Sunday School 12/22/19

Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker made long-distance classroom appearances from Iowa, with Klobuchar on both Face the Nation (CBS) and State of the Union (CNN), while Booker did the Meet The Press (NBC) thing. Let's start there.

The Senator and Chuck Todd (recently referred to as "National Menace" Chuck Todd by a local college professor) talked about impeachment right off the bat, with Booker being asked what he thought a Senate trial should look like, with so many Senators having openly stated - or least signalled - how they're planning on voting. Among other things, Booker noted that

As a guy who's a big competitor, I want to beat Donald Trump mano a mano. I want to face him down on a debate floor. So this is not something that I want to do. And yes, I'm going to evaluate the facts objectively and honor the oath that I swore, even though I think Donald Trump has violated his oath of office.

They talked about Speaker Nancy Pelosi holding the articles, not sending them to the Senate. Booker said he feels she's really trying to do what she can to ensure there is a fair trial in the Senate. And, in response to Todd's question about whether calling the Bidens to appear was just a plan to "sort of make the witness requests a mutual assured political destruction?" Booker's answer was perfect:

I'm exhausted, frankly, of the Biden aspect of this.

Because, he noted, the Bidens don't speak "in any way that's germane to the president's behavior," and he's 1000% right. This should be about the president, not about the Bidens.  

Noting that Booker was not on the stage last week and my not be in January, as the DNC has raised the bar again, Todd wondered what "was missing" from the debate that Booker would have added. The senator didn't really answer the question, instead pointing to the strength of his campaign in Iowa and instead asking how it makes sense that he wasn't on the stage. 

Next up: Klobuchar and Margaret Brennan, who opened with a clip from SNL's cold open featuring, among others, Rachel Dratch as Klobuchar. The Senator thought Dratch did a good job. And, when Brennan asked about her "aggressive" performance, Klobuchar denied that she's changed her tactics since her middle-of-a-blizzard candidacy announcement. She also noted

I have passed over a hundred bills in the United States Senate during a really difficult time. And I have won in the reddest of red districts and won with suburban and rural voters and Republicans and independents and a fired up Democratic base. I think that's a good case to be made.  

She also said the tried to make the case that she should be the one debating Trump in the general election, saying 

And I think it is more than just the nitty-gritty of policy. It's also a value statement because so many people want a values check on this President. They want someone who gives them a decency check, a patriotism check.

Brennan wondered how the impeachment trial would impact her campaign. She pointed to how aggressive and active her campaign has been, said she doesn't need a lot of sleep and works very hard. She also mentioned her endorsements, and that she's got a lot of folks who can - and are already - standing in for her on the campaign and she's got Skype for town halls. 

Brennan wondered if Klobuchar's campaign was going to ask for a rescheduling of the January debate, noting that it could fall in the middle of the impeachment trial. Klobuchar noted that there has to be a January debate, even if it has to be moved closer to the caucuses - but "we have to have an Iowa debate." And is that currently being discussed, any kind of scheduling change?

I don't know - I have made it very clear that there should be no excuses. I am ready to debate at midnight if that's what we have to do. We have to have a debate before the Iowa caucuses. That would be to my advantage if it was at midnight. I'd be happy.

They also talked about how the Dems can get witnesses to testify. Klobuchar noted you need the key witnesses, and specifically mentioned Mick Mulvaney associate Michael Duffy, the guy who sent the email around saying the Ukraine aid needed to be held shortly after the call between president Trump and President Zelensky. 

He sent this email... And this is what he says: he says, "Given the sensitive nature of the request, I appreciate your keeping the information closely held to those who need to know." ...That's a question I want to have answered.

Brennan said the aid was on hold before that, but Klobuchar pressed on Duffy and his email, asking why was it sent, and noting that

If the President is so innocent and shouldn't be impeached, why is he afraid to have these people come forward? That's what people are asking me when I am at these town hall meetings.

And that's where they ended it.  So let's move on to Klobuchar's discussion with Dana Bash, who announced the state of the union being "at a stalemate." This conversation started with the stalemate surrounding the impeachment and the clash over witnesses (the Dems want some, the Rs do not). Bash wondered if Klobuchar would vote to start the impeachment trial if there was no agreement.

I think that there will be an agreement and this trial will go forward.I think what is shocking to me is, right now, despite the president claiming his innocence, claiming that he wants to present witnesses, he's the one blocking the witnesses...

She again referenced the Michael Duffy email, and also noted that even Richard Nixon had "all the president's men testify. He had major people testify from his administration." Klobuchar doesn't know if there will be separate votes on witnesses or how it will all go down, but knows they have "a constitutional duty to take on this very important case." And, 

I'm in the leadership team. And I'm being very clear. We should do whatever it takes. And I can still run for president. I'm a mom. I can do two things at once.

They moved on to the debate, particularly the point at which Klobuchar criticized Mayor Pete Buttigieg about his "lack of experience" and Bash played a clip of Buttigieg talking with CNN after the debate, in which he said he understands the ways of Washington, he just doesn't accept them, and that maybe it's time for "change to come from outside the Beltway.

Klobuchar reiterated her comment from the debate, that experience matters, because it has gotten results, pointing to work by Senators Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris.

I just think the fact that someone has experience can be a really good thing right now, when we have a president who went in there with no experience, and has done nothing when it comes to helping regular people.

Bash asked her about her votes on Trump judges, noting that one she voted for had "further dismantled Obamacare this week" and that Klobuchar has voted to approve around 50% of Trump's nominees, and wondered if that was a mistake. Klobuchar noted the the judge in question had been supported by President Obama, Ted Kennedy, Bernie Sanders and many others, too. 

So, my point here is, what's really going on is that the Trump administration brought this case. They're trying to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. And some of my colleagues on that debate stage want to actually start over with Medicare for all.

Bash pressed her, asking specifically if she regrets her votes. Klobuchar said she'd have to look at each of the judge votes, but noted she makes her best judgment, as the other candidates who are Senators do.

I don't carte blanche make a decision about each judge based on whether or not Trump nominated them... My track record of recommending judges to Barack Obama -- and he took every recommendation I made -- have been some excellent, excellent judges. 

Moving on to the January debate, and noting that "So far, only five white candidates have qualified," Bash wondered why Klobuchar thought that happened. 

Klobuchar said you'd have to look at each of the campaigns to understand that, while mentioning both Cory Booker and Andrew Yang and hopes they'd be there in January. And she pointed to the "huge momentum" around her campaign. As Klobuchar ticked off items pointing to that momentum, not just in Iowa but in New Hampshire and the Carolinas, Bash turned it to the SNL skit. Klobuchar laughed, noting the impression was good and looked back at last week's debate. 

Yes, well, that was a pretty fun part of that debate, actually, when I pointed out there -- that discussion that gone so long, so I suggested that maybe we should go to the Wind Cave in South Dakota, which is a national park. And what you would like to know, Dana, is, now I have a number of spelunkers, right, that are now really excited about my candidacy. So, you know, in a close primary like this... you just have to keep reaching out to these groups...

Bash joined in, saying "One constituency at a time," allowing Klobuchar the last word.

That is exactly how I'm going to win this. 

See you around campus.