Karen Skelton
Appearances
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
Thanks, Mark. I think the party's in a little weak position. I don't think it's devastating where we are right now, but I think we lack a little muscle. I think the party needs to show that it's alive, that there's breath in the body, but I wouldn't expect our party to really know what to say right now. I sort of agree with my friend Doug Sosnick that
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
You know, the party can wait a little bit to know where to, you know, hit hardest. And we're going to see that with tariffs, I think. So I agree with you that the infrastructure isn't there. I don't really know what's happening at the DNC. Oh, and Dorf might know a lot more than I do about that. I see a lot of action in the states, much more than I do on the federal level.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
I think that, you know, in this 13 or so states where we have trifectas, governors are active. There are philanthropies and the major national philanthropies are active. And I'm seeing them putting a lot of money in. to states to push certain programs forward and messaging and communication, which is what we need. And some Democrats have lit themselves on fire and traveled around the country.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
And I think that that's generally okay to do just to, again, to show that the body has some breath. But whether we're going to, you know, our left punch is going to hit and knock anybody down, it's just too early for that. I'd say in the next couple of weeks, we might be able to see some some effects of the tariffs as the ports start slowing down and all of that.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
So, yeah, I mean, we're not a great place, but I don't see it as being devastating. I think we're going to have some push, some opportunities to push back hard on real policies and real things affecting real people soon.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
Yeah, I think it's actually going to be sooner than six months that we see, you know, maybe that's hopeful thinking, but I do think that the The effect of the tariffs are going to start hitting people sooner rather. I mean, in California, where we have so many ports facing China, they're slowing down. And those prices are going to start to flip to increased prices to consumers.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
And already we're going to lose jobs in these ports in Washington, Oregon, California. So I think it's going to start sooner than six months. But I generally agree with Steve on that.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
Yeah, I think I think that's exactly right. I think we get confused by action versus coherency. I don't think the Democrats actually have to be coherent right now. I think they have to be alive and active. So people criticized AOC and Bernie for doing their little trip. I think it's just fine to do that. Anything that shows that we're alive is good at the moment.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
But I and I agree with Steve completely on that. I do think that we're not doing a good job on this micro communications. I think, you know, communicating hyper locally with, you know, influencer groups that are, you know, defined as the, you know, the people who shop at stores. you know, Walmart or get their hair done at the mall or are part of affinity groups for soccer teams.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
You know, small groups that can be heard in a hyper-local level, I think, is something that the Democrats have to get a lot better at.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
And I don't think we're going to have that person. Yeah. I mean, I don't think that exists.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
First of all, I also worked in modern presidential campaigns.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
Well, I just worked in the Biden administration, and I worked on every presidential campaign really in the last almost 40 years. Several years. Okay. All right. That's a lot. So what I would say about the groups is is that just like American politics, they're changing and they're reshuffling.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
I mean, we used to have these silos that you named, you know, women, blacks, Latinos, labor, you know, and you'd have a director for each one of those in a campaign. But now people are cross-cutting. You know, the definition of an influential Latino in America is completely different than it was in the Mondale campaign. So where are the groups?
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
I mean, I think some of them are, some groups are very strong. Labor, the parts of labor that are, that care about, you know, good labor jobs have been active in the last couple presidential campaigns. I think, you know, women's groups are exhausted by the losses of Hillary and Kamala, but they were active, I think, pretty much.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
But I do think there's been a, I think they're less important nationally than they are within states and how they can push certain levers in states. That's where I'm, that's where I think.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
Well, Gavin's obviously thinking about running for president. He's made these attempted pivots to the center with transgender sports and homelessness and I think that, you know, he's going to he's going to run, you know, pretty sure he's going to run. Should he run? I don't know. I mean, I think everybody should run and we should let the poppies grow.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
And let's like, you know, have the big debate that we didn't have this this time last time around. And Let's let the people decide who's the best. I mean, he's done his work in California and he's young enough and ambitious enough and thoughtful enough and itchy enough to get out there and run. Kamala, I think it's more complicated.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
It's the first time in my lifetime, I'm a fifth generation Californian. I've watched a lot about California and This electorate is the most likely to vote for a Republican. In my lifetime, I mean, it elected Schwarzenegger, but that was an anomaly. It's very unlikely that a Republican would get elected, but it's possible.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
There's huge problems, and I'm happy to talk more about that, the registration numbers, the Trump factor and all of that. Kamala is... When I left the Biden administration, Kamala was... This was hers to lose. But the electorate has... There's been a nuanced shift in California politics that doesn't... that against Kamala. And I'm not sure what that really is.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
I've frankly, I've never really understood why people are so hesitant towards her and her candidacy. I can talk about all the weaknesses that she she's had, but, but in California right now, there will be a race, whether she gets where the people are not going to just walk away if she gets in. Yeah.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
No.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
Yeah, I mean, and I think people don't, you know, what people need in California is a governor who really, really wants to roll up their sleeves and be governor. And for whatever reasons, people just don't believe that yet. Now, she did this speech last week at Emerge in San Francisco and went after Trump and made some news around that. But there's going to have to be a lot more of that.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
I mean, I go back to what I said about local, local, local. And it kind of goes to your question about the groups. You know, we don't see these hard pillar groups anymore being as influential as they once were, in part because Americans aren't beholden anymore to any kind of structured, established political regime. They are their own thinkers.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
They are in communities living their own troubled lives or struggling or challenging lives. And they want people to be communicating with them on their level. And if I'm advising a president, I'm saying, you know, get local.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
No. I don't think there was.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
I think that the... The issue that is galvanizing Silicon Valley right now has to do with AI. And at the beginning of the, and Trump himself, who they are enamored by and see themselves in, that anything is possible, nothing is daunting.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
The world's going to have some ups and downs and we're just going to get right through it because we have a brilliant business plan and we understand what consumers want. And that's not the Biden administration. That wasn't the Biden administration. Because Biden's not Trump and also because what's driving business right now, the possibilities of enormous wealth are coming from how do you use AI?
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
And I saw this, you know, in the Clinton-Gore administration when the John Doers of the world were mesmerizing in the possibilities around AI. you know, digital communication and the internet and all of that. So I don't think we could have had it off. You know, maybe we could have paid more attention to it, but the pitch hadn't been thrown yet.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
I think it's not going to be a woman. I think we need to have somebody who has a practical record. And I think that there's going to be somebody that we don't know right now who's not an elected official, who's new and a and comes in from the side because people want something new and not political or government related.