Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Henry Olsen: Election Analyst says Kamala Harris is set to secure the Democrats' nomination

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Henry Olsen: Election Analyst says Kamala Harris is set to secure the Democrats' nomination · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The fairy godmother you could call her of the Democratic Party.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Nancy Pelosi has this morning thrown her support behind Krmala Harris.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Joe Biden is no longer seeking reelection to be president
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: of the United States. He's endorsed, along with Nancy Pelosi
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: in a whole raft of others. Now Krmala Harris to
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: be the nominee for the Democrats for president in the
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: election in November. She says, Karmala Harris, that is, she
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: wants to earn and win the nomination. So what is
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: the process and is it hers basically in the bag? Well,
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  Speaker 1: Henry Olsen is with us this morning. He's a US
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  Speaker 1: election analyst and columnist for the Washington Post. Henry, thank
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  Speaker 1: you very much for being with us. Is this basically
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: thank you for having me? Is this basically all sewn
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  Speaker 1: up for Kamala Harris?
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  Speaker 2: Now, it probably is, and it'll be formally open that
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: none of the delegates to the National Convention who make
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: this election are legally bound to vote for her. But
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: you can't beat someone with no one and right now
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: every single leading national figure who credibly could challenge her
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: has endorsed her. So it's difficult to see where somebody
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  Speaker 2: gains traction in order to defeat her, even though the
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  Speaker 2: process will be formally open to anyone who wants to.
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  Speaker 1: Do them, it would be political suicide for any serious
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: contender to throw the heat in the ring, given how
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  Speaker 1: many have come out and support of her.
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  Speaker 2: Now, that's why they're all doing it. I'm sure many
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: of them privately think that she's not a strong candidate,
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  Speaker 2: many of them privately hunger for the job. But they
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: all know that if you're going to kill the king,
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: you have to kill the king. And it's extremely hard
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: to take out a sitting vice president with the sitting
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  Speaker 2: president's endorsement, who's also got hundreds of millions of dollars
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  Speaker 2: behind her that wouldn't necessarily be transferable to someone who
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: beat her. Everyone seems to be choosing discretion as the
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: better part of value in this case.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: Who does she need on the ticket with her? Do
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  Speaker 1: you pick a swing state senator or a governor like
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  Speaker 1: a Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania.
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  Speaker 2: That is the common wisdom right now is that she
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  Speaker 2: because she is a woman of color, that she will
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: put a white male on the ticket. There's never been
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: an American presidential ticket without a white male on it.
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  Speaker 2: People are looking at Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania.
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  Speaker 2: Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan. Although she's a female,
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  Speaker 2: she is white, took herself out of the running. Today.
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  Speaker 2: A lot of people are looking at Senator Mark Kelly
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  Speaker 2: of Arizona, who was an astronaut before he became a senator,
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  Speaker 2: and whose wife, Gabby Gibbs, was a popular congresswoman who
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: was shot in the head and permanently brain damage as
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  Speaker 2: a results in assassination attempt thirteen years ago. Some people
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: think that between Arizona being a swing state, his biography,
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: and his family history, that he could add a lot
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: to the ticket.
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  Speaker 1: How does trouble? How is Trump reacting? And can he?
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  Speaker 1: Can she beat him?
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  Speaker 2: Trump is reacting as you might expect Trump to react,
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  Speaker 2: which is to be sharp, negative and drawing contrast. There's
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: already an add up from the Trump superpack that alleges
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: that she covered up Biden's infirmities and ties her to
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  Speaker 2: the administration. Can she beat him? Yes, but it's hampered
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  Speaker 2: by two things. First of all, she's as unpopular as
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Biden was, and so she starts behind in the poll. Secondly,
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  Speaker 2: she's part of the administration. She's not an eighty one
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: year old man with regrettable but real infirmities. She is
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  Speaker 2: somebody who has an identity of being a follower and
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: an identity of being involved in a very unpopular administration.
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  Speaker 2: Her challenge is to distinguish herself from the administration, make
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  Speaker 2: an image for herself as a leader, while not running
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  Speaker 2: away from the time that she has spent as Joe
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  Speaker 2: Biden's loyal number two. It's a very thin line that
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  Speaker 2: she has to.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: Walk, certainly. It's Henry, thanks for your time and your
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: analysis this morning. That's US election analyst. Henry Olsen is
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: also a columnist for The Washington Post. For more from
• 4:08
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• 4:11
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• 4:13
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