The NPR Politics Podcast - Let The General Election Begin!

Episode Date: March 8, 2024

President Biden and former President Donald Trump are almost certain to be in a rematch in the general race, but the primaries are still underway. Both men are headed to Georgia ahead of Tuesday's contest to reclaim victory in one of the states that won them The White House: Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020. This episode: national political correspondent Sarah McCammon, political reporter Stephen Fowler, and White House correspondent Asma Khalid. Our producers are Jeongyoon Han, Casey Morell & Kelli Wessinger. Our editor is Erica Morrison. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hi, this is Nathan, Harper, Amalia, Reba, Lily, and Stephen in Oakland, California. We just finished watching Biden's State of the Union address. This podcast was recorded at 1237 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, March 8th, 2024. Things may have changed by the time you hear this, but we'll still be lamenting the price of our Snickers bars. Okay, here's the show. There was a whole crew there. That was fun. I do. I like that unison. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Sarah McCammon. I cover the presidential campaign. I'm Stephen Fowler. I also cover the presidential campaign.

And I'm Asma Khalid. I cover the White House. This week, the presidential race officially became a two-man contest between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. But the primary season is not over. Georgia's primary is on Tuesday, and Biden and Trump are holding rallies in the state this weekend. So, Stephen, you're in Georgia. It's a state that both candidates want to win in the general election, which each have won in previous elections, Trump in 2016 and Biden quite famously in 2020. So I want to start there. How do you see things shaping up in Georgia ahead of this primary that kind of doesn't feel like it matters except for the general election? Well, yeah, Sarah, I mean, Georgia has been this black hole at the center of the political universe with a lot of high profile elections, campaign stops, national political

implications for really going on four to six years now. And 2024 is going to be no different. I mean, Georgia is one of the states that both Joe Biden and Donald Trump need to win to become president in November. It's also a state that really lays bare the obstacles to each of those candidates winning. In Georgia, for example, it's one of the criminal cases that former President Donald Trump is facing for his efforts to overturn the election there that were ultimately not successful. And Joe Biden, for example, narrowly won by about 12,000 votes with this very diverse coalition of black voters and non-white voters and suburban white educated voters that are turned off by Trump. It's a very fractious coalition that for various reasons, each have their reasons that they might not necessarily

want to go for Joe Biden again. So really, Georgia is the starting point and the ending point for the road to the White House. And not just because I'm here and want to cover it, but I think looking at the issues and the standing of both candidates as we embark in this general election time, that's kind of where things are heading into Tuesday. Stephen, I want to jump on something you said there. You know, I totally concur that the demographic groups, the constituencies that you're reporting on You know, I totally concur that the demographic groups, the constituencies that you're reporting on in Georgia, I think are so emblematic of the key demographic groups that both parties need to court ahead of November. But one thing I did hear from a

Democratic analyst the other day is this assumption that Georgia is not a must, must win state for Biden, that he could theoretically win by keeping together other places. And it's certainly a state that they want to win, but they don't feel as optimistic right now about what's going on in Georgia compared to the other states. Yeah. So, I mean, it seemed like last time Georgia was pretty important and certainly Trump really wanted to win Georgia, but he didn't. I mean, if not Georgia, then what is President Biden's path? What does he prioritize? I hear a lot of emphasis on the blue wall. Those are the states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan.

They also talk about the one electoral vote possible in Nebraska, as well as a focus on Arizona and Nevada. Arizona, I would say Democrats feel more optimistic about than Georgia, given that those were both, I think, new states that Biden picked up during the last presidential election. And the reason that the White House and that the Biden campaign feels particularly optimistic about Arizona is that the issue of abortion rights may be put directly to voters with a ballot referendum. And they say that every time the issue of reproductive rights has been put directly to voters, it tends to do well. And they believe that Democrats will see benefit from that. And, you know, I will say, though, as a counterpoint, one, I mean, Donald Trump and Joe Biden are going to be in Georgia the same day, the same time, you know, the same general

part of the state ahead of a primary that ultimately doesn't matter. And that's a sign that both campaigns are taking Georgia seriously. I'll also say that a lot of the kind of national hand-wringing about Georgia and about President Biden's campaign is manifesting itself in Georgia with the groups that I mentioned and those, you know, Nikki Haley voters that he's courting this week after she suspended her campaign. And so, you know, they can say behind the scenes that, you know, they don't need to win Georgia, but they do need to win the people that vote in Georgia that make a difference. If those blue wall states, if Arizona

and Nevada and North Carolina, all of those places are in play, they will have to speak to the type of voters that you see in Georgia. so much like a campaign speech. You know, he called out Trump for some of his actions when he was in office and including those efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Biden outlined his own ideas for a second term. Asma, what stood out to you? You know, I think two major themes stood out to me from the State of the Union. One is that this was really the beginning, in my view, of the general election contrast message that you're going to start hearing from Joe Biden. I think more frequently, he articulated how he intends to govern in a second term very differently from Republicans, and that was on issues of whether it's the economy, immigration, abortion. But the other thing you heard from him was a direct desire to take on this question of his age. Biden is 81.

If he were to win a second term, he would be 82 at inauguration. And there was this moment near the end of his State of the Union where he tried to say that his age was an asset. My fellow Americans, the issue facing our nation isn't how old we are. It's how old our ideas. Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are the oldest of ideas. But you can't lead America with ancient ideas. Only take us back. He did not mention Donald Trump by name anywhere in the speech and certainly not at this moment. But I think it was very clear who he was referring to. And Stephen, what about Trump's messaging? I mean, one of Biden's goals with his speech was to draw a contrast with Trump. You've been to several Trump rallies. You're going to be following another one tomorrow.

What are the mainstays of his speeches these days? Yeah, I think it is a very different tone in many ways from the 2016 Trump and the 2020 Trump. I know we've touched on this on the pod before, but there is a very urgent, dire message with Trump's campaign and with his speech to supporters at rallies where he kind of paints this picture as the future of America is at stake, but not necessarily about what does America look like, but more this doom and gloom of if you don't elect me and defeat Joe Biden, there won't be an America left. It's sad to see what's happening to our cities. Our cities are being overrun with migrant crime and that's Biden migrant crime. But it's a new category of crime and it's violent. What Trump is saying to his supporters and to the Republican Party, which is becoming one in the same, is that this is about the future of America. And if you don't

vote for me, you know, our country won't exist. And the fact that we now have an eight month general election where that's the message that's going to be on display to a whole lot more people a whole lot more often for a whole lot longer, is a very, very stark contrast. OK, we're going to take a quick break. We'll be back in just a moment. Welcome back. And Asma, you know, we've talked so much about about Biden's coalition and some of the challenges he faces there. I'm wondering what kind of Joe Biden we're going to see in the coming months. You know, last night at State of the Union, we really did see, I think, a preview of the kind of campaign stance he might be taking. He went after Trump. He was very

forceful and pointed in some of his language. Are we going to see more of that? And are we going to see him out on the campaign trail more? Well, he will definitely be out in those key battleground states. And there's about six of them, most analysts would say. He's in Pennsylvania today, and he'll be in Georgia coming up. I think what we will begin to see again and again is this focus on creating a contrast. You know, when you look at, I think, two big vulnerabilities that Joe Biden has right now. They are his handling of the economy and his handling of immigration. You know, we saw him talk about the issue of immigration at length in yesterday's State of the Union. But there was also, I would say, a good chunk of the speech devoted to his efforts to create a fair tax system and to curb costs. And across the board,

what I have heard from outside analysts, from pollsters, and even, frankly, from Biden's top economic advisor, who I met with the other day, this is a message you are going to continue to hear from Biden, I was told. It is a message that they think needs to resonate, frankly, just because right now Republicans have a double-digit advantage on the economy, and Democrats tend to win presidential elections when they get that advantage on the economy down to even. So Biden and Democrats have some work to do. You know, something else that happened this week, just today, actually, is new leadership

of the RNC that Trump has wanted for a while. Michael Whatley from North Carolina, elected chair, and Trump's daughter-in-law, co-chair. What is this going to mean for Donald Trump, Stephen, this level of control he now exerts over the Republican National Committee? Yeah, Sarah, it basically is the final stage of the takeover of the Republican Party by Donald Trump and Trump's ideas and ideals about what the party should be. I've been told that we should expect to see some slashing of positions under this new leadership, potentially to help Trump pay for his legal bills. The election of the North Carolina GOP chair, who was a prominent election denier and supports Trump's false claims about the 2020 election, says a lot about the direction of what the official party apparatus will do. It also brings another highlight to North Carolina and its

electoral votes, which was the narrowest margin in 2020. And so what you have right now is complete and total control of the Republican Party by Donald Trump. It's manifesting itself down to the state and local level, too. I mean, here in Georgia, most of the Georgia Republican Party are Trump loyalists and people who have taken prominent stances against Republicans in the state, like popular Governor Brian Kemp, who've taken stances against the election system. And just now in Georgia, we also have a county Republican Party refusing to qualify sitting Republican county commissioners because they think they're not Republican enough. So you've got this very bitter fight for the future of the Republican Party happening at a time where they really need all hands on deck to come together. So this new direction of the RNC is something that could get Trump across the finish line if everybody's rowing in the same direction, or it could be another year of the type of infighting and challenges that actually end up helping Democrats.

All right. Well, after the break, can't let it go. And we're back. It's time for Can't Let It Go, the part of the show where we talk about the things we just can't stop thinking about, politics or otherwise. And I'll start because I learned something yesterday. I learned lots of things because there are lots of things I don't know. But in particular, I learned that even if you've been expelled from Congress, it doesn't mean you can't come back on the floor. Did you guys know this? No. I did not know. Yes. Disgraced, you know, former Congressman George Santos, who, of course, was expelled not long ago and replaced. He showed up at the State of the Union address last night and, you know, not only showed up,

but sat in the crowd and in conjunction with his showing up and making an appearance, announced that he's running again. So George Santos is back. And apparently you have to be convicted of a crime, which he has not been, in order to be kept off the floor. So who knew? I just feel like this is so socially awkward. It's like showing up, I don't know, at like a wedding. Like your ex's wedding or something. Yeah, it feels so odd. It takes a lot of guts to show up and not care how publicly shamed you might be. If there's something George Santos has, it's guts. I think that's fair to say. Asma, what's yours? So I don't know if you all caught this story this week. Politico had some great reporting this week about a bill in Congress that essentially would try to force the social media company, TikTok, to divest from its Chinese ownership. And basically, it seems like TikTok tried to rally the forces, all the folks who actually use their app, to start calling members of Congress.

And in this story, it talks about how basically these House staffers were getting nonstop calls from teens saying that they cannot absolutely ban TikTok. And I was just thinking, oh my, I am so glad I grew up and was a teenager before the years of social media. I think that does kind of backfire a little bit because some of these lawmakers are saying we need to do things because it's too addictive. And you have people saying, no, you can't ban it. I'm too addicted to it. I will say that story.

I don't use TikTok. I just got on it to follow Joe Biden's TikTok because, you know, Joe Biden campaign is now on TikTok. I will say the one funny piece of this that is the thing that won't get me in trouble is people were giving fake names when they were calling. Some of them I can't say and won't say on this podcast because I'd like to be invited back. But one of them was like Ben Dover. And so that's just funny. Imagining some congressional staffer saying, well, Ben Dover says, yeah, Ben Dover does not want to ban TikTok. Do you use TikTok, Sarah?

I like you, Asma. I have an account, but it's just to like know what's happening on it. I've never made it. Your kids are a bit older. Do your kids use it? They don't. They make fun of it. But in fact, they don't even like want me to talk about ever being on social media.

Apparently that's cringy but um they you know it i i was just hearing these stories and first of all i was like horrified and sad and that the kids would feel this way but you know it's it's a tough thing for parents it really is to decide how to how to regulate these things yeah and for lawmakers apparently steven what can't you let go okay so you know the movie star Wars, right? Yes. Or the series Star Wars, right? Well, apparently in Chile, the original Star Wars trilogy did not air on TV until 2003, and they didn't want to show the films without advertising breaks. So you're like, cool, no ads, that's great. Well, that's not what happened. Instead, they spliced together ads into the movie to kind of seamlessly make transition of Star Wars into whatever they want to advertise. And so here's an example that went

viral on social media to enlighten people about what was going on on Chilean TV in the early 2000s. I have something here for you. Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough. Cerveza Cristal! Instead of this iconic scene in Star Wars where a lightsaber's pulled out, it was your father's lightsaber,

it's a beer, Cerveza Cristal. And the aftermath of this, of people adding this into photoshop memes everywhere has just been hilarious i mean any movie scene you can think of there's now this video of this beer uh just being seamlessly or not so seamlessly added into movies like i saw one that was uh replacing the door from titanic with cerveza Cristal and other Star Wars things. And so I, you know, product placement, usually cringy. You know, lots of products are cringy.

Nobody likes to see them. But honestly, if I were to go see a movie and this happened in there, you know, I would probably go buy one or two or six. That feels like an especially good can't let it go for a Friday after a long week. I know I'm thinking about happy hour. So thank you for that, Stephen. That is all we have for this week. Our executive producer is Mithoni Matori. Our editor is Erica Morrison.

Our producers are Jung Yoon Han, Casey Morrell, and Kelly Wessinger. Special thanks to Krishna Dev Kalimer and Dana Farrington. I'm Sarah McCammon. I cover the presidential campaign. I'm Stephen Fowler. I also cover the presidential campaign. And I'm Asma Khalid. I cover the presidential campaign. I'm Stephen Fowler. I also cover the presidential campaign. And I'm Asma Khalid. I cover the White House. Thanks, as always, for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast.