Speaker 1: The Armstrong and Getty show. Well, it's a great strategy
Speaker 1: for him not to talk to the press. The press,
Speaker 1: by the way, should be pressuring the former vice president
Speaker 1: to answer questions, because that's part of the responsibility of
Speaker 1: a presidential candidate. Well, I've got advice for Biden and
Speaker 1: Trump today. I want to run by. Lan Chen needs
Speaker 1: to shut up the responsibilities to get clicks. That's the
Speaker 1: only responsibility. I think Howard Kurtz and a lot of
Speaker 1: political strategists start thinking about times going by. I don't think.
Speaker 1: I really don't think Joe Biden does need to answer questions,
Speaker 1: just like Trump didn't need to release his taxes, which
Speaker 1: used to be something you had to do. I don't
Speaker 1: think Biden has to answer questions. Lanie j Chen is
Speaker 1: the David and Diane Stephy Fellow in American Public Policy
Speaker 1: Studies at the Hoover Institution. Among the other worthy endeavors
Speaker 1: in lawn, he joins us, Now, how are you, sir?
Speaker 1: I'm fine that morning. I know how you are. You're
Speaker 1: a gloating Dodgers fan. I love it. Great, great start.
Speaker 1: Are you pro the cardboard cutouts behind the batters or anti?
Speaker 1: Let's let me tell you something. I I actually think
Speaker 1: it's kind of endearing in a in a weird dystopian way,
Speaker 1: that that my son and I both have cutouts in
Speaker 1: Dodger Stadium. Oh you do, good man? Thou it whimsical? Yeah? No,
Speaker 1: I like it. I'm pro Yeah, the game was not whimsical.
Speaker 1: The game was sucky. I thought it was. I thought
Speaker 1: it was definitely less weird than the empty seats. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Um when I was watching uh National's Yankees anyway. So um.
Speaker 1: I know. Traditionally you wouldn't have been able to get
Speaker 1: away with not answering questions, and eventually, eventually even the
Speaker 1: liberal media would have beat up on a Democrat for
Speaker 1: not answering questions. But I think times have changed. The
Speaker 1: media is so actively in support of one side or
Speaker 1: the other, and everybody's needles stuck. I don't think Joe
Speaker 1: Biden actually does have to answer questions. What do you think?
Speaker 1: I don't think he has to either. I don't think
Speaker 1: he's going to be held to account for it. Uh
Speaker 1: you know. I think under standably people do have questions
Speaker 1: that they want to have answered, But what the Biden
Speaker 1: campaign has done well so far is essentially to put
Speaker 1: him in very controlled settings, to put Biden in very
Speaker 1: controlled settings where he can answer the questions he wants
Speaker 1: to ask. There aren't many spontaneous interactions. And I think
Speaker 1: you're right. The media is not. They're not in a
Speaker 1: position to hold Biden to account for much of anything
Speaker 1: because they have a particular point of view about this election,
Speaker 1: and I think they've made that pretty clear. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And they're not going to let anything get in the
Speaker 1: way of the prime directive, even antiquated notions of journalistic ethics.
Speaker 1: I mean, I where did go where I read somebody
Speaker 1: who was given credit? Oh uh? Jonathan Swan was talking
Speaker 1: about how Trump did a press conference the same day
Speaker 1: Trump did a press conference, Pence did a press conference
Speaker 1: and then the press secretary took questions also, and how
Speaker 1: Biden had taken none. I don't think. I don't think
Speaker 1: you're going to get any credit for standing out there
Speaker 1: and answering questions. I wish you would, but yeah, although
Speaker 1: I will say this, I mean, I do think if
Speaker 1: Donald Trump were to to avoid questions would be a story,
Speaker 1: no doubt, no doubt. It doesn't work both ways, and
Speaker 1: it would be interesting to see kind of how Biden's
Speaker 1: bunker strategy will go if and when, you know, Trump
Speaker 1: starts to get out there a little bit more, and
Speaker 1: he is, you know, Trump is doing a little bit
Speaker 1: more travel, Pence is doing a little bit more travel.
Speaker 1: I do think at some point they are going to
Speaker 1: have to take Biden and they're gonna have to put
Speaker 1: them out there. But look, for the last several weeks,
Speaker 1: what they've been doing has been absolutely fine. In fact,
Speaker 1: it's probably been a benefit to them to have Biden
Speaker 1: the bunker. So a little change in direction here, Lonie.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to spend a lot of time setting
Speaker 1: this up as I did earlier in the show, but
Speaker 1: just very briefly, I believe that we are at a
Speaker 1: point in partisan politics right now where the party out
Speaker 1: of power has gone beyond trying to prevent the party
Speaker 1: in power from getting a victory. Um, They've gone beyond
Speaker 1: in transigence and obstructionist lawmaking into actively trying to damage
Speaker 1: the American pe in this country, make sure we're miserable,
Speaker 1: continue the misery, enhance the misery if they can. Um,
Speaker 1: do you think it's gotten that brutal? Yeah, I do.
Speaker 1: I think it's it's become much worse than standard kind
Speaker 1: of partisan bickering. I do think that fundamentally each side
Speaker 1: wants to so completely discredit the other. They want to
Speaker 1: so completely uh sully the reputation of the other side,
Speaker 1: that that they are willing to go to links they
Speaker 1: probably weren't willing to go to before. And I think
Speaker 1: the rhetoric, I think the way that people talk about things,
Speaker 1: the nature of the kind of subjects that are brought up,
Speaker 1: the personal nature. I think also that that struck me
Speaker 1: as well. But I'm how personal it is. I'm talking
Speaker 1: less about rhetoric than policy, though I believe the Democrats
Speaker 1: are enthusiastic about keeping the schools closed and tighter clamp
Speaker 1: downs on business because it will make parents miserable and
Speaker 1: hurt the economy, therefore enhance the chances to elect Joe Biden. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I have noticed that there is a little bit of uh,
Speaker 1: a little bit of that edge that's come in. Particularly
Speaker 1: you guys are right on school closings. I mean, this
Speaker 1: is an area where I am struck by the degree
Speaker 1: to which the media, a lot of the politicians in
Speaker 1: big urban areas UM and a lot of Democrats are
Speaker 1: coming together to express a particular point of view about
Speaker 1: keeping schools closed. And what worries me is the way
Speaker 1: in which they essentially demagogue those who say we should
Speaker 1: open schools, and they say, hey, look, if you want
Speaker 1: to open schools, you know you're you're against humanity, you're
Speaker 1: basically anti human you're anti science, and all of these accusations.
Speaker 1: I do think that in the back of their minds Now,
Speaker 1: of course I'll never say this. Of course they'll they'll
Speaker 1: deny it until the cows come home. But in the
Speaker 1: back of their mind, I do think that there are
Speaker 1: politics here absolutely well, you know, to to bottom line
Speaker 1: it for folks who haven't had their second cup of
Speaker 1: coffee yet or or whatever. If you are the candidate
Speaker 1: of change and everything's fine, you're never gonna get elected,
Speaker 1: so you want to make things as miserable as you can,
Speaker 1: and having control of the House of Representatives for instance,
Speaker 1: that are in a position to do that. And I
Speaker 1: just think that that they are doing things that no
Speaker 1: party would have um for a very very long time.
Speaker 1: We're talking with lanh Chen. He's a guy who has
Speaker 1: worked on major political campaigns and been an advisor. I
Speaker 1: told you what my vice would be to Biden, I'd say,
Speaker 1: don't answer questions, um My, I'm thinking Trump needs a
Speaker 1: game changer, and my advice to Trump would be I
Speaker 1: don't know if he'd take this up, because it would
Speaker 1: make it not about him. I think if Trump goes
Speaker 1: out there and says, look the way the polls are
Speaker 1: right now, not only do I lose, but the Democrats
Speaker 1: take the Senate. Here's what they will do if they
Speaker 1: have the presidency, the House, and the Senate. I think
Speaker 1: you could drive turn out like crazy if you focused
Speaker 1: on the fact. Look if I go, the Senate goes,
Speaker 1: and this is what's gonna happen. Yeah. I think the
Speaker 1: basic point that that I've come to is Trump has
Speaker 1: got to figure out a way to make this election
Speaker 1: not about him. And I know that is very challenging
Speaker 1: for a guy who who tends to make a lot
Speaker 1: of things about himself, but this is not. If this
Speaker 1: election is about Donald Trump and whether Donald Trump, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, deserves four more years. I do think that
Speaker 1: he's in a challenging position if he makes it about
Speaker 1: two visions of the world, and his vision of the
Speaker 1: world and the alternate vision of the world. Uh, and
Speaker 1: the alternate vision of the world has you know, the
Speaker 1: Green New Deal and medicure for all, and to fund
Speaker 1: the police. I mean, I think that's why you're seeing
Speaker 1: them take the strategy they're taking, which is this is
Speaker 1: not about Joe Biden either. This is about two different
Speaker 1: visions of the world and what's going to happen if
Speaker 1: the alternate vision wins. And I think for Trump that's
Speaker 1: probably the only thing he can do at this point
Speaker 1: to change the dynamics. So you're suggesting that Donald Trump
Speaker 1: makes it not about him, Well, that could be a
Speaker 1: bit of a challenge. I got another idea. It's a
Speaker 1: little out of the box. Trump divorces Milania, Mary's Pence
Speaker 1: gets the gay volan go. Now, I this, but this
Speaker 1: isn't even like a stretch hare um scarem hyperbole? Is it?
Speaker 1: If Donald Trump got up there and said, look, if
Speaker 1: I lose and they take the Senate and they change
Speaker 1: the filibuster rules, which they're they're Elizabeth Warren was talking
Speaker 1: about the other day, they're gonna pass all this stuff.
Speaker 1: They could change the country overnight. Isn't that actually true? Yeah?
Speaker 1: And I think you know, Biden has tried to present
Speaker 1: himself as a moderate, and I actually thinking and of himself,
Speaker 1: he probably is but the problem is he's part of
Speaker 1: a progressive movement now that's gotten progressively and farther and
Speaker 1: far to the left if you look at the policies
Speaker 1: he's putting out there. Right, So let's take climate change
Speaker 1: for example. He gave a speech on climate change I
Speaker 1: don't know about a week ago, week and a half ago,
Speaker 1: and the policy suggested in there are are in my mind,
Speaker 1: they are quite scary. You know, they're very progressive. They
Speaker 1: will completely change the nature of how we how we
Speaker 1: foster energy in this country. So yeah, it's not that
Speaker 1: far fetched to say. Look, the vision that he's talking
Speaker 1: about is a far left vision that if he had
Speaker 1: the Congress as well, that would enable the far left
Speaker 1: to essentially have these victories. Well, do you think they
Speaker 1: would change the filibuster rules graduation at all? Do you
Speaker 1: think they would change the filibuster rules. I think there
Speaker 1: will be a lot of pressure on them to do it.
Speaker 1: I think there are a few who have said, you know,
Speaker 1: they don't want to do a few Democrats like Joe Mansinis,
Speaker 1: said they don't want to do it. But you know
Speaker 1: the way these things work, right, once the political pressure
Speaker 1: starts and the waves build, it's very hard to resist
Speaker 1: it if you're cowards. Definitely something. It is definitely something
Speaker 1: that is out there. David and Diane Staffy, Fellow in
Speaker 1: American Public Policy Studies at the Hoover Institution lan he
Speaker 1: great stuff. Is always good to talk to you. Thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you, good weekend. Yeah you too. Trump wanted to
Speaker 1: be about him, That's that's the way he looks at
Speaker 1: the world, and he thinks he can win making it
Speaker 1: about him. But God, I would just say, look, this
Speaker 1: is this is what they're saying they want to do.
Speaker 1: They're talking about changing the rules for all they All
Speaker 1: they need is a majority fifty votes in the Senate
Speaker 1: and they will have that. They can actually pass all
Speaker 1: this stuff, Like in the first month, we'll have green
Speaker 1: new Deal, We'll have to fund the police, will have
Speaker 1: you know, all the things you want to mention. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's so frustrating. If Trump were just a little
Speaker 1: more self aware, he could win running away even in
Speaker 1: the midst of the COVID you know, he just he
Speaker 1: he can't quite strike the notes that he needs to strike.
Speaker 1: In my mind. Of course, he got elected once, which
Speaker 1: is only one more time that I've got an elected president.
Speaker 1: I'll point that out here within the margin exactly Well.
Speaker 1: The crazy part is this isn't just theoretical. There is
Speaker 1: actually going to be an election in November. Yikes. I
Speaker 1: don't know if I can take it.