Sunday School 2/16/20

I love when there's lots of activity in the classrooms, and today was no exception. Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar, Tom Steyer and Pete Buttigieg were making the rounds this morning, with Klobuchar hitting four classrooms and Steyer two.  

I narrowed it down to one per show, so we've got Biden with Chuck Todd on NBC's Meet the Press, Klobuchar with Martha Raddatz on ABC's This Week, Steyer with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation (CBS) and Buttigieg with Dana Bash on CNN's State of the Union. That's the order we'll take them in.

Here are some excerpts from the Joe Biden interview. He was circumspect on Trump's attacks, saying that he "realized that whomever was likely to be, whoever he most feared, was going to be the victim of his affection" and also noting that he's tried not to show too much frustration because the election is not about him, it's about pulling the country together.  He admitted that "it had crossed his mind" that Trump's attacks might have actually made a difference in Iowa and New Hampshire.

On his campaign and whether he's got the urgency, the fire that people want to see, he said maybe being so polite and positive wasn't the best approach after all, but he supported his moderate proposals by saying if he gets elected he'll be "one of the most progressive administrations" in the country's history. And, regarding That Guy from Vermont and his policies,  

...what you're up against is things that are almost fanciful. Like, you know, Medicare for All. Thirty-five, thirty, forty trillion dollars. Even Bernie's now saying, "Well, how much is it going to cost?" "Well, who knows. We'll find out." I think that's the phrase he used -- or "we don't know." I mean, part of being president is not just the idea you have. Can you get it done? Have you ever done anything big? Have you ever been able to put together coalitions that bring along Republicans and all the Democrats to get things done? And the idea, I mean it's almost fanciful sometimes.

On Sanders and people always knowing where he stands on things.  

And he's never gotten anything done... he's a decent guy...he's been talking about health care, Medicare for All, universal health care, for 35 years. Nothing's happened. I helped get Obamacare. I helped move it forward. I got the votes. I'm in a position where I take something that I promise you, I'll get done. We take Obamacare. We allow people -- like out here in Nevada, what's going on? Bernie requires, and Elizabeth's plan requires you to give up all private insurance. These folks have broken their necks, the culinary union and others, to get the most comprehensive health care that's out there. And they've given up wages for it... 

I mean come on. This is -- I mean, I think people are so tired of the lack of straightforwardness out there. Now, if I'm wrong, I'm going to be dead wrong, but I really believe that you have to lay out why you're doing what you're doing and how you're going to get it done.

On Bloomberg buying his African-American support, cutting into Biden's support by around half, Chuck Todd said. 

... Anyway, the point is that $60 billion can buy you a lot of advertising, but it can't erase your record. There's a lot to talk about with Michael Bloomberg. You all are going to start focusing on him like you have on me, which I'm not complaining, like you have on me the last six months. You're going to focus on him. His position on issues relating to the African American community, from stop-and-frisk to the way he talked about Obama, to, I mean –

On two of his biggest rivals, one not a Dem and the other a former Republican, and what that says about the Democratic party,

Well, I think what it says is money, billions of dollars, can take you a long, long way. And it says that it's going to be awful hard to go out and win those -- the base support of the Democratic party, the African Americans, Latinos and working-class white folks, and put that coalition together. That's how you win an election. You put that coalition together.

On the need for winning South Carolina, and whether he can "do well" without winning there, 

Well, I think so. But look... look, right after that, within -- on March the 4th we end up with -- going into all the states, which the polling data is now showing me doing incredibly well. Whether it's North Carolina or Georgia or Texas or any of these other places. So look, it's not an apt comparison, but Bill Clinton lost his first eight, ten, 12 primaries and caucuses before he won one. I don't plan on taking that long. But we're just getting to the meat of getting to the number of delegates you need to be able to win this election. And I'm confident we're going to be in good shape.

And from Sen. Amy Klobuchar, starting with her positioning in Nevada, her just starting ad buys, and so on, including only being at 2% in the Las Vegas Weekly poll. 

Well, actually the Las Vegas Review Journal that came out after New Hampshire yesterday had me at 10 points. And that's even a day before our ads even started. So, we're pretty excited about that. I think that came out of all the work we did in New Hampshire. We've had huge crowds, including over 1,000 people in Reno. And I think the newspaper endorsement of The Sun is also very helpful. So, we see ourselves on an upward path.

She said she's in every Super Tuesday state with teams on the ground, she's raised $12M in the past week, and she's feeling good. Raddatz pointed out that no major party nominee finished worse than 2nd in either Iowa or New Hampshire.

Obviously, the next month is critical for us, but I think I’m just approaching this in a different way. And we really shocked the pundits in New Hampshire, and it was all hard work, the endorsements of the papers, the endorsement of The New York Times that I share with my friend Elizabeth, and the kind of momentum that you see. It’s a different year.

On building support with people of color,  

Well, that’s going to be on me. I need people to get to know me. I’ve always gotten high support in all of my elections with the Hispanic and African-American communities in my state -- that is a start... my name identification in states outside of the early few states was not that high, simply because I didn’t have the money like Bloomberg to run more ads during your show than I am on being interviewed on your show. I get that. That’s what happens...That is a big difference.

People don’t know me. And then I’m going to emphasize my record of equal opportunity. The work that I have done in leading so many voting rights bills, including automatically registering kids to vote when they turn 18, getting rid of gerrymandering, getting rid of voting purges. I have a strong record when it comes to voting rights as well as equal opportunity --

As have others, Raddatz talked to her about new evidence in a case where she was the initial prosecutor. The defendant was found guilty but the verdict was overturned and he was retried and convicted by a new prosecutor after Klobuchar became a senator. Now, with new evidence, Klobuchar is saying whole case should be reviewed, old evidence and new. 

Martha, as a prosecutor... our job is to convict the guilty and protect the innocent...all of these cases, when anything new comes in that puts into doubt any conviction, no matter when it is, must be reviewed.  

When I was county attorney, I undertook a major review of all of our serious cases involving DNA... I also pioneered a new way of doing eyewitness identification with The Innocence Project. I went around the country and debated other DAs about having interrogations videotaped because I believe so strongly they should be videotaped. So when you look at my record, the 12 percent decrease in African American incarceration rates when I was there, you see a number of things where I was focused on protecting the innocent.

And my response to this case is this, it must be reviewed immediately and brought to court.

And from Tom Steyer, starting with Margaret Brennan's question on what would constitute success for him in Nevada.

Look, I want to come in first or second. I've spent more time in Nevada than any other candidate. We have a great team on the ground here. I've gone out of my way to try and make sure that I see as many people face to face. And I believe we're putting together the kind of coalition in Nevada and in South Carolina that a Democrat is going to have to put together to win in November of 2020.

On being serious about Nevada and about South Carolina, too, where he has the largest state operation of any candidate (and his wife might have moved there, Brennan said).

Both of these states are diverse states. Both of these states reflect the kind of diversity that is America and that is the Democratic Party. And I think whoever is going to be the candidate has got to be able to show that he or she can pull together that diverse big tent that is the Democratic Party. And I think that's what we're trying to do here in Nevada. And I know that's what we're trying to do in South Carolina... I really think it's about grassroots. I'm a grassroots person. I built one of the biggest grassroots organizations in the United States, next-gen America. And I really believe in people being on the ground, the candidate being on the ground and seeing people face to face.

On the problem of labor force participation (which, I must say, is a very specific question to ask a candidate), the Fed Chair has said is due to the opioid crisis and educational issues. What does he think?

What the Federal Reserve chairman is talking about in terms of opioids and education is how you actually develop long term prosperity and justice. And that is by investing in young people through education, specifically including universal pre-kindergarten, and by dealing with issues of health around the country, including the opioid crisis, including mental health... (president Trump is) avoiding the actual long term prosperity of Americans that is done by investing in the American people, by making us productive over time. And that means education, health care for every American, a living wage.  The wages of Americans-- are outrageously low. 

And on reparations - he's said he's the only one in the race saying he's for them - he admitted that he doesn't have a specific mechanism for them yet, but

...the way to figure out the correct solution in this case is I would have a formal commission on race the first day- starting the first day of my presidency to retell the story of the more than 400 years that African-Americans have been here in America, to tell the story not just of legalized injustice and cruelty, but also of the contributions that the African-American community have made--to the building of America--  what I'm saying is this: in order to come up with solutions, you have to go through together and tell the story, because out of the narrative comes the policy changes. 

He also said he'd put $125B - that's right, $125 billion - into HBCUs, which he said have lost over 40% of their funding in a decade, as just one example of what he's thinking. 

Finally, let's turn to Mayor Pete and Dana Bash, starting with what's going on in Nevada with the Culinary Union, which has come out against That Guy from Vermont and his Medicare for All plan because it would wipe out their hard-fought benefits - and union members are now getting attacked by Sanders supporters.

You know, it's really disturbing to see the Culinary Union attacked, when these are workers who have stood up and fought for, among other things, good health care plans. They're not interested in Washington taking away their choice... 

No one should go after working people for wanting to defend and grow what they have earned. And it's a key point of difference at the policy level between me and Senator Sanders, and, also, I think, very important that supporters of any candidate do this with respect. We have a crisis of respect and decency, obviously, in the White House right now. And it's natural that there's going to be the heat of competition on our side...

On whether Buttigieg thinks TGFV is doing enough to keep his supporters in line, that's a question for him, not for Pete.

What I will tell you is that I'm focused on making sure that my own supporters and our campaign conduct this competition, even when it's heated, with a level of respect for where people are coming from, because we're talking about workers standing up for their own care.

On his health insurance plan differing from M4A, and that union workers would be able to keep their private plans if he was elected, he said that's the absolutely the case. Whereas Sanders' plan abolishes private plans, his does not. 

Now... if my plan is the very best insurance plan in America -- and I think it just might be -- then, eventually, everybody will cross over to it. But I want them to be able to decide. And in the event that it's not, if some plans out there are better, why would we want to kick anybody off of it? This is a commonsense position that most Americans support. It still amounts to the most progressive, major reform to health care that we have had in 50 years. But it is doable. It makes sense. It's the right policy. And it has the advantage of being something that Americans could actually unite around.

On race (Buttigieg and Klobuchar face the same problem here, with low support among Blacks and Latinos), and a Quinnipiac poll showing him at 4% support there, "why aren't those voters coming to you?" he said he's continuing to have conversations with voters, and that the support he's gained in Iowa and New Hampshire should help. 

As we come to more racially diverse states, like here in Nevada and South Carolina, many of the voters of color that I'm talking to are focused in particularly on -- in particular on one thing, defeating Donald Trump. Look, nobody is experiencing the pain of living under this administration more than voters of color. And I'm talking to a lot of highly pragmatic voters who want to know, more than anything else, that you can put together the organization and the message that will decisively defeat this president. There is so much on the line right now, and we have got to get this right.

Bash wondered if he was confident he could convince them to look at him, and look at him differently than they have before.

Absolutely. I mean, I still have to go out there and earn it. This is a process of earning trust with voters who have every reason to be skeptical, who have often felt taken for granted by the Democratic Party, who are, again, very pragmatic right now too. And so I am not going to take any vote for granted, just as I'm not going to leave any vote on the table. We are campaigning hard here in Nevada, across -- across the country. We will be working hard in South Carolina too.

On whether it's "fair to say that what you're doing now is whatever it takes to beat Bernie Sanders and your other Democratic rivals in order to get to the point where you can go after Donald Trump?" even if that means having expensive fundraisers where other candidates might not be.

So, let's be very clear. My campaign is fueled by over two million contributions. I believe the average contribution is under 40 bucks. It is the lifeblood of our campaign...I am following the same fundraising practices that President Obama did and that our leaders have in order to make sure that we draw in all of the support that we need to win. And the campaign I'm building right now is not just for earning the nomination...

My campaign is about belonging. It is about inclusion. I don't define this campaign or define myself by whose help we reject. This is about making sure that everybody who shares these values, everybody prepared to defeat Donald Trump is on the same team pulling together. And we built this from the ground up.

Look, I'm not a millionaire. I haven't been in politics for years or decades. I don't have the advantages of having been a senator. We built this from scratch, and with the hundreds of thousands of individuals who have contributed to this campaign, people of all walks of life. I'm proud of what we have been able to do. And, yes, this is how we're going to defeat this president.

On the walking disgrace that is Medal of Freedom recipient Rush Limbaugh saying Buttigieg is a "37 year old gay guy, mayor of South Bend, who loves to kiss his husband on the debate stage," did he want to respond? 

Well, I love my husband. I'm faithful to my husband. On stage, we usually just go for a hug, but I love him very much. And I'm not going to take lectures on family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh.

Busy, busy, busy - hope you have the chance to take it all in.

See you around campus.