The Note: Biden at center of Democrats’ #MeToo reckoning

Is it possible to understand Lucy Flores, Amy Lappos and still trust Joe Biden?

By
Rick Klein
 and
MaryAlice Parks
April 2, 2019, 5:59 AM ET
7 min read

The TAKE with Rick Klein

Is it possible for Democrats to understand Lucy Flores and Amy Lappos and still trust Joe Biden?

That question now looms over the 2020 campaign, as the former vice president mulls his final decision about whether to run for president under growing questions about his behavior toward women.

It's a question the Democratic Party has made more difficult for itself. If there is a double standard in the era of President Donald Trump, Democrats created that in part back when they forced Sen. Al Franken out of office.

The Democrats who are already running for president are nearly unanimous in trumpeting women's right to be heard, as well as Biden's need to explain himself. Even Biden himself, while saying he never felt he acted inappropriately, says he's listening and learning.

Perhaps the rules have changed around a man who has been in public life for four and half decades. Perhaps none of this should matter in a race against Trump.

All of that, though, rests of the shoulders of Biden and voters now. The Democrats are finding themselves in the midst of a #MeToo reckoning, with a beloved and complicated man at the center.

The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks

With the first fundraising quarter of 2019 behind us, campaigns will be bragging in the coming days about how much money they raised and by whom.

Sen. Bernie Sanders' team was aiming to hit a 1 million-donor mark last week. His senior staff will hold a call with reporters Tuesday to give an update.

Unexpectedly, Mayor Pete Buttigieg was the first to come out with a figure Monday. Hitting a high-water mark for his exploratory committee, the young, South Bend, Indiana, executive said his campaign brought in $7 million since January.

Sanders, by comparison, raised nearly that in one day.

The sum shows Buttigieg is resonating with some folks and reminds pundits not to discount anyone.

The TIP with John Verhovek

In the wake of bitter fights over Trump's two U.S. Supreme Court nominees, repeated failures to pass major legislation to combat climate change or enact immigration reform, progressive activists are pressing the Democratic presidential field on issues including changing the number of justices on the nation's highest court and ridding the U.S. Senate of the long-dreaded filibuster. These issues were put to almost all of the Democratic presidential candidates who attended the "We the People" forum in Washington Tuesday.

They found varying degrees of support among the White House hopefuls. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee all wholeheartedly embraced the idea of abolishing the Electoral College.

On reforming the Supreme Court, Sanders said, "My worry is that the next time Republicans are in power, they will do the same thing."

And if the filibuster were ended today, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said, "I will tell you, if we had the filibuster reform for all issues, this actual Senate would undermine women's rights, gay rights and clean air, clean water legislation across the board."

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" Podcast. Tuesday morning's episode features ABC News' Kyra Phillips, who says a whistleblower is coming forward to discuss security clearances at the White House. Then, ABC News Chief National correspondent Matt Gutman takes us to El Paso, Texas, where he says border facilities are reaching a breaking point. Finally, ABC News Deputy Political Director MaryAlice Parks tells us how the accusations of inappropriate contact against former Vice President Joe Biden are playing in the 2020 field, and why South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is having a moment. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

FiveThirtyEight's Politics Podcast: What Will Biden Do? Former Vice President Joe Biden is currently leading Democratic primary polls, and all indications are that he intends to run for the Democratic nomination in 2020. In this episode of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew discusses the kinds of challenges his potential campaign could face and whether those will deter him. https://53eig.ht/2BxH8BV

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

  • President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg​ in the afternoon. Later, he keynotes the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual spring dinner at 7 p.m.
  • Presidential candidate and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., holds a roundtable discussion with Carson City and Reno teachers and speaks at an event hosted by Battle Born Progress in Carson City, Nevada.
  • Presidential candidate and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee testifies at the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on local leaders dealing with climate change at 10 a.m.
  • Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hold a press conference on health care on the steps of the Supreme Court at 10 a.m.
  • The House Oversight committee holds a hearing on the issuance of subpoena-related security clearances, beginning at 10 a.m.
  • Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump visits Nashua, New Hampshire as part of the "Spring to Victory: 2020 Vision" reception, hosted by New Hampshire Republicans, starting at 5:30 p.m.
  • Polls open in Chicago's mayoral race runoff at 6 a.m. CST, after Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot emerged from a crowded field in the general election on Feb. 26. Regardless of the winner, Chicago is poised to elect its first African-American female mayor.
  • Billionaire and progressive activist Tom Steyer hosts an impeachment town hall in Southern California. Steyer aims to show support for impeaching Trump among voters in House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff's congressional district.

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