Jill Biden makes establishment pitch for husband's presidential campaign

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Jill Biden makes establishment pitch for husband's presidential campaign

Dr. Jill Biden stresses Joe Biden's electability; reaction and analysis from the 'Special Report' All-Stars.

This is a rush transcript from "Special Report with Bret Baier," August 20, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

JOE BIDEN CAMPAIGN AD: We have to beat Donald Trump. And all the polls agree Joe Biden is the strongest Democrat to do the job.

JILL BIDEN, JOE BIDEN'S WIFE: Your candidate might be better on, I don't know, health care than Joe is. But you've got to look at who's going to win this election, and maybe you have to swallow a little bit and say, OK, I personally like so-and-so better. But your bottom line has to be that we have to beat Trump.

And so if you're looking at that, you've got to look at the polls, and they are consistently saying the same thing. I think you can't dismiss that.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

BRET BAIER, ANCHOR: Dr. Jill Biden with an interesting argument. Maybe you have to swallow a little bit, but Joe Biden is the guy that can win, making the electability push. The vice president also in Iowa doing that. The RCP average, Real Clear Politics average in this Democrat nomination, as you see there, Joe Biden still ahead, Elizabeth Warren in second barely over Bernie Sanders. CNN has a new poll where Biden increases his lead a bit, and Kamala Harris drops down there to the fourth position.

Of course, we have another poll in Iowa at the Iowa State Fair. This is the cast your kernel presidential poll at the Iowa State Fair, something new this year, it has never happened before. Almost exactly as many fair goers voted for a Democrat as a Republican. President Trump received just over 32,000 kernels. Democrats split about 33,165. Joe Biden had 8,143 kernels. Elizabeth Warren, second most kernel. We just wanted to bring you that because it's the Iowa State Fair.

Let's bring in the panel: Charles Hurt, opinion editor for The Washington Times; A.B. Stoddard, associate editor at Real Clear Politics, and Guy Benson, political editor at Townhall.com and host of "The Guy Benson Show" on FOX News Radio.

OK, Guy, what about you hear Dr. Biden, there, Dr. Jill Biden, you hear the vice president, former vice president on the trail, maybe I don't hit everything that you want to hit, but I'm the guy who can do it.

GUY BENSON, POLITICAL EDITOR, TOWNHALL.COM: A very candid appeal, I would say, from Dr. Biden, saying you might have to swallow hard and vote for my husband, but look at the polls. He can win. That is the calculation, and it might be clumsy, it might be a little ham-handed for her to say it quite that openly. But if you look at that same CNN poll that you just referenced, 54 percent of Democratic voters said that their number one priority is beating Donald Trump even if they have to give up a few issues. So that's exactly the case that she's making, and she's appealing to precisely those voters.

So I actually think it's an argument that makes sense. Of course, the trouble would be if he then slips in the polls and someone else comes ahead of him, then the whole raison d'etre for the campaign completely falls apart from under them. They are betting, hoping that won't happen.

BAIER: Thank you for bringing the raison d'etre to the panel.

BENSON: You so welcome.

BAIER: I really appreciate it.

BENSON: I took Spanish in high school.

BAIER: There you go. That's really good. I wasn't coming from Charlie. A.B., this is the battle, though, that we are seeing, right, this is the battle of this party as they get towards the nomination.

A.B. STODDARD, REAL CLEAR POLITICS: Right. And look, Elizabeth Warren's surge is very much unnerving to the Democratic establishment because it's no secret they don't think she would be the best nominee against Donald Trump next year. So as she rises, and she absolutely could win Iowa. Her organization there is better than anybody's. She has done the homework. She has ground this out.

BAIER: Although, I hear Tom Steyer has a pretty big operation.

STODDARD: That might be true, and that will make everyone hate him even more.

But Elizabeth Warren, the question is, if Bernie faded, and he had a good poll today in CNN, but he's been fading, could she consolidate his support. Some polls don't show that that's possible, but obviously Guy is right. Until and unless Biden doesn't have this durable lead, which he continues to have through misstep after misstatement after attack from his rivals. And I agree with Guy that the argument from the Bidens is a good one. Don't alienate people. Don't say things the other centrists like Delaney are saying, that your promises are impossible, your mathematics don't add up. Hope that they come home at the end, and also make that argument about Trump. Let's not blow this. Don't blow this. And I think until the polls change, that's a good way to hold on to the lead.

BAIER: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is not buying it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: With all due respect to Joe Biden, unless there's a message that's strong and forceful, you're not going to see Democrats want a candidate without that strong message, because without that message we don't beat Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: We should point out his message is not getting him to the third debate.

(LAUGHTER)

CHARLES HURT, WASHINGTON TIMES: Yes, and he actually makes a decent point there. For all of the new waters that are politics are charting these days, it is amazing to look back at how familiar all of this looks right now. You look back at the previous two presidents, George Bush and Barack Obama, in both cases for the midterm, the only thing that mattered to the party out of power was how much they hated the president and they wanted to do something about it. And in both cases, both parties wound up settling on a nominee that they thought would be the best, most centrist candidate, John Kerry in 04 and Mitt Romney in 2012. What's interesting, though, the problem with that, of course, is they are completely uninspiring. And that, in the end, is going to be Joe Biden's problem, even if he does get the nomination, is that at the end the day, he will be sort of this Frankenstein candidate that hits all the buttons for people, but nobody really likes all that much.

BENSON: Bret, I was looking at those CNN polling numbers today, and I'm sure the Biden people are very pleased that he's at the top and he's gaining as much support as Warren plus Bernie combined, 29 percent. I think the nugget that probably made them grin the widest was Kamala Harris down at five percent. I threw some French in before. How about some German, schadenfreude. Everything that she threw at him in the first debate, they were very displeased with her sandbagging him, and she has just collapsed since that point. Five percent is quiet an ugly position for her. It may be an outlier, but she's headed in the wrong direction.

BAIER: You are a regular Pete Buttigieg on this panel.

STODDARD: Yes, he's going to bring the Norwegian.

BAIER: You just have languages galore. He's going with Norwegian next.

Speaking of Elizabeth Warren, here's her apology to the Native Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Like anyone who is being honest with themselves, I know that I have made mistakes. I am sorry for harm I have caused. I have listened and I have learned a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Is that going to do it?

STODDARD: It's just such a liability. And she --

BAIER: And Donald Trump is going to hit it again and again and again.

STODDARD: Yes. And she's sorry that it was a political miscalculation. She's not sorry that she did it because she made a video about it right before the midterm elections that enraged the Democratic Party. So it really is an interesting thing.

I think Elizabeth Warren supporters in the vein of Bill de Blasio are just excited to be excited and they are looking to be inspired, and they don't care about her, the fact that the Cherokees are mad at her. Biden is betting that people don't need to be inspired, Charlie, that they are mad and they're anxious, and there are enough of them in the Democratic Party to make him the nominee.

HURT: And I think that people bet on that in 2004 and 2012, as well. But one thing is for sure, this is not going to make Donald Trump stop beating her up about Pocahontas.

BAIER: And if Joe Biden has another misstep, another debate flop, does it affect him? It doesn't seem like he's been affected at all from pretty mediocre debate performances at best.

HURT: As stupid as polls are right now anyway, I don't really look at that number as being Joe Biden himself. It is kind of that spot, it's that person who is not talking necessarily about health care for illegals or open borders or whatever all these crazy things that are getting floated right now. And so, if it's not him, I think it would be somebody else that would sort of fit into that moderate view.

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