Is Josh Kraft a viable candidate for mayor of Boston?

OUR HOLIDAY WEEKEND ROUNDTABLE IS READY TO GO. WE SHOULD BE ON THE BEACH. BUT WE’RE NOT. WE’RE HERE WITH YOU JOINING US THIS MORNING. DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL ANALYST MARIANNE MARSH AND REPUBLICAN POLITICAL ANALYST ROB GRAY. ALL RIGHT. LET’S START WITH JOHN DEATON. WE GOT TO KICK THE TIRES A BIT. MARIANNE. HE WENT OUT OF HIS WAY TO DEFINE HIMSELF AS A CHARLIE BAKER REPUBLICAN. AND THAT TELLS YOU WHAT A COUPLE THINGS. WELL, ONE, WE KNOW A LOT OF BAKER PEOPLE ARE WORKING FOR HIM. KAREN POLITO IS DOING A FUNDRAISER FOR HIM, SO HE’S TRYING TO CLOAK HIMSELF IN THE CHARLIE BAKER AURA. AND THAT REALLY KIND OF UNDERCUTS HIS SELL AGAINST ELIZABETH WARREN. WHY WOULDN’T YOU TAKE THE REAL THING AND HE’S DOING IT IN A YEAR WHEN DONALD TRUMP IS THE TOP OF THE TICKET HERE IN MASSACHUSETTS, WHICH IS WHAT SHARMAN SAID. THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT SHARMAN SAID. YOU KNOW, I THOUGHT IT WAS A STRONG INTERVIEW, BUT MARIANNE PUTS HER FINGER ON THE KEY ISSUE, WHICH IS IN A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YEAR IN MASSACHUSETTS, A MILLION MORE VOTERS THAN NORMALLY COMES OUT. THAT’S NOT GREAT FOR REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES. UNFORTUNATELY. I’D LOVE TO SEE ONE OF THESE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES TAKE OUT ELIZABETH WARREN TO DO IT. THEY’RE GOING TO HAVE TO RAISE A LOT OF MONEY. JOHN DEAN’S GOING TO HAVE TO RAISE A LOT OF MONEY. SCOTT BROWN SPENT $37 MILLION TO LOSE TO WARREN IN 2012. SO STEEP HILL TO CLIMB HOPEFULLY YEARS AGO A LONG TIME AGO. SO LONG TIME AGO. INFLATION MORE EXPENSIVE. HE NEEDS TO RAISE THE MONEY. YEAH. ALL RIGHT. CLOSING ARGUMENTS AND FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S HUSH MONEY TRIAL WILL HAPPEN ON TUESDAY. NO MATTER WHAT THE OUTCOME, HIS CAMPAIGN WILL CHURN ALONG THE MAGA BASE WON’T CARE MUCH, BUT WOULD A CONVICTION OR ACQUITTAL MOVE OTHER VOTERS IN ANY SIGNIFICANT WAY? ROB THE WALL TO WALL COVERAGE OF THIS TRIAL IS HELPING TRUMP. HE IS SAYING THAT HE’S BEING PERSECUTED BY THE MEDIA. IT HE IS BEING PERSECUTED BY THE MEDIA. I MEAN, WALL TO WALL ON THE MORNING SHOWS, THEY’RE COVERING TRUMP’S TRIAL AND TED OF OTHER ISSUES INTO ABSOLUTE SHIRLEY. ABSOLUTELY. I MEAN, IT’S HELPING HIM WITH VOTERS. THEY DON’T LOVE THE MEDIA. THEY MAY NOT LIKE TRUMP EITHER, BUT TRUMP, TRUMP BEING PERSECUTED BY THE MEDIA AND LIBERAL PROSECUTORS HELPS TRUMP’S TRUMP WITH AVERAGE VOTERS. SO DOES THAT DOES THAT HURT JOE BIDEN? NO, IT HURTS DONALD TRUMP. THIS IS WHERE I DISAGREE WITH ROB. THE FACT IS, DOES IT HELP HIM IN A PRIMARY? SURE. BUT THE PRIMARY IS PRETTY MUCH OVER. DOES IT HURT HURT HIM IN A GENERAL ELECTION? YES. AND NOT JUST WITH INDEPENDENT VOTERS. ABC POLL HAS IT OUT. TRUMP SUPPORTERS IF HE’S CONVICTED OF A FELONY, 16% OF THEM WOULD RECONSIDER THEIR SUPPORT. 4% OF THEM SAID THEY WOULD NOT VOTE FOR HIM. THAT’S THE BALL GAME IN THIS ELECTION THING LIKE THIS TRIAL AND OTHER TRIALS IN THE WALL TO WALL COVERAGE. IT’S BEEN GOING ON FOR MONTHS. TRUMP. TRUMP IS ONLY GETTING STRONGER. BIDEN IS ONLY GETTING WEAKER. YOU LOOK AT THE POLL AVERAGES. YOU LOOK AT BIDEN’S JOB APPROVAL. HIS JOB APPROVAL IS GOING DOWN. YOU SEE THE EYE ROLL SHE JUST GAVE YOU? I JUST WANT I JUST WANT TO MAKE SHOWING UP. I MEAN, IT’S JUST JUST LOOK AT THE FACTS. SO I MEAN, WE WE KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON. IT’S HELPING TRUMP RIGHT NOW. FACTS ARE STUBBORN THINGS. AND THE FACT IS THERE HASN’T BEEN A VERDICT RENDERED YET. AND IF THERE IS A VERDICT RENDERED AND HE’S GUILTY, THEN IT’S GOING TO REALLY HURT HIM. ALL RIGHT. WHAT ABOUT TRUMP? BACKPEDDLING ON COMMENTS ABOUT SUPPORTING BIRTH CONTROL RESTRICTIONS. IF REELECTED ED DO YOU THINK THINK THAT WORKS FOR DEMOCRATS? ROB I DO THINK IT WORKS. I MEAN, HE SHOOTS FROM THE LIP AND HE GETS HE GETS CAUGHT A LOT. UM, HE CAN USUALLY TALK HIS WAY OUT OF IT. BUT THIS THIS DOESN’T HELP. NO REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS THAT THAT’S AN ISSUE THAT COULD REALLY HURT TRUMP IN THE FALL. WOMEN KNOW THAT THEIR RIGHTS AND THEIR LIVES ARE ON THE BALLOT THIS NOVEMBER. AND THAT IS THE ROCKET FUEL THAT’S GOING TO SEND EVERY DEMOCRAT, INCLUDING JOE BIDEN, BACK INTO OFFICE. AND TRUMP CAN TRY TO HUM AND A HUMMANA HUMMANA HIS WAY THROUGH IT. IT’S NOT WORKING. WOMEN GET THAT, AND THEY ARE GOING TO TURN OUT IN DROVES TO VOTE AGAINST IT. BIDEN MADE A PIT STOP IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, CAME HERE TO MASSACHUSETTS, PICKED UP A COUPLE OF CHECKS IN BOSTON, HE ANNOUNCED THE RELEASE OF A MILLION BARRELS OF GAS TO GIVE DRIVERS A BREAK. THIS SUMMER. THAT’S GOOD POLITICS, MARIANNE, BUT NOT EXACTLY IN KEEPING WITH HIS CLIMATE FORWARD POLICIES. PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS ALSO MADE THEIR PRESENCE FELT. IS HE DOING THE RIGHT THINGS TO TO TO BRIDGE THAT WIDE ENTHUSIASM GAP, OR IS HE JUST WAITING FOR DONALD TRUMP TO DO THAT? SO NOVEMBER ELECTIONS ARE WON IN JUNE, JULY AND AUGUST. WHAT DO WE HAVE COMING UP IN JUNE? THE FIRST DEBATE AND THE BIDEN CAMPAIGN, WE THINK, WELL, WE’LL SEE IF TRUMP SHOWS UP. BUT THE BIDEN CAMPAIGN HAS ALREADY LAUNCHED A CAMPAIGN, A FOR THAT DEBATE, WITH AN AD THEY RELEASED ON FRIDAY MORNING REMINDING EVERYBODY WHO DONALD TRUMP IS. JULY IS THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION FRONT AND CENTER. AUGUST IS THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION. JUST THOSE THREE THINGS ARE GOING TO PUT THIS RACE AND DONALD TRUMP IN FRONT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. AND THE CHOICE THEY’RE GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE IN NOVEMBER. AND THIS WILL BE A DIFFERENT RACE. BIDEN IS PLAYING SMALL BALL ON THIS. I MEAN, VOTERS AREN’T DUMB. THEY GET THAT RELEASING A MILLION BARRELS FROM THE STRATEGIC RESERVE IS GOING TO DO NOTHING ON GAS PRICES. HE IS PLAYING INTO THE NOTION THAT HE’S A WEAK INCUMBENT WHO DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO WIN. SO HE’S THROWING OUT THESE IDEAS. I DON’T THINK IT’S HELPING HIM. ALL RIGHT. RUMORS PICKING UP THAT JOSH KRAFT’S SON OF PATRIOTS OWNER ROBERT KRAFT MIGHT BE CONSIDERING A RUN FOR BOSTON MAYOR, MONEY CERTAINLY WON’T BE A PROBLEM. BUT TAKING ON MAYOR MICHELLE WU WITH A BLANK POLITICAL RESUME COULD BE THE CRAFT NAME. OF COURSE, IT’S WELL KNOWN. WOULD IT BE ENOUGH TO MAKE HIM A LEGITIMATE CONTENDER? MARIANNE. SO JOSH KRAFT IS THE LATEST TRIAL BALLOON IN EVERYBODY LOOKING FOR SOMEBODY TO RUN AGAINST. MICHELLE WU STARTED WITH AARON MURPHY, THEN IT WAS ED FLYNN, THEN IT WAS WILLIE GROSS. NOW WE’RE ON JOSH KRAFT. HERE’S THE PROBLEM FOR JOSH KRAFT. IT IS ONE THING TO WORK IN BOSTON. IT’S ANOTHER THING TO LIVE HERE. HE MOVED HERE MORE RECENTLY. BUT WHAT HE’S REALLY GOING TO FACE AS A FIRST TIME CANDIDATE. YEAH HE’S GOT NAME RECOGNITION. HE’S GOT MONEY. BUT HE’S GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE THE CASE. BUT MICHELLE WU IS A POLITICAL FORCE THAT EVERYBODY UNDERESTIMATES. SHE WON HER MAYORAL RACE BY 29%. SHE WON OUT OF 22 WARDS, 19 OF THEM BETWEEN 50 PLUS PERCENT AND 80%. EVERYONE SAYS IT WOULD BE TOUGH TO BEAT AN INCUMBENT MAYOR, AND THAT IS TRUE. HOWEVER, MICHELLE WU SHE GOT INTO THE RACE AGAINST MARTY WALSH AND HAD THAT RACE HAPPENED, MICHELLE WU WOULD HAVE BEATEN MARTY WALSH. SO DON’T UNDERESTIMATE HER. WHAT DO YOU THINK, ROB? I MEAN, GIVE ME SOMEBODY WHO’S RUN FOR DOGCATCHER BEFORE, SOMEBODY WHO’S NEVER RUN FOR OFFICE ANY DAY OF THE WEEK. UM, YOU KNOW, BIG NAME, BIG MONEY. HOW WOULD HE DIFFERENTIATE HIMSELF? I THINK MARIANNE IS RIGHT. I MEAN, THERE’S A LOT TO GO AFTER. MICHELLE WU ON ON, UH, REGULATION HIGHER TAXES, UM, FREE TRANSIT. HOW IS THIS A GOOD IDEA? I DON’T THINK HE’LL DO IT EVEN IF HE RUNS, I DON’T THINK HE’LL GO AFTER HER HARD ENOUGH TO WIN. AND IT’S ALSO THE OLD BOSTON TRYING TO HOLD ON TO THE LAST VESTIGES OF POWER WHEN BOSTON’S BECOMING A YOUNGER, MORE DIVERSE CITY AND EVE