U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Indiana) says he doesn't feel added pressure as the leader of the Indiana Democratic Party after its substantial losses.
Indiana Democrats lost big in 2016, leaving Donnelly as the only Democrat in statewide office. Donnelly says sometimes candidates can't, in his words, "outrun the wave," and that he doesn't want to see his party's game plan change too much.
"Our job is to recruit and train and encourage great young people, great older people who want to serve and, given the resources, work hard in all 92 counties," Donnelly says.
Donnelly is a lawmaker who prides himself on his bipartisanship, and he says he'll try to work with President-elect Donald Trump whenever possible. But he's prepared to voice opposition. He uses the example of Trump's views on Russia.
"I can't sit here in a Pollyanna way when I look at the Russians, see them flying incursions into our friends' territories, see them accessing territory in places like Crimea that they just take – I have to look at the world in a realistic way," Donnelly says.
Donnelly already announced his opposition to one of Trump's Cabinet nominations, the Health and Human Services Secretary.