On Wednesday's New Day, David Gregory actually pointed out the obvious about Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in the wake of her loss in West Virginia on Tuesday: "Bernie Sanders is exposing the weakness of Hillary Clinton as a candidate; as a front-runner within her own party. That's been true from the beginning." By contrast, the CNN newscast's Big Three competitors the same morning were hyping Sanders's win as merely a "bump" on Clinton's "path to the general election," as Norah O'Donnell put it on CBS This Morning. [video below]
Anchor Alisyn Camerota turned to the former NBC anchor during a panel discussion and pointed out that there's "another thing that may be cause for concern for the Clinton camp: in the exit poll last night, Sanders — people who voted for Sanders were asked, if Sanders weren't in, who would you vote for in November? Forty-three percent of them, David, say Donald Trump; twenty-seven, Hillary Clinton."
Gregory first pointed out that "in a state like West Virginia... [it] should be particularly alarming to Hillary Clinton, because, I think, it's fertile ground for Donald Trump." He continued with his "exposing the weakness" line about Mrs. Clinton, and noted that Sanders is a "movement candidate, who has got loyal supporters who want to see him play this out until the end; and to have a real impact on the platform and even beyond...That's what, I think, the Clinton campaign has to worry about."
New Day regular Errol Louis immediately countered that "to the extent that Hillary Clinton is trying to build on the Obama map — the Obama coalition — West Virginia was never going to be a part of that. I mean, it's not as if she needed West Virginia." Camerota returned to the exit poll number: "So he idea that Sanders supporters would go twice as many for Trump...in West Virginia shouldn't concern the Clinton camp?" Louis replied, "David's partly right. They should be concerned about the sizable number, in some states, that are going to go from, but — but not West Virginia."
Gregory repeated his main later in the day on CNN's Wolf program:
DAVID GREGORY: What I keep saying is, Bernie Sanders is a movement politician. He has got a lot of support and a lot of money. There's every reason to keep advocating for his positions to pull her [Hillary Clinton] farther to the left; and he is exposing her weaknesses. Whether she thinks or others think that's good for her or the party is not a material to Bernie Sanders — because he has got supporters who want him to keep making his case.
The transcript of the relevant portion of the panel discussion segment from CNN's New Day on May 11, 2016:
CHRIS CUOMO: They are concerned about Sanders, because they're now hearing Donald Trump say, Bernie's right. He's right about this. He's right about being cheated. He's right about this about Hillary; he's right about that about Hillary. And they're worried that he is creating a base off Sanders that's going to be hard for them to deal with. Fair point?
MARK PRESTON: Yeah; yeah — no doubt — and to the point of superdelegates, it was the Clintons and the Clinton supporters who protected and preserved the superdelegates after the 2008 race. Barack Obama tried to get rid of the superdelegates, and it was the Clinton supporters that made sure that the Democratic National Committee did not get rid of them. So—
[CNN Graphic: "Clinton Battling Both Sanders & Trump"]
ALISYN CAMEROTA: And they're working for her. That was a good decision, right?
PRESTON: Well, clearly — and, look: the Clintons, as a whole, as — as a couple, have been around a very long time, and they were beloved by the party infrastructure, okay? So, just to that point — but, Chris, you are right. They are concerned about Bernie Sanders going out there and criticizing and attacking Hillary Clinton on issues that Donald Trump can just cherry-pick and throw back out there.
But to the point of Bernie Sanders staying in — you know, if you look at the calendar, there are 11 more contests — okay? Bernie Sanders could win five of them pretty easily — okay? So five of the last 11 — and that doesn't include California. If you give him California, he could — he could win six. Now, mathematically, it doesn't matter, because she's still going to win the nomination. But you don't want to go limping in — you know, into a fight with Donald Trump—
CUOMO: That would give him more states than she had in 2008—
CAMEROTA: Wow!
CUOMO: Because she had 23. He has 19 right now—
PRESTON: Right; right! And she won three of the last five in that year.
[CNN Graphic: "Sanders: 'We Are In This Campaign To Win'"]
CAMEROTA: David, here's another thing that may be cause for concern for the Clinton camp: in the exit poll last night, Sanders — people who voted for Sanders were asked, if Sanders weren't in, who would you vote for in November? Forty-three percent of them, David, say Donald Trump; twenty-seven, Hillary Clinton.
[CNN Graphic: "West Virginia, Sanders: How Would You Vote In November? Clinton, 27%; Trump, 43%; Neither, 28%; CNN Exit Poll"]
DAVID GREGORY: Well — and that's in a state like West Virginia, which should be particularly alarming to Hillary Clinton, because, I think, it's fertile ground for Donald Trump. Bernie Sanders is exposing the weakness of Hillary Clinton as a candidate — as a front-runner — within her own party. That's been true from the beginning. He is a movement candidate, who has got loyal supporters who want to see him play this out until the end; and to have a real impact on the platform and even beyond — not necessarily somebody who would seek the presidency again; but, certainly, somebody who would be an outsider fixture within the party. That's what, I think, the Clinton campaign has to worry about.
And I've been looking at some of the numbers — you go back to 2012 — President Obama defeated Romney soundly among union voters. Could that change this year? Look at how Sanders talks about trade; look how Trump talks about trade. There are a lot of similarities there. And is that going to be fertile ground for Donald Trump to make up in a year when he is so unpredictable in the kind of coalition he could put together against Secretary Clinton?
[CNN Graphic: "Exit Poll: 43% Sanders Supporters Would Vote For Trump; Does Clinton Have A Problem With Independent Voters?"]
ERROL LOUIS, POLITICAL ANCHOR, TIME WARNER CABLE NEWS: Although, you got to be clear, though. I mean, to the extent that Hillary Clinton is trying to build on the Obama map — the Obama coalition — West Virginia was never going to be a part of that. I mean, it's not as if she needed West Virginia. First of all, it's only a handful of electoral votes. But she — you know, to the extent she's going to try to get — you know, people of color, young voters, women on her side — union households—
CAMEROTA: Yeah. So — so the idea that Sanders supporters would go twice as many for Trump doesn't concern the — I mean, in West Virginia — shouldn't concern the Clinton camp?
LOUIS: The two — I mean, look, David's partly right. They should be concerned about the sizable number, in some states, that are going to go from, but — but not West Virginia.
GREGORY: I just mean it indicative of other states like that with that kind of profile.
LOUIS: Absolutely—
CAMEROTA: Okay. On that note, panel—
CUOMO: You're both right—
CAMEROTA: Thank you very much — great to talk to you.
