Editor’s note: Each Sunday, the chattering class fills American airwaves with the thoughts and opinions of Washington’s most powerful Swamp-dwellers. Often these interviews make headlines and inform the public about what to expect in the coming week. If you want to stay informed but don’t have the time to devote to all the political punditry, there is hope. Liberty Nation author Kelli Ballard sifts through the shows for you and presents the high and lowlights in this weekly column.
The airwaves were all aflutter with the plight of Democratic presidential hopefuls and the theme was obvious: It’s all about the minorities.
This Week With George Stephanopoulos – ABC
First up was Joe Biden’s disappointment as he came in fourth place in Iowa a week ago and is slipping in the polls. He now plans to concentrate on South Carolina, where he wants to bill himself “the most electable candidate” to face off against Trump in November.
In Columbia, SC last week, he said, “Look, we’re moving in an especially important phase because up ‘til now, we haven’t heard from the most committed constituency in the Democratic Party – the African-American community. And the fast- and the fastest-growing segment of society, the Latino community.”
Joe Biden (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
A Fox News Poll lists Biden as leading in the Southern state with 36% support among the Democratic-leaning voters, and a Quinnipiac University poll has Uncle Joe at 27% support nationally among Democratic-leaning blacks. But not everyone thinks Biden is doing well down South.
South Carolina State Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter is a recent hire as senior adviser on Tom Steyer’s campaign. She cautioned Biden’s surety in her state, saying, “I think, in some large part, the Biden campaign has played it safe and, on some level, has taken the voters here in South Carolina for granted.”
Steyer, who saw a sad finish of seventh in the Iowa caucus and sixth in the New Hampshire primary, said his late start is what hurt his campaign. “I was the last person into this race. I wanted to compete in all the early primary states, but in fact, what we have seen is, on the ground in Nevada and South Carolina, I’m doing really well and that’s what the polls say.”
At a time when the American people are seeing one of the best economies in their lifetimes, Steyer took a risky route by attacking Trump’s economic strategies, stating:
“There’s a different story of this economy and this country that has to be told. I can take [President Trump] on because it has to be shown that this economy isn’t working. The vast bulk of Americans and this president is dangerous to them in terms of money and in terms of health care and in terms of retirement.
We have to be able to beat [Trump] on the debate stage on the economy, and you can’t do that unless you have the experience and expertise to go toe-to-toe with him and take him down. He’s a liar. He’s definitely beatable. He’s lying and the American people have to know that. But if you don’t have the experience, you can’t do it.”
So far, Steyer hasn’t earned enough support in the polls approved by the Democratic National Committee to allow him to join the next debate.
The surprise tallies for Amy Klobuchar coming in third place in New Hampshire, beating out Biden, had her ecstatic and also drew in a record $12 million in donations in just one week. “We have all this money now,” she said. “We’re finally able to run ads in Nevada to run ads in the [sic] South Carolina and beyond. That is a big difference. People don’t know me and then I’m going to emphasize my record.”
Stay tuned next week to see what else the Sunday shows have to offer.
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Read more from Kelli Ballard.
