1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,200 ROBERT COSTA: Hello. I'm Robert Costa. And this is the Washington Week Extra. 2 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:08,380 This year's field of Democratic presidential candidates is diverse and historic - more 3 00:00:08,380 --> 00:00:13,630 people of color, more women than ever before - and eight of the 21 contenders - wow, 21 - 4 00:00:13,630 --> 00:00:18,430 traveled to Texas this week to speak to the She The People event, the first-ever 5 00:00:18,430 --> 00:00:22,580 presidential candidate forum focused on women of color, one of the Democratic Party's 6 00:00:22,580 --> 00:00:25,170 most loyal voting groups. 7 00:00:25,170 --> 00:00:28,820 Joining me to talk about the role these voters will play in the race for the White 8 00:00:28,820 --> 00:00:33,590 House, Karoun Demirjian, congressional reporter for The Washington Post; Jerry Seib, 9 00:00:33,590 --> 00:00:37,530 executive Washington editor for The Wall Street Journal; Julie Hirschfeld Davis, 10 00:00:37,530 --> 00:00:41,460 congressional correspondent for The New York Times; and Jeff Zeleny, senior Washington 11 00:00:41,460 --> 00:00:47,990 correspondent for CNN. It is, of course, early in the 2020 race, but events like these 12 00:00:47,990 --> 00:00:53,130 do matter as candidates introduce themselves to voters and sketch out policies and themes. 13 00:00:53,130 --> 00:00:57,350 One contender who has been policy heavy in her campaign is Massachusetts Senator 14 00:00:57,350 --> 00:01:00,900 Elizabeth Warren. Warren was well-received at this Houston event, 15 00:01:00,900 --> 00:01:04,500 especially when talking about the issue of infant mortality. 16 00:01:04,500 --> 00:01:09,020 SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): (From video.) I want to talk to the hospitals who are - 17 00:01:09,020 --> 00:01:13,290 is where most of these births take place, and I want to talk to them in the language they 18 00:01:13,290 --> 00:01:20,370 understand, money. If they bring down those maternal mortality rates, then they get a 19 00:01:20,370 --> 00:01:26,340 bonus; and if they don't, then they're going to have money taken away from them. 20 00:01:26,340 --> 00:01:31,080 ROBERT COSTA: California Senator Kamala Harris made headlines with her remarks on guns. 21 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:34,620 SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): (From video.) If Congress fails to act with smart gun 22 00:01:34,620 --> 00:01:40,840 safety laws, I will execute executive action - (cheers, applause) - to put in place what 23 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:45,380 is long overdue and people have had the courage to do - or lacked the courage to do. 24 00:01:45,380 --> 00:01:51,220 ROBERT COSTA: New Jersey Senator Cory Booker repeated his pledge about a potential running mate. 25 00:01:51,220 --> 00:01:54,740 SENATOR CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): (From video.) I will have a woman running mate. 26 00:01:54,740 --> 00:01:57,840 To me it's really clear that we do that. 27 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:02,180 ROBERT COSTA: And Senator Bernie Sanders, well, he struggled to attempt to connect with the crowd. 28 00:02:02,180 --> 00:02:05,740 SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): (From video.) I actually was at the March on Washington 29 00:02:05,740 --> 00:02:08,970 with Dr. King back in 1963. 30 00:02:08,970 --> 00:02:13,640 ROBERT COSTA: You take all that in, it's a lot to take in. 31 00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:17,750 Jeff, you've been on the campaign trail covering 2020 at this early stage. 32 00:02:17,750 --> 00:02:23,020 When you think about women of color, they were so important in recent Democratic 33 00:02:23,020 --> 00:02:27,560 victories like Senator Doug Jones in Alabama winning a special election. 34 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:33,770 Who at this early stage has a strategy and who's building with that central demographic? 35 00:02:33,770 --> 00:02:37,730 JEFF ZELENY: Well, I think at the event - the She The People event the person who had a 36 00:02:37,730 --> 00:02:43,170 plan, to use her language, is Elizabeth Warren. She talks about racial injustice and 37 00:02:43,170 --> 00:02:47,040 prejudice and other things in a way that really no other candidate is talking about. 38 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,620 Now, we'll see is that resonates out there or not, but I think she has the most 39 00:02:50,620 --> 00:02:55,790 substantial policies. Otherwise, I think you have to say Joe Biden, who of course just 40 00:02:55,790 --> 00:03:01,050 got into this race at the very end, but largely because of his name recognition, the 41 00:03:01,050 --> 00:03:06,870 fact that he was Barack Obama's partner and defender, and a right-hand man in every 42 00:03:06,870 --> 00:03:11,960 way for so long. I think he probably starts with an advantage, no doubt about it. 43 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:17,460 But he's not likely to grow support; he's likely to lose support if someone else sort of 44 00:03:17,460 --> 00:03:23,120 takes off. But I think we are at a moment now as we almost head into the month of May, 45 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:30,470 a pretty wide-open race. It's sort of divided into sections of three tiers, I think, 46 00:03:30,470 --> 00:03:34,990 but I don't think anyone owns the - really what is the single most important or one 47 00:03:34,990 --> 00:03:38,830 of the single most important sort of demographic groups; that's black women. 48 00:03:38,830 --> 00:03:44,330 JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS: I mean, I think that it's a fascinating sort of array of 49 00:03:44,330 --> 00:03:47,820 candidates to watch on that stage and the issues that they chose to go to. 50 00:03:47,820 --> 00:03:51,780 One of the reasons I think that Elizabeth Warren seemed to resonate with the audience 51 00:03:51,780 --> 00:03:54,730 there was she was talking about concrete issues. 52 00:03:54,730 --> 00:03:58,080 She was, of course, talking about, you know, racial injustice and all of the - all of 53 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:03,290 those kind of broader concepts, but you know, maternal mortality is a big issue that we 54 00:04:03,290 --> 00:04:06,550 haven't really heard many politicians, many elected officials talk about. 55 00:04:06,550 --> 00:04:09,360 That is something that people feel in their real lives. 56 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:13,490 And in campaigns, you know, people respond to things that are going to matter to them - 57 00:04:13,490 --> 00:04:17,070 pocketbook issues, things that affect their health and their children. 58 00:04:17,070 --> 00:04:21,150 And so the fact that she has come out with, you know, some of these very specific plans 59 00:04:21,150 --> 00:04:24,750 about how she would go at some of those issues I think has been appealing not just to 60 00:04:24,750 --> 00:04:28,990 African American women, but to a lot of the Democratic primary electorate. 61 00:04:28,990 --> 00:04:33,750 But it was also interesting to, you know, hear Kamala Harris say that she was going to, 62 00:04:33,750 --> 00:04:37,720 you know, use executive actions on gun violence if she couldn't get legislation through 63 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:42,100 Congress. That is an issue that there is sort of a pent-up demand for not just among Democrats, 64 00:04:42,100 --> 00:04:47,010 frankly, but certainly among the audience at that event, and you know, the fact that 65 00:04:47,010 --> 00:04:50,150 she's coming out proactively and saying that that's going to be a central thing for her I 66 00:04:50,150 --> 00:04:53,980 think could end up being, you know, a very important element for her. 67 00:04:53,980 --> 00:04:56,630 KAROUN DEMIRJIAN: Yeah, it's important for the candidates to start defining themselves 68 00:04:56,630 --> 00:04:59,620 on policy issues pretty soon because generally speaking, as you were just making the 69 00:04:59,620 --> 00:05:03,550 point, there are these issues that are very, very important to the party writ large, but 70 00:05:03,550 --> 00:05:07,470 the how and the what specifically and the what will you do first and will you be 71 00:05:07,470 --> 00:05:11,870 successful, how can you guarantee that, matters for everything ranging from health care 72 00:05:11,870 --> 00:05:17,020 to student loans to gun violence and to all the other hot-button issues for the Democrats. 73 00:05:17,020 --> 00:05:20,830 It is kind of striking how much Elizabeth Warren has been setting the tenor, though, for 74 00:05:20,830 --> 00:05:24,720 exactly where the policy should move to, because she's been very specific about, you 75 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:28,390 know, taxation. She's been very specific about the small issues too, talking about 76 00:05:28,390 --> 00:05:31,910 infant mortality. And she was the first person to say, loudly - with the biggest 77 00:05:31,910 --> 00:05:35,360 megaphone, at least - impeachment, we should go for it. And the fact that she's - people 78 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:39,930 are following is going to make it very interesting to see if they - other candidates do 79 00:05:39,930 --> 00:05:44,590 kind of try to move in to fill that space with policy proposals of their own, or if 80 00:05:44,590 --> 00:05:47,630 this just becomes a question of who packages it and sells it the best. 81 00:05:47,630 --> 00:05:51,310 ROBERT COSTA: That's a great point, about who's going to move in on the policy front, 82 00:05:51,310 --> 00:05:54,510 because we just talked in the show about Vice President Biden. 83 00:05:54,510 --> 00:05:57,520 We know he has a message against President Trump, referendum on President Trump. 84 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:01,910 What about on policy - on these policies that were really animating the discussion at She 85 00:06:01,910 --> 00:06:04,660 The People? Where does he stand? Where could he make a move? 86 00:06:04,660 --> 00:06:07,250 GERALD SEIB: Well, look, he can talk about any subject, right? 87 00:06:07,250 --> 00:06:11,800 And so I think he has to decide where he's going to be on the ideological spectrum, not 88 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,000 just does he have policy positions but, you know, what are you going to say about 89 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:19,070 Medicare for All as the guy who's kind of hanging his hat in the center of the - the 90 00:06:19,070 --> 00:06:22,230 center left, not the far left? And what are you going to say about climate change? 91 00:06:22,230 --> 00:06:25,610 What about the Green New Deal? He's going to be forced to address issues like that. 92 00:06:25,610 --> 00:06:29,630 And I think you're right, Elizabeth Warren has kind of set the tone in policy terms for a 93 00:06:29,630 --> 00:06:33,650 lot of those subjects. And I think a lot of us have been waiting for her to have her 94 00:06:33,650 --> 00:06:37,650 moment as a result of that. And I think you've finally seen in the last week a couple 95 00:06:37,650 --> 00:06:42,360 of instances in which you think maybe this Elizabeth Warren moment might be arriving. 96 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,890 She's got intellectual appeal and a kind of an emotional appeal. 97 00:06:45,890 --> 00:06:49,230 And we hadn't been seeing it much. And I think that clip indicated we're seeing it. 98 00:06:49,230 --> 00:06:52,650 ROBERT COSTA: Let's step back for a minute, because if you think about She The People, 99 00:06:52,650 --> 00:06:59,030 it is shining a light on an important demographic for the Democratic Party. 100 00:06:59,030 --> 00:07:05,370 But when you look at the primary process for Democrats, a mostly white state in Iowa for 101 00:07:05,370 --> 00:07:10,150 the caucuses, a mostly white state in New Hampshire for the first primary. 102 00:07:10,150 --> 00:07:14,520 And then you get to South Carolina - Nevada's going to come first, then South Carolina 103 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:19,460 fourth this time around. Sixty percent of the vote in the South Carolina Democratic 104 00:07:19,460 --> 00:07:25,990 Primary in 2016 was African American. So only once you get to South Carolina it 105 00:07:25,990 --> 00:07:28,710 seems like these issues really get pushed to the fore. 106 00:07:28,710 --> 00:07:32,800 Is that part of why She The People almost seems unique for this Democratic Party? 107 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:35,650 It's so much driven by Iowa and New Hampshire. 108 00:07:35,650 --> 00:07:38,920 JEFF ZELENY: It is. And it always has been, largely because of inertia, I think. 109 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,880 There's never been kind of a different system put forward. 110 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:46,640 And the next cycle is always upon us before there's sort of a change of the calendar. 111 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:48,690 ROBERT COSTA: But it's such a diverse party right now. 112 00:07:48,690 --> 00:07:52,030 JEFF ZELENY: It is a diverse party, particularly with the candidates. That's one of the 113 00:07:52,030 --> 00:07:55,820 things that I think obviously is the biggest challenge for the Joe Bidens of the world. 114 00:07:55,820 --> 00:08:01,530 You know, there are five credible female candidates, elected officials, running. 115 00:08:01,530 --> 00:08:06,070 Two African American candidates, young candidates, an openly gay candidate, et cetera. 116 00:08:06,070 --> 00:08:11,420 So it's very diverse. Yet the two frontrunners of the party are two white men in their 117 00:08:11,420 --> 00:08:14,890 upper 70s. (Laughter.) So you know, we'll sort of see how this goes. 118 00:08:14,890 --> 00:08:19,960 But there's no question the organizing structure of the primary process is lagging behind 119 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:23,260 where the party is progressively here. 120 00:08:23,260 --> 00:08:25,690 KAROUN DEMIRJIAN: I mean, the party's been aware of this for a while. 121 00:08:25,690 --> 00:08:29,020 That's why Nevada vaulted into the early state group, because it made the argument that 122 00:08:29,020 --> 00:08:32,830 it has a large Latino community and that's a big part of the Democratic voting bloc in 123 00:08:32,830 --> 00:08:37,520 Nevada. But it's been very, very hard to dislodge Iowa and New Hampshire from their 124 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:41,220 wanting to be the first of each type of contest for the party. 125 00:08:41,220 --> 00:08:44,540 And, you know, you saw all the contests move up earlier in the calendar. 126 00:08:44,540 --> 00:08:47,310 If they're going to move up any earlier we're going to be doing this around Christmas. 127 00:08:47,310 --> 00:08:50,690 I mean, that's going to be very, very awkward. So unless you do everybody on the 128 00:08:50,690 --> 00:08:53,540 same day, it seems like they're just holding on very, very - 129 00:08:53,540 --> 00:08:58,230 ROBERT COSTA: One final question. Watching all these clips, I think back to 2016. 130 00:08:58,230 --> 00:09:03,950 Senator Bernie Sanders did well in New Hampshire, and then he comes into South Carolina 131 00:09:03,950 --> 00:09:09,690 and Secretary Clinton starts picking up speed. Has - he got a muted reception, perhaps worse than 132 00:09:09,690 --> 00:09:18,810 muted, at this event. Has he addressed these issues from 2016 with minority voters this time or not? 133 00:09:18,810 --> 00:09:22,340 JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS: I don't think he has. I mean, I think what you saw there - I 134 00:09:22,340 --> 00:09:24,850 think you're being charitable in terms of a muted reception. 135 00:09:24,850 --> 00:09:28,500 Is that, you know, there's still - that people are still not comfortable with him. 136 00:09:28,500 --> 00:09:32,210 People in that audience, among African American women - frankly, among African American 137 00:09:32,210 --> 00:09:36,490 voters in general, and among a lot of other female voters there is - you know, he has 138 00:09:36,490 --> 00:09:41,130 some ground to make up there. And when you look at him where his standing is in the 139 00:09:41,130 --> 00:09:44,370 polls right now, he's obviously in, you know, the top two of most of the polls that 140 00:09:44,370 --> 00:09:47,180 we've seen. But that's going to start to be an issue for him. 141 00:09:47,180 --> 00:09:51,120 And you have to imagine he's trying to put together a strategy to speak to them. 142 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:55,170 But when you hear him talk, he's talking in the ways that he talked in 2016. 143 00:09:55,170 --> 00:09:58,480 It sounds like the same Bernie. And so the question is, what can he say, what can 144 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:02,460 he do, how can he respond to those concerns? Because they're clearly out there. 145 00:10:02,460 --> 00:10:05,680 ROBERT COSTA: All right. Well, that's it of this edition of the Washington Week Extra. 146 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:09,780 You can listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch it on the Washington Week website. 147 00:10:09,780 --> 00:10:13,360 While you're online, check out the Washington Week-ly News Quiz. 148 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:30,860 I'm Robert Costa. See you next time.