Weeds 2020: The Bernie electability debate

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

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

4.5 • 11.1K Ratings

🗓️ 29 February 2020

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome to Weeds 2020! Every other Saturday Ezra and Matt will be exploring a wide range of topics related to the 2020 race. Since the Nevada caucuses, Bernie Sanders has become the clear frontrunner in the 2020 Democratic primary, spurring lots of debate over whether he could win in the general election. We discuss where the electability conversation often goes off-the-rails, why discussing electability in 2020 is so different than 1964 or 1972, the case for and against Bernie’s electability prospects, and the strongest attacks that Trump could make against Sanders and Joe Biden. Then, we discuss Ezra’s favorite topic of all time: the filibuster. Ezra gives a brief history of this weird procedural tool, and we discuss why so many current Senators are against eliminating it. Resources: "Bernie Sanders can unify Democrats and beat Trump in 2020" by Matthew Yglesias, Vox "The case for Elizabeth Warren" by Ezra Klein, Vox "How the filibuster broke the US Senate" by Alvin Chang, Vox "Running Bernie Sanders Against Trump Would Be an Act of Insanity" by Jonathan Chait, Intelligencer "The Sixty Trillion Dollar Man" by Ronald brownstein, Atlantic "The Day One Agenda" by David Dayen, American Prospect "Bernie Sanders looks electable in surveys — but it could be a mirage" by David Broockman and Joshua Kalla, Vox Hosts: Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior correspondent, Vox Ezra Klein (@ezraklein), Editor-at-large, Vox 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 About Vox Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Follow Us: Vox.com Facebook group: The Weeds New to the show? Check out the Ezra Klein Show beginner's guide Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Grey Area is brought to you by Into the Mix, a Ben and Jerry's podcast about joy and justice produced with Fox Creative.
0:08.0	Their second season tells real stories from real people directly impacted by some of today's most pressing issues.
0:15.0	The latest episode of Into the Mix takes listeners to the dairy barns of rural Vermont,
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0:42.0	If you want to vote for Bernie Sanders because you feel good about his program,
0:47.0	because you don't like the banks on Wall Street or you don't like pharmaceuticals,
0:51.0	that's completely legitimate, I understand that.
0:54.0	If you voting for him because you think he'll win the election because you'll galvanize here
0:59.0	to four sleepy parts of the electorate, then politically you're a fool.
1:11.0	Hello, welcome to another episode of The Weeds on the Vox Media Podcast Network.
1:14.0	I'm Matthew Eglaceus, joined today by Ezra Klein.
1:17.0	This is part of we are going to be doing The Weeds on Saturday,
1:21.0	at least through the election campaign, alternate weeks.
1:24.0	You'll hear me and Ezra talking about campaign 2020 and the election season,
1:28.0	and that's going to be switching with interviews by Jane Kostin with some of the thinkers and actors,
1:33.0	movers and shakers in the conservative world.
1:35.0	So we are trying to do more weeds.
1:38.0	All weeds, everything.
1:40.0	Related to that, I do want to make a quick job announcement,
	...

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