By Tyler Barth
Don’t rule out a woman winning the Oval Office.
Or Michael Bloomberg, despite his late entrance into the 2020 presidential sweepstakes.
These were among the observations of four expert politics-watchers who spoke Wednesday at the Drew Forum in Madison.
Tamara Keith, Danielle Kurtzleben, Domenico Montanaro and Mara Liasson, all of National Public Radio’s Washington desk, recorded an episode of their NPR Politics Podcast at Drew University.
For 90 minutes, the four hosts entertained, intrigued and interacted with the sold-out audience of about 400 at the Dorothy Young Theater.
They spoke of the Democrats’ efforts to impeach President Trump, and the approaching caucuses and primaries.
“Four people cannot be the nominee. Twelve people cannot be the nominee,” said Keith. “People have stopped being polite and started getting real.”
Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren are the Democratic front-runners. Sanders, Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Michael Bennet are currently moored to Washington D.C. with their fellow Senators, for Trump’s impeachment trial.
“They are not allowed to use their phones. They are not allowed to talk. And this trial is lasting eight hours a day, six days a week,” said Keith.
In opening statements this week, Democratic managers from the House have argued that Trump abused his power by pressuring Ukraine’s leader to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
But the radio reporters consider Trump’s conviction unlikely, because 20 Republican Senators would have to vote for the president’s removal from office.
Trump’s team is using the trial as a marketing opportunity, lambasting the Democrats’ efforts as an attempt to strip Americans’ “sacred right” to decide whether an elected official remains in office.
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in 2016, and the public remains open to the idea of a woman president, according to Montanaro, citing an NPR poll on favorable traits in a candidate.
“Being a woman was at the top of that list,” Montanaro said.
However, 20 percent of women polled, and 10 percent of men, do not believe a woman could become president, Kurtzleben said. Most of the females in this group were older women, she said.
The speakers did not rule out Bloomberg. The former New York mayor is skipping the first four contests–Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, and South Carolina–and is banking everything on Super Tuesday, March 3, when 14 states, including California and Texas, hold their primaries.
The billionaire has launched an advertising spree, referencing the impeachment case in a recent ad.
New Jersey’s primary comes on June 2, the final day of primaries, alongside New Mexico, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington D.C.
Wednesday’s forum also afforded a brief look into how NPR podcasts are produced. At different points, the audience was asked to provide ambient sounds: Light and heavy applause, and laughter.
The podcast can be heard here.