Politics with Amy Walter

Latest Episodes:

Same Game, New Rules: The Democratic National Committee's 2020 Transformation Mar 22, 2019

Show notes

After all the drama in 2016, the Democratic National Committee has reformed the nomination process. Today on Politics with Amy Walter from The Takeaway, a look at the new rules and what impact they could have both intended and unintended.

Tom Perez was elected as chairman of the DNC in 2017. Perez's mission is to insure that 2020 isn’t a repeat of 2016. That doesn’t just mean winning, it means re-instilling faith in the system for Democrats. And the DNC has done a lot of work on this front. Amy Walter talks with chairman Perez about the reforms the DNC has undertaken.

Also: we look into the potential unintended consequence of the new superdelegate rule with Dave Wasserman from the Cook Political Report. Julia Azari, an associate professor of political science at Marquette University, gives us the rundown on the new and confusing debate rules. Jeff Link, a longtime Iowa Democratic strategist, explains what’s new for the first caucus state and the role that Iowa plays in the presidential nominating process. We also tackle the unwritten rules on money and fundraising with Maggie Severns of Politico and try to figure out what the role of the DNC actually is these days, and how it’s changed in the last 25 years with Jamal Simmons of HillTV.

Amy's Final Take:

When it comes to covering a primary, the media spends most of its time focused on candidates - their personalities, their policies, and their blunders. But, winning candidates spend a lot of their time focused on the unsexy stuff - how to leverage the rules to their advantage. For example, Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008 realized early on that the delegate rules meant that caucuses were going to win him a lot of delegates - even if they didn’t garner as much media attention as big primary states like Pennsylvania or Texas.

This year, Democrats have lots of new written and unwritten rules to figure out. How to raise lots of money without looking beholden to corportists and one percenters. How to get on the debate stage - and make the most of that opportunity. And, how to convince primary voters that they won the process fair and square. As we saw in 2016, winning the primary is only one part of the challenge for the nominee. He or she has to keep the party unified and inspired all through the general election too.

Read her latest Cook Political Report here.

Senate Republicans Split From Trump, What Does This Moment Mean for the Future of the GOP? Mar 15, 2019

Show notes

Two things happened on the Hill this week. The most high profile of course came on Thursday when the Republican-controlled Senate voted with Democrats, in a rebuke of President Trump’s national emergency declaration for funding of the border wall.

But here’s something that might have gotten lost: The day before seven Republican senators voted along with Democrats to end U.S. support of the Saudi led war in Yemen.

What does this split tell us about President Trump’s relationship with Republicans in congress? Eliana Johnson is a White House Reporter for Politico. She’s been following this and is here to help us make sense of it all.

We also hear from former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld who is considering a primary challenge to President Trump.

Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and an opinion columnist at the Washington Post, thinks Governor Weld or any other ‘moderate’ Republican considering a challenge to President Trump is on a fool’s errand.

This month, Jay Inslee, the Democratic governor of Washington state, declared he is running for President, and climate change is his number one issue.

According to a recent Pew Research Survey, about 67 percent of Democrats see climate change as a top priority, but only 21 percent of Republicans feel that way. Amy asked Governor Inslee how he plans to bring the country together over an issue that only half of the country views as a priority.

Amy's Final Take:

Since that day in 2015 when he descended the golden escalator in Trump tower, people like me have wondered whether the GOP would split apart over Donald Trump. His populist, pro-tariff views would alienate business-friendly GOP types. His past support for abortion rights and his multiple divorces would scare off evangelical voters. And, his anti-immigration rhetoric went against the advice of establishment Republicans who warned that unless the GOP expanded its appeal beyond white voters, it would find itself in a demographic death-spiral. Yet, here we are - almost four years later - and the president is as popular with the GOP base as ever.

What keeps the GOP together? The president has given Republicans what they wanted - and avoided (for now) the things they worried about him doing. Many don’t like the steel and aluminum tariffs. But, back in 2016 he warned of imposing a 45 percent tariff on Chinese-made goods. Instead of unilaterally pulling out of NAFTA, as he once warned he’d do, he re-negotiated the trade deal. And, he’s not wavered on cultural or social issues that are important to evangelical voters. In other words, he’s giving most Republicans what they wanted.

Another unifying factor for the GOP: the 2020 democratic candidates. Even if you don’t like Trump, well, the potential Democratic nominee could be much, much worse. This is why the president is spending so much time and energy labeling Democrats as the party of socialism.

So, the GOP sticks with Trump because he’s giving them most of what they want, but also because the Democratic choice is unpalatable. We should stop asking if Trump is going to lose support from Republicans - he probably won’t. Instead, what we should be looking for is whether he can keep GOPers as motivated to turn out and vote. Trump had an enthusiasm advantage over Clinton in 2016. In 2018, it was Democrats who were more motivated. Let’s see what 2020 brings.

Read Amy's latest Cook Political report here.

Divide Over Israel Remains After House Passes Generic "Anti-Hate" Measure Mar 08, 2019

Show notes

Divide Over Israel Remains After House Passes Generic "Anti-Hate" Measure

After initial plans to condemn anti-Semitism more specifically were scrapped, the U.S. House of Representatives' Democratic leadership opted for a more generic "anti-hate" measure.

Amy's Take: Where Have Bipartisan Priorities Gone?

Amy Walter examines why Democrats and Republicans no longer agree about which issues demand the greatest urgency.

Citizenship Question Defies Purpose of the Census, Says CA Sec. of State

"Is this person a citizen of the United States?" That question has not been asked as part of the full, once-a-decade census since 1950.

To Impeach or Not to Impeach? Mar 01, 2019

Show notes

Amy Walter talked to Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois, who serves on both the Committee On Oversight And Reform and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, he was in both the public Cohen hearing on Wednesday and the closed door hearing on Thursday.

Congressman Krishnamoorthi told Amy he does not believe that now is the right time to start impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. He wants to wait until after the Mueller investigation is over.

Yoni Appelbaum, a senior editor at The Atlantic, and the author of their March cover story, IMPEACH, disagrees with Congressman Krishnamoorthi's assessment. He says the legislators saying wait have got it wrong. We speak to journalist Yoni Appelbaum about why he thinks it’s time to impeach President Trump.

But what about the argument against?

For that we turn to Don Calloway, a Democratic strategist.

Throughout history only two presidents have actually faced impeachment, what can we learn about the circumstances then and how it could impact the decision to impeach President Trump or not? For that we talk to Leah Wright Rigueur, an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Stacey Abrams says 2020 Candidates Should Confront Identity Politics Head On Feb 23, 2019

Show notes

Stacey Abrams is the former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives and was the Democratic Party’s nominee in Georgia’s 2018 gubernatorial election. We check in with Abrams to find out about her work on election reform, plus to ask her what she thinks about the 2020 race, and her role in politics going forward.

Gaming the Field for 2020: Pete Buttigieg Feb 22, 2019

Show notes

Pete Buttigieg is the Mayor of South Bend, Indiana - population 102,000. Back in January, “Mayor Pete,” as he’s known at home (let’s face it, he has a hard last name to pronounce) launched an exploratory bid for president of the United States.

When Amy Walter sat down with Buttigieg she was curious to find out what he thinks distinguishes him as a candidate.

"I think I distinguish myself as a millennial midwestern mayor at a time when my party has struggled to connect to the industrial midwest, that's where I'm from the so-called rust belt. At a time when we’ve sometimes looked too readily to Washington for leadership, I'm a mayor and I have a very different reality in terms of government at the city level - which I would argue is the level of American democracy that is working best today - and I do have a millennial perspective too that is that of belonging to the generation that will be on the receiving end of decisions being made today on everything from gun safety to climate change."

The historic nature of a potential run for president is not lost on Buttigieg but he also realizes he has to offer more to be a serious contender.

"Whatever is in your profile on paper maybe gets you a look but then pretty quickly the conversation evolves to what it is you have to say and how you say it."

Amy's Final Take: When you are a small fish swimming in a big pond - especially a pond filled with fish who have lots of star power and name recognition - well, you’ve got a lot to prove. Part of the reason Buttigieg has been able not just to capture the media attention but to keep it is because he’s incredibly articulate. He knows what he wants to say and how to say it. That includes how he positions himself in a primary where there’s a growing divide over whether Democrats should put forward the candidate with the boldest, most aggressive agenda. Or if they need to promote the candidate who is more pragmatic and incremental.

Plus, Amy Walter talks to two reporters who have been on the 2020 campaign trail to get the sense of what things are like on the ground.

Juana Summers is a national political reporter covering the 2020 campaign for the Associated Press, and Annie Linskey is a national political reporter covering the 2020 campaign for The Washington Post.

The Power of the Executive: From Presidents 1 to 45 Feb 18, 2019

Show notes

Ahead of the Presidents Day holiday, Amy Walter talks to Dr. Barbara Perry about the role of of the executive and how it has changed over time.

Dr. Perry is a professor of presidential studies at the University of Virginia.

She says to understand how the president’s role has changed and developed over the course of history we have to go to the beginning, like the real beginning.

National Emergency or Executive Overreach? Feb 17, 2019

Show notes

On Friday, to avert another government shutdown, President Trump signed a bipartisan spending package that he argues did not include enough funding for a border wall.

To secure that funding, he declared a national emergency.

In advance of Trump’s official announcement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke out against the idea of an emergency declaration.

Is declaring a national emergency in this situation allowed? Unprecedented?

To get a better understanding of this use of executive power Amy Walter spoke to Dr. Barbara Perry, the director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Center.

RERUN: How Does the "Blue Wall" Look for 2020? Feb 16, 2019

Show notes

How Does the "Blue Wall" Look for 2020?

Amy Walter's latest Cook Political Report:

Ambivalent voters who disliked both presidential nominees. Tepid enthusiasm from Democrats for their nominee. Tremendous support and energy from Republicans for theirs. Those were the three most important factors in Trump’s success in the three blue wall states.

As we look to 2020, we know that Trump continues to enjoy solid support from his base, but the Democrats are at least equally energized to get out and vote against him. This leaves the battle for the 'ambivalent' voter as the most critical piece of the 2020 strategy.

Trump has done little in his tenure in office to woo those not already in his base. The only question now is if Democrats will nominate a candidate who can appeal to these voters, or if they will choose a flawed candidate who will, once again, force these voters into having to decide between the "best-worst-choice."

Read the full analysis here.