During her MSNBC show on Thursday, host Andrea Mitchell gleefully cheered Joe Biden campaigning for Hillary Clinton in Ohio: “...this is classic Joe Biden, this is Joe from Scranton, talking about all of those working class blue-collar labor towns that you know well in Pennsylvania and Ohio and this is the heart and soul of the Democratic strategy in the rust belt.”
Correspondent Kasie Hunt similarly applauded the gaffe-prone Vice President as one of Clinton’s strongest surrogates: “We've seen absolutely classic Joe Biden on display here....The audience here clearly feels a lot of affection for him and he really is, in many ways, Hillary Clinton's best messenger to the voters of this area.”
Hunt did acknowledge that Biden’s swing through the state reflected Democratic vulnerabilities:
This has been historically the backbone of Democratic statewide wins in Ohio and the reality is it's turning into Trump country....Now of course Hillary Clinton way ahead in all of these polls, so really the story line is that this is where Donald Trump absolutely has to win if he has any hope of winning the presidency. But clearly Ohio, the rust belt, very important to her. And the question for Democrats, are a lot of the people that have voted for them in past years going to flip over and vote for Donald Trump? More maybe than they expect, maybe. That's what him being here is all about.
Mitchell worried about Clinton not doing many campaign events and avoiding the press: “Hillary Clinton still, Kasie, as you know well, campaigning in the last two weeks, one event, public event a week....aside from that, she’s doing a lot of fundraising, probably debate prep....but no coverage and no interactions with reporters.”
Hunt replied: “Right, and that's of course very different than what we've seen for this time frame of campaign’s past, where yes, there's often a lot of fundraising at the end of August, but we’re typically – reporters are in protective pools, are, you know, with the candidates day in and day out.” She hastened to add: “Obviously Donald Trump is part of the reason why the Clinton campaign says ‘Hey, things are a little bit different this time.’”
The reporter warned: “And instead of having the candidate, they [the Clinton campaign] have Vice President Joe Biden. Obviously a strong messenger in this area, as we just talked about, but it's still not the same as having the candidate out.”
Here is a full transcript of the August 1 segment:
12:20 PM ET
JOE BIDEN: My biggest problem with Donald Trump, I’ll tell you about in a minute, is not his cockamamie policies, it's the way he treats people. If you ever sat there and, you know, talked about, you know, how cool it was that, you know, John down the street got fired, you’re fired, a phrase he's made famous, “you're fired.” You ought to come from a household where some people were fired!
ANDREA MITCHELL: Hillary Clinton's off the trail today. That was, of course, Joe Biden now still speaking in Ohio to a labor group. New polls show that Clinton's favorability rating is at an all time low, virtually tied with Donald Trump's. The candidate is relying on those surrogates – Joe Biden, Tim Kaine – to carry her message today. Tim Kaine was making the rounds on the morning shows before heading to New Hampshire. He's in Dover right now. NBC News's Kasie Hunt covering Joe Biden in Warren, Ohio, Biden's first stop there today. Kasie, this is classic Joe Biden, this is Joe from Scranton, talking about all of those working class blue-collar labor towns that you know well in Pennsylvania and Ohio and this is the heart and soul of the Democratic strategy in the rust belt.
KASIE HUNT: That's right, Andrea. And forgive me, I have to keep my voice down because the because the Vice President is still speaking here. But we've seen absolutely classic Joe Biden on display here. Joking around, he called himself the SOB at the family picnic who insisted that they bail out the auto industry as he was talking about Republican policies. The audience here clearly feels a lot of affection for him and he really is, in many ways, Hillary Clinton's best messenger to the voters of this area.
This has been historically the backbone of Democratic statewide wins in Ohio and the reality is it's turning into Trump country and a lot of people here are very concerned about how the region has dramatically changed. The jobs have been lost. Many of them blame NAFTA for it and Donald Trump’s really struck a nerve.
Now of course Hillary Clinton way ahead in all of these polls, so really the story line is that this is where Donald Trump absolutely has to win if he has any hope of winning the presidency. But clearly Ohio, the rust belt, very important to her. And the question for Democrats, are a lot of the people that have voted for them in past years going to flip over and vote for Donald Trump? More maybe than they expect, maybe. That's what him being here is all about.
MITCHELL: And Tim Kaine in New Hampshire today. Earlier today, he was on, he was on Morning Joe, he was on the Today show. He did all of these shows this morning. This was his exchange with Savannah Guthrie on Today.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: If you look at the side by side of this week, Donald Trump went to Mexico, he sat down, he had a dignified meeting with a foreign leader. Hillary Clinton has spent most of this week scooping up money in the Hamptons for fundraisers. Doesn't Trump come out on top on that?
TIM KAINE: I don't think so. Again, just do the contrast, the 24 hours of yesterday. Donald Trump choked on the fundamental promise that he's making in this campaign.
MITCHELL: Hillary Clinton still, Kasie, as you know well, campaigning in the last two weeks, one event, public event a week. She was in Reno where you were. Then she was in Ohio, where I was yesterday. And aside from that, she’s doing a lot of fundraising, probably debate prep. We know she’s left her house in Chappaqua today, destination unknown. So gone in the motorcade, but no coverage and no interactions with reporters.
HUNT: Right, and that's of course very different than what we've seen for this time frame of campaign’s past, where yes, there's often a lot of fundraising at the end of August, but we’re typically – reporters are in protective pools, are, you know, with the candidates day in and day out. Obviously Donald Trump is part of the reason why the Clinton campaign says “Hey, things are a little bit different this time.” But you know, the reality is Donald Trump is just down the road today in Cincinnati, giving a speech. And instead of having the candidate, they [the Clinton campaign] have Vice President Joe Biden. Obviously a strong messenger in this area, as we just talked about, but it's still not the same as having the candidate out.
MITCHELL: Kasie Hunt, thank you very much. Reporting in from Ohio.
