1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,200 Speaker 1: Life's not fair, and presidential politics isn't fair. You have 2 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: to figure out a way to win. And welcome back 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:10,360 Speaker 1: to another session of Ask Me Anything. And the question 4 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: is from the warning community. If Steve is right that 5 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:17,280 Speaker 1: it is imperative for Biden in his campaign to hit 6 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:21,080 Speaker 1: Trump twenty four to seven for eight months, is there 7 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:24,120 Speaker 1: anyone out there who believes that Biden has the stamina 8 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 1: to do that. Yes, I will give you two names, 9 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: and then I will give you a third group of people. 10 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 1: Joe Biden believes he has the stamina. Joe Biden believes 11 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:42,159 Speaker 1: he has the stamina, and the White House staff who 12 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: believes he has the stamina, And from what I can tell, 13 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: any time they demonstrate behaviors that would lead any normal 14 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 1: person to question the stamina, they get very angry and 15 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: they start yelling, which makes the problem worse. Simple answer 16 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 1: to your question is the jury's out and President has 17 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: to step it up. He's got to do a lot better, 18 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: and the White House communication operation needs to get his 19 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:17,679 Speaker 1: shit together like two years ago, because it's a mess 20 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: and the consequences of that mess are the forty seventh 21 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:25,839 Speaker 1: President of the United States, Donald John Trump, and that 22 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: is very, very bad. The question is, Steve, what is 23 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: your opinion of the impact the electoral college quote set 24 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: up end quote will have on this election? By setup, 25 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:42,480 Speaker 1: what I think the question is asking is the structure 26 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: of how we picked the president. And this is something 27 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: that's important to understand. This isn't attract me, this isn't 28 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: a race. Events tilt the field. So I ran John 29 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: McCain's campaign in two thousand and eight. Some people have 30 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: said that even Abraham Lincoln wouldn't have been able to 31 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: get elected against Barack Obama in two thousand and eight 32 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 1: given the condition of the Republican Party in the unpopularity 33 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:19,359 Speaker 1: of President Bush, John McCain was running uphill. Barack Obama 34 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,639 Speaker 1: was running downhill, too bad. That's the way it goes. 35 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:31,560 Speaker 1: The electoral College and how the numbers are displaced across 36 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: the states gives an advantage structurally in the competition for 37 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,800 Speaker 1: the accumulation of two hundred and seventy votes to the 38 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 1: Republican candidate. Meaning, all things being even, it's easier for 39 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 1: a Republican to be elected president than it is for 40 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: a Democratic candidate to be elected president. Of course, we 41 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:05,240 Speaker 1: haven't democratic president, so the attitude towards the electoral college. 42 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: Is that it's broken and impossible for Democrats to win 43 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:14,920 Speaker 1: is refuted by the incumbency of a Democratic president. But 44 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: the incumbent always has advantages and always has disadvantages. The 45 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,640 Speaker 1: mood of the country shapes the dimensions of the field, 46 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: and the country's in a bad mood. And what that 47 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:30,399 Speaker 1: means is Joe Biden is running slightly uphill. And that's 48 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: important to understand because at the end of the competition, 49 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:38,760 Speaker 1: when the presidency has decided, it's unseemly to look back 50 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: at the race and say, well, it wasn't fair. Guess what. 51 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: Life's not fair, and presidential politics isn't fair. You have 52 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: to figure out a way to win because if you don't, 53 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: you lose. When John McCain lost, Barack Obama became president 54 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: and the country wasn't in danger. With Hillary Clinton lost, 55 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 1: the country was endangered. And if Joe Biden loses, the 56 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: country will face catastrophe. The question is do you think 57 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: Kamala Harris will step down from running again as vice president? 58 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: Kamala Harris will be on the ticket in twenty twenty 59 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: four unless President Biden is not on the ticket. They 60 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:24,800 Speaker 1: stay in together or they go together. There are some 61 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:28,559 Speaker 1: people who speculate that should Joe Biden get off the ticket, 62 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: it would naturally fall to Kambala Harris, and that is 63 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: simply not so they are a ticket together or not, 64 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: but she will be on the ticket if he is 65 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,040 Speaker 1: on the ticket. The question is is there any way 66 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 1: that I, one single citizen, can help to do the 67 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: things that you urge the Biden campaign to do from 68 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,840 Speaker 1: now until election day. I live in Texas. What I 69 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: urge you to do is get involved, get online, Get 70 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 1: involved to your local party or not. Maybe get involved 71 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,800 Speaker 1: as an independent, Get involved in issues, get involved in 72 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:06,279 Speaker 1: a cause, Get involved in local government, state government, national government. 73 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: Volunteer for the campaign, go to a swing state, do something. 74 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 1: Use your contacts, your social media platforms to reach out 75 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: to talk. Maybe invite people over, Invite people over in 76 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 1: your community, a neighborhood who disagree with one another, to 77 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:28,919 Speaker 1: calmly and rationally talk. Say we're scared to death. What 78 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: do you think it means when he says he wants retribution? 79 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: Let me ask your neighbor, are you ready to put 80 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:38,159 Speaker 1: me up against the wall and shoot me in the 81 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:42,799 Speaker 1: head because I'm a Democrat. Because there's a significant percentage 82 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: around Trump that think that's a good idea. There's no 83 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 1: handbook for citizenship. It's not top down, it's bottom up. 84 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:54,120 Speaker 1: I just urge you to get involved, read, share your reading, 85 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: understand the history of the country, its ideas, it's ideals, 86 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:03,159 Speaker 1: it's false it's glories. It evangelize. The question is is 87 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:05,239 Speaker 1: how do you think the country would be different today? 88 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: If the two thousand election had gone the other way. 89 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,719 Speaker 1: The country would be profoundly different today because al Gore, 90 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 1: a Vietnam veteran, would not have invaded Iraq, and the 91 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:22,039 Speaker 1: consequences of the evasion of Iraq are something we'll live 92 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 1: with for the balance of this century. The result in 93 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: powered Iran. It turned Iran into a regional hegemon. It 94 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: unleashed chaos in the region and expanded vastly the power 95 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:45,560 Speaker 1: of the Iranian state, which is fomenting war across the 96 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:49,800 Speaker 1: Middle East. The war in Gaza is in fact a 97 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: proxy war Iran is waging against both Iran and the 98 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 1: United States. Do you know that there are one hundred 99 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 1: and sixty eight Americans who have been wounded since October 100 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: seventh over these last months in military actions in the 101 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 1: Red Sea. One hundred sixty eight. All of this is 102 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 1: spillover from the Iraq War, and it never would have 103 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: happened if alf War had been president. Thank you for 104 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: listening to my political commentary. If you like what you 105 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: heard today, please also consider subscribing to The Warning daily 106 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 1: newsletter on Substack. Our democracy hangs in the balance. The 107 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: twenty twenty four presidential election is the most consequential in 108 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: America's history. It's not hyperbole it's a fact. That is 109 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: why the mission of the Warning with Steve Schmidt is 110 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 1: to help readers orient to the currents that are shaping 111 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 1: our times and the unseen forces driving politics that are 112 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:57,559 Speaker 1: very rarely discussed on cable news. Please sign up at 113 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: Steve Schmidt st E V E, S, C, H, M, I, 114 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: d T dot substack dot com again Steve Schmidt dot 115 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 1: substack dot com, or at the link in the show 116 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: notes section below. Thank you to each and every one 117 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: of you for listening and watching.