KJZZ’s Friday NewsCap revisits some of the biggest stories of the week from Arizona and beyond.
To talk about a pair of members of Congress from Arizona calling on President Biden to step aside, a lawsuit filed over the description of a ballot measure this November and more, The Show sat down with Barrett Marson of Marson Media and attorney and former Congressional staffer Roy Herrera.
Conversation highlights
On calls for Joe Biden to leave the presidential race
MARK BRODIE: Roy, let me start with you on this, and we will make the disclosure that you are working on the Biden campaign as one of their attorneys here in Arizona. So I have to ask: There have been calls from nearly two dozen members of Congress, Democratic members of Congress — including Arizona’s Raúl Grijalva and then yesterday Greg Stanton — calling on President Biden to stand down as nominee for the Democratic Party. He has said he won’t do it, including yesterday at his news conference at NATO. I’m just curious what you make of this number of elected Democrats saying that the president shouldn’t continue to try to be president.
ROY HERRERA: Well, I’m not in Stanton’s camp or Grijalva’s camp. I just saw the statement like everyone else. And to the extent that their reasoning here is some form of electability argument, this idea that maybe Biden can’t win and that’s why. I would point them to even this morning’s NPR poll that has Biden up by two nationally.
You know, if you look at the FiveThirtyEight model, he’s still the favorite in beating Trump. It’s always going to be and we always predicted that this was going to be a very, very close race. But it is clear that the numbers haven’t really fundamentally changed much from that bad debate night, which means that President Biden can still win, still has a path to victory.
What I do believe, no matter what, is that Democrats are going to be united around one thing, which is preventing Donald Trump from getting back into the Oval Office, because I think we all understand not only the the bad things that would happen policy-wise if Donald Trump came back — like the project project 2025 stuff, for example — but also with this U.S. Supreme Court giving the ability of the president to do essentially whatever he wants or she wants without any kind of accountability, with immunity.
I think that’s going to be the imperative the Democrats are going to have. So no matter what happens, we’re going to have a convention in a few weeks. I think we’re all going to be united against Donald Trump.
BRODIE: That idea of being united, does it become more difficult, though, when you have people like Greg Stanton, like (Sen. Peter Welch) from Vermont basically saying that you’re going to watch Joe Biden presumably accept the nomination when you have this number of people saying he shouldn’t be accepting the nomination.
HERRERA: The president himself has said a number of times it was a very bad night, that debate night. And we have even seen the president’s senior advisers, people like Ron Klain, saying like, “Hey, he’s got to go out there and show that he can do this.” We’ve even had — I mean, you heard the clip from Gov. Hobbs, and (U.S. Rep.) Ruben Gallego said the same thing.
So I think everyone understands that. I think the president understands that even last night, again, he sort of committed “I have to go do that. I have to run the campaign that is necessary to win. And that I’m committed to serving another four years. And I have to show I can do that.” So if he does that, I think we’re going to be in a good position still.
And that’s what’s going to be played out over the next few weeks as he goes back on the campaign trail and continues these kinds of things. He’s got a couple of interviews coming up this week. And so if those things go well — and I think they will — that I think we’re all going to be in a position where we’re still united.
BRODIE: Barrett, I don’t want to read too much into facial expressions, but you look a little skeptical.
BARRETT MARSON: First of all, for those of you in radio land, Roy has now taken a swig from what is allegedly coffee. But I think it is whiskey to dull the pain.
Look, I agree that Democrats are going to be mostly united. But Republicans are also mostly united. And so it’s the people in the middle.
And I don’t think Roy can argue that Arizona — which only four years ago went for Biden — is almost out of reach now for his team. I don’t know that Joe Biden can win Arizona anymore, especially after that debate. So while Biden may be up in a national poll, as we all know at this table — and your smart listeners know — we don’t have a national election. We have really 50 state elections. And I have not seen, in those swing states that will decide this election, any positive movement for Joe Biden.
BRODIE: Is it possible, Barrett, for Biden to regain that? It’s either he stays the nominee and Trump wins or somebody else becomes the nominee and we see what happens.
MARSON: Look, anything is possible. I mean, the election is still 115 or whatever days away. Oh my God, anything is possible, especially given these two candidates. We don’t know what Donald Trump will say day in and day out and his criminal trials and, I mean, just everything. So much can change.
But not least of which, everyone’s asking: Will Biden be the eventual nominee? And he keeps saying this is a settled issue, yet you hear people like Nancy Pelosi saying, “Well, this is a question for Joe Biden that he alone can answer.” He has answered it.
So every day we see more and more people, more and more elected Democrats come out. It’s not just George Clooney, the Hollywood people of the world. But I think I heard today the New York Times reported that there’s $90 million on the sidelines right now of pledged money to the Democratic organizations that support Joe Biden, and that’s going to sit on the sidelines for a little bit. That’s not an insignificant amount of change.
And so I don’t know when it has to be decided by, but I really think this is an unsettled question going into the Republican National Convention next week.
BRODIE: So Roy, regardless of what President Biden decides, what are you hearing and maybe what do other Democrats in Arizona have to do? Like what is their strategy? Because all of this is swirling — fairly or unfairly, rightly or wrongly, whatever the president decides to do. What do Arizona Democrats need to do? For example, what does Ruben Gallego need to do? What do Democrats trying to win control of the state Legislature have to do amid this big situation at the top of the ticket?
HERRERA: Part of the answer is also a bit of a response to my friend Barrett saying that Arizona is not reachable, is not winnable for the Democrats. I disagree with that fundamentally. And I and the reason why — there’s a couple of reasons.
But the first is that President Biden — in my mind it’s unquestioned — that he has had a very successful three and a half years as president. When you look at how well the economy is, this country has rebounded from the COVID pandemic better than any other country in the world, economically speaking. When you think about where we are in his accomplishments on foreign policy, reviving the NATO alliance, which is very, you know, relevant to yesterday’s conference. I think there’s a lot of successes to run on.
And Democrats in general, I think, are going to have to tout those successes, particularly in a state like Arizona where the economy is doing very well. And I think a lot of it is because of the policies that this that this president has promulgated.
And then I would also say the other thing that gives me hope or confidence is Arizona has rejected Trumpism for a number of election cycles in a row. This is not a place that has rewarded, since 2018, Trump or Trumplike candidates. And I think there’s a reason for that. I think the chaos of that is something that fundamentally, particularly independents in Arizona and Democrats do not want.
And that also gives me a lot of confidence that this is going to be tight no matter what. Arizona’s always tight at the statewide level, but the Democrats can still win and will win. And if you were Ruben Gallego, obviously, you’re doing very well. And I think it’s continuing again to talk about the accomplishments that the Democrats have done and will do in, in a second Biden term.
Of course, with Ruben, obviously his biography and some of the other things that he’s done in his life I think are very, very appealing to voters, as a combat veteran. And he will continue to do that. I know Gov. Hobbs will continue to tout at the legislative level what she can do with a Democratic majority when it comes to addressing some of their major priorities.
MARSON: I am going to be fascinated to meet the Trump-Gallego voter.
BRODIE: But according to the polls, there seem to be a lot of them, right?
MARSON: When the media starts interviewing them, I’m going to be fascinated to see the schizophrenia in that voter. I think that’s going to be an incredible thing to watch.
I will say, look, one thing I very much agree with Roy on is Trump has yet to get 50% in Arizona. Even when he won the state in 2016, he did not cross the 50% threshold. So certainly he has an uphill climb.
But I can acknowledge that the economy is going well, but I think Biden and Democrats have to acknowledge that people aren’t feeling that the economy is going well. Gas prices are inching again towards $4. I mean, it’s always more expensive in the summer. If it crosses that $4 and heads up to $4.50 in the fall, that’s going to be a problem for Democrats and Joe Biden in Arizona.
So yeah, the economy is doing better, and I think people will vote on that. But it’s 7% interest rates to buy a home or buy a car. Gas at $4. Egg prices still $4 a dozen. Those are that those are the things that people will look at in deciding who to vote for. And that’s a problem for the Democrats.
