Speaker 1: Now we head out to California to Stanford University, the
Speaker 1: Hoover Institution, where Lonnie Chen is standing by. He's a
Speaker 1: former advisor to the Marco Rubio and Romney campaigns. In fact,
Speaker 1: he's worked on several high profile political campaigns. He's a
Speaker 1: research fellow at Hoover Director of Domestic Policy Studies, and
Speaker 1: a lecture in the Public Policy program at Stanford University.
Speaker 1: So Lonnie Chan, welcome back to the show. Thanks Kathleen.
Speaker 1: Your poll, a new poll shows there's an aged divide
Speaker 1: among California Democrats and some goop unity issues. Let's start
Speaker 1: on the Democratic side. What is the poll? Who who
Speaker 1: did you talk to? And what's the results for the Democrats. Well,
Speaker 1: we at the Hoover Institution partnered with some of the
Speaker 1: other research institutions at Stanford and the polling firm you
Speaker 1: Gov to conduct a poll of seventeen hundred Californians and
Speaker 1: we found exactly as you indicated, a significant split amongst
Speaker 1: Democrats in terms of who they support. So eighteen to
Speaker 1: twenty nine year olds overwhelmingly uh ported Bernie Sanders, and
Speaker 1: other age demographics overwhelmingly supported Hillary Clinton, which resulted in
Speaker 1: our poll in a thirteen point lead for Hillary Clinton
Speaker 1: going into next week's California primaries, So that's good news
Speaker 1: for her. Obviously, though there remains a significant division based
Speaker 1: on age, but we didn't find as many differences based
Speaker 1: on other factors like ethnicity and race. But certainly the
Speaker 1: age issue have to be concerning for Hillary in the
Speaker 1: long run, because kids tend to go more for Bernie
Speaker 1: Sanders and in many in many voting outcomes, and also
Speaker 1: in this poll, that's right, they tend to like Bernie
Speaker 1: Sanders progressive positions, particularly when he talks about free college
Speaker 1: tuition for example. That's one that's very popular with my
Speaker 1: students here at Stanford UM. But the reality is, you know,
Speaker 1: Hillary Clinton has been trying in this primary to adjust
Speaker 1: some of her views on issues to be more uh interesting,
Speaker 1: let's say, to the younger demographic. But unfortunately, at least
Speaker 1: in our poll, that does not appear to have paid off. Uh, Lonnie,
Speaker 1: the California primaries what less than a week away now?
Speaker 1: Correct threat Seventh, what do you see for the from
Speaker 1: this Golden State poll that's most significant for Republicans? Well,
Speaker 1: I think there are a couple of issues. First of all, obviously,
Speaker 1: Donald Trump is doing well in poll because he's the
Speaker 1: only Republican presidential candidate remaining and he is now the
Speaker 1: nominee presumptive. The level of support he's garnering, though in
Speaker 1: our poll, is still substantially lower than the level of
Speaker 1: support that Mitt Romney won in two thousand and twelve
Speaker 1: by the time he got to the California primary, and
Speaker 1: the two gentlemen were in very similar positions. Romney was
Speaker 1: the nominee presumptive when we came to California in two
Speaker 1: thousand and twelve, as is Donald Trump today. But Trump
Speaker 1: is polling with the support of over sixty percent of
Speaker 1: California Republicans. But that's compared to the almost ninety percent
Speaker 1: support that Mitt Romney enjoyed in exit polling after the
Speaker 1: two thousand and twelve elections. So Donald Trump does not
Speaker 1: appear as though he has unified the Republican Party in
Speaker 1: California in the same way that Romney did ahead of
Speaker 1: the two thousand twelve primary, So that maybe one warning sign.
Speaker 1: Another interesting issue is that you've got basically one in
Speaker 1: three California Republicans who are still trying to make up
Speaker 1: their minds about whether they want to support another candidate,
Speaker 1: rite someone in or stay home come election day. Now,
Speaker 1: you were a senior official uh in the Bush administration
Speaker 1: at the US Department of Health and Human Services. As
Speaker 1: I mentioned, you were helped run the Romney Ryan twelve
Speaker 1: presidential campaign. You helped advise Marco Rubio, so you were
Speaker 1: obviously an insider in Republican Party circles. What are you
Speaker 1: hearing and in fact, what do you think of Donald
Speaker 1: Trump as the candidate on the for the Republicans. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I personally am am greatly troubled by by
Speaker 1: Trump as the presumptive nominee. I think particularly the lack
Speaker 1: of detail he's put out on certain policy areas, in
Speaker 1: facting a lot of policy or been concerning. But I think,
Speaker 1: you know, the fundamental issue with Donald Trump is that
Speaker 1: it does not appear to hold the same conservative points
Speaker 1: of views on issues as past nominees have of the
Speaker 1: Republican Party. And you know that's been overlooked, I think
Speaker 1: by and large by many of the electorate because with
Speaker 1: his personality and a lot of people find his brashness
Speaker 1: and his sort of tell it like it is to
Speaker 1: be an attractive feature of his candidacy. Um for me, personally, though,
Speaker 1: I think he's quite a wild card, and I think,
Speaker 1: you know, it's a dangerous situation when you nominate someone
Speaker 1: and you're not entirely sure what they're going to do,
Speaker 1: aside from apparently build a wall and get tough on
Speaker 1: China when it comes to trade. So, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: I find the Trump candidacy to be troubling. You know,
Speaker 1: I was obviously for Rubio. I think he would have
Speaker 1: been the best nominee for the party this year and beyond.
Speaker 1: But the voters chose chose Trump, and that's who the
Speaker 1: guy will be going into the fall, Lonnie. Is it
Speaker 1: possible that's conservative conservativism of many other leading Republicans has
Speaker 1: not appealed sufficiently to more moderate Republicans and that for
Speaker 1: some reason that's who Donald Trump is attracting, someone who
Speaker 1: has kind of put off by the more conservative policies
Speaker 1: of others. Yeah, I mean that could be part of it.
Speaker 1: You know that there's an anti establishment ism to the
Speaker 1: Trump support. There's also a moderate a nature to his
Speaker 1: support as well that that that comes with a more
Speaker 1: moderate positioning that Trump is taken on certain issues. Um,
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, Kathleen, I tend
Speaker 1: to attribute a lot of his support to the fact that,
Speaker 1: you know, people have seen him on TV. He's somebody
Speaker 1: who's familiar, and he is in some ways an ideal
Speaker 1: candidate for the era of television. He knows how to
Speaker 1: use and in some cases manipulate media to his favor,
Speaker 1: and he's and he manages to get out there quite
Speaker 1: a bit, and people see him and they like him. So,
Speaker 1: you know, I think that it has much more to
Speaker 1: do with personality than stances on issues. Bonnie Chin, thank
Speaker 1: you so very much for joining me today on taking
Speaker 1: Stock from the Couver Institution at Stanford University. He's worked
Speaker 1: on Republican campaigns in Republican administration. He views Donald Trump
Speaker 1: as a wild card and says that maybe his skills
Speaker 1: on television has are what is attracting so many Republicans.
Speaker 1: This is taking Stock on Blueboard Radio.