2020 Presidential Campaign Analysis of Joe Biden, Donald Trump
JOSEPH BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When Anita Hill came to testify, she faced a committee that didn't fully understand what the hell it was all about. To this day, I regret I couldn't come up with a way to get her the kind of hearing she deserved.</s>JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Careful words, notable words from the former vice president, Joe Biden, expressing regret over his handling of the Anita Hill hearing back in 1991. Notable because Biden says that his 2020 announcement will come, in his words, "in a little bit." Joining me now, CNN's senior political writer an analyst Harry Enten, and former presidential advisor to Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton, David Gergen. David, let me begin with you. Because this is an issue that has been hanging over his head, particularly in light of more recent events, the Kavanaugh hearing, et cetera. When you play those sound bites of Joe Biden at the time, really dismissing Anita Hill's allegations of sexual assault by Clarence Thomas. Those look horrible today. He needed to say this, did he not?</s>DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Absolutely. And I think he feels genuine regret. I've talked to him about this before, and I think it goes deep within him. When he's out publicly now, he talks continually about empowering women, about protecting women from assault, protecting women so they're not dismissed in various kind of legal forums. I think he's taken it to heart. But it's still a problem for him with some in the African-American community, and he's going to have to find a way in his campaign to build bridges into that community that are sturdier and stronger than what he has now.</s>SCIUTTO: Harry Enten, Biden, he's been a little bit Hamlet-like on this, waiting to give us a decision. But he does say the decision is coming. You speak to a lot of advisors, it does seem like it's in the offing here. He ranks at the top of the field now, pretty strongly above Sanders and well above the other new entries. What do you expect to happen to those numbers when he enters? Do they (ph) go up?</s>HARRY ENTEN, CNN SERNIOS POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: I -- I think that's the big question, right? Does he get that sort of boost that Sanders got when he got in, or get that boost --</s>SCIUTTO: Or Harris.</s>ENTEN: -- or Harris got when she got in. And I think the big question for a lot of people like myself is, is his highest number going to be the day that he announces and all of a sudden, this deluge of attacks coming against him --</s>SCIUTTO: Yes.</s>ENTEN: -- on stuff like Anita Hill? Or is it the case that Democratic primary voters are willing to forgive him? I will point out his favorable numbers are quite strong. They are the highest in the field. And despite a lot of the negative press, perhaps, over the last month, his numbers have been holding steady.</s>SCIUTTO: David Gergen, of course Joe Biden has run before, not successfully. But he's running at a different time with a different Democratic Party. And beyond the Anita Hill comments, he went more broadly in terms of his comments about culture -- I want to play them -- talking about a white man's culture. Have a listen and then I want to get your reaction.</s>BIDEN: "No man has a right to chastise his woman with a rod thicker than the circumference of his thumb." This is English jurisprudential culture. A white man's culture. That's got to change. We all have an obligation to do nothing less than change the culture in this country.</s>SCIUTTO: This is a message, clearly, directed at women voters, but also more broadly, young voters here. A necessary one from the former vice president?</s>GERGEN: I -- I -- listen, I think he needs to discuss this. This is out there for everybody to understand. The white majority in this country is rapidly disappearing. People under 30 in this country are majority minority. And by another 20 years, this whole country is going to be a majority minority. It is an important issue for us. It's one that's divisive. It's under the -- it's under the radar screen and people talk about it in code. But I think it's important to have that conversation in this election period. I don't think Joe Biden in that, calling this a "white man's culture" -- you know, he's got to be very careful not to offend whites either. It just -- you know, they deserve respect --</s>SCIUTTO: Yes.</s>GERGEN: -- as well. So I think he's going to have to be a bit more artful in the way he does it. I also feel, Jim, that he's debating (ph) this, I know. That he ought to declare -- he will be well-served by declaring for one term. He would seek for one -- he would seek one term and he would bring on a vice president he would help to groom as a potential candidate, four years down the road. But I think he's got a real opportunity over the next four years, to help a lot of people advance in their careers, the Democratic Party, and build a really strong bench.</s>SCIUTTO: Yes. And that was an issue that came up, of course, with John McCain in 2008. Harry Enten, big voting issue here. Likely there's no bigger issue, which is health care. And the president has just not grazed a political third rail here, he's embraced it, you might say --</s>ENTEN: Oh, I would say so. Oh my goodness.</s>SCIUTTO: -- by saying "wipe out," you know, Obamacare, which, despite what you hear in Washington, is popular in many red states among Republican voters. What are the political (ph) --</s>ENTEN: Yes, I don't really know what he's doing here, right? He gets off with the Mueller thing. I think that came out about as well as he could have hoped for. And then what does he do the next day? He says, "Oh, I want to get rid of the ACA," which actually polls quite well. It's favorable rating is well above its unfavorable rating. And look at the course of the president's presidency, right? Look at the point at which he reached his lowest approval rating. It was right around the ACA debates back in the Senate, during the summer of 2017. By embracing this repeal idea, I can just -- I just don't understand it. I'm like, I get it. You know, it may poll well with the Republican base but he's already doing well with the Republican base. He needs to reach out to the center of the electorate. And stuff like this just doesn't help his cause.</s>SCIUTTO: David Gergen, Senator Susan Collins, Republican of course -- just paraphrasing here -- she says that she is vehemently opposed to the administration seeking to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act. Here, you know, we often talk about the president's political radar. He's convinced that, you know, it's brilliant because he won in 2016 and, of course, he got a lot of things right. But if you look at the midterm elections, his focus on immigration did not seem to work for him in a lot of those swing states. And health care certainly worked for Democrats in a lot of swing states. Did he just hand a weapon, a victory to Democrats as we approach 2020?</s>GERGEN: He certainly handed them a weapon. And you know, sometimes, Jim -- well, you and I are both seeing this. When a president gets a big victory, sometimes they have too large a sense of how it's transformed their power. That this is -- this is coming from a man, now, who thinks he has almost omnipotent power, having beaten back Mueller. But the fact is, the polls. There have been two polls out in the last 24 hours. And they both have found that subsequent to Barr going public with this report and his letter, that subsequent to that, there's been virtually no change in Trump's approval ratings. It's down in the low 40s, high 30s. And -- which means he did not get the leverage yet that he hoped for. And I think that makes this health care thing even more inexplicable.</s>SCIUTTO: Understood. No question. We're going to watch those polls, going forward. David Gergen, Harry Enten, great to have you both on. Just a reminder, another candidate. CNN's town hall with Senator Corey Booker, tonight, hosted by my colleague Don Lemon. It'll be at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time, only here on CNN. And a measles emergency in a New York country, prompting an extremely unusual step. Officials are banning unvaccinated minors -- children -- from all public places. We'll have more when we come back.