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The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Dan Pfeiffer on Joe Biden, beating Trump, and saving democracy

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Politics, News, News Commentary, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.511.1K Ratings

🗓️ 12 March 2020

⏱️ 96 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Before becoming the co-host of Pod Save America, Dan Pfeiffer spent most of his adult life in Democratic Party politics, which included serving as White House communications director for President Barack Obama. But in his new book Un-Trumping America, the former operative levels some sharp criticism toward the party he came of political age in.  Contrary to the rhetoric of the leading Democratic presidential candidate, Pfeiffer doesn’t think of Donald Trump as the source of our current social and political ills, and he doesn’t believe that beating Trump will bring about a return to “normalcy.” For Pfeiffer, Trump is a symptom of much deeper forces in our politics — forces that will continue to proliferate unless Democrats get serious about, among other things, genuine structural reform. Among the things we discuss:  - Pfeiffer’s view that Donald Trump is the favorite in 2020 - Why the core divide in the Democratic Party isn’t progressive vs. moderate - The flaws in both Sanders and Biden’s theories of institutional change  - The way Obama looms over the Democratic primary — perhaps even more than Trump does  - The case for, and against, filibuster reform - Pfeiffer’s biggest regret from inside the Obama administration - What working with Joe Biden is like - Why the Obama White House didn’t rally around Biden in 2016 - The damage the political consultant class does to Democrats - What the left got wrong about the Democratic Party - Why Democrats need to prioritize democracy itself References: Ezra's profile of Joe Biden Book recommendations: Nixonland by Rick Perlstein The Known World by Edward P. Jones No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin New to the show? Want to check out Ezra's favorite episodes? Check out the Ezra Klein Show beginner's guide (http://bit.ly/EKSbeginhere) The “Why We’re Polarized” tour continues, with events in Austin, Nashville, Chicago, and Greenville. Go to WhyWerePolarized.com for the full schedule! Want to contact the show? Reach out at ezrakleinshow@vox.com Credits: Engineer - Cynthia Gil Producer/Editor - Jeff Geld Researcher - Roge Karma Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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1:04.0

I just find the opposition to the filibuster to be such an infuriating position to have because you're acknowledging that we're going to do nothing about climate change until the planet melts.

1:15.0

If we have to wait for 8-10 Republicans to decide to do something about climate change, the Senate is going to be underwater.

1:33.0

Hello and welcome to this our client show on the Vox Media podcast network.

1:37.0

My guest today is Dan Fyfer, my best known now for being co-host of hot safe America videos.

1:42.0

Of course communications director in the Obama White House and he is the author of the new book Untrumping America.

1:47.0

And this is a great conversation to have right now both about political strategy and the Democratic Party in this moment.

1:52.0

But also about the broader context in which a Democratic Party is taking place and trying to figure out its way forward.

1:57.0

Which I think is often understood to be the context of Donald Trump.

2:02.0

But in a very fundamental way that I think is not rigorously looked at or argued out well, it's actually the context of Barack Obama and what he succeeded at and what he failed.

2:11.0

So we dig into that pretty deeply here.

2:13.0

As always my email is as a client show at box.com again as a client show at box.com here is Dan Fyfer.

2:19.0

Dan Fyfer welcome back guest. It's good to be here. I want to start with something you say in the book that a lot of people are not going to like to hear.

...

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