Judy: As you just heard, our pbs
news hour-npr-marist poll gives
us some insights into what
voters are thinking right now.
Plus the president has asked
congress for a big increase in
assistance to Ukraine.
And the GOP is brushing aside
audiotapes that captured party
leaders criticizing their own.
We turn now to the analysis of
brooks and Capehart.
That's New York Times columnist
David brooks, and Jonathan
Capehart, associate editor for
the Washington post.
It is great to see the two of
you on this Friday night.
Thank you for being here.
Let's pick up with that poll.
Really interesting analysis by
Lisa.
What did you see?
What stood out to you?
David: Two things that Lisa
mentioned leapt out at me.
The Latino vote, 52% favoring
Republicans.
This should be alarm bells for
Democrats.
Latinos have not been shifting
over the Republicans.
Donald Trump did recently well
with Republicans but Latinos
overwhelmingly identify with
Democrats but are not happy with
the way things are going.
The second issue is education.
Pew research center does these
polls constantly, which party do
you trust more on education?
Over the decades, Democrats
usually have a 20 point
advantage, something pretty big.
That is down to basically zero.
I think that is partly the
schools closing at the teachers
union behest, it is an effort
to get rid of magnet schools and
gifted programs.
It is a sense that aggressive's
are trying to do too much about
education in the schools.
This is across-the-board pretty
grim for Democrats.
Judy: How do you look at these
numbers, Jonathan?
Jonathan: David was paying
attention to the Latino numbers.
I went to the African-American
numbers because the
African-American vote is the
base of the democratic party.
It is the base of president
Biden.
That is why he is president, yet
his standing among black voters,
his approval rating is 64%.
That should raise alarm bells in
the white house, if it hasn't
already.
I think it is because of no
movement on voting rights, no
movement on criminal justice
reform.
We will see what happens.
Who knows what people will care
about in October?
May be president will get a bump
up when justice ketanji brown
Jackson takes the oath of office
for the supreme court.
To mimic David, a second thing
leapt out at me, the inflation
numbers, crime numbers, and
national security numbers, all
not in the democratic party's
favor, particularly inflation
and crime are "Emotional
issues."
People go to the ballot box.
My earpiece just fell out,
everyone.
[Laughter]
If the administration cannot
talk to the American people
convincingly that they have
crime and inflation under
control, they will be in
trouble.
Judy: Are these the kinds of
things that Democrats have the
ability over the next eight
months to change voters'
thinking?
Are these issues that are
essentially entrenched right
now?
David: Not entrenched, but
superhard to change.
The whole zeitgeist of the
country has deteriorated over
the last year.
I would say it has been a threat
of disorder on many fronts.
Disorder internationally with
Ukraine, disorder at home,
crime, crime in New York is
surging by 30% year over year.
Some robbery and burglary up to
40%.
Inflation is a form of economic
disorder.
People feel the world has become
less safe on a whole variety of
fronts.
Traditionally Republicans have
been the party of order.
Democrats have been the party of
fairness and justice.
So there has been historically
an attempt to turn to
Republicans when you feel
unsafe.
So Democrats have to turn that
around.
They have turned it around in
the past in the 1990's, Tony
Blair and Bill Clinton.
Tony Blair had a phrase, tough
on crime and on the cries --
tough on crime and tough on the
causes of crime.
It can be done, but it takes
a lot of time and persuasion.
I'm not sure there's enough time
to do it before the midterms.
Judy: Do you see there is a
chance -- where is the
opportunity for Democrats here?
Jonathan: I think the
opportunity comes in another set
of numbers I looked at.
The poll points out trump's
approval rating.
Donald Trump's approval rating
was at 39%, his disapproval is
at 56%.
Not dissimilar to president
Biden's, but if you are a
Democrat running against
candidates who have been
endorsed by Donald Trump or have
not run away by Donald Trump,
that gives you something to run
on.
In the end, those candidates
only have their fealty to trump
to run on where is Democrats
have something to talk about,
about what they want to do, real
plans.
Correspondent: David: Can I
disagree with Jonathan?
I think running against Donald
Trump is a gigantic mistake.
That is what we saw in the race
in Virginia.
I think people are struggling
with issues in front of their
face, the gas prices and things
that are incredibly close to
home.
I just don't think there has
been that much evidence that
running against Donald Trump is
super effective at getting
voters willing to swing back and
forth.
Jonathan: That is what I was
talking about, that if a
Democrat is running against a
Trumper, that Democrat will be
able to talk about those issues
that you are talking about, what
they want to do about inflation,
jobs, crime, whereas the other
candidate might be talking about
all sorts of other things that
those voters don't care about.
Judy: Okay.
[Laughter]
We move --
David: We achieved clarity.
Judy: One of you mentioned
national security.
At this point on Ukraine, which
is in the news every night.
We are watching that terrible
war grind on, the Republicans in
general -- yes they say
president Biden should have
moved sooner -- but they seem to
be on board with a proven the
additional aid, military,
economic and humanitarian he is
asking for Ukraine.
We don't see any of that working
to the president's benefit.
Is that how you see it?
David: It is stunning that if
you get a 49% disapproval on
bipartisan policy that is
extremely popular, it shows how
bad mood the country is in.
Great news for the president,
but he has done a great job on
Ukraine.
This aid package he outlined his
super aggressive, big.
The war is changing as it moves
to the east.
There is less maneuverability
for the Ukrainians.
There is much more wide open
spaces and the Russian tanks
will be more effective.
So Ukraine needs a lot more
heavy equipment, including
tanks.
Biden has risen with some
long-range artillery.
The Biden administration has
risen to the occasion.
I would say to him this is not a
moment to think about how this
is pulling, this is a moment --
polling, this is a moment to do
what is right for the world.
Judy: How do you see with the
prospects are forgetting
bipartisan support?
-- For getting bipartisan
support?
Jonathan: I agree with David's
assessment of the president's
leadership.
I think congress will remain on
board and will pass these budget
requests from the president.
The question I have, and I know
the question being pondered in
the white house is how long is
this going to last?
When -- what is the appetite of
the American people to see every
couple weeks multibillion dollar
packages going overseas when
there are domestic issues and
domestic priorities that are not
being addressed so quickly, I.e.
Lots of people care about
student debt.
People want to know where is the
child tax credit.
There is lots of things that
could be funded, but the
president has made it very
clear.
The administration has made it
very clear that Russia's war on
Ukraine isn't just an invasion
of one country over another, it
is democracy versus autocracy.
That is what is guiding the
president.
I agree with David, the
president does not care about
how this polls, this is an
existential threat taking place
on the European continent.
Judy: He does not seem to be
getting any credit for the
public for what he is doing.
David, I want to come back to
this question of aid for
Ukraine.
It is, what, $33 billion this
time, several billion the month
before that.
This war looks like it will go
on for a long time.
Is there a limit to what
Americans are going to be
prepared to do for Ukraine?
David: So far we have not seen
any evidence of it.
If you look at Europe, they are
willing to cut off energy
supplies from Russia.
That I never would have
expected.
If there is any momentum in the
western alliance's willingness
to sacrifice for this, it seems
to be increasing, not
decreasing.
With covid we got used $1.9
trillion bills, so $35 billion
does not seem that big anymore.
[Laughter]
Judy: You are right, putting it
in perspective.
In the last few minutes we have,
I want to come back to something
that first surfaced last week.
More audiotapes from the house
Republican leader Kevin
Mccarthy.
The ones that emerged this week
have him expressing concern
about members of the far right
members of congress and how what
they are doing and saying could
lead to even more terrible
things happening.
This is after January 6.
Here we are all these months
later, Kevin Mccarthy brushes it
off.
Do we just forget it?
Jonathan: We can't forget it.
We need to listen to Kevin
Mccarthy in real-time the a true
leader -- being a true leader,
expressing horror over what
happened, then contrast that to
where he is today, which is the
complete opposite.
What it says to me is that the
Republican party, the Republican
caucus in the house and house
minority leader are willing to
lie about what they have done
and said all for the purpose of
winning back the majority in the
midterms.
That leads to an even bigger
question for me, if the house
minority leader is willing to
lie, when we can read and hear
the words with our own ears,
what does a speaker Mccarthy do?
How can the American people
trust what he says?
How did the American press trust
what he says?
That is the bigger problem for
the Republican party, but then
it could be a bigger problem for
the country.
Judy: How do you answer some of
those questions, David?
David: When I started
doing this job and people would
ie -- would lie in interviews, I
was shocked, but now I am used
to it.
Kevin Mccarthy is a nice guy.
He does not particularly have
convictions.
He has blown with the wind.
What is interesting is, is there
a scandal?
It is only a scandal if Donald
Trump says it is a scandal.
Donald Trump decides
intelligently it is not a
scandal.
He now owns Kevin Mccarthy
because he's got something on
him.
This has been a good maneuver
for Donald Trump.
Judy: With that, we are going to
thank both of you, David brooks,
Jonathan Capehart.
Jonathan: Thanks, Judy.