Can a Newcomer Unseat Lindsey Graham? Plus, Carlos Lozada on “What Were We Thinking”

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

News, Wnyc, David, Arts, Yorker, Society & Culture, Storytelling, Books, New, Remnick, Politics

4.2 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 September 2020

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jaime Harrison may seem like a long shot to become a South Carolina senator: he is a Black Democrat who grew up on food stamps in public housing, and he has never held elected public office. But a Quinnipiac poll ties him with Lindsay Graham—each has the support of forty-eight per cent of likely voters. Harrison is not exactly a progressive upstart candidate: he’s spent much of his career as a lobbyist, and has worked in the office of House Majority Whip James Clyburn. “I’ve seen the power of how good public servants can really address the issues of what people deal with,” Harrison tells David Remnick. “The worst thing you can do as a public servant is to betray the trust of the people that you represent.” For Harrison, Graham’s decision to support a fast-track nomination to the Supreme Court proves that “his word is worthless.” Plus, Carlos Lozada, a Washington Post books editor, immersed himself in a new genre: books that purport to explain Donald Trump and his era.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:08.8	Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. The fight over the Supreme Court nomination is on.
0:15.7	The focus is squarely on the Senate as the Republican majority vows to bring a Trump nominee to the floor
0:21.3	in the midst of a heated presidential campaign. But as that battle is being waged,
0:27.0	Democrats and Senate races all across the country are polling surprisingly well and in some
0:32.3	unlikely places, Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, all of which went for Trump in 2016.
0:39.4	In South Carolina, a Democrat named Jamie Harrison, a 44-year-old black man, is running to unseat
0:46.2	Lindsey Graham, who chairs the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee.
0:50.5	Harrison seemed like a long shot early on, but a poll this month put them neck and neck,
0:55.7	tied at 48% among likely voters.
0:59.6	Jamie Harrison has been the associate chairman of the Democratic National Committee since 2017.
1:05.2	He's a former lobbyist, and he worked in the office of Representative Jim Clyburn.
1:09.8	We spoke last week.
1:11.7	Hello, how are you?
1:12.7	I'm all right.
1:13.4	I'm probably, you know, a tad less busy than you, but...
1:16.9	So as we speak, you are running in a race declared a tie in one major poll against Lindsey Graham,
1:23.9	who's one of the most prominent Republican members of the Senate.
1:27.3	You've been a party official, but you've never held public office.
1:31.2	What happened?
1:32.2	How have you gotten into this position?
1:34.5	And what's at the core of your contest with Lindsey Graham?
	...

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