What A Day - Can You Veep A Secret

Episode Date: July 31, 2020

The Biden campaign says they will announce his VP pick any day now. According to reports, over a dozen women are being vetted — some more seriously than others. We talk to Crooked Media’s Alyssa Mastromonaco, who helped President Obama select Joe Biden, about what goes into the process in the final days and the importance of this decision. To hear more from Alyssa, check out That’s The Ticket, her Pod Save America bonus series with Dan Pfeiffer on the VP selection process, as well as her weekly pod with Erin Ryan, Hysteria: Crooked.com/Hysteria

it's friday july 31st i'm akilah hughes and i'm gideon resnick and this is what the day where we are congratulating you on making it through another month yeah and if you have a calendar i'm really congratulating you because i haven't turned mine since march yeah i have forgotten how to measure time in and of itself. You're doing it big. Today's show is a little bit different. Rather than our normal format, we're going to run a conversation we had earlier this week with our fellow Crooked Media host, Alyssa Mastromonaco, about the vice presidential selection process. So Alyssa helped run that process for President the vice presidential selection process. So Alyssa

helped run that process for President Barack Obama when he picked Joe Biden as his running mate, as well as John Kerry's VP search back in 2004. She's got a new bonus series all about what goes into making the decision called That's the Ticket with Dan Pfeiffer. It is on the Pod Save America feed. So definitely check that out if you haven't already. But we're starting to get close to the announcement, which the Biden campaign has said they could make any day now, though it could take longer. Yeah. And this year's VIP pick is a little bit different from the past cycles, with Biden saying that he's definitely going to select a woman. His pick would be the third woman ever to make the ticket as a VP for a major party in the U.S., the others being Sarah Palin and

Geraldine Ferraro. According to The New York Times, Biden's search committee is vetting 13 women, including Senators Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, as well as Representatives Karen Bass and Val Demings. And then there's also former U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and lots more, I'm sure. Some are further along in the process than others. We're not going to get into any predictions, but we are going to get into what might be going on behind the scenes and why this actually matters. So let's bring in Alyssa. Alyssa, hello. I love you. Welcome to the show. Guys, miss you. Hugs from upstate New York. Hugs from LA. Because we can hug from across the country, just not up close. That's right. It's more than six feet, that's for sure.

Back of the napkin math there. Okay, so first question for you. We hear about all of these people being vetted. We hear about what that process is actually like in bits and pieces, interviews, background checks, things like that. But what does it actually look like? And what are the final steps that might be happening right now as we speak this week? So if we believe what we hear in the news, which is that they're down to a final three to five women, right now it's like when it gets to be like the real colonoscopy.

You know, they have given over everything. You know, they've been through the cleanse. They've given over their taxes, everything they've ever written, everything their spouse has written, anything terrible their kids have done, anything. The fundamental goal of the vetting is to make sure that the campaign knows anything before the press ever could, right? So that if it comes out, whether that it's disqualifying or not, they can, they can respond to it before anybody else. So now you probably have, you know, many years ago when this was something that I handled for John Kerry and then for Senator, then Senator Obama, we were

having like very complicated logistics of how to meet secretly with private planes and, and semi disguises. I think now they're doing Zoom meetings, you guys. I think that this is largely just like we're doing now. I think they're doing it on Zoom. The only thing is like I've always wondered is like, are other people listening in? You know what I mean? Like, is it just a mano a mano or is it or are there other people participating? But I think this is the people who have made it have, I think, passed the fundamental phases of the vet. And what we're at right now are who can Joe Biden see himself in a partnership with, who will be his governing partner. And, you know, yeah. And how they're going to roll this person out, how they are in a world of COVID where a normal rollout would be a very like well choreographed, executed, big public event with a big crowd and

lots of enthusiasm. You know, how do they do this now? How do they get the bounce that they need and the excitement that they need to make this, you know, something that drives Trump back into his bathroom to tweet. You know, I think that that's, so that's, that's probably where they are. It's down to the real personal, like nitty gritty of, of who can he see himself with. There's all of this punditry, right? And it's all about picking someone who will help voters get excited, you know, sort of like create this groundswell where there's kind of this COVID like just quiet happening. But do you think that the VP actually makes a difference when it comes to swinging the election for voters? Like, I can say full stop, I was loosely familiar with Joe Biden and I was all in on Obama. So like, I don't know. It is, my view is not much.

And I go back to a story that I think is really important, specifically as it relates to picking a female running mate. But back when Mondale picked Ferraro, what everyone needs to remember is that he was losing by 20 points, right? So in that instance, she did, when he picked Ferraro, she did get him up to break even, right? They were tied kind of coming out of the conventions. However, as Barbara Bush says, they were very concerned that if voters actually did vote for a vice president, that they'd win because people were so supportive of Ferraro and she had had such an impact. They lost. Not only did Mondale

and Ferraro lose, they lost women. So like, you know, and you go a step further and you look at John Edwards was picked. People thought it was a nod to the South, North Carolina. I think we lost North Carolina by plus 10. I think we were always going to win Delaware in 2008. And so I think that the most important thing is that they pick, you pick someone, like if you look at the difference, did John Kerry and John Edwards seem like best friends? No. Not that they need to be best friends, but there was something staged feeling about their relationship. Did Barack Obama and Joe Biden seem like

they were going to fucking take down America together in a good way? They did. So I think that, you know, and especially, you know, people talk about how, oh, like, do they need to be simpatico? I do think that when a 78-year-old man is running and is picking a woman, I think it's a good idea if they seem like they're like a real partnership.

Do you know what I mean? It's like, I hate to say it, but this is the third time a woman will be on the ticket um will have made it you know to a general election ticket and it's kind of like three strikes and you're out or third time's a charm and I really feel like we need to make third times a charm here and I think if people believe that he's like stoked to be uh running with this woman and considers her an equal which I think is vitally important, then I think that's the recipe for success. So I think that people talking about motivating, I mean, cause look, I'll be the first person to say months ago, I was like, he's going to need to pick someone who's hardcore with the grassroots because he needs the support, the endorsement,

and he needs the money. And did fine without the money better and so you know that was my one real out on a limb this is what it's got to be and what the fuck do i know don't know i mean yeah same i mean a lot of people didn't think that this would be the outcome at all so and yet here we are but to the point that you're making about the age thing, how much does that also sort of play in here in terms of the thought process? Is this, I know that they would never publicly say, you know, like I'm not committing to a second term

because of age, or I'm not committing to a second term because of how insanely difficult a job like this would be. But how much of that is also sort of going into how this is coming together and being thought about? So I would put it in a sort of more like macro 2019, 2020 perspective, which is that we have a global pandemic that has, you know, several world leaders have gotten sick with this, right? I mean, Boris Johnson was in the hospital. Brazil has got, you know, Bolsonaro has COVID. And so I think there's one that we feel the mortality-ish, you know, of our leaders right now. And we see how many times

Trump could have been toppled for various reasons in the past two years. Impeachment, the fact that we know he cannot be in good health. I mean, it's just literally impossible. And so I think it's less about looking at Joe Biden and clutching our pearls and being like, oh, my God, he's so old. That's not it. I think it's that we really feel more than ever that the vice president matters. You know? Right.

Right. And, like, you know? Right. Right. And like, you know, I also would say that looking at Mike Pence trying to handle the coronavirus response and just being completely upended, it's even more important because we're like, why can't we have, like, we need someone who's going to be listened to and also, like, has any authority. I don't trust Mike Pence at all. The flip side to that argument, too too is that trump is so utterly incompetent

imagine if we didn't have pence you know i mean he is literally the flotation device around this response and so i think that that all those things mixed together make everybody like let's see what they're gonna pick this year year. This one matters. Also, I think everybody's home and watching the news more. And I think that people are just interested, you know, it's like it's like a soap opera in its own little weird political nerd prom kind of way. There's also like a level of stasis that we were talking about to the race, too, where it's like people aren't doing that many big public events like polls have sort of said the same thing for quite a few months now that there is, you know, a kind of steady lead for Biden at this point. But I want to ask, too, like so we were

talking a little bit about like the idea of gelling with somebody being, you know, viewed at the same level, if you will. What does that actually mean for Biden specifically? Like what is his work style and what sort of qualities is he kind of seeking to make that match? So I'm going to opine here. This is because I'm not part of the process, so I would not pretend to know. But if you look at his prototype, right, which was his relationship with Barack Obama, what you have is a free share, like sharing of ideas, being able to voice, you know, dissent. And then being able to get on board when the decisions made, even if it's not what you wanted. Right. That's a really important part.

Like vice presidents and presidents don't always agree. And so that's why, you know, and other thing is, if this is the first woman to be in the executive office, right? It can't look like she's sidelined when he was not sidelined, right? So that's why, like,

when I think of whoever he picks and their relationship, I think it's really why a lot of, you know, reporting is focused around Susan Rice right now, because she is someone who has a long-term relationship with him, who has disagreed with him, who's been able to go head to head, but then also knows fundamentally the government has to function in a chain of command. And so you get to say your piece, you make your best argument, you put your best foot forward, and then sometimes you have to move on and eat the fact that you're not getting your way. So I think that, because it's so, it's such a like full of landmines for this, you know, it's like you can't have, like I said,

you can't have a female vice president, the first one, sidelined. You also really don't want her out there disagreeing publicly with him. Like you want it to sort of look like we remember presidencies to look, or at least the one that we all remember, which is Barack Obama and Joe Biden. And so that's, that's my, that's why I think his personal relationship with this person matters for that very reason that when they get into office, you have to be able to disagree without being disagreeable. You have to be able to move on and you have to be able to sell it once the decision is done. And you also want him to have someone whose opinion he values so much that they make him stop and take a second thought about something that he's, you know, make him look at something with fresh eyes. So I think

all those things are really important and you can only have that relationship if you trust the person. So he is right now figuring out, I think, who he trusts, who has his back, who is he going to fix this economy and get us respected in the world again with? Mm hmm. Oh, gosh. I mean, big question. It's a lot. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't envy it. I'm like, I don't trust anybody. How do you think all of these recent protests in the wake of George Floyd's murder, you know, are impacting his decision, if at all. But is this like something that's front of mind for this process? I think so. I think that it is more important than ever to think about your ticket actually looking

like America. You know, I mean, Barack Obama, Barack Obama, Barack Obama, what? Best opportunity. What? President Obama very much felt that way about his cabinet, you know, that he, that he being black was not enough. You know, that was not going to change how progress happens in America. So I think that if it wasn't front of mind before, I think that, you know, just picking a woman, any woman isn't enough. Not saying that's what he thought, but obviously how it was reported early on. So I think that he

knows that people need to, if he himself is not a change agent, I think people need to be able to look, especially the part of the party that's not stoked that he's the nominee, that he needs to be able to say, I may not be the change agent, but I get it, I see it, and here we are. Wow. They are fools not to listen to you. I think you have great ideas, Alyssa. Thank you for talking to us. What a day. Indeed. That was Alyssa Mastromonaco, co-host of Crooked's weekly podcast, Hysteria, as well as the new Pod Save America bonus series,

That's the Ticket. Listen to all of her shows, follow all of her tweets. I'm following her off of a cliff. And that's the latest. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, pick us as your vice president, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just Alyssa's tweets like me,

What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And we'll see you in August. It's like right around the corner. Yeah, it's not that long. We'll be back soon.

What A Day is a Crooked Media production. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tun is our assistant producer. Our head writer is John Milstein, and our senior producer is Katie Long. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.