WEBVTT - Campaign Malpractice Lanhee Chen Talks to Armstrong & Getty

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<v Speaker 1>The Armstrong and Getty Show vice president who died. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>we're still on the air bound. So much for tuning in.

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<v Speaker 1>I wish we could have done this together, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>gotten a one more smoothly. But but I'm grateful we're

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<v Speaker 1>able to connect virtually. Man, that is a long pause.

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<v Speaker 1>Uh So we are lucky enough that not only is

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<v Speaker 1>Lonnie Chin great to talk about every week with politics

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<v Speaker 1>and all kinds of different stuff, but one of his

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<v Speaker 1>areas of expertise is he's worked on a couple of

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<v Speaker 1>presidential campaigns, and I want to know what he thinks

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<v Speaker 1>of this one. Lonie Chen is with the Hoover Institution

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<v Speaker 1>Stanford University. In fact, he heads up their public policy

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<v Speaker 1>department there and joins us, Now, Lonnie, how are you, sir?

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<v Speaker 1>Are we on yet? I don't. I don't know if

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<v Speaker 1>you watched any or all of the Joe Biden town hall,

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<v Speaker 1>But is his whole campaign is floundering as it seems?

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<v Speaker 1>Or am I overstating it or what's your take on it? Well? Look,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean I think it's tough. On the one hand, right,

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<v Speaker 1>you can't break through at a campaign when you have

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<v Speaker 1>a pandemic that's occupying everyone's attention. That having been said,

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<v Speaker 1>you've got to get your you've got to get good

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<v Speaker 1>swings in when you're at the plate, and these swings

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<v Speaker 1>they're taking are like massive whish. Well, here's what here's

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<v Speaker 1>what I don't get. I don't get with the Democrats ever,

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<v Speaker 1>on the problem of audio visual because every creative person

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<v Speaker 1>in America that there are people that make gazillions of

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<v Speaker 1>dollars a year making motion pictures, who would volunteer their

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<v Speaker 1>time to Democratic candidate to beat Trump. Why don't they

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<v Speaker 1>hire one of them to get the microphone right for

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<v Speaker 1>Hillary Clinton or the camp or the lighting right for

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<v Speaker 1>Joe Biden. Why don't they do that? Well, it's an

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<v Speaker 1>amazing thing. I mean you you guys mentioned sort of

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<v Speaker 1>presidential campaigns and how this usually works. I mean, it

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<v Speaker 1>is generally the case that before you do an event

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<v Speaker 1>involving the candidate like this, you you will have tested it.

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<v Speaker 1>You will have made sure the candidate understands exactly when

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<v Speaker 1>they're supposed to come out, what it's gonna look like.

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<v Speaker 1>And yes, accidents do happen. I don't want to make

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<v Speaker 1>it sound like everything perfect, but usually you've got the

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<v Speaker 1>technology down and you've got an exact run of show.

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<v Speaker 1>And the fact that this happened, I mean, it is

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<v Speaker 1>either the case that Biden is just out of it

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<v Speaker 1>or his campaign is committing malpractice one of those two things,

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<v Speaker 1>and neither is good. Would it be reasonable to assume

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<v Speaker 1>people were being screamed at at the end of that thing? Oh? Yes, unquestionably, unquestionably.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean this is not the first town hall they've done,

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<v Speaker 1>by the way, which has been you know, kind of

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<v Speaker 1>kind of weird or had elements of it that that,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, indicate that that was not well planned. Four.

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<v Speaker 1>So this is not the first time it's happened. This

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<v Speaker 1>was just probably the most extreme example of it. But

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<v Speaker 1>we are in May of an election year. Uh, these

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<v Speaker 1>guys need to get their act together pretty quickly because

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<v Speaker 1>these are the kinds of unforestaers. I mean, if you're

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<v Speaker 1>gonna beat an incumbent president, you need to be firing

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<v Speaker 1>at all cylinders. I don't care how you know how

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<v Speaker 1>much people think stuff does Trump Trump does is unpopular.

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<v Speaker 1>At the end of the day, it's hard to beat

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<v Speaker 1>an incumbent president, and these guys are not going to

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<v Speaker 1>be able to do it with this. You know, two

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<v Speaker 1>cents show they're running now well, especially if your argument

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<v Speaker 1>is competence, steadfast leadership, preparedness, and the one thing you

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<v Speaker 1>must avoid is the appearance of being dottering. I mean

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<v Speaker 1>that was over four anyway, Lani Chen David and Diane

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<v Speaker 1>Stephy research fellow whoever institution? Uh, Jack, do you have

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<v Speaker 1>another politics question? Because I really want to get onto

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<v Speaker 1>the civil liberties thing with lan He who is the

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<v Speaker 1>director of Domestic Policies Studies that stands. This period is

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<v Speaker 1>to me one of the real turning points in UM

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<v Speaker 1>looking at executive power, specifically governor's executive power and as

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<v Speaker 1>opposed to local control and UH and states of emergency

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<v Speaker 1>and that sort of thing. What's what's your take briefly

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<v Speaker 1>on what's happening. Yes, governors have a tremendous amount of power,

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<v Speaker 1>and actually even more than that, you know, pretty much

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<v Speaker 1>all of the authorities that are dealing with these public

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<v Speaker 1>health matters, even the local county health authorities may have

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<v Speaker 1>a tremendous amount of ability to essentially effectuate whatever policy

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<v Speaker 1>they want. There's no real UH mechanism for appeal. There's

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<v Speaker 1>no real mechanism for someone to come in and to

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<v Speaker 1>check them. It is the expansion of executive power in

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<v Speaker 1>a way that we haven't seen, I think in a

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<v Speaker 1>long time. And we always knew that executive power was

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<v Speaker 1>at its zenis was at its height when there is

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<v Speaker 1>a state of emergency. There's a lot of research that

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<v Speaker 1>shows that. But what we're seeing in places like California,

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<v Speaker 1>in Michigan else Square, where people are are starting to

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<v Speaker 1>get a little bit frustrated with these governors are doing,

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<v Speaker 1>is that governors really are exercising a scope and amount

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<v Speaker 1>of power that we've not seen recently. So there's good

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<v Speaker 1>reason to be concerned about not just what that means

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<v Speaker 1>for now, but what it means for going forward as

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<v Speaker 1>we try and deal with the the after effects of

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<v Speaker 1>the peak of this virus. Right, you mentioned civil liberties.

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<v Speaker 1>One issue is how much authority are we going to

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<v Speaker 1>give governors, for example, to track our movements, to track

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<v Speaker 1>where we're going, who we've interacted with, what that looks like.

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<v Speaker 1>These are very real and very important questions. Well, you're

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<v Speaker 1>a lawyer, and lawyers often look at just you know,

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<v Speaker 1>what's legal and what's not legal, but how about what

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<v Speaker 1>you can pull off? I just wonder if you reach

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<v Speaker 1>a point where people just say sorry, we ain't listening anymore.

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<v Speaker 1>We just ain't gonna listen to you anymore. And then

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<v Speaker 1>what are you doing? And you know, how far do

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<v Speaker 1>you want to push so you don't end up at

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<v Speaker 1>that breaking point? Well, that's a great question. I think

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<v Speaker 1>we're getting pretty close to that in some parts of California,

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<v Speaker 1>and certainly in some parts of California where it's pretty

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<v Speaker 1>clear people you can maintain social distance because they've got uh,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, just a lot more a lot more land

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<v Speaker 1>than they do in a place like downtown San Francisco,

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<v Speaker 1>let's say, for example, and they're saying, look, why should

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<v Speaker 1>we abide by the same restrictions that everybody else is

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<v Speaker 1>abided by? And in terms of how it gets enforced,

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<v Speaker 1>the answer is, you know, will governors actually go to

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<v Speaker 1>the extent of calling on state troopers or in California,

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<v Speaker 1>the Highway patrol to enforce their dictates? And and are

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<v Speaker 1>the how are the police going to feel about that?

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<v Speaker 1>You know, I think it's an interesting question. We haven't

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<v Speaker 1>gotten there yet, and I hope we don't, But it's

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<v Speaker 1>an interesting question about how people react and respond when

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<v Speaker 1>the state really uses its power to enforce what it wants.

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<v Speaker 1>We have Elon Musk saying we're reopening the Tesla plant

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<v Speaker 1>in the defiance of Alameda Counties. Dictates that we've received

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<v Speaker 1>emails on he from multiple peace officers saying there is

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<v Speaker 1>no way I'm going to kick kids off a player

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<v Speaker 1>for instance, there say that we have no cases in

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<v Speaker 1>this part of the country. Um, there's no risk I'm

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<v Speaker 1>being called and told to bust. You know, fourteen year

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<v Speaker 1>olds who are skateboarding not gonna do it. So that

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<v Speaker 1>is a that's a pretty significant breakdown of authority. It

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<v Speaker 1>is and and and we're but the problem is we're

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<v Speaker 1>putting these peace officers, were putting these these people who

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<v Speaker 1>are laying their lives on the line to protect us

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<v Speaker 1>every day, we're putting them in an awful position. Lan

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<v Speaker 1>he I'm afraid we've got to end there. I missed

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<v Speaker 1>the time. Que We've got about fifteen seconds left with

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<v Speaker 1>lan he Chen of the whoever institution, Stanford University. Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>we sure appreciate the time as always great to do

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<v Speaker 1>with the things. If this thing comes back strong in

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<v Speaker 1>the fall and they try to clamp down again, I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know if people are gonna listen and well, they've

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<v Speaker 1>blown their credibility in a lot of cases. Yeah, well

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<v Speaker 1>that's why you've got to be so careful with that.

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<v Speaker 1>With the empower, are strong and