>> ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT ANY DEMOCRATS?
DEMOCRATS? >> THERE IS NO WINSTON CHURCHILL
IN THE GROUP, LET ME PUT IT THAT
WAY.
WAY. >> YOU DON’T SEE JOE BIDEN AS
THE NEW WINSTON CHURCHILL?
>> NO, I THINK THAT WOULD BE A
BIG UPSET IF HE WAS.
THAT WOULD BE A BIG SURPRISE TO
A LOT OF PEOPLE.
NO, THERE IS NOBODY THAT I SEE
THAT SHOULD BE ABLE TO WIN.
>> AS OF TODAY, BY THE WAY,
WE’RE INSIDE 18 MONTHS UNTIL THE
ELECTION.
ELECTION. THERE IS A NEW POLL FROM CNN
THAT HAS JOE BIDEN MAINTAINING
HIS LEAD AMONG DEMOCRATS.
FORMER VICE PRESIDENT IS AT 32%
FOLLOWED BY BERNIE SANDERS AT
18, KAMALA HARRIS AT 8,
ELIZABETH WARREN AT 7, AND SO
ON.
ON. ON THIS NETWORK TONIGHT AT A
TOWN HALL HOST BID CHRIS HAYES,
SENATOR WARREN WAS ASKED ABOUT
TAKING ON TRUMP IN A GENERAL
ELECTION.
ELECTION. >> WHAT DO YOU SAY TO PEOPLE
THAT SAY, I LIKE YOU ON THE
SUBSTANCE BUT I’M WORRIED ABOUT
YOUR ELECTABILITY AS NOMINEE FOR
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY?
>> I REMEMBER WHEN PEOPLE SAID
BARACK OBAMA COULDN’T BE
ELECTED.
ELECTED. I REMEMBER WHEN PEOPLE SAID
DONALD TRUMP COULDN’T BE
ELECTED.
ELECTED. >> THAT’S ALL TRUE.
>> AND HERE WE ARE.
ELECTIONS ARE ABOUT GETTING IN
THERE AND FIGHTING FOR IT AND
MAKING CLEAR TO THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE WHAT YOU STAND FOR.
I GOT IN THIS RACE BECAUSE AN
AMERICA THAT KEEPS WORKING
BETTER AND BETTER AND BETTER FOR
A THINNER AND THINNER SLICE AT
THE TOP JUST ISN’T GOING TO
WORK.
WORK. >> HERE WITH US TO TALK POLITICS
TONIGHT, JOHN RALSTON, VETERAN
JOURNALIST AT THE VETERAN
INDEPENDENT, AND OUR OWN
CORRESPONDENT, STEVE KORNACKI.
GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO YOU BOTH.
STEVE, I’M KIND OF FASCINATED.
CNN IN THEIR POLL ASKED A
STRAIGHT-UP QUESTION, AND YOU
KNOW THIS IS COMING.
DO YOU THINK TRUMP WILL WIN IN
2020?
2020? YES, 54.
YES, 54. NO, 41.
NO, 41. STEVE, THAT YES WAY EXCEEDS WHAT
WE ARE TAUGHT IS HIS BASE.
EXPLAIN THOSE NUMBERS OTHER THAN
IT’S EARLY.
IT’S EARLY. >> WELL, IT’S EARLY BUT I LOOK
AT THAT AND I JUST SEE THERE IS
A HANGOVER FROM 2016, I THINK
THERE, IF THAT’S THE RIGHT TERM,
PROBABLY FOR A LOT OF DEMOCRATS.
PROBABLY FOR A LOT OF DEMOCRATS
WHO LOOKED AT POLLS THROUGHOUT
THE ENTIRE 2016 CAMPAIGN AND
THEY SAW THAT THERE WAS NO
NOMINEE WHO HAD EVER BEEN AS
UNPOPULAR AS TRUMP WAS.
THERE WAS NO NOMINEE WHO EVER
HAD NUMBERS AS LOW AS TRUMP WHEN
IT CAME TO DO YOU THINK THIS
PERSON IS COMPETENT?
DO YOU THINK THIS PERSON IS
QUALIFIED TO BE PRESIDENT?
TRUMP WAS OFF THE CHARTS LOW
WHEN IT CAME TO ALL THOSE
QUESTIONS IN 2016, AND YET EVEN
DEMOCRATS WHO DIDN’T LIKE HIM
WATCHED HIM WIN, ANYWAY, AND SO
I THINK THEY LOOK NOW AT A
CERTAIN NUMBER OF DEMOCRATS --
REPUBLICANS PROBABLY JUST WANT
TRUMP TO WIN -- BUT THEY MAY
LOOK AND SAY, HIS JOB APPROVAL
MAY BE LOW, HE MAY HAVE HAD HI
TOUGH
TOUGH -- A TOUGH MIDTERM, BUT HE’S
STILL UP IN THE POLLS.
>> BIDEN UP 12, SANDERS ALSO UP
12.
12. BUTTIGIEG, THE OTHER HEADLINER
HERE, WARREN AND HARRIS.
LET’S GO TO TEXAS AND THIS GETS
YOU CLOSER TO THE MARGIN OF
ERROR, WITH BIDEN UP FOUR AND
YOU SEE ALL THE RESULTS IN RUBY
RED TEXAS FOR THE DEMOCRATS.
JOHN, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF IT, OR
DO YOU MAKE NOTHING OF IT
BECAUSE IT’S TOO DAMN EARLY?
>> WELL, YEAH, I THINK, BRIAN,
THE MOST IMPORTANT NUMBER I’VE
HEARD SO FAR FROM YOU TONIGHT IS
18.
18. THAT IS 18 MONTHS AWAY FROM THE
ELECTION.
ELECTION. I DON’T THINK YOU CAN DISCERN A
LOT FROM THIS, AND SO AT THE
RISK OF THE GREAT STEVE KORNACKI
DISAGREEING WITH ME WHICH I
NEVER WANT TO HAPPEN ON NATIONAL
TELEVISION, I WILL SAY THAT NONE
OF THESE NUMBERS MEAN THAT MUCH
OUTSIDE OF OBVIOUSLY BIDEN HAS
NAME RECOGNITION IN ALL THESE
STATES.
STATES. HE DOES IN NEVADA, TOO.
HE’S AHEAD IN A COUPLE OF POLLS.
I’VE SEEN HERE, THOUGH, NOT AS
MUCH AS IN SOME OTHERS.
THOSE TEXAS NUMBERS ARE THE MOST
INTERESTING ONES TO ME, THOUGH,
BRIAN.
BRIAN. IF THOSE ARE REAL, THAT IS A
WARNING BEACON FOR TEAM TRUMP,
BECAUSE IF TEXAS IS REALLY LIKE
THAT RIGHT NOW, THAT COULD BE A
REAL PROBLEM FOR THE PRESIDENT.
>> STEVE KORNACKI, YOUR NAME IS
INVOKED
INVOKED INVOKED.
INVOKED. YOU GET AN AUTOMATIC REBUTTAL.
>> HERE’S WHY I THINK THESE
NUMBERS DO MATTER.
A MAJORITY OF VOTERS SAY THEY
THINK TRUMP IS GETTING
REELECTED, AND THAT IS A
SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO
DON’T LIKE TRUMP AND DON’T WANT
TO SEE HIM GET REELECTED.
THAT TELLS ME HOW IMPORTANT THAT
ISSUE OF ELECTABILITY WILL BE TO
PRIMARY VOTERS.
PRIMARY VOTERS. HOW YOU DEFINE IT IS AN INEXACT
THING.
THING. BUT TO THE EXTENT IT MATTERS
PARTICULARLY TO DEMOCRATIC
VOTERS HEADING INTO 2020, IF
THIS BECOMES A TREND WHEN YOU
TAKE A POLL IN A STATE LIKE
TEXAS AND THERE IS JOE BIDEN
LEADING, AND THERE IS EVERY
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE TRAILING,
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THAT SORT OF
CULTURE ON THE DEMOCRATIC SIDE
RIGHT NOW THAT’S VALUING