"New York Times" Columnist To Dems: The Revolution Can Wait
CUPP: Trump was mad at a lot of folks this week, including New York Times Columnist Thomas Friedman. Why not? Friedman published a piece titled, Trump's Going to Get Re-elected, Isn't He? This was his thesis. Dear Democrats, this is not complicated. Just nominate a decent, sane person, one committed to reunifying the country and creating more good jobs, a person who can gain the support of the independents, moderate Republicans and suburban women who abandoned Donald Trump in the midterms, and thus swing the House of Representatives -- swung the House of Representatives to the Democrats and could do the same for the presidency. But, please, spare me the revolution. It can wait. So should Democrats listen to him? Well, joining me now to discuss are former senior aide to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, Joel Payne, and former RNC Communications Director, Doug Heye. Joel, I have been saying this for months, maybe even a year. Democrats pushing unpopular policies like decriminalizing the border and abolishing private health insurance are going to get Trump re- elected.</s>JOEL PAYNE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Everyone, just take a breath, breath. These are primaries. Primaries are for contrast. They're for inner party squabbles like this. There's nothing wrong with having a robust discussion about healthcare, about Medicare for all versus extending Obamacare.</s>CUPP: Correct me if I'm wrong. Every person on the stage raised their hand to say they would decriminalize the border.</s>PAYNE: Yes. Listen, these are things the party will sort out here. By the way, I got to say, I disagree with Tom Friedman a little bit when saying that a Democratic nominee should focus just on moderates and pulling from swing voters. Yes, that's important. They also have to energize their base. That's probably the reason why Hillary Clinton lost three years ago, is because not enough people turned out in a standard, you know, expected Democratic stronghold. So that's also a part of it. So the energy is also very important.</s>CUPP: Doug, can Democrats get out of their own way.</s>DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No. And this is --</s>CUPP: Joel is not worried. Are you?</s>HEYE: This is what we've seen so long, and it's not just the Democrats who are running for president. They also have a problem called the squad, which pulls them and the conversation further to the left on everything. But I'll tell you, the day after the second debate, I bumped into a friend at lunch who works for one of Trump's super PACs and said, we won re-election last night. I think that's overstating things.</s>PAYNE: Yes, of course.</s>HEYE: But they had a very good reason to feel good about Trump's prospects because of eliminating private insurance and the raising of hands for decriminalizing the border. And, ultimately --</s>PAYNE: Historically great economy, he has 45 percent approval rating. I am not concerned.</s>HEYE: You should be concerned. Because the further they go to -- the further conversation is where Donald Trump wants it to be, the more problem Democrats are. So if the nominee is Elizabeth Warren and she says --</s>PAYNE: Let's be clear, this is a bad for Donald Trump.</s>HEYE: It was a bad week for Donald Trump. He's had a lot of bad weeks, but he can still win. And as long as the conversation is where Donald Trump wants it to be, meaning if he is against Elizabeth Warren, and she says, here is my 12-point plan for revitalizing and restructuring the American economy and Donald Trump says, hey, that's great, but I am going to save your plastic straws. Donald Trump wins all that conversation.</s>CUPP: I mean, to his point, Elizabeth Warren, she has got a lot of plans. She's not the only one. A lot of the Democrats running for president want to talk about policy. You saw what happened to the news cycle. It was hijacked by Donald Trump this week. It was awful. But I think, for him, fairly successful. He is not talking about policy. He is energizing the cultural energy in his base.</s>PAYNE: Well, was this a good week? I don't think it is a good week. Also, there is this idea that Donald Trump is a master strategist. He is not. This was all accidental. This -- yes, I'm sure his campaign can spin this in to something positive for them. But this is not a winning week. It's not a winning issue. He tried it 2018 with the caravan. It didn't work. I don't think it's going to work this time around either.</s>CUPP: A Republican Jamaican immigrant from Queens is challenging Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez next year. On Twitter, Sherrie Murray wrote, I was hopeful when AOC won. She took on a Democratic political machine and won but nothing has changed since. Why, because she's only been focused on fame and politics of division and hate. We deserve and expected better. That's why I am running. Your thoughts?</s>PAYNE: I'm not concerned or whatsoever for AOC's standpoint. The only thing I will be concerned about for AOC if someone is challenging her from the middle. She's not going to get outflanked on her -- on -- you know, obviously, on her left, and she's not going to have to worry about a general election challenge from this woman. What she probably should worry about is being overexposed, because most members of Congress in their first one or two terms are probably concerned about being seen as a national voice and not worrying about local issues.</s>CUPP: Yes, they keep their heads down, right.</s>PAYNE: So that's the only thing I'd be worried about. But she's very popular. I'm sure she reflects her district. AOC has got</s>CUPP: A very popular district, but she's also fairly divisive. And Trump is all too happy to make her the face of the party.</s>HEYE: He is. But for her purposes in getting re-elected or for the other members of the squad, the more Donald Trump makes them the face of the opposition, the more safe they are in their own re-elects. If they are coming from far-left districts or, you know, Democrat plus six districts or, you know, whatever those numbers may be, that helps them in their re-elect, because they are enemy number one for Donald Trump, and that's a good thing for Democrats.</s>CUPP: Well, a number of House Democrats complained to CNN unanimously this week for a report that they thought the squad was distracting and distracting from policy and conversations about policy. We'll see if any of the squad members hear that. Take that to heart. We'll see. Joel, Doug, thanks so much for coming here. I appreciate it. Up next, Bernie Sanders is not happy with the coverage his campaign is getting, not happy at all.