The Note: Biden and Trump force parties to look inward

President Donald Trump greeted Joe Biden’s entrance into the race with insults.

By
Rick Klein
 and
MaryAlice Parks
April 26, 2019, 6:00 AM ET
6 min read

The TAKE with Rick Klein

President Donald Trump greeted former Vice President Joe Biden's entrance into the race with insults.

But the insults the president has hurled at special counsel Robert Mueller's team -- combined with the steps he's taking to block cooperation with congressional investigations -- could do more to define the 2020 race than any Twitter-ready nicknames.

For his part, Biden starts his campaign wrangling with his past, including a famous and not-forgotten episode involving Anita Hill and her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Biden will respond to that and much more in his first interview as a candidate today on ABC's "The View."

Biden has started his campaign by making it explicitly about Trump and what he represents. And Trump is more than happy to return that favor.

But both Trump and Biden are forcing important intra-party conversations into the open. In critical ways, those conversations involve both men squaring off against themselves.

The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks

And then there were 20.

The largest Democratic primary field in decades includes: six women, six sitting senators, six former and current mayors and one former vice president -- for now. Their ages span four decades, and their experience in and out of Washington and executive roles varies enormously.

And there's buzz that the field could grow again with yet another red state Democratic governor contemplating a run.

Nonetheless, the breadth and range of candidates is fascinating. And while it's surely overwhelming to some, it fits a party that has been in a period of renewal and rebuilding since the last presidential campaign.

Maybe it's that soul-searching that makes Biden's campaign feel both logical and illogical at the same time -- a symbol of a day when the party felt strong, but also a symbol of a past. His greatest challenge might be convincing voters that he has a vision for the future.

The TIP with John Verhovek

Five 2020 candidates descend on the state of Nevada this weekend to court a key constituency: union workers.

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, former Rep. Beto O'Rourke and Sens. Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren were all slated to attend a convention, put on by the Service Employees International Union and the Center for American Progress, focused on labor unions and economic policies aimed at the working class.

But it was Biden whom one of Nevada's favorite political sons spoke highly of earlier this week, although he stopped short of endorsing him, saying he would wait until after the February 2020 caucuses to make that decision.

"I think Joe Biden can succeed in the Democratic Party of today, I think he's a good candidate. I always boast about my affection for him. I think the world of him," former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters on Thursday during a press call.

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" podcast. Friday morning's episode features ABC News Senior National correspondent Terry Moran, who tells us about former Vice President Joe Biden's first day as an official 2020 presidential candidate. Then, ABC News' Rachel Scott previews President Donald Trump's visit to the annual National Rifle Association convention. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

FiveThirtyEight's "Politics Podcast." The FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast crew discusses how former Vice President Joe Biden could win the Democratic nomination and also why he might come up short. A core question for his campaign will be whether he runs as a consensus candidate or as a factional candidate, relying on the older and more moderate part of the Democratic Party. https://53eig.ht/2Vw3C1o

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

  • Former Vice President Joe Biden, appears on "The View" at 11 a.m. for his first interview since announcing his candidacy.
  • President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will be in Indianapolis at the NRA's annual meeting.
  • Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., makes his fifth trip to South Carolina, with stops in Richland, Clarendon, Hampton, Beaufort and Charleston counties throughout the weekend.
  • Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., travels to New Hampshire to meet with voters in Nashua and Keene.
  • In California, former Gov. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., stops in San Francisco on Friday for a Q&A at the Commonwealth Club. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., visits the state on Friday for a series of media appearances, before traveling to Las Vegas for a roundtable discussion with veterans on Saturday. Former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke makes his first visit to California on Saturday for a four-day grassroots trip across the state with stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, the Central Valley and San Diego.
  • In Nevada, O'Rourke travels to Las Vegas and Henderson. And former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro will also visit Las Vegas for several campaign events.
  • The Service Employees International Union and the Center for American Progress Action Fund host a day-long “National Forum on Wages and Working People: Creating an Economy that Works for All” on Saturday featuring several 2020 presidential candidates including: Castro, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Hickenlooper, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., O'Rourke and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
  • Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., Warren, and entrepreneur Andrew Yang visit Iowa this weekend to meet with voters in the early-nominating state.
  • Harris stops in Cleveland for the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Annual Dinner at 5 p.m. local time on Sunday.
  • Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continue their speaking tour in Wallingford, Connecticut, on Friday and then Washington on Saturday.
  • The White House Correspondents' Association hosts its annual dinner in Washington on Saturday evening.

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