4-

kennedy, who took that covid

message and to the extent there were still voters for whom that was the issue they said there is a block of voters here that we are not we have our own independent media and celebrities and we are not consolidating, so what can we do? host: the window refers to expanding the realm of acceptable ideas in a conversation. contwhat is happening andhat should people be looking for? guest: the party will pickets nominee for president. that is to wrap the convention up. there willron paul, seen as the example of how libe heard, every libertarian was config -- conflicted in 2008 and 2012. they were happy that ron paul introduced discourse like auditing the federal, opposing the iraq war, and that conversation

will continue. shanahan said last night the trump speech -- but the focus is on nominating a candidate and commit based on who is running, the likelihood is to nominate a passionate libertarian who does not want to compromise and considers them as candidates were saying last night, that trump is actually a neoconservative warmonger who presided over imperialism in the middle east. whatever trump tells us, we cannot trust him. we will naomebody who should win and will deserve to win as a protest vote against the major parties. host: thank you so much for your time this morning. for folks interested, we will be covering the remainder of the c on c-span online . now we will return to our question. would you support a third-party candidate this election? 8-8000. forifre independent, we will

look to hear what candidate you might want to support. -- we hear what candidate you might want to support. orting cornell west is the most pro-peace and prolabor or working-class person candates. that is why i am thinking about supporting him. host: which of his policies in particular do you like? caller: definitely -- i guess it is his principles and and the pro-peace. he is the most antiwar candi across the board and he is a prolabor pro-working-class rights

workers and really building working-class because that is the backbone of america. thriving middle class, you will not have in america. the working-class is of america because we are making $40,000 a year, you are working-claswe need these people. those are the most important things to me andwith me on that. host: independent presidential candidate cornel west was on this pro and took a question from a caller about his views on the democraticparty and president biden. >> the democratic party is beyond redemption when america and palestinians in gaza. what do i mean by that? it is either windowdressing in

terms of acting as if they have ing people. they have made some moves in the last few years, but overall biden has been in the back pocket of wall street. he bailed out wall street along with obama. yet been in the back pocket of credit card when it comes to gaza, you see crimes against humanity, war crimes every day. you see a crime of genocide and he sits up there and says i do not see any violation of international law. quit lion, pentagon. eeing these crimes against humanity every day. when arab and muslim voters begin to vote against the democratic party so it becomes a matter of political strategy. no. we want with moral backbone. you do not respond to genocide because have electoral

status when you have children being shot and famine escalating. the moral fiber? it is not there. biden talks about redeeming the soul of the nation. that is the motto of martin luther king jr.'s organization. you cannot use that slogan to enable. shame on you, biden. you are a war criminal in terms of enabling those kinds of actions.i am not speaking out of hatred. i speakpeople who are being massacred. host: you can find our interviews with 2024 candidates on our website. steve is in missouri on our line fors. caller: i am an independent and i think we need a strong independent party. the problem ain't got no

chance to win. if you votecan, you are going to get an authoritarian dictator named trump. i agree with biden on at least over 50%. he has done a good job on ukraine. he cannot help a lot of stuff. it ain't hiour democracy depends on voting democrat. at least to vote. thanks a lot. have a good day. guest: -- host: next is horace on our line for democrats. ñuld you support a third-party candidate? caller: no and yes. i know that sounds crazy, but i just heard a pretty intelligent fellow named cornel west. what he said makes a lot of sense.

but once . getting backo the two guys that was there -- neither one of them for me is to be president. in my mind, are two rich old white men, one a criminal, the other 1 -- i do not know what his problem is. t them should be president and the worst is donald trump. why in the would he want to be president again? but then again i'm answering my owestion. he wants to stay out of jail. host: maryland on our line for republicans. caller: how are you?

host: i am doing well.uld you support a third-party candidate this election? caller: i would definitely support a third-party. anybody other than bidtrump is a convicted criminal. biden is just too old. so i am looking at them. i have not decided who yet, definitely third-party. host: anyone you are leaning toward? caller:t sure. i have not dug deep enough into their platforms to say. young. i am looking beyond that. i have not decided yet. host: thanks for your call. anthony is in line for independents. which candidate do you like : i will vote for dr. joel stein and the green party as i did in 2016 and will again. host: which policies

do you? like the most? caller: probably anticorruption would be the biggest. i look at the democrats and the republicans and i see they are grandfathered in and they do not even look like a political party. they look like a money-laundering, the democrat andrties, so anticorruption and getting money out of politics probably number one. two would be antiwar. host: jill stein recently spoke about the ongoing campus protests experience being arrested will protesting at washington university. >> meant to show support for the students -- encampment to show support for the students putting everything on the line. their lives are on the line

here. they are upholding the highest values of american society and standing up for our right to free speech and the right to protest. i had been invited to stop byand i was asked to de-escalate the with the administration. i want to talk to the chancellors and board members who were therewithin an hour or two, we were assaulted with pikes use as weapons and brutalized and beat up and thrown to the ground arms handcuffed behind our backs with zip ties and then walked over.

that was the end of a process that was brutalizing a violent. host:t we have maxwell in virginia on our line for democrats. caller: you arevote voting for cornel west and these other people. i don't get it. i truly do not get it. there are only two candidates joe biden or donald trump. do you want a dictator or somebody to keep america straigi will never vote for a dictator. all these black that seem to love donald trump, you better wake up. he is going to have your asses in chains.

host: let's keep the language clean. if you look at the most recent polling for 2024 general election come up trump versus biden versus kennedy versus west versus stein, you can get a sense of the averagesthe average of many of these polls put together has trump at about 41.7%, biden at 39.3%, kennedy atjill stein at 1.5 percent. next we have arthur inlorida on our line for republicans. caller: yes. i was an independent for a long time. i was with the american party for a long time. my view is this. host: for folks who are not party, can you talk about what that represented? caller: a conservative party

based in tennessee. i do not know if they still exist or not now. i believe that if we have a free election we need to have every candidate allowed to debate so the american can hear what a got to saykçcg' what they've got to say and can vote. no one knows what is going on and what ain't going on. i have a pick who i would like for president, ron paul. host: i don't think he'sg. if he was to run, he would be a good man. host: let's go to lewis in new jersey on our line for independents. caller: my town is the only town the

world with that name come after the indians here. -- with that name, named after . you got it right. put -- trump ran as a republican because hillary clinton had it wrapped up. there is no way another democrat was able to run. she even pushed out the other guy. host: bernie sanders? caller: yes. i like kennedy a lot. i was hoping trump would bring him on as vice president. if you look at trump's first publicans and democrats did not want him there. nono wars and he did not everybody say he is a dictator -- look what the biden administration has done.

censored everything. kennedy is good. he does not chance. no third party has a chance. i am sorry, everybody, but watch the cornel west inr. he is a coward. he would not answer any tough questions. you can find him on youtube and everybody thinking trump is going to be a dictator? he is not running the administration he cahe is not cognitive. host: a couple folks have mentioned the debate. the's a story for may 22 talking about whether whether rfk junior will qualify for the june presidential debate andarty's presumptive nominations for some time now, biden and trump are

easy -- eager to face off, but the potential for a third candidates to qualify has made the biden-from debate anything but a foregoclusion. cnn and abc news laid out rules that could open the for an independent candidate to a possibility the seemingly frustrated biden's team. for that to happen, kennedy would be the first third party tial contender to make a debate since 1992. to attract at least 15% support in four nationaló pol news standards will having ballot access in enough states to theoretically win 270 electoral votes thresholds kennedy has not met. if you look at abc analysis, kennedy looks to be halfway to meeting the polling requirement for the june 27 debate. he has two of the four qualifying poles he needs, but iaccess it is more complicated.

qualification rules lie in the requirement the candidate must be on enough ballots to theoretically win 270 electoral votes. an has a long way to go. five states were 35 electoral votes havekennedy has made their ballot. delaware hawaiikennedy's in 10 other states worth 166 electoral votes. he stilll states to qualify. if you look at that ballot access map, you can see here the dark purple represents where petitionin is complete and they say they have enough signatures to be on the ballot. other states, lighter purple in progress. that is only at 201 and he would need 270.r numbers on this question of whether he would support a third pay candidate for this election, my kretz at (202) 748-8000 -- democrats(202)

748-8000. republicans at (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. candidate, maybe. too late now. also, money needed to fight the machine. let's hear from illinois on our line for democrats. would you support a third-party ndidate this election? caller: hello young pretty lady. i think west made some going points -- good points. anyone who votes for third party is putting a horrible man in ofing trump. they might as well vote for n if elections are different every election important, even though west made some very good points. and west tell himttle bit more.

if you vote fo party you are actually votingorhost: kevin is in texas on our line for democrats. caller:ng to be donald trump or joe biden. those are your choices. those voting for a third-party are fooling themselves. i got problems with joe biden but it is himmp. -- him or trump. oe biden, he might not be able to vote again -- you again. host: we have a couple more comments from facebook.ays party that at least this getting every bottom of the bie would but a third-party cannot win, so i vote democrat/republican. this was the argument several of these candidates were arguing

here is more from independent candidate robert f kennedy talking about former president trump'sing of the covid-19 pandemic. [video clip] -- host: moreproceedings from the libertarian national convention, not robert f kennedy. is folks speaking. [video clip] >>order. >> you will alienate 43egates? you are doing it right now. the media sees you doing it right now. >> no, this is a vote. >> i would like to propose that we go tell d to go fuck himself. >> that was are the libertarian convention looking to nominate need to give that time to non-libertarians. this is not a gop convention. >> you guys come out we are almost through it. please settle down. >> i vote to vacate the chair.

>> point of order. >> madam chair, point of order. madam chair, point of order. >> you are still on and there was a point of d i had a good answer for him. the number of delegates in question would not invalidate any of the results because it requires two thirds and we have host:debate at the libertarian national president donald trump speak at the convention, which he did yesterday. next we have chuck in sou carolina on our line for democrats. would you suppo election? caller: no. i will beden. esent america when he ran and he fulfilled that campaign

promise and he is definitely prounion. therefe, he has earned my vote. host: ok. thank you. we also haveigan, w ll clog in the government. that was from steve in michigan. next we have jose from texas on our line for republicans. er: i'm going to vote for trump because he is the better of them. host: he is the better what? caller: he is the better president. he gave us a lot. it will always be him for right now. host: ok. thank you for your call. next we have sue in michigan on r line for independentsrs. would you support a third-party candidate this election? caller: never. it is like throwing your vote away.

with what is going on in this country now with trump talking about being like hitler's, he loves hitler, there is no way anyone should vote for trump ever. i cannot see how republicans want to put a rapist, a murderer into office. he is probably going to go to jail. he might pay his way out but he should never be in office ever. host: thank you for your call. one very famous organization in the united states related to libertarians, who were holding their conven this weekend, is the cato institute. the cato institute, the president and chief executive of the cato institute had commepave comfortable with right-wing erasy libertariansep they are moving theaon eac b i on culture war issues. that was in a commentary in the

washington post. next we have leticiauld you be willing to support a third-party candidate this election? caller: no. i have been a d life. i am 80 two years old. i vote republican this time. a change in our country. we haven years. one -- my government has been living on 344 dollars a month. i have to stay with people to have a place to live. i cannot even afford to pay them , soand i have talked to mr. trump several times and i have told him at my age we cannot keep doing this kind of stuff. i don't know why they even want

joe biden back in there. he is destroying our country. he is trying to sell us all out. host: thank you for you ohio on our line for republicans. you support a third-party candidate? caller: no. host: who are you supporting and why? caller:r donald trump because joe biden is a terrorist sup host: ok. thank you for the comment. carolina on our line for democrats. uld you support a third-party candidate? are you there? yes. good morning. i don't think a third-party candidate would win because if they didhave both parties in the house and senate ck anything that the third-party president would present, so it is just abetween joe

biden and donald trump and i will be voting for joe biden. host: thank you. ryan is in florida on our line for republicans. caller: good morning. i was went to say everybody is bad mouthing trump i was going to say everybody is bad mouthing trump. i think they because it would be like eating dog poop because you do not like broccoli. i want to put that in for people. i do not think it is fair to have someone someone just because they do not like him. i just wanhost: thanks for calling in. pres biden is still running for the democratic nomination and does have some competition. williamson is still in the democratic presidential bid and has criticized the system. she says here in an interview with newsnation that the system

is bleeding voters, that she was to send a message to biden. de presidential candidate marianne williamson is urging for democrats to vote for her in states where son the ballot to send a message to the democratic nominee williamson joined newsnation to discuss her role in the 2024 election despite suspending her campaign in february and on suspending it after beating a democrat from minnesota in the michigan primaries. despite biden having secured the democratic nomination, l a way for voters to send a message to biden. here she is speaking and criticizing the two party system in that with newsnation. [video clip] >> it is not just the democratic party. the system is bleeding voters because peoted. people in bo parties do not em to be serving the people or democracy so much as their own donor base

so we can still wein though the system has decided it is two candidates even though 70% of the american people said they wanted to see other people. i do not like the idea that the democratic and parties have locked this up for themselves or tried to. and keep out other, independent voices. it is not ok. i think a lot of people -- kennedy is not the issue. the issue democracy. i experienced a lot of that in my own primary. the american people do not like it. the american people want to hear our options. do not just throw down our throats who we have to vote for. candidate suppression in the suppression so i'm all in favor of bobby being on the stage. >> would you ever consider voting party and running as an independent? >> it is very expensive to do so, so that ship has sailed for me, but also -- i think

democrats and republicans are feeling like what happened to the partyhat seems both parties are more similar as sving their own donor base than the principles in which they purport to stand. host: you can find our interviews from candidates acro the local s website. next we have ed on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. at 63, i g than i do got in front of me. i'm not going waste my vote on a third-party. remember when trump told us the grit -- to drink bleach during the covid years? did you know a guy out in utah somewhere drink bleach and died? so all you people who want to vote for, just follow what

he says and i hope everything works out for you but i will keep vot for joe biden just for the simple reason. he is a decent man. everybody have a nice holiday. goodbye. host: joe is in utah on our line for republicans. caller: good morning. i am going to be voting for trump because the one that has done everything they are accusing trump of by 10 times and he has made this country the worst it ever has been. trump is the only one i ever felt comfortable b leader. host: so no third-- for you. next is virginia in wisconsin on our line for independents. caller: hello. i want to say thatmz i hope someday the viable option in this country.

if it were, i would vote for rfk , but it is not. it is throwing your vote away the way things are now. and i think one of that is happening in this country is then of the legal system. and also i wanted to say to that man who said biden is prounion that he ought to look at what happened to east palestine and right before that train accident biden broke that union. they came to him and wanted safety concerns and he said if you do not settle we are going te you, so the union settled with the train company and it was not more than two or three months later we started having those accidents.

biden goes to the unions and make speeches, but he does not support them when the chips are down. host: thank you for your call. lastl now, loretta in georgia on our line for republicans.would you support a third-party candidate this election? caller: no. i amblican. i am 82 years old and i had better living when mr. trump was president, so i am definitely going to vote for mr. trump and all my friends and my church people feel the same way. and they are lying about a lot of stuff about that man trying to crucify him. the democrats are afraid. what they are doing isbe caught up with them, but trump will come through and really take care of america. host: thank you for your call.

forever own else who has called in this hour -- and for everyone else who has called infrom louis perron, who is going to talk about his new book. we will be right back. ♪ tune into c-span's live coverage of the 2024 national political convention starting with the republican event in milwaukee on july 15. next, democrats convene in connected to c-span for an unfiltered glimpse of democracy at work. watch the republican and democratic national convention's life this summer on c-span our free and online at c-span.org. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics, powered by cable. ♪ >> this memorial day weekend

retired u.s. senate historian shares stories from her book. a collecti of brief chronicles of senate history that she presented to senators during their tuesday caucus lunches between 2009 and 2023. stories told include the in of lyndon johnson, the story of the first female senator, and when mark twain worked as a senate st>> he was notou working on his first book and looking for a job that would help pay the billsesote his writing career. gave him a job, and he clerk. at that time that was not unusual because theate only met a few months out of the year and so they often hired reporters clerks mutual, beneficial experience for both of them.

he didn't prove to be a particularly good employee. >> tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern you can listen to q&a and all others at. -- washington journal continues. >> welcome back. your joint now by lewiseat the incumbent: proven strategies and tactics to --." welcome to journal. guest: morning. host: you are joining us from switzerland where it is midday so thanks for working with on the time zone. can you tell us a your background, what campaigns you've worked on in the u.s. and abroad? guest: sure. ever since i was a teenager, i felt really passionate about election campaigns. i was active in a party in switzerland where i grew up and my plan was really to run for office myself.

ton, d.c. and that is where i that the role behind the scenes is much more fascinating and politics in switzerland is really boring. so i wanted to have an international lifestyle and so i left with this plan to be consultant and 17 years later, i've worked in countries around the world with a special emphasis on southeast asia. i've done work in several european countries. i've never worked in the u.s., however. host: are there specific campaigns abroad that you've worked on or specific candidates? a particular emphasisnasia. my biggestential race, there are plenty of other successes that i'm proud of. i've helped challengers with

upsets, i've helped incumbents win reelection. i've never lostarly days in tr' helped politicay dead people i'm always following u.s. politics from the outside, which allows me to be neutral as a swiss banker. host: in your new book, why ar incumbents specifically? guest:focusing on challengers because go against an incumbent. historically in the u.s., donald trump with the first incumbent president to lose since george herbert walker bush. i remember that campaign as a little boy and i am a grown man now. so it is difficult to go incumbent because there's a lot of advantages. last election cycle through the

midterms, no u.s. senator incumbent lost reelection. historically about 90% of congressmen in the u.s. when reelection. against an incumbent -- that is truly why i wrote this book. host: is commonly said that elections are referendums on the incumbent do you agree with that? guest: absolutely. umif people are happy with how things are the incumbent has more or less delivered or is at least seen as trying to deliver, it is really difficult tos go against an incumbent. one question w ask is how are things going in your city, in your country, in your state? say a positive board at the beginning, i know how they will vote two hours later into the discussion. ifhay with how things are going, it's very difficult for a challeagainst.

a referendum on the incumbent. host: y bit about the differences between u.s. and systems abroad when it comes to what it is l an incumbent? guest: there are very biif you look at the u.k., for example, the -- gets to decide when to hold the electio can you imagine if you can decide when you want to vote, of course. i've actually worked for the opposition i country and i can tell you from my own that it is truly a big disadvantage. you are always wondering? there are rumors, you have to get ready.

you go to the polls a few weeks later. so it is a huge advantage for the incumbent. then there are all the differences in the parliamentary systems. you vote for a member of parliament. some countries are multiparty systems, so that makes your targeting strategy very different. the environment in which campaigns take place is very different i found, though, as part of my research and as my own experience,rategy to win campaigns and beat incumbentsround the globe. host:taeni would therefore like to introduce you to the conceptt advantage to the table that they already have high awareness even if it quate automatically to a presumption of political competence." can you talk a little bit more about different elements that can advantage challengers to incumbents>' guest: yes.

so if you have an incumbent usually almost everybody knows him as able to do the job. in that caseids an interesting exception because people doubt he can do the job age. usually, incumbents have that check. a challenger has to work very hard to build that up because often challengers are much less known than incumbents. they aren't seeingso this is something that a challenger needs to rk write about in the bookies. -- who announced that she would run for parliament, and i gave such tremendous media attention.

if you compare with a state legislature who announces that she will run for congress, the media attention, that sort of classic, traditional politician can only dream of. as i said, it doesn't competence, but it is a huge advantage for a challenger. advantage you mentioned is money that some outside challengers can brg todeown campaigns. in the last u.s. election candidatesul r fundingng their own minds. when does a challenger's money actually help them vs. hurt them? gues usually helps. now, often people are looking for is sort of all or nothing anith money. they think that money that with a million swiss francs turn a bag of potatoes into a federal counselor and some people say money doesn't matter they love thunderdog who was outspent

one to ten and won. and the reality that i'm trying to say in the quote is somewhere in between. money is one of the important factors in a campaign. money allows you to communicate yourmoney gives you visibility, allows you to be heard, allows you to be innovative and try things out. but money in itself does not communicate a messag ting message. i think to incident question, too much money to be a problem. it's not admittedly a problem that i see very often but i have experienced it. because if a candidate has too much money, it undermines decision-making. you are not forced to make tough decisions. ntioned that it doesn't overcome not having a message, but on the importance of specific issues, i'm curious to getour take on how a particular issue can upset a

candidate or party in election. last week, a democrat from chair of the democratic congressional campaign committeeut the party strategy for the 2024 elections in here she talks about the role of abortion ecifically in this november election. >> i wanted to ask you, but about the purple district that you all are focusing on. em are in states where they are going to the questions directly on the ballots. selected the impact, if any at all on those races? >> first of all, i think we have about 11 states where it is likely that reproductive rights will be on the ballot, that we also know it has been on the ballot many, many times already since november of 2022. election after special election whether it is , state supreme court

case in wisconsin local elections last over and over since november of 2022. we see over-performance on deat kansas ohio, virginia state assembly, wisconsin supreme court race. and even tom suozzi, that was a 15 point swing in just over a year. it is alabama after the alabama supreme court decision on ivf. we saw a special election in a statehouse race, over 30 point swing where a democrat won the house race after the dobbs more and more are seeing that their rights are at risk, and that all the things that republican said about it is clearly not true. they want a national abortion ban. i think we see huge turnout as alt of that over and over in

elections since november 2022, and i have no doubt we are going to all the way through. this is a huge issue for voters. host: what isour and abortion as an issue here in the united states elections? have any examples from your own experience where a single issue really made a difference? guest: i agree with what the lady said. i think it is an that probably will help democrats so far one of the very few issues that will help democrats i don't think it is an issue that may be as big a half term of the decide the election. i think it is important for suburban women, to younger women. that is how i would view it if i were democrat. eñbut i think that the message for me in is more than a slogan or a timeline. a real, coherent message narrative of why vote for me and

not one of the other candidates or the other candidate for party. if you can be part of the message, i think a good message i described in the book and i think everything that needs is more than a single issue. very often, the economy is the deciding issue campaigns. we now have european elections for european parliament in early june and i have the anticipation that immigration and asylum will be a huge issue across europe. host: speaking of immigration huge issue here in the united states as well. and many republicans are really focusing on immigration, order security. and we have an advertisement here from the trump campaign o a defenseless young girl was brutally raped and killed by illegal alien and no member of the violet ms 13 game. the killer was detained at the border but released onto our 355

is weak bordbidens open border puts us all at risk by releasing criminal illegals into our communities. we have to stop joe close our border. host: why does this issue havesoh resilience globally? guest: i wrote a piece about that, why immigration is the secret weapon of the right. re entering a campaign i think you should where your own side is united and enthusiastic and ideally the other side is divided. and i think immigration is such an issue for the right. because everybody on the right agrees with the ad and i'm afraid even a substantial part ofb democrats would actually agree with it. it is the perfect issue for ththere are also examples for the left. countries climate change and the is an issue for the left that they feel strong abmany other people in the middle of the right actually

agree that it is a problem that should be dealt with. host: we are with questions for mr. perron. our number for democrats is (202) 748-8000. for republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents at (202) 748-8002. let's start with a question from cody in springfield, mery on her line for independence. i haven't seen you in a while, i'm going to tell youfirst off, god is protecting donald trump. they won't even given secret service. donald trump at the convention, everybody thinks he is going to get that black man. i think'going to take barbie, there's not going to be no he's going to take bobby kennedy for his vice president. y kennedy is a lot like his daddy and that is the't give it a secret service. if a lot donald trump up the

street, if they take that man in handcuffs there will be a civil war the united states god is trying to prote -- host: i'm going to let mr. perron respond to a specific element of what you brought up. what is your take on the candidacy of robert f. kennedy jr.? you do have a candidate with a very famous uncle was president and his father is a u.s. senator who is challenging not only an incumbent, but also a past president. guest: quite a unique situation. i listened to the segment prior to our talk. the u.s. is just a very solid two-party system. looking at things from a distance sometimes helps see forward and not get lost in the trees. i think the u.s. to remain a two-party system. anotherthis gentleman calling in is that obviously, trump has a very enthusiastic base.

think probably the most enthusiastic base of any politician around the world. that said, he's also the most probably alive right now. speaking of trump in particular and his unique brand of populism, to challengers or two incumbents in particular have an advantage in this popuir seeing here in the u.s. and abroad? anger at the, does that make nonincumbeny something of absolutely. i think people are more and more willing to take a risk and i have an entire chapter in my book about outsi and then you macron in france, zelenskyy at the time and donald trump would be another great example. instead of politicizing the advantages of a challenger, they look down on the advantages of a challenger. yes, absolutely in today's

environment it is so polarizing people arecythat can be a big advantage. s or the fact that president trump iscome into consideration? guest: he's not a normal incumbent because he is obviously a very vulnerable incumbent of the vote question, who are you going to vote for, but becausof thederlying dynamics flecked in the polls a majority ofeople disapprove of the job he's doing. people think the country is going in the wrong direction. what does that mean? means of the votes he needs to get these people to vote for him job that makes theminition very vulnerable and i think, yes, age is of course the elephant in the room. and i wrote another piece about this for the hill. i think thatfrom beating trump.

it is interesting that you mention polls because headline pridentiallection polls are close and meaningless. why do you think that the case? guest: i wanted to provoke a victim of course. att in time, it really doesn't matter if you're a point ahead or a behind. i think it is a close election that unlike some very fundamental changes,international, war economical, remain a very close election because both candidates are deeplywed general election candidate. now, you may think that it's always better to be ahead in the all. i actually disagree from a consultant perspective because i think it is like a sweet pois ding candidates and their teams sleep, making them full of confidence at a time when

serious dramatic action is needed. think from a handlers is necessarily better to be ahead. host:sylvania on airline for democrats. caller: thank you so much. i just wanted to ask, we've seen the economy, especially since covid, it has really kind of rebounded in a way that not a lo and our european caocessions. so i think my main question is why, despite this economic rebound why has this malaise nd of persisted in the united states? i mean, i'm sure it is cultural but i would juststed in hearing your perspective on that. thank you. guest: it's because inflation is extremely dangerous politically. and let me expwe haven't had inflation

for time as a political issue that we forgot how dangerous it is. if there is unemployment in the country, maybe 10%, 15% of people are affected with imaybe another 10% worry about it or knowy who is effective. but inflation is different. everybody s everybody feels it. it may not be existential for everybody, but it is an issue that everybody feels. that is why it is so dangerous what i can tell from my own experience around the globe, it is everywhere as an issue. a lot of folks in southeast asia, it is the same thing is really a global issue and actually policy-wise there is not all that much that can be politically, this ismely dangerous. host:veors in the u.s. are extremely powerful. ar donors allowed to contribute hugeot that's a great question.

for example, in europe there is a european system werectually, with many differences, the european system is that parties get something from the government to run their campaigns. which i think has the advantage that of course, speci less influx. then of course there are other models around the globe that are much les regulated sometimes in developing countries donations are done in. there are differences in the u.s. one. host: republi, cans how are you doing? i'd like to know whatxactly has mr. lied about? ery time i hear these democrats say he live this, he lied about this.

host: perronid that mr. trump has lied about anything. do you have a question specifically for him? caller: yes. what do you think mr. biden is going to do about the illegal aliens that are coming here and killing american citizens? the fentanyl that -- host: that didn't se to be a question specifically for you but it did reflect what we were talking about of the narrative around immigration. guest:strategically, i think from a biden perspective, you want to get the issue off the table. the easiest way to getting an issue off the table is to agree with your opponent. and counterintuitive because it a vulnerable on a certain issue, but they are doing is trying toe easiest is just do what the opponent on to an issue where you are strong on area on.

i wrote actual pieces, one unwed by would do and one on would do and i think with a strong analytical case. but for biden, absolutely. don't want this election to be about immigration, take it off the table. i think that is what he is trying to do. host:articles on real clear politics. the headline, how joe biden can win reelection and then similarly, how donald trump can beat joe biden. we have anothereptransition tot: money in politics of course helps and can be dangerous. that said, i do have faith in the institution of america and the i've worked in countries where voter fraudi've actually worked with candidates where you would think one candidate would

be winning and it really felt like the second batch or reactions to the first. i really can feel how many republicansbut of course what i tell clients and can is cheaplace, your country, and you have to factor in. you have to enter election day with a five, not a one point lead. i think good i've seen the u.s. is a very stable constitution. host: and the other question, how do we beat authoritarian political movements in a democratic republic? guest: well, by being engaged, by being involved by being courageous, i have encouraged to and up and by going to the polls. always impressed when people have election. thyou had an opportunity to vote.

s participate and get out and vote. host: another question on the nand not favored at the moment. does he still have a chawican you get a little bit of a background on that particular elecon and talk about whether or not rishi sunak yes. so the tories were in power or have been in power since 2010. that is a long time. i think with every election, the sheeris becoming an issue because people after a whius j rishi sunak as a person is actually relatively new, and i think that is why he makes this gutsy move to call for an election now. i wouldn't bet my last dollar on him. 5i think he is in a very tough situation the book, whilencbent there awoection.

one, how to win reelection easily, and then another comeback when you are a vulnerable incumbent. and i think that is a chapter for rishi sunak most certainly. host: tony is in ohio on the line for democrats. your question? caller: just had a question. i personally get tired of hearing that hunter biden is treated differentlyck person who had gun charges or drug charges. i get tired of hearing that over here in america, but i'm wondering how your guest feels about how that is over there in england or throughout europe. the is ridiculous when they tried to act like a hunter is treated betterson or a black person in america? i'll hang up so i can hear you. ok. guest:y" from our perspectivethis

whole hunter biden thing has never really caught fire, never really caught steam. and remember, it is not him, it is not hunter biden who is on the ballot. arents have children who did things that maybe they are less proud of. it is not joe biden. another thing though, ohio is a state that i actually watch a very, very carefully, and i remember the times democrats won when barack obama and bill clinton they were actually very competitive in ohio and work very, very hard for ohio and now it seemsocrats have almost given up on ohio. yourhing very carefully as this unfolds. host: south dakota, line for independents. good morning thomas. caller: thank you very much. this is thomas. my major commepresident genocide has

to be stopped and he is against all war and it is time for americathe military-industrial has gotten to the point where america is in trouble. and mr. kennedy will be able to thank you very much. host: a candidates that kind of fit into the rfk gu globally that you've seen recently? guest: not in that circumstance. quite a unique setting. the whole election is quiteunique where you have sort of two incumbents running against each other. as a consideration for the re is a lot of media attention on third-party cand that they may end up in the oval office is just very, very slim. the chance that they affect the electoral vote and outcome of the election however, is really

real. host: rusty is in florida on the line for republicansgood morning, rusty. ller: do you think that joe biden is a threat to democracy on his department of justice is acting? host: pretty direct question. guest: no, i don't think so. i don't think that he actually -- i think the only way he can win reelection. so that i also wrote a piece about this for real clear politics. i think the fact that donald trump is accused of so many things makes it much easier from a communicat view to swing this as poone example i also write about in the is in ukraine, that , tactic used very

skillfully when he was becoming a leading competitor before he became a target when he ran for president. and he was a comedianhe time he ever ran for office. and what he did when hed attacks is that he made the competition out of it. ed his supporters on instagram to send in the most ridiculous accusations against him and then chose a winner. and of course, that allowed him to actually deal with all theagainst him together, ridiculed them and sort of surround in the noise of the competition it was a very brilliant move. i think the same dynamics actually helped trump. really is an authent? guest: well, i try very hard not personal convictions. i am a very political personsocial media posts, on my blog, in interviews like this

not to tell my personal opnsbut as i said before, i faith in the u.s. constitution, i have faith constitution host: we ended there for now. the author of the new book "pt incumbent: proven strategies and tactics to win elections." thank you so much for joining us from switzerland. guest: thank you and i wish you day. host: after a bri come back and ask a ay, whd-part canreennd we will be right back. ♪ >> jefferson memorial foundation professor of history at the university of virginia. he is only one of five history ers who have wonsurprised twice. his 11 books focus mostly on the early years of the creation of

the united states. his latest book is title wars, continental history 1850-1873. during these 23 years, north america's three largest countries, canada, mexico the last all transformed themselves into nations. stories of black soldiers fighting for the union, native americans struggling to preserve their homelandn thed states and the west, women fortifying the homeland and newly arrived immigrantsthe civil war. host: author and historian alan taylor on this episode of footnotes+. on the c-span now free mobile app or wherever youst>> weekends bring you book tv featuring latest authors discussing their latest nonfictigeorge mason university brian kaplanernment regulation of the housing industry has caused prices to skyrocstephe liberalism is and argues it is in american history

and informs on current isss. watch every weekend and find a full schedule on booktv.org. washington journal continues. host: welcome back. output the remainder of this hour third-party candidate this election? (202 free democrats,. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independent, (202) 748-8002. before we get to your calls last week president biden delivered a 2020 for commencement address at the ned states military academy in west point, new york.tion of those comments. president biden: that's, make no mistake, hard world. you cannot draw any other conclusion when power course for neighbors when terrorists attempt evilat is

why i am making historic investments in our military. overhauling our defense industrial base. for decades, america has had the most powerful military in the world. but that happened because we chose to make it happen. using force only when required to protect our nation. allies, our core interest. when anyone targets american if members of the u.s. was killed in an unmanned drone attack near northeast jordan. in response we launched thousands of successful airstrikes and we will never forget to under the memory of those warriors whoto fight against terrorism. cadets, west point has made you leaders of character. you will be united states army officers. serve powerful roles in equarters of the pentagon even in the white house because -- and face challenges a

previous generation of when that happens, hold fast to your values. you learn here at west point duty, honor, country. ase. we will not live, steal or cheat nor tolerate those who do. and above all, hold fast to your.on your very first day at west raised your right hand and took an over -- to a political party, not to a states of america. against all enemies foreign. tha biden delivering the commencement address yesterday at west point military academy in new now back to our question, we do support a third-party candidate this election? we aierore that they don't want. if that is not wasting a vote. next up we will hear from robert inublicans. would you support a third-party candidate? caller:

at first just want t preface, i guess toward the end of what you would consider a younger poacher cup -- voter, i'm approaching 35. i think the most important thing is to combat the democrats have put into epic cities with theirthere's no reason to ever vote democratic and unless you enjoy crime, and their position on abortion is absolutely disgusting. i will be supporting trump. host: baltimore, line for ats. what about you? wh you support a third-party candidate this election? caller: i like to think of it and i encourage everyone to think of america$g a corporation and the presidency as a job interview for the ceo of that corporation. if you think of it that way, it doesn't matter what letter comes after their name. the most qualified person to run your

d i would just kind ofon something that robert said, my fellow maryland or. marylander. i've never, ever ever heard a democrat say that abortion is ok up to birth andhi thing that just keeps getting regurgitated over and over again. i don' right mind that was part that, no democrat i know has ever agreed to that or wanted that. in the end, if donald trump is who you want representing corporation to the world it is not just qualities and qualifications. also you have to decide what kind of image you want for us into the world. and the lack of self-control that donald trump shows cannot be good for this country corporation. so yes would represent my country in a wayank you.

host: texas line for independence, good morning. and can you turn down the volume on youtv your comment. caller: ok. you want to think of this like a corporation? host: turn down the volume on your tv and then tell us with the suppor i will support donald trump becauserybody talks about how bad he is, but he is not a criminal. es more and he has neverbehaviors. host: to hear you because of the background on the tv so we will try to come back to you if we can. jose is in clearwater, florida on the line would you support a third-party candidate? jose, ar caller: yes, i'm here, me?

my answer,ld not support a third-party candidate because on the democratic side, as much as people complain about biden and his criminal history i just heard a gentleman talk about democrats, making it easy for criminals. turn around and vote for the biggest criminal in the united states of americathis guy has rights, he is taking away people's civil rights. people seem to forget what he did during the pandemic. irecting people to eat bleach i mean, who does this? th have a third grade level reading level. i just can't understand how america could vote for someone going to be convicted or is a convicted felon but yet you can't join the military in the united states of america or carry a gun here if you have been arrested or have a felony. the hypocrisy in the united states is turned around.

speaking of criticism of former president trump during the covid-19 independent presidential candidate robert f. kennedy, jr. at the libertarian national convention spoke about former president trump's handling of the pandemic. here is a portion of those rerk the fifth amendment says that no one shall be life, liberty or property unless convicted of a crime. yet president trump shut down 3.3 million businesses. president trump so that he was going to run america like a business, and he he gave the keys to all of their businesses to a fifty-year bureaucrat who had never been elected to anything and had no accountability. he businesses with no due proceno just compensation, in violation of the fit amendment. president trump presided over

the greatest restriction on individual liberty discount -- country has ever known. he didn't stand up for the constitution when it really mattered. st: another party comes via text inions. that is how we would get rid of the -- in government. las vegas on the line for republicans. would you support a third-p not a chance. because of the fact that we've been in a two-party system, and a third-party candidate sure, they are going to peel off votes but they are not going to win anl votes. it is just going to make the whole process a weaker process. some of your callers, especially that last caller. people talking about the bleach business and all that.

donald trump is the greatest president we've ever had period. and it is only because he's got the media, the democrats people who really don't pay attention. since obama energized vote. it is t control right now of this next election. and the demoats are so afraid of this man that they are tryingqdto make him some kind of criminal or something. he's just a man. ( is acting like a man. and they can't stand it because they know that everything they've thrown at him- trump or her trump. to find a place in the trump administration, i really do. i think they are going to put him in charge of some sort of domestic policy or something but i think you will find a place. and i'm not sure is completely going to run yet.

pick a democrat for his vice president, because he's got to show tth there that a' nuts use to describe them. host: ok, kenneth is in indiana on our line for independents. caller: good morning. in regards to your question about third-party candidates, i just want to remind you that john adams is often attributed with saying that the position of theublicans is to be dreadedyou've founding fathers who spoke against the formation of two parties. george washington warns against many of the poor outcomes that we see today. more and more political party leaders of both major americans in some way or disenfranchised and dissatisfied with

congress, most recently march of this year has a 15% approval rating a 92% reelection rate. for those callers that have called in and viee street that say third-rtcandidates steal votes, no third-y candidates earned votes. they earn hearts and minds by speaking directly toiv on local, statewide and national races. that is all i want to say so thank you for having me on this morning. host: indiana, line for republicans, good morning. caller:rni'd just like to say that old that you people put on just a viewpoint of democrats and you cut off any other viewpoint that you and it just seems thatsee, you cut -- ok. host: you can make a comment.

thomrty candidate this election? caller: absolutely not. host: why iscaller: because for oneng, a third-party candidate, most of are just fakes. they have no platform. they use, what would you say they have viewpoints that don't even make any sense. host: thanks for your callnext up is leslie in ponca city, oklahoma. would you support a third-party candidate? caller: no i wouldn't. host: why is that? caller: first of all, i would support donald trump -- i wouldn't support donald trump becausehe man and also how many people you see with epstein who has three different wives, it is called adultery. they remaining mexico policy

during the that helped donald reduce that and how many of those people waited in mto cross into america. i look at the tariff that donald trump put on china and other countries that change our economy. and who did that money go to? that is why wouldn't suprt a third-party candidate and i wouldn't support donald trump. host:robert is in north carolina on the line for indis there a particular third-party candidate that you gh absolutely not. we have to basically -- everybody needs to get together because trump, his crew, steve bannon, steve miller roger stone, mike flynn, alex people