According to New York Times writer Mark Leibovich, the combination of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Elizabeth Warren and others will make the Democrats the “party of grown-ups.” The journalist appeared on CBS This Morning and sneered, “I think one of the things the Democrats have going for them, especially in comparison to Trump, is they can be seen as the party of grown-ups.”
Guest co-host Anthony Mason loved the idea: “There's a slogan right there. The party of grown-ups.” Leibovich enthused, “They'll have two former presidents campaigning for a former Secretary of State. You'll have Biden, you'll have maybe Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren. I think that's a really healthy contrast to draw especially this week with Trump.”
In March, Leibovich lectured that in the Cruz vs. Trump fight, Republicans “lose either way.” Regarding the Democratic President endorsing the Democratic presumptive nominee, Gayle King seemed impressed:
GAYLE KING: And how effective was President Obama's endorsement yesterday? I love how he laid out, "listen, I know how hard this job is. She's the most qualified." And to simply say "I'm with her," what role will he play and how effective is he?
A transcript of the segment is below:
CBS TM
6/10/16
7:14am ETNORAH O’DONNELL: Mark Leibovich is the chief national correspondent for the New York Times magazine and joins us this morning. Good morning.
MARK LEIBOVICH: Hi, Norah.
O’DONNELL: It was a big day for Hillary Clinton, not only getting the endorsement of the president, the Vice President, but Elizabeth Warren. The two of them will meet this morning. What does that mean for her?
LEIBOVICH: Well, I mean, it's what unity looks like. I mean, I think there was obviously in the back of her mind, in the back of some people's minds, you know, the worry that this would linger a little bit more. I think the consolidation process is beginning. I think Bernie Sanders will be the next step.
ANTHONY MASON: What sort of advantage, if any, at this point do you think that gives her, given the disarray in the moment at the Republican Party?
LEIBOVICH: Well, it helps. It helps as a contrast. I mean, I think one of the things the Democrats have going for them, especially in comparison to Trump, is they can be seen as the party of grown-ups. They'll have two former presidents —
MASON: There’s a slogan right there. The party of grown-ups.
LEIBOVICH: Yeah. I mean, in so many words. They'll have two former presidents campaigning for a former Secretary of State. You'll have Biden, you’ll have maybe Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren. I think that's a really healthy contrast to draw especially this week with Trump.
GAYLE KING: And now the speculation as to who is going to be her running mate. As mentioned, she's meeting with Elizabeth Warren today. And Elizabeth Warren was on a talk show last night and asked it her qualifications, her capability. I want you to hear this and see what you have to say about that.
RACHEL MADDOW: Do you believe you would be capable of stepping into that job and doing that job if you were ever called to do it?
ELIZABETH: Yes, I do.
KING: Well, she didn't stutter.
LEIBOVICH: She didn't stutter. Look, she's been demuring the whole time. I think that was a data point. I think she probably, you know, would like a big role all of a sudden. I don't know if this was her plan all along —
MASON: Do you think she's on the VP list?
LEIBOVICH: Sure. I think she definitely is. I don’t know. She's certainly on the public VP list. I mean, it helps the Clinton campaign to let people know that she's talking to her. But I think it's a very — Yeah. I think that they would consider her. I think it's still a long shot.
KING: And how effective was President Obama's endorsement yesterday? I love how he laid out, “listen, I know how hard this job is. She's the most qualified.” And to simply say "I'm with her," what role will he play and how effective is he?
LEIBOVICH: It's basically, “I know how hard this job is.” I think we'll hear variations from a lot of people over the next months. And, again, it draws a contrast of serious not, of decency, of, sort of, taking the approach to the job, having been there and the stakes.
O’DONNELL: This is the front page of USA Today. This is the number-one read paper in America. “Trump’s trail of unpaid bills. Plumbers, waiters, painters claim they got stiffed.” The Wall Street Journal has a similar story about that. What does that hack away at in terms of Trump’s credibility, his expertise, his strengths going into this campaign?
LEIBOVICH: Yeah. All those things. Seriously, I think there's going to be a flood of these things. It's not because of opposition research either. A lot of this has been out there or been mined the last weeks, months, by a lot of journalistic organizations. So, we’ll see. I think there's a lot of data around him already, if you look at his numbers.
O’DONNELL: If you look at the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, trump out-polls Hillary Clinton when it comes to who you trust to handle the economy.
LEIBOVICH: I think the numbers are closing a little bit, especially if you look at the recent polls. There's a lot of room to fall for him. So, stories like this certainly are very unhelpful.
MASON: What about the financial disparity that Chip Reid referred to, that Clinton was looking to raise a billion dollars and trump less than half that?
LEIBOVICH: It could be considerable less than half that. It's — he doesn't have the apparatus, the RNC is, I think, a little overwhelmed by what's being thrown on their plates. So yeah. Donald Trump — when you've been saying the whole time, “I'm going to be self-funding my campaign,” it's not a great sales pitch to fundraisers.
