Begala: I Want The Democratic Presidential Primary To Be Vicious, I Want Fighting; Rep. Anna Paulina Luna: “So You Want MAGA?”
On HBO’s “Real Time,” Democratic strategist Paul Begala argued Democrats need a “vicious” primary to unite the party behind a strong nominee. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), a guest on the panel, asked, “So you want MAGA?”
BILL MAHER: What do you make of the. What do you make of the recent polling that suggests California may be choosing between two Republican candidates for governor? REP. ANNA PAULINA LUNA (R-FL): I love that. MAHER: We have jungle primaries out here, right? I mean, I think that means you can have as many candidates and the top two. It doesn’t have to be from different parties. It’s the top two no matter what party and the top two polling now are both Republicans. PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: It just means the Democrats got to get their act together. I don’t live in a state that does this, but I kind of like the idea of these jungle primaries. The idea, I think, to produce more moderate nominees. MAHER: Totally. BEGALA: It seems like a good idea. If it produces two Republicans, that’s what it produces. Democrats got to get their act together and hone in on one or two of their strongest instead of having 20. MAHER: Let me ask a follow up question. What does that information tell you about Gavin Newsom’s chance to get the nomination? Because obviously he’s running for president and Josh Shapiro is running for president. And I mean, Josh Shapiro, he was here last week. He has a really good story to tell about his state. And I like Gavin a lot, but that’s a lot harder story to tell. BEGALA: Oh, I think my party has more talent than I’ve ever seen. This is part of the tragedy of Joe Biden running, is that he had the best bench behind him that I’ve ever seen. And Gavin is part of it. And Shapiro is part of it. Wes Moore, Andy Beshear. I’m now naming people. My buddy, Rahm Emanuel, has been on your show. He’s seriously thinking about winning the ideas primary. MAHER: You have a favorite among them? BEGALA: Well, Rahm is one of my closest friends. OK, so if he runs, I’m for it. Period. I mean, he and I were like brothers. But but in terms of talent, let’s put them. We don’t know until they’re on the track. Let’s put them on the track. But I want. Unlike in 2024, I want a primary and I want it to be vicious. I want fighting. LUNA: So you want MAGA? BEGALA: I want to see sharpened steel LUNA: So you want MAGA? [LAUGHTER] BEGALA: I certainly don’t want MAGA. But when when Hillary ran against Barack, I was a part of that. No, I was for Hillary. But I was like, oh, this is terrible. It wasn’t. It wasn’t the toughest primary I ever saw in my life was Hillary versus Barack. And it made Barack tougher and stronger and smarter. It made Hillary Secretary of State, the party united. So I’m now for tough primary.
