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Speaker 1: disgrace a disgrace to our country. I'm not surprised that
Speaker 1: it's happening. Basically, they've started the campaign, so the campaign begins,
Speaker 1: but the campaigns actually their campaign has been going on
Speaker 1: for the last two and a half years. So it's
Speaker 1: a shame. And the people understand it. When they look
Speaker 1: at it, they just say presidential harassment. But that's okay, No, Well,
Speaker 1: is that what people are gonna see. That's why he's
Speaker 1: looking forward to talking to Lanhe because he knows, he's
Speaker 1: been in war rooms, He's looked at poll numbers, he
Speaker 1: knows how to read the mood. I just wonder how
Speaker 1: people are going to react to are you, referring to
Speaker 1: Mr longheat Chen, host of the podcast Crossing Lines with
Speaker 1: lanha Chen, David and Diane Stephy, research fellow at the
Speaker 1: Hoover Institution and Director of Domestic Policy Studies at Stanford University,
Speaker 1: Loan he how are you, sir, Good morning? How are you, gentlemen.
Speaker 1: We're excellent. So we got the sense. I think everybody's
Speaker 1: got the sense that the Mueller Report must be a dud,
Speaker 1: and word must have gotten out to everybody as the
Speaker 1: Democrats have decided, it's not the Muller Reports, not the
Speaker 1: important thing. The important thing is this tax situation. And
Speaker 1: you even got Eric Trump saying the Mueller Report needs
Speaker 1: to be put out in its entirety. So I think
Speaker 1: that nails that down, that that's gonna be a nothing.
Speaker 1: So so we're moving on to all this other stuff.
Speaker 1: Trump's taxes is business. All that sort of stuff is.
Speaker 1: As Trump just said, American going to react to that
Speaker 1: with what the hell You're just You're just doing anything
Speaker 1: you can to get rid of this guy. Is that
Speaker 1: going to backfire or not? Yeah? I do think it's
Speaker 1: going to be a challenge for Democrats because the shifting
Speaker 1: of the goal posts as it were is not going
Speaker 1: to work in their favor. I mean the Muller Report. Yes,
Speaker 1: I think the Muller Report. Because Mueller's charge is so specific,
Speaker 1: it's charges specifically the question of Russian intervention in the
Speaker 1: two six and sixteen election. I think under that very
Speaker 1: narrow premise, it's going to be tough to nail too
Speaker 1: much more down on the president. The question then becomes, yeah,
Speaker 1: can they shift the uh, can they shift the focus elsewhere?
Speaker 1: And is that going to really play in the election.
Speaker 1: I think the answer that depends on what the elsewhere is.
Speaker 1: But by and large, based on what we've seen so far,
Speaker 1: I do think people are going to be like, look, um,
Speaker 1: you got to assess this guy based on his performance,
Speaker 1: and yes, there are things about him we don't like,
Speaker 1: but let's talk about his performance instead. I think that's
Speaker 1: got to be the focus for Democrats going into Listen,
Speaker 1: I loan he, I don't know if you know this
Speaker 1: about me, Joe Getty, but I have the gift of
Speaker 1: being able to see deep within the soul of America.
Speaker 1: And yeah, and Frank be happy to assist on future
Speaker 1: campaigns and lend you that. But um, it strikes me
Speaker 1: that the baked in Trump supporters and the baked in
Speaker 1: Trump haters are what they are. Um, the rest of
Speaker 1: America is going to see what amounts to an investigation
Speaker 1: of his entire pre presidential financial life as irrelevant and
Speaker 1: as a mean spirited and in a distraction. That's my
Speaker 1: sense of it. Um, do you think that's Well, you've
Speaker 1: already said you think that maybe the risk? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean the again, I think the goal here for a
Speaker 1: lot of Democrats is to find something or anything they
Speaker 1: can use to support an impeachment charge. And if they
Speaker 1: want to go to his life pre presidency, I have
Speaker 1: a very difficult time seeing how most Americans are going
Speaker 1: to see that as relevant. Now. Of course, what they're
Speaker 1: gonna say is there are things that started pre presidency
Speaker 1: that has leaked into the presidency, that have leaked into
Speaker 1: his conduct as president, that have caused him to I
Speaker 1: don't know, obstruct justice, let's say, is to then we're
Speaker 1: talking about a very similar set of questions to what
Speaker 1: hampered Bill Clinton. Now, Bill Clinton his problems were more
Speaker 1: directly related to things he did while he was president.
Speaker 1: So the question will be how much leakage, as it were,
Speaker 1: is there, and how much are people willing to say, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: that that's actually a problem. Uh, that is supportive of
Speaker 1: impeachment and peep is a very serious political charge. And
Speaker 1: I just don't know that people are going to look
Speaker 1: at it and say, oh, yeah, you know, like this
Speaker 1: is a worthwhile endeavor for Democrats to be engaging and
Speaker 1: I think it's going to end up haunting them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just I wonder where this is gonna go. Uh,
Speaker 1: Quinnipiac poll that just came out. I mean, Trump has
Speaker 1: been president for a while now, America has had a
Speaker 1: good chance to take a look at his act and
Speaker 1: his life and what he's all about. And Quinnipiac pole
Speaker 1: has of people say they don't want to go out
Speaker 1: down the impeachment road at this moment. Huh. It seems
Speaker 1: like there would have to be something really new to
Speaker 1: move those numbers significantly. With mere Yeah, there would be.
Speaker 1: I mean, here's the reality, right, You've got thirty percent
Speaker 1: of people who feel that Donald Trump can do no
Speaker 1: wrong and and and it's it's a group of people
Speaker 1: proverbially that the president said I could go to the
Speaker 1: middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone wouldn't matter. So
Speaker 1: that's that's his base. That's pretty baked. And then you've
Speaker 1: probably got another twenty or thirty percent on the other
Speaker 1: side who will dislike Trump and will hate him regardless
Speaker 1: of what he does. Even if he goes out and
Speaker 1: saves puppies and and unicorns, they're gonna hate him. The
Speaker 1: question really comes down to this fort you know, give
Speaker 1: or take, what's going to move those numbers? And I'm
Speaker 1: not convinced that impeachment for the Democrats is going to
Speaker 1: move those numbers. Now, a bad economy could move those numbers,
Speaker 1: a global catastrophe could move those numbers. The president's failing
Speaker 1: to uh to get anything done on his stated policy priorities,
Speaker 1: including by the way, immigration, that could impact that forty
Speaker 1: But impeachment is not going to move that forty percent.
Speaker 1: So Democrats have to be very careful to hear what
Speaker 1: they're doing. He's speaking of leaders a long he's guest
Speaker 1: on Crossing Lines with Line he chan his podcast is
Speaker 1: a Mitt Romney this time around, So I can't wait
Speaker 1: to listen to that myself. That's a good one. So
Speaker 1: let's talk a little bit about um the other side
Speaker 1: of the aisle, the Democrats in Congress, where the brief
Speaker 1: but almost immediately uneasy infatuation with the freshman class A O. C.
Speaker 1: Among others has turned to real concern. Um, you've got
Speaker 1: the gal from Minnesota whose name I can never remember,
Speaker 1: accused of making anti Semitic statements. What's your sense of
Speaker 1: which way that's going? Yeah? I mean this is like
Speaker 1: one of those times when you go to McDonald's and
Speaker 1: you get the at the Hamburger and you're like, what
Speaker 1: where was it be for? Is the patty? And I
Speaker 1: think we're seeing a very similar thing with this freshman class,
Speaker 1: which is, you know, they come in with the splash
Speaker 1: AOC especially. Everyone loves to talk about her, everyone loves
Speaker 1: to talk about her colleagues in this class, and then
Speaker 1: they realize it's not a lot of there there, and
Speaker 1: there's there that is there is actually quite controversial, whether
Speaker 1: it's the Green New Deal or the activities of other
Speaker 1: members here who who make controversial comments. I think it's
Speaker 1: just the demonstration of the battle that's going on within
Speaker 1: the Democratic Party. The question of rich side of the
Speaker 1: Democratic Party is going to exert more control as we
Speaker 1: go towards It's going to be the traditional mainstream wing
Speaker 1: led by people like Joe Biden and and yeah, Hillary
Speaker 1: Clinton verses this sort of new insurgent Democrat wing, and
Speaker 1: right after the election, everyone has said, Okay, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be AOC, it's going to be her politics, and now
Speaker 1: you're seeing the establishment strike back to a certain degree. Now,
Speaker 1: it doesn't mean that her side of the party isn't
Speaker 1: going to control the discussion. In fact, Mike Bloomberg's decision
Speaker 1: not to run, if anything, is demonstrative of the fact
Speaker 1: that the progressives are still rising and ascended in the party.
Speaker 1: That into I thought, I thought, wow, Bloomberg just doesn't
Speaker 1: even think a guy like him can run exactly. But
Speaker 1: you know, but but here's what it does mean. It
Speaker 1: does mean that AOC is not going to get a
Speaker 1: free ride anymore. She's not gonna get a free pass. Well,
Speaker 1: she's been called out on her realtor eyes for instance.
Speaker 1: Have you ever noticed long he she has realtor you
Speaker 1: know what, I don't even know what realtor eyes are.
Speaker 1: But I have to agree that that maybe if if
Speaker 1: the characterization is whether one can trust AOC or not,
Speaker 1: I tend to agree that she's probably not trustworthy. That
Speaker 1: having been said, she's not going to get a free pass.
Speaker 1: You know people are going to question her ideas, but
Speaker 1: it doesn't mean that her brand of progressivism is not
Speaker 1: going to be something that primary voters in aren't looking for. So,
Speaker 1: you know, it's an interesting balance the Democratic Party is
Speaker 1: going through right now. Hill, are you announced She's not?
Speaker 1: I guess she didn't announce. She off handedly said, look,
Speaker 1: I'm not running, and then the New York Times is
Speaker 1: trying to clear that up today, saying that she didn't
Speaker 1: close the door on So I don't know where we are.
Speaker 1: And Hillary, well, if she knows what's best for her
Speaker 1: and what's best for the party, she'll move on. He's
Speaker 1: the Seers of Politicians. We've dubbed her the Series of Politicians.
Speaker 1: You think it's gone, it just keeps coming back. So
Speaker 1: so wh he We keep getting emails from Coloradden's saying
Speaker 1: old John Hassan Sepper is actually a really likable and
Speaker 1: effective politician. What do you think of hicken Looper. Yeah,
Speaker 1: aside from the fact that it's very difficult to get
Speaker 1: his name out without stumbling over it, I think it's
Speaker 1: he does have a record of accomplishment as a governor,
Speaker 1: and that's the thing about being a governor, and and
Speaker 1: this is why for a long time I think Republicans
Speaker 1: tended to like governors rather than senators as as their
Speaker 1: as their candidates, because because there is this notion that
Speaker 1: being an executive, you've actually done something, you've had to
Speaker 1: work together with people from the other side of the aisle.
Speaker 1: And hick and Looper does have this record, and I
Speaker 1: think he will be the more moderate guy, uh in
Speaker 1: this race. The question is going to be, how do
Speaker 1: you get air in an environment where the emphasis is
Speaker 1: on doing things that are outrageous and doing things that
Speaker 1: are just completely over the top. That's not John hick
Speaker 1: and Looper, and so can he work in this environment?
Speaker 1: I I teach a class at Stanford where uh, we're
Speaker 1: talking about the campaign, and actually one of my guests
Speaker 1: is today a very social Republican, very well known Republicans
Speaker 1: that he thought hickan Luper would be in the final three.
Speaker 1: I understand that point of view. I just don't know
Speaker 1: how he gets air time. I don't know how he
Speaker 1: gets list off in this environment. Question back to my
Speaker 1: ability to see deep into the American soul. Um, we
Speaker 1: are very close to peaking and and cresting and going
Speaker 1: down the curve of how much hyperbole, and I hope
Speaker 1: your excitement well, yeah, I fear it too. I'm just
Speaker 1: thinking a calming presence. I've often said all all politics,
Speaker 1: presidential politics, in particular reaction to what's just happened. You know,
Speaker 1: Ford was was calm and plexidity after Nixon, and Carter
Speaker 1: was even calmer than that. But I could see the
Speaker 1: appeal of Hey, listen, I'm a pretty nice guy. I'm reasonable.
Speaker 1: I don't hate Republicans like Biden. Yeah, except he Looper
Speaker 1: is not, you know, older than the Hills, so I
Speaker 1: don't know, it will be an interesting guy to keep
Speaker 1: an eye on. Hey, Lannie, you have Mitt Romney on
Speaker 1: the day. You and him are friends, But on your podcast,
Speaker 1: are you gonna poke him trying to get him to
Speaker 1: say bad things about Trump? Because he hates Trump? Right?
Speaker 1: We we did talk a little bit about about his
Speaker 1: policy's views about a few issues and how they might
Speaker 1: differ from Trump, But overall it was I just wanted
Speaker 1: to get a froth of whether he's likeing what he's
Speaker 1: doing now. I think a lot of people just wondering.
Speaker 1: You know, he's made this transition back into public life.
Speaker 1: He's in the Senate now after having been a chief
Speaker 1: executive and governor. What's that like? And so we had
Speaker 1: a nice conversation. It was great to see him. And
Speaker 1: for the record, I think he's really enjoying this chapter
Speaker 1: of life. And I think you guys talking about policy
Speaker 1: about personality is where it's at. Please. Mitt Romney says
Speaker 1: he's like to punch you Donald Trump in the face.
Speaker 1: Listen to it on Lani Chan's hit podcast, Crossing Lines
Speaker 1: with Lani chen uh Lani. It's always enlightening and fun.
Speaker 1: Thanks a million, and we appreciate it it talk to
Speaker 1: thanks and we'll have a link at Armstrong and getty
Speaker 1: dot com so you can dig his podcast. You want
Speaker 1: to get attention, you gotta set yourself on fire on
Speaker 1: a tight rope, right, that's the only way to go
Speaker 1: about it, right, Intelligent and measure discussion, apology, another kick
Speaker 1: in the guts. This is a tight rope, inflammable in
Speaker 1: this situation because it's complicated. You got to put a
Speaker 1: special coating on it. I hope you're right. You think
Speaker 1: there's a limit, right, You can only go so far
Speaker 1: down the there's a reason. You know, you play a
Speaker 1: big song and then you bring it back down and
Speaker 1: you kind of play a quieter song there in the concert.
Speaker 1: You can't just be over the top the whole time, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: People fatigue and I my feeling is people are getting
Speaker 1: a little fatigue. We'll see now when you're ready to
Speaker 1: ride Metro. We want you to know we're ready for you.
Speaker 1: Here are just a few of the people at Metro
Speaker 1: to tell you how we're doing our hard to keep
Speaker 1: riders safe. We're cleaning like novel before you found hass
Speaker 1: out of suns of stakes us all over the Metro,
Speaker 1: no mask, no Metro need one. We have a few
Speaker 1: extras at Metro. We're doing our part to keep the
Speaker 1: DC area moving. Find out more at will mata dot
Speaker 1: com slash doing our part