Desperate Democrats FINALLY talk to some Trump voters (but they are at war over the man who claims he will lead them to victory) 

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As Democrats try to chart a way out of the political wilderness, they're huddling this week in a state that hasn't gone blue in 20 years and talking to 'real people.' 

Senate Democrats are at a two-day retreat in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, where the state's Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, is conducting a 'discussion with Trump voters,' according to a schedule obtained by Politico, as party leaders try to wrap their heads around why the populist Republican won. 

Reporters were not allowed to attend.

This comes on the heels of Democrats gathering in South Florida over the weekend, for a retreat hosted by activist and donor David Brock, who's positioning himself to lead the party during the Trump era. 

Though, as the Daily Beast writes, many of his fellows Ds would rather he 'simply disappear.' 

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Sen. Joe Manchin (left) was holding an event today where fellow Democrats could ask questions to Trump voters, while activist David Brock (right) hosted a retreat last week 

 Democrats are split on how to move forward as a party. 

The chair's race for the next head of the Democratic National Committee is shaping up to be a proxy battle split along familiar lines. 

The two most prominent candidates, Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and former Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, represent the vision of Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, respectively.

There are also up-and-comers in the race, including the head of Idaho's Democratic Party, Sally Boynton Brown, whose remarks at panel discussion in D.C. this week reverberated around the political world, when she said white people should shut up and listen, as way to sooth race relations within the party. 

'My job is to listen and be a voice and my job is to shut other white people down when they want to interrupt,' she proclaimed.

Those comments did not necessarily sit well in a party that will need to attract more white voters in Rust Belt states to offset Trump's economic message. 

In 2018 there are 10 Democratic senators up for re-election in states that Trump won last November, including Manchin.  

Besides putting Trump voters in front of Democrats for examination, other sessions at Sheperdstown's Bavarian Inn included former Kentucky gov. Steve Beshear, along with Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Michal Bennet of Colorado talking about 'speaking to those who feel invisible in rural America.' 

Another was listed as 'Listening to those [who] feel unheard' and 'Rising America – They feel unheard to,' according to Politico's schedule, which kept with the theme. 

However, the scheduling of a giant donor retreat during the same time as the Women's March, could also be interpreted as tone-deaf. 

But that's where many Democrats flocked last weekend for an event hosted by Brock, the operative behind Media Matters, along with Correct the Record and American Bridge.

Brock, a conservative-turned-liberal who is tight with the Clintons, shared his grand vision with the crowd, including the creation of an anti-Trump 'war room.' 

But again, not every member of the party appreciated the gesture.  

'His ability to produce wins for Democrats is nonexistant,' Jeff Weaver, Sanders' campaign manager, told the Daily Beast. 'He does not have the kind of understanding of what kind of coalition you have to bring together to win national races – that's his fundamental problem.' 

Quotes about Brock were even more brutal when the sources left off their names.  

 'I met him a couple times – he's f***ing weird,' a former Obama administration official told the Beast. 'I felt like I was meeting Mugatu from Zoolander ... I don't know what the f*** [Brock's network] did besides raise a ton of money, and I don't think the after-action report on 2016 says we need more David Brock.' 

'Probably the opposite is true,' the source said.