Whether or not Warren is able to make up any ground with Sanders' more progressive supporters, one of Clinton's biggest problems remains the trust issue. Is the candidate honest and trustworthy?
That CNN-ORC poll taken over the weekend finds Trump now has a double-digit lead over Clinton in this area, with 68% of registered voters saying they do not trust Hillary Clinton. That is something her campaign is working hard to change this week.
The line that gets repeated among her staffers is that she is the most famous, least well-known person in America. To fight that, just as Trump did, she's bringing her family to bat for her this week in Philadelphia, along with other, ordinary people who have known her throughout her life. The Wall Street Journal may have put it best, with their headline, “Make Hillary Likeable Again.” Progressive Media Director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell), discusses.
Jim Braude: Zerlina, good to meet you, thanks so much for being here. I appreciate it.
Zerlina Maxwell: Thanks so much for having me.
JB: How aggravated is the Clinton campaign that it took so long for Debbie Wasserman Schultz to get with the program and go home, or at least not be on that stage today?
ZM: Well I think that you saw yesterday her step down, really with the explicit purpose of not being a continuing distraction, because what we are trying to do here this week in Philadelphia is show that we really are stronger together and that we really need to come together as a party to defeat Donald Trump in the fall. And that’s what we’re focusing on, I think that in your intro you talked about how there are going to be a lot of personal stories talking about the accomplishments of Secretary Clinton, and I think that people will learn things that they didn’t already know about her record and about the things that she was able to accomplish. For example, getting health insurance for 8 million children after losing the Hillary Care fight in the 90s.
JB: Let’s stay on the Schultz controversy for one more minute. Your boss, well I guess he’s your boss, he’s the campaign manager, Robby Mook was with Jake Tapper yesterday on CNN. Here’s a little bit of their exchange—
JB: Zerlina, just to clarify for the people at home, while it’s been confirmed that in fact it was Russian hackers that started this whole process, the other part of what Mook has to say – there is no confirmation, no set of facts, that suggest that the timing was intentional or that there’s any connection to Putin’s relationship or affection for Donald Trump. That’s correct, right?
ZM: Well look, I’m not going to speculate about something so serious, but I think what Robby was trying to say is that there are experts that looked at all of the information and determined that state actors from Russia were the ones that went and hacked into the DNC emails and I think that that is really a very important issue that we all should be concerned about, no matter what side of the aisle we are on, because those kinds of data breeches that we’ve seen in different departments across the federal government are very serious and alarming. And I think that we all should be much more vigilant and focus on making sure that that doesn’t happen in any other situation.
JB: To say that Bernie Sanders has been a good soldier since he endorsed your candidate is an understatement. He tried again today in front of a thousand plus Sanders delegates. When he said we gotta defeat Donald Trump he gets cheers, when he says we gotta support Clinton and Kaine he gets booed. Are you worried that he’s gonna get the same reaction tonight when he mentions your candidate’s name and Tim Kaine’s name?
ZM: Look, I can’t control the reactions of a large crowd such as this one, but what I do know is that Bernie Sanders, like so many under democrats, understands what is at stake in this election. This is not just every other election cycle; this is a very critical moment in which we’re running against someone that is dangerous and divisive named Donald Trump. And Mike Pence, they’re the most extreme ticket we have ever seen, and so for so many Americans, for so many Black Americans and Latinos, this is life and death. I mean the stakes could not be higher here. We’re talking about deporting 11 million human beings from this country that are undocumented. And things that are very inhumane, and so I think that we as democrats need to come together because we can be stronger moving forward towards a progressive agenda. The democratic platform that’s going to be approved is the most progressive in history, and I think that that shows that Bernie Sanders had a real positive impact on the democratic primary, and now we’re gonna move forward together and try to achieve many of those progressive ideals and goals.
JB: I wanna focus on a couple of contrast between the two conventions. It seems to me as an observer, law and order, safety, and that obscene “lock her up” chant were the basic themes of what happened in Cleveland. New York Times says today that, “Democrats looking past Obama are a party without a cause.” What is the cause? What is the core theme, not rhetorical, what’s the cause of this week’s election, this candidacy?
ZM: Well today’s theme and message is all about making families stronger, and I think that that begins with changing many of the outdated policies like not having paid family leave – we are one of the only developed countries on planet Earth that does not have paid family leave, right. Raising the minimum wage to a living wage, trying to make sure that we expand upon Obama Care so that even more Americans are able to access affordable heath care. There are so many critical issues for families all across this country who are struggling to make ends meet. And we wanna make sure that we’re building an economy that enhances the lives of those Americans – all Americans, not just those that are on the top percentage of the income scale. And we need to make sure that we’re working together to do that because that’s also going to take a Congress that’s willing to work with the next President. And so that means that we need to register as many voters as possible. Right now, we have a GOTV and voter registration push to register 3 million voters. And so I think that, you know we are on the right track to make sure that not only we elect Hilary Clinton and Tim Kaine, but also all the way down the ballot so that we have a Congress that will push forward these progressive ideals and goals.
JB: GOTV, obviously being Get Out To Vote. I wanna talk about another major difference. No mention of Black Lives Matter in Cleveland. Some night this week, the so-called Mothers of the Movement, mothers of people like Eric Garner, Michael Brown, will take the stage. What’s the message that they’re gonna share with millions of people at home and the thousands in the hall?
ZM: Well they’ve really been able to turn their tragedy into activism. And advocacy towards policy change to ensure that gun violence and also police brutality is no longer a blight on our society. I think that they all have very emotional and moving stories to tell. They all have unique narratives to share. And I think that they’ve been a very powerful voice and advocates for their particular cause, which is ensuring that our streets are safe for every single individual American that walks them. And I think that they’re – they’re amazing, right. I mean I think that they obviously had such a profound, deep pain but they have been able to turn that into activism. And I think that they should be hailed for that effort.
JB: Are you worried that their activism on behalf on their children and to ensure it doesn’t happen again will be perceived by at least some of the millions watching as anti-law enforcement?
ZM: No, I don’t think so. I think that the message is that we want everybody to be safe. That includes our police officers, we know that police officers are going out into the streets and into our communities and they are sworn to serve and protect us. And so we wanna make sure that they are not injuring those same community members that they’re sworn to serve and protect. And so that includes one billion dollars. Hillary Clinton has talked about one billion dollars going into studying implicit bias and improving training programs. But that also means that the communities and police departments need to come together so that we can have more of a community policing that is the norm, as opposed to what we have now, which is I think an unacceptable standard.
JB: Zerlina, just a couple of seconds left. As horrible has the Republican Convention was – according to your campaign manager, your candidate, and everybody else – Donald Trump got a pretty significant bump. That would suggest the American people see it differently than you do, wouldn’t it?
ZM: Well I think that the Republican Convention, its target audience was not me, and it wasn’t members of the Democratic Party. And so what I think you’re seeing is a bounce among the people that the message was aimed at. But I don’t think that represents the majority of Americans. I think the majority of Americans, and you see them behind me – a very diverse array of people. People from all walks of life: all ethnicities, all genders, all sexual orientations. And that is what America is about. We are stronger together, and I think that this convention represents all of America. I didn’t really see myself represented last week in the Republican Convention in Cleveland, but I’m going to see people who look like me, who have my experience, represented here, and I’m very proud of that as a democrat.
JB: Zerlina, it’s great to meet you. Thanks so much for your time. I appreciate it.
ZM: Thank you.
