Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / Potential 2028 Democratic candidates barnstorm states ahead of midterms

Transcript

Potential 2028 Democratic candidates barnstorm states ahead of midterms · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Ms NOW non Diegowan Wu was following some of the
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: big names in Michigan over the weekend, also with Ismaya Rupert,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: a former senior advisor to the Elizabeth Warren campaign and
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: former campaign manager to Julian Castro. Greg Bluestein is a
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: senior political reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution in battleground
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Georgia and an ms NOW political contributor. Great to have
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: you all here, Maya. I'm going to get back to
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: the message, but let me ask you a big picture question.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: First.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: You obviously were in the campaign trenches during the twenty
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: twenty race when there were and I had to go
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: look it up again, there were twenty seven declared candidates.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: That field narrowed pretty quickly.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: I think sixteen dropped out before the first primary. But
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: if you are seriously considering a run and you're not.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Already out there, are you behind?
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: I mean I think in some ways absolutely, especially if
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: for candidates who are you know, have less name, ID
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: need to inject themselves into the conversation. Obviously, so many
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: of these stories start getting written and the sort of
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: front runners people start talking about them. Now, I would say,
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: if people are thinking about it and they're not already
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: in office. Now is a good time to start making news.
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: It's definitely there is absolutely still time, but this would
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: be the moment to start injecting yourself into more of
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: these conversations, because the conversation very clearly has already taken off.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and Greg, we have heard from a number of contenders,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: including Senator also Off as he runs for reelection in Georgia.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: The word I heard several times there was corruption.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: There is this strong anti Trump, anti corruption message.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: I know there's a debate within the.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Party over whether a Trump focuses the smartest strategy.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: Should it be totally on the.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: Economy, because if you have to trunk but his approval writings,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: they're already at a record low. I wonder what you're
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: hearing there on the ground.
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: Yeah, well here in Georgia. And by the way, all
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: five of those candidates have recently been to Georgia. If
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: that's a sign of what's to come. But here in
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: Georgia Senator asof he's running for a re election. Essentially
• 2:11
  Speaker 4: part of his message is he's going to be a
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: check on Donald Trump. Of course, he opposes Donald Trump,
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: of course, like other Democrats, he vows to fight the
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: Trump agenda, but he's also saying, look, if you elect me,
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: I will help be a check on all that. And
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: he's mining the same anti corruption playbook that he used
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: to win back in twenty twenty. You know, you just
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: played the words he used, Mara a Lago, mafia. He
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: knows that in order to win Georgia, you've got to
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: win not just Democrats. You can't win alone with Democrats
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: in a state like Georgia. You've got to win swing
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: voters and discuss the Republicans. And I think he thinks
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: that's part of that playbook, is winning them over using
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: that anti corruption message.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: Now do you were in Michigan over the weekend, where
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: as I said, a number of those potential twenty twenty
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: eight contenders were at that Democratic Party event.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: What did you hear from voters?
• 2:59
  Speaker 5: The voters we spoke to in Detroit were thrilled, frankly
• 3:02
  Speaker 5: to see all of these candidates. You can tell that
• 3:04
  Speaker 5: there is some excitement as that party works to figure
• 3:07
  Speaker 5: out how to expand the base in twenty to eight.
• 3:09
  Speaker 5: And we know who the not me, is hope that
• 3:11
  Speaker 5: Democrats can win the state. But what was interesting is
• 3:14
  Speaker 5: we also spent time in Dearborn and spoke to residents
• 3:16
  Speaker 5: of that Arab majority city that, if you recall, due
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: to frustrations over the Biden Heris administrations handling of the
• 3:22
  Speaker 5: war in Gaza, denied the Democratic Party vote. Donald Trump
• 3:25
  Speaker 5: picked up Dearborn, which again was shocking because it's a
• 3:28
  Speaker 5: city that typically is in Democratic Hans. Voters there reacts
• 3:32
  Speaker 5: them as you watch Donald Trump and his administration oversee
• 3:35
  Speaker 5: expanded conflict in the Middle East. Do you have any
• 3:37
  Speaker 5: regrets about not supporting Democrats? And what we were told
• 3:40
  Speaker 5: is a resounding no. Take a listen.
• 3:44
  Speaker 6: I'm so upset with the Democratic Party. And this is
• 3:46
  Speaker 6: again coming from someone who has been a lifelong Democrat
• 3:49
  Speaker 6: and who has worked for the Democrats in the past
• 3:51
  Speaker 6: as well. But I'm very ashamed with them for not
• 3:55
  Speaker 6: producing a candidate that we could all get behind, a.
• 4:00
  Speaker 5: Trump supporter, and I do not like what Trump is
• 4:02
  Speaker 5: doing with this.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: I don't think Biden has doing any better.
• 4:07
  Speaker 5: And Chris lov pointing out that one message you heard
• 4:09
  Speaker 5: from one of the twenty twenty hopefuls that spoke, Corey Booker,
• 4:12
  Speaker 5: was kind of geared towards voters like you just heard
• 4:14
  Speaker 5: from those that maybe couldn't get over a single issue.
• 4:17
  Speaker 5: His message to them is, if you agree with someone
• 4:19
  Speaker 5: ninety percent of the time, it may be worth just
• 4:21
  Speaker 5: getting into the full and supporting them, because now you
• 4:23
  Speaker 5: have someone in office that you may not like a
• 4:25
  Speaker 5: whole lot more.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, actually, let me play that, because I think that
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: is one of the concerns that I've certainly heard from
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Democrats who have said everything is looking good, everything is
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: in our favor, We're just going to probably find a
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: way to screw it up. I mean, that's essentially the
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: message I've heard from some more pragmatic Democrats.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: But here's Corey Booker.
• 4:48
  Speaker 7: I saw it with Kamala Harris. There were too many
• 4:51
  Speaker 7: people that say, I don't agree with her on everything.
• 4:55
  Speaker 7: I mean, ninety out of one hundred I agree with her,
• 4:57
  Speaker 7: but those ten I can't do it. Well, you may
• 5:01
  Speaker 7: disagree with her on ten percent of her views, but
• 5:05
  Speaker 7: you let someone get in office, will you disagree with
• 5:08
  Speaker 7: on everything?
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: So he acknowledges in that speech.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Later in the speech that the party should have a
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: robust dialogue during the primary season, but he also said
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: division is our kryptonite. How do Democrats avoid that? And
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: you know, where is the line between, say, some differences
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: on Middle East policy versus things that are going to
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: just make people feel like this is more of the same.
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: Well, what I would say is we're having two different conversations.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: Obviously, in a general election, the question of the ninety
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: versus ten feels like a really straightforward one. We're about
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: to walk into the primary season, and I think that
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: preemptively starting to say to voters, hey, you need to
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: give on some of these issues is the wrong message.
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: What I think candidates should be doing is listening. The
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: Democratic electorate has changed, that is undeniable, and so candidates
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: should be listening to who the voters are and what
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: they're asking for, and particularly on some of these moral issues,
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: some of these values issues. I think think that the
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: people that voted, they're not thinking of it as I
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: voted on Middle Eastern policy or I voted on foreign policy.
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: They're thinking I voted on values. This was a moral issue,
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: and so trying to get voters to vote against their
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: values is much harder than trying to meet people where
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: they are. And I think Democrats have done this before, right,
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: We've seen what happens when candidates try to convince voters,
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: for example, the inflation that you're feeling isn't really happening.
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: As condescending and difficult as that is a message to make,
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: it is equally condescending to try to convince people that
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: their values are not worth standing strong on. And I
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: think what we need are candidates that are hearing that
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: and evolving their views to meet the moment that we
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: actually see the democratic electure in it. I think it's
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: a big opportunity for candidates right now.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Well, I think greg former Transportation Secretary peak Buddha Judge
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: feels pretty bullish. He told voters over the weekend, quote,
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: there is no such thing as a permanently red state.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: Now, okay, but are you saying it's not permanent in
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: the next forty years?
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: Are you saying it's not permanently red in the next
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: borty months? So let's take a look at your state,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: A rare state that I think is genuinely purple. Right,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: there aren't that many of those. What are you seeing
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: and feeling on the ground that may give folks an
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: indication of where this could be going? Again, midterms coming
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: up at the end of this year, but then you
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: got another two after that.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: To get to the presidential.
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: Yeah, purple, periwinkle, pink, you name it right, but it's
• 7:53
  Speaker 4: not red, it's not blue. And Chris, what you articulated
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: earlier is exactly the mood Democrats. There was a gala
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: last weekend with Governor Busheer spoke senators alsof and Warnock's
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: book all potential twenty twenty eight or future presidential contenders,
• 8:10
  Speaker 4: And the worry for Democrats is, yeah, they feel like
• 8:12
  Speaker 4: they have the wind at their backs. They feel like
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: things are going in their trajectory, but they're worried because
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: the last two midterms they felt that way as well
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: in Georgia, and they ended with either Republican sweeps or
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: near Republican sweeps in twenty twenty two's case. And so
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: there's this feeling that Democrats are worried about not squandering
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: the opportunities. They feel like it's laying at their feet
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: right now with the polls showing Trump with high disapproval
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: ratings not just among Democrats but also independents as well
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: and even some Republicans, and opportunity as long as they
• 8:41
  Speaker 4: can get united behind a single candidate, and for some
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: of these top races in Georgia,