Biden Defends Working with GOP Ahead of Possible 2020 Bid.
KING: Former Vice President Joe Biden back in the arena today after a week in which several new generation in unapologetic legal liberal Democrats jump in, in the 2020 fray. Speaking to a meeting of mayors here in Washington, Biden addressed the recent story noticed some Michigan Democrats are angry of him for his kind words for a Republican in last years midterm campaign.</s>JOE BIDEN, FORMER UNITED STATES SENATOR: I get in trouble. I read in "New York Times" today that I -- that one of my problems is if I were to run for president, I like Republicans. OK, well bless me father for I have sinned. But, you know, from where I come from, I don't know how you get anything done. I don't know how you get anything done as we start talking to one another again.</s>KING: An issue there is "The New York Times" story noting that in October 2018, Biden did praise Republican Congressman Fred Upton. "Times" put it this way, "Mr. Biden stunned Democrats and elated Republicans by praising Mr. Upton while the lawmaker looked on from the audience. Alluding to Mr. Upton's support for a landmark medical research law, Mr. Biden called him a champion in the fight against cancer, and "One of the finest guys I've ever worked with"." So that common and like you see it, he did work with Fred Upton, but the question is with the party moving to the left, does it become a crime in the primary to have said nice things, to have worked with Republicans is that -- is that how you get at Joe Biden?</s>BACON: I don't think that's going to kill him with actual voters is what I would say. I think he's general, he is probably more to the center than Elizabeth Warren or Senator Harris. And so I do think he probably has. And the question about where the Democratic electorate (ph) is there are more moderates and I think we appreciate. You know, we talked about the activism energies on the left but I think there are moderates. And I think Biden has like he's to be made, maybe I can unify the country in a way that Senator Warren can't. But I'm not sure if that's going to work in the primary and I suspect he knows that is why he's been kind of not sure about running or not.</s>LUCEY: And with the Democratic activists in Iowa and New Hampshire, they're looking for a, you know, a liberal candidate. So, when there are so many, one of the things the primary has so many options and there are so many people out there. Do you want to turn to Biden or do you want to look at maybe 30 or 40 after people out there who might, you know, better fit your need.</s>KING: And if you're just looking at Iowa when you're Joe Biden, you're thinking Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton that I comment is the year of parent and, woops (ph) at the base says that's not what we want.</s>LUCEY: No.</s>KING: But the Biden message would be, I'm a president. And nobody can question that I'm qualified to be president. They can question my position. We can have debate about this issue and that issue, but everybody can look at me and say he's ready to be president. Don't you want me up against Trump?</s>JOHNSON: I mean, unfortunately that was Hillary Clinton's message and it's shown not to have worked against Donald Trump. And so I do think that the primaries going to be about Democrats calculating what will work against Trump? And right now it seems like Nancy Pelosi is the only person who has really found that formula. But I certainly think that's going to be a heated topic in smoke-filled rooms among Democrats going into 2020.</s>KING: When they draft Pelosi movement starts, I will -- we will trace right back here. To that point about the party going to the left, this is Bernie Sanders in a GQ profile. He's an independent from Vermont. But he did as a PT vote against the big giant aircraft Hillary Clinton. He landed a lot of shots. And he says this, "The ideas we brought forth in 2016 which were considered to be extreme and fringe and out of step with the American people are now what is in, by and large, the Democratic national platform and they're being adopted by candidates across the country. We have had more success in ideologically changing the party than I would have dreamed possible." It's hard to argue with that number one. And the question is part of the Sanders rationales I have to run again because otherwise maybe people will back away from it or has the cement hardened. And whether Bernie runs or not, he's moved the party left.</s>MATTINGLY: Look at every candidate is out there right now. Medicare for all. The key issues that Bernie Sanders campaign down where there's minimum wage, Medicare for all and they're not all completely tied to one another but the key issue is issues that we're thought to be on the fringe issues that the Clinton campaign was very wary of embracing at all are now the sensual themes of every Democratic we've seen up to this point. And they have to answer to all of those positions and whether or not they back them. And I think, look, you've seen from the Biden team coming out and talking about how nobody can challenge is progressive bonafides. He's done things on LGBT on all sorts of issues that are unquestionably put him in a different place than how people are trying to fake him. But he is in a different lane than those individuals, the people who have backed on a lot of things, with people who have already started to run. I think the biggest question now that gets to it is, is that lane going to be a place where Democrats want to be and how are they going to figure that out. The policy stuff though, Bernie's right. You can't argue with that. I don't know if he runs and I don't know if he runs if he has a chance to win but what he did on the policy front for the party is very real.</s>KING: And Hillary Clinton said you can't sell that. Hillary Clinton's point in the primaries which show that, one (ph), you can't sell that in the general election. I think that's what 2020 is going to be about. Can the Democrats sell in more liberal agenda to the country?</s>JOHNSON: Well --</s>BACON: This is totally high noted, the centers (ph) agenda that or either so good.</s>KING: That's a great point. You mean, the country is out ahead of Washington. God forbid.</s>JOHNSON: Yes.</s>KING: We should learn that lesson all of us. Thanks for joining us in INSIDE POLITICS. See you back here this time tomorrow, Brianna Keilar starts after a quick break. Have a good afternoon.