faith in anything Mueller produces. The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks It's slated to be a packed program of progressive powerhouses. On Friday and this weekend, Democratic U.S. senators, members of Congress, candidates and governors are meeting in New Orleans for the annual Netroots Nation conference. The gathering has a reputation for pushing elected officials to the left and bringing activists' issues, however challenging for Washington, to the forefront of conversations taking place in the Democratic Party. In 2015, former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley and Sen. Bernie Sanders, both presidential candidates at the time, met tough crowds and big ... Link to the full article to read more