WEBVTT - Instant Reaction: President Biden Withdraws 0:00:02.560 --> 0:00:06.920 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News. 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:15.640 Welcome back to a special edition of Bloomberg Surveillance from 0:00:15.720 --> 0:00:16.640 Bloomberg Radio. 0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:19.840 You're listening to a special edition of Bloomberg Surveillance. I'm 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:22.959 David Gerro with Tom Keen and Joe Matthew. Breaking news 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:26.880 this afternoon. President Joe Biden abandoned his reelection bid, Biden 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:29.720 saying he would serve out his term, but endorsed Vice 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:33.480 President Kamala Harris to take his place as the Democratic nominee. 0:00:33.720 --> 0:00:41.400 Joining us now Bloomberg contributor Genie sheen Zano of Iona University. Genie, 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:46.000 with this announcement, are the Purple States any less purple? 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:47.600 I think they. 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:49.840 Are more up for grabs for the Democrats. 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:52.080 I think one of the big deciding factors we are 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:55.720 hearing for President Biden was the fact that you saw 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:59.920 states that should be reliably blue or somewhat rely on 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:04.000 blee blue leg Minnesota, New Hampshire, You're talking about my 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:07.119 home state of New York, New Jersey, that those were 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:09.960 creeping into the red or as you said, the purple. 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:12.600 And that is a big problem. And I think that's 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:15.080 where he saw the writing on the wall. If Donald 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:19.200 Trump expanded that battleground very very difficult for Joe Biden 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:21.600 to win, hence his decision today. 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:24.760 David Gern, Joe Matthew jump in here with Professor z Enough. 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:27.560 Let me just ask you sort of what you see 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:29.440 playing out here in the next twenty four hours. So, 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:31.479 as I say, we had this very quick endorsement from 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:33.960 the president, as Joe and Tom were talking about just 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:36.959 a few minutes ago. The impulse here is to be 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:38.759 to get the vice president on the road. She has 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:41.240 been on the road, has been holding events and rallies. 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:44.480 How do you see this week beginning? How do you 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:46.320 see a gaining steam as it continues? 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:49.559 Yeah, I mean Kamala Harris two million dollars in Cape 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:53.680 Cod yesterday. I think the thinking among many Democrats can't 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:55.640 speak for all of them, is that this is a 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:59.360 quick handover. We saw the endorsement. It is a Joe Biden. 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:03.000 Kamala has campaign so that she is able to take 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:06.640 over the campaign, the apparatus, the fundraising, which is tremendous 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:10.079 and move forward. I think the big question hanging over 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:13.960 everybody's head is is there going to be a contest? 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:17.760 I am skeptical that we will see a contest at 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:22.679 this point, particularly given how quickly President Biden endorsed her, 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:25.880 but it is still a possibility. The other thing is, 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:29.360 and the lawyers know this better than I do, is 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:32.360 that there may be some contest in terms of can 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:35.919 she take over this campaign apparatus. I'm describing it as 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:39.600 a Biden Harris campaign. It is, but there may be 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:43.760 legal challenges to that. If there's not, she'll take that over, 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:46.200 and then I think it's harder for us to see 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:49.120 a contest. And then the big question is going to 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:52.720 be what do the delegates do, of course, and who 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.280 does she choose as her vice presidential running mate? 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:56.720 At this point, Ge, now I want to go to 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:59.720 your wheelhouse, which is the shades of the Democratic Party 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:03.440 in nineteen fifty two. You know what, there were shades 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:07.080 of a Democratic Party. They were all the same. The 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:10.720 difference from Stevenson the SSE's key fower, come on, it 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:14.000 was next to nothing. It was just geographic. It was regional. 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:17.440 Somebody had a pet project in that. We have huge 0:03:17.520 --> 0:03:21.160 polarity in the Democratic Party right now. Is the vice 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:23.000 president a progressive? 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:26.800 I am not sure that she will choose in that way. 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:30.920 You know, the reality is as a political scientist that 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:35.560 vice presidential choices in all of our research seldom make 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:40.560 any difference whatsoever. That said, this is an astounding situation, 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:44.960 unprecedented in the modern era, so it likely could. And 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:48.520 I think for Kamala Harris as she thinks about her choices, 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:52.000 you know, we are hearing about the tremendous number of 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:56.800 really attractive young Democratic governors across the country, from Shapiro 0:03:56.920 --> 0:04:00.560 to Indy Bashir to down in North Carolina to J. D. 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:05.160 Pritzker in Illinois. It's a large, large number. I'm excluding 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:08.480 Newsome only because he has the same problem Marco Rubio 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:12.400 did for Trump in her home state. But that said, 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:14.840 there's also been a lot of talk about somebody like 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:18.320 Senator Kelly out in Arizona. If I had to guess, 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:21.760 I think she is going to choose a geographic match 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:25.480 rather and somebody who she personally can work with, obviously, 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:27.719 and who she thinks could be president if something should 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:31.440 happen to her, as opposed to think about the ideological 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:34.279 split in the Democratic Party. And the only reason I 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:37.279 say that is because you're right, there is that difference 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:40.360 in the party, but one thing that unites all Democrats, 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:43.520 right now is beating Donald Trump. That's at the forefront 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:45.760 of all of their minds. Okay, and that's why I 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:47.760 think she doesn't go progressive. 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:51.120 Beautifully, said David Gerra. Terry Ames has said this and 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:55.080 many others. Well, we're desperate for polls like we've never 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:59.000 been in our modern political history, Bason. Your experience, David Gurra, 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:02.080 when does our Audi medians get polls that begin to 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:05.560 color the strength that the vice president has or the 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:07.000 strength other candidates have. 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:09.440 It'll be some days until we get enough of them 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:11.240 that we can have some confidence in them. But we 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:13.800 know from our reporting and from others reporting that the 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:17.719 Democratic Party was polling the viability of Kamala Harris as 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:20.000 a presidential nominee in the days leading up to this. 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:21.839 We know that in this vacuum that the president was 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:24.240 in trying to figure this out, this was one of 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:26.720 his concerns and the party's concerns how this would work. 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:28.960 And so we have had some polling thus far that 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:31.600 illustrates what that matchup might be like with Donald Trump, 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:33.359 and we've seen her hold her own in those polls. 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:35.960 But to answer your question more thoroughly, Tom, I think 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:38.080 until we get a more robust set of pulling on 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:39.440 this is going to take a few days until we 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:41.720 figure that out. And I'm just going to note here 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:44.560 the kind of endorsements and comments on this continue to roll, 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:47.000 and we have a comment now from President Clinton former 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:49.600 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. They're issuing a joint statement 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:52.760 here about Kamala Harris. It begins with a preamble of 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:55.000 them thanking Joe Biden for the service that he's had 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:57.800 to the country in this role, most recently but throughout 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:00.200 his long career. Then they say, we are honor to 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:02.960 join the president in endorsing Vice President Harris, and we'll 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:06.200 do whatever we can to support her. GENI, I'm curious 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:09.880 how well Americans know Kamala Harris. You mentioned how insignificant 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:12.240 the role of the vice president might be historically, how 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:14.920 little a difference that might make. But she has name 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:17.600 recognition and that's something here. But how much do most 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:20.000 people know about her? And her record is Attorney general 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:22.560 in California and indeeds are of what makes her tick? 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:24.839 What are the policy agenda items that are most important 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:25.159 to her? 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:26.320 You know? 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:29.480 I think on the plus side, Kamala Harris has really 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:32.840 done a very strong job of going out and talking 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:36.440 about women's health, pushing back on the Dobbs decision. They're 0:06:36.560 --> 0:06:39.200 right for people. I shouldn't just say women to do 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:42.640 what they want with their own bodies, and that has 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:46.160 been something I think many Americans now associate with her. 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:49.039 That said, to your point, While she did run in 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:52.719 twenty twenty, she was a you know, one term senator 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:56.920 from California, previously a state attorney general, so well known 0:06:56.960 --> 0:07:00.279 in that state. Not quite as much across the country, though, 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:04.440 as the first African American woman and Indian American woman 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:08.080 to achieve the vice presidency, she did get a lot 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:12.280 of coverage in the announcement of her choice. On the downside, 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:15.880 she was flagged with the border issue for a long 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:20.400 time and that has really drawn down people's concerns about 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:24.560 her ability to do this job. So there's some mixed reaction, 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:27.040 but she is going to have to go out and 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:30.360 sort of come out from Joe Biden's shadow, if you will. 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:33.360 One thing I would note, and I think to her credit, 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:36.320 throughout all of these last three weeks, she has been 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:40.080 on the campaign trail pushing hard for Joe Biden, and 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:43.120 her people were very clear she is not going to 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:47.520 get involved in this race to see who should feed him, 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:50.320 and so that is on the plus side for her. 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:53.320 I look at where we are and folks who want 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:57.960 to draw in here not only the expected statements by worthies, 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:02.120 by Democrats, by Republicans, but across all and take advantage 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:05.679 of the social media at this historic moment. Tim albert 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:09.239 is at the Atlantic and he's really done studies, careful 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:13.480 studies of evangelical America, just among other things. And Geenie, 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:18.559 here's where Tim Alberta comes out really right now. Really 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:24.119 cannot overstate how problematic this is for Trump's operation. Why 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:29.720 is that what radically change changes for the campaign apparatus 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:33.240 of the former president on this Sunday afternoon. 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:37.079 And Tim who just wrote a beautiful piece on Trump's 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:40.000 two campaign managers, and that's what I think he is 0:08:40.040 --> 0:08:44.040 alluding to. It was very clear and that really well 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:48.240 done piece about Chris Lasavitas and Susie Wilds that their 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:52.840 entire campaign wh was shaped by going against Joe Biden 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:57.679 to have this switch at the last minute after their convention, 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:01.199 which is the most coverage argued, we will believe Donald 0:09:01.200 --> 0:09:04.760 Trump is going to get until if there is another 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:07.600 debate with a new candidate, they have to shift their 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.520 entire focus. So the uncertainty we're talking about for the 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:14.320 Democrats is also true on the Republican side. And that's 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:16.920 what I think he's pouting to. They've got to quickly 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:20.559 shift their focus now to Carris or somebody else, because 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:21.600 she is not the nominee. 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:25.160 Jenny, thank you so much. Through the afternoon, Genie, Professor 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:28.320 Zana will be with us. She's at Iona University, Jennie, 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:32.200 She and Zano. A number of others are looking at this, 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:34.400 and one of them is the difference between Ger and 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:36.720 I were lazy. You know, we do things, We do 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:40.280 the big take, we do podcasts, we stroll in, we 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:43.600 go to lunch. Laura Davidson never goes to lunch. She 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:47.880 is the journalist in Washington covering these tensions, and we're 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:50.840 thrilled that she could join us. Now, Laura, I want 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:54.440 you to look forward. There are editors across all of 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:58.760 our major newspapers, all of our magazines saying I need 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:02.040 something Tuesday or wind Day morning. What is the distinction, 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:05.320 Laura Davidson, that you would write about for Tuesday or 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:06.160 Wednesday morning? 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:09.160 So the next steps are not clear. 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:13.080 Biden has endorsed Harris, and presumably that means many of 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:16.040 his delegates will back Harris. But the big unknown is 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:19.600 will someone else jump into the race. Democratic rules don't 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:23.120 Party rules don't require that Biden's delegates back Harris. So, 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:27.160 you know, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan governed Gretchen Whitmer, 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:29.400 they want to jump in the race. Suddenly, we could 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:33.040 have a contested convention on our hands. There's a couple, 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:35.440 you know, things that are that are totally uncertain here. 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:37.160 You know, the biggest question is just, you know, where 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:39.199 do those camps start to fall in line. We're already 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:42.400 seeing a lot of lawmakers come out and endorsing Kamala Harris. 0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:44.920 She also has an advantage because she can inherit the 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:47.679 money and the Biden campaign. A new candidate would not 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:49.240 be able to inherit that money. It would have to 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:50.120 start from scratch. 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:53.200 The other thing that's also on everyone's mind too, is 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:55.040 from a from a global perspective, you know, what does 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:58.000 this mean for foreign leaders and particularly for adversaries. You know, 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:00.920 is there some some sort of new, fresh national security 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:03.600 threat that could be injected into the atmosphere, you know, 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:05.959 with sort of this period of uncertainty around who might 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:08.240 be in charge of the Democratic Party going. 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:11.280 Forward, Laura, what is the way that we've seen Kamala 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:13.520 Harris being used over these last couple of weeks tell 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:16.960 you about the path forward? She has been out campaigning. Obviously, 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:19.120 she's been rather quiet on this issue, but she held 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:21.520 a very important call with donors on Friday of this week, 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:24.640 trying to assuage many of their concerns about the prospects 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:27.240 of this happening as Joe Biden was figuring all of 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:30.000 this out. Any insight that you can glean just from 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:31.960 the way that she has been acting or the Democratic 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:33.959 Party in the campaign have been using her in recent 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:36.600 days that might foretell what she's going to be like, 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:38.520 how she's going to approach the campaign going forward. 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:39.560 You know. 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:41.640 In addition to that call of donors, we've also seen 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:44.080 her just more front and center in advertising and you know, 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:45.800 fundraising appeals that have gone out. 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:47.200 Via email on social ads. 0:11:47.640 --> 0:11:49.680 She's also been hitting the campaign trail very hard, so 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:51.280 you can kind of see there was a you know, 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:53.360 a very quiet ramp up, you know, in case this, 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:56.680 you know, was the situation that we now find ourselves in. 0:11:57.200 --> 0:11:59.480 What's different about her is she has been very different 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:02.000 on the campaign trail than Biden. Biden has really focused 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:05.040 on those blue wall states Michigan and Pennsylvania, Wisconsin. 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:07.319 She has more focused on some of the southern. 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:10.120 States, you know, Arizona, Nevada, and the messages that they 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:12.240 carry are very different. Biden was focused on, you know, 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:15.480 the economy and jobs on reunion workers. Harris has been 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:17.640 much more about abortion, that being an issue that she's 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:20.520 very comfortable talking with and that Biden isn't. 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:23.800 So there will be sort of a reformulation of you. 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:26.680 Know how uh, you know, of how Harris tries to 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:28.840 position herself if she is in fact the nominee and 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:30.480 of course, you know, if you know all of the 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:32.840 people who might want to be her running mate, you 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:34.560 know that's going to be something that party leaders and 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:36.480 in you delegates are going to be looking at what 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:37.720 balances her out. 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:40.480 You know, do you go to someone like Josh Shapiro as. 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.200 A governor of Pennsylvania, they might appeal to to more 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:44.479 of those blue wall states. 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:47.040 All of this, you know, parlor parlor talks. 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:51.160 You know, what's happened now and what's happening on the old. 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:54.320 Lord Davison, Thank you so much for being saustine as 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:57.240 I hope you wake you up tomorrow morning at seven am. 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:00.199 You're listening to a special edition of Bloomberg Surveillance. I'm 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:03.360 David Gurrow with Tom Keen and Joe Matthew. Plenty ahead, 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:04.960 This is Bloombak. 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:17.480 Welcome back to a special edition of Bloomberg Surveillance from 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:18.480 Bloomberg Radio. 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:21.600 You're listening to a special edition of Bloomberg Surveillance. I'm 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:24.680 David Gerrow with Tom Keen and Joe Matthew. Breaking news 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:28.640 this afternoon, President Joe Biden abandoned his reelection bid, Biden 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:31.480 saying he would serve out his term, but endorsed Vice 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:35.199 President Kamala Harris to take his place as the Democratic nominee. 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:38.960 What we're looking for is conversation with people with experience 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:42.760 and maybe without an angle. And that is absolute definition 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:47.800 of Wendy Benjamin to say she's deputy Managing editor, it's 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:50.280 a big long title. She wouldn't come to Bloomberg unless 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:53.440 it was a big long title. But she was definitive 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:59.880 at the Associated Press with McClatchy and USA Today is well, 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:06.359 it's a new media today. You lived the old media. 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:09.679 LBJ didn't have to put up with this. Truman didn't 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.839 have to put up with this. Let's look forward. How 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:17.079 do these people position themselves given modern media? 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:21.520 Well, hi Tom, and thank you for always bringing up 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:22.040 how long. 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:22.360 I've been in. 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:25.560 Trying to do it. 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:30.960 It's all about the history today, But I will tell 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:33.680 you it is. It is a tricky rott, a hope 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:37.040 for the other Democrats who might who might join the 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:41.600 race this Today they are all over ex posting how 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:44.120 grateful they are to the president, without a single word 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:48.520 about themselves. I think they are all eagerly watching the 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:52.520 process of what will happen next, whether Kamala Harris does 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:57.160 become the nominee by fate or by or there will 0:14:57.200 --> 0:15:01.480 be this open process to to choose another nominee, at 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:05.480 which point these people will definitely start changing their posts 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:08.000 on Twitter to be more forward looking. But today is 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:11.040 sort of one of those days where you just focus 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:14.960 on Biden and whether he did, and don't worry about 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:17.760 your ambitions for at least publicly for a few. 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:21.160 Minutes, Wendy Benjamins, and we'll marinate in that for you know, 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:24.000 twenty four hours, whatever minutes. 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.000 So she when she first came to Washington, she was 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:30.720 in the octagon bar Willard. Yes, it was the same thing. 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:32.880 Everything was, you know, we'll think about for a day 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:35.440 or two, but it was a few minutes. Wendy. 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:38.720 Nice to speak with you. And I'm curious sort of 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:41.120 how long it takes for the contours of this campaign 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:43.200 to change. I was talking with some senior Democrats who 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:46.800 said their major frustration has been Donald Trump has been 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:49.600 out campaigning. He's been lying as they saw it, He's 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:52.440 been lying as we've we've reported. They need a Democrat 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:55.040 who can push back on that and debate him formally 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:57.640 in the context of the campaign. They hope on a 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:00.600 debate stage as well. I'm sure that they see Kamala 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:03.040 Harris is somebody very capable of doing that. How long 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:05.800 until we see the contours and the sort of flavor 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:07.920 and character of this campaign start to change. I guess 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:09.160 what I'm asking is how long are we going to 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:11.240 merit it on this the praise for Joe Biden before 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:13.680 we move on to what is a reset of this 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:14.680 Democratic campaign? 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:18.760 Seriously, David, I would start an egg timer right now. 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:21.440 I think, you know, as we all come back to 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:26.080 our desk in the office tomorrow, this will already start changing. 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:28.800 There is no time left. There is no time to 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:31.840 you know, spend a lot of time thinking about how 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:34.400 great if you believe that that Joe Biden was, and 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:37.800 how to move forward. There is only time to get 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:41.800 this done. The Democratic Convention is in less than a 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:46.200 month and they have to have a nominee. They also 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:49.920 were going to virtually nominate Joe Biden's When I say 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:53.600 virtually mean by phone because the ballot access laws, the 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:57.040 ballots will be printed in Ohio before the Democratic Convention. 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:00.160 Ohio a major state that you you know, a lot 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:02.520 of electoral votes that you have to be on the 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:06.600 ballot for. So I think there will be tomorrow morning. 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:08.760 I mean Jamie Harris and the d n C chair 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:11.520 has already put out a safe in saying we're going 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:14.320 to start the process now figuring out how to do this. 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:20.480 Remember this is unprecedented, LBJ who I was a child when. 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:21.600 He did you hear that? 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:29.879 Tom Yes, Remember he dropped out in March. 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:33.719 There was still plenty of time to, you know, to 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:36.600 have primaries with other candidates. I think Iowa and New 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:38.840 Hampshire were the only states who had voted by them. 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:42.440 So you know, this is we're just not in that situation. 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:44.360 We have to have to get to work right away. 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:45.760 I want to go to the heart of the matter, 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:48.240 to the both you and this is something I've quoted, 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:49.919 but I rarely put up the numbers. I'm not going 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:52.320 to give you the digits. It's just too much to 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:58.040 contemplate right now. President Trump garnered seventy four million votes 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:02.040 the last time around the time before that, when he won, 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:06.800 he garnered sixty five million votes. Basically, he garnered eight 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:12.199 million votes losing in twenty twenty. David, let me go 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:16.200 to you first in Pennsylvania. Who has to show up 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:21.240 now for the Democratic nominee who was not going to 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:24.160 show up on Saturday for President Biden. 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:27.840 Well, Pennsylvania's a particularly interesting question. I mean, they need 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:29.480 everybody to show up, obviously, and you're going to hear 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:31.840 that in the coming days and weeks. But you know, 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:34.600 they're going to be appealing to people who might have 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:37.200 felt disillusioned by the way all of this was unfolding, 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:40.080 might have felt like, you know, looking at a contrast 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:41.960 there that we saw in the debate station Atlanta was 0:18:41.960 --> 0:18:44.720 dispeariting them. Made them feel like the Democrats didn't have 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:49.040 a viable alternative to Republican nominee. We're going to see 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:52.680 a big ground game trying to get everybody to the polls. Tom, 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:54.280 But you know it's funny. We'll talk to Joe Matthew 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:55.919 in a few moments. Here is somebody that he mentioned 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:59.680 on the heels of that Republican National Convention is Roy Cooper, 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:01.960 the gup of my home state of North Carolinas, somebody 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:03.760 who's seen as maybe somebody who might be in the 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:06.280 fold here as well. Picking up on what you're saying 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:08.679 what Wendy said as well, I think geography matters a 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:10.000 ton of here, And Wendy, I'd love for you to 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:11.840 come in and just give me your read on that. 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:14.320 There's Pennsylvania, there's North Carolina. What are the other estates 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:16.080 or geographies in this country that are going to be 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:18.720 of just paramount importance here to Democrats going forward. 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:22.200 Well, the first one that leads to mind, David is Michigan, 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:27.680 where Gretchen Whitmer, a very popular Democrat, is governor, two 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:31.119 term governor, very popular. There's no question she is going 0:19:31.160 --> 0:19:34.359 to run for president someday. I don't think and so 0:19:34.480 --> 0:19:38.240 I think, you know, if they're looking for alternatives beyond Kamala, 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:40.920 Harris and Gretchen Whitmer becomes a big deal. So is 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:46.280 Joshapiro in Pennsylvania. You know North Carolina. Yeah, North Carolina 0:19:46.359 --> 0:19:48.200 is one of those states that kind of goes back 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:51.200 and forth. It tends to be conservative. I don't know 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:54.239 how it might be good to bring in Hammer and 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:56.680 Andy Basheer of Kentucky or someone like that too. 0:19:56.960 --> 0:19:59.920 Wendy, I had a crossow thrown at me my head 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:02.760 this morning at breakfast, and I'm going to bring it 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:07.919 up with you because with no with great respect, Wendy, 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:10.960 you're the one to answer this question. Now. You just 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:15.760 mentioned Harris Whitmer is a potential ticket. Is there any 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:19.399 evidence across the United States of America day today that 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:24.679 we can elect Anglo Miracle or Teresa May of the 0:20:24.800 --> 0:20:27.800 United Kingdom? Is there any real evidence America is ready 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:29.480 to elect a woman? 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:35.320 That's you know, I'm sighing because that's a very difficult question. 0:20:35.720 --> 0:20:39.880 There's certainly no practical reason we shouldn't see we're one 0:20:39.920 --> 0:20:43.080 of the last major countries on Earth not to have 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:48.000 a female head of state. You know, I certainly think 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:51.480 it's time for that. And I can't think of a 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:54.760 reason why we wouldn't elect a woman. Maybe a double 0:20:54.880 --> 0:20:59.480 female ticket might be a little much for America. Crazy 0:20:59.480 --> 0:21:02.040