company. you could figure that out. >> you're so annoying and i love you so much for it. >> you use this title of senator to do all kinds of things in your state to help working families, and that all comes out of the dignity of work that dr. king said no job is menial if it pays an adequate wage, and my job is to help make sure that happens. >> some of the senators -- many of them have interesting ideological trajectories that put them in places where they find themselves arguing for progressive positions that you wouldn't have necessarily counted on. i wonder how much you think those trajectories are still possible in our time? >> i think at some point, al gore sr., the former vice president's father held the desk i sit in now, desk 88, and senators the way i came to this was i -- when you decide where you're going to sit on the senate floor, you pull your desk drawer out and senators actually like middle school carve their names in it.
given unemployment of ohio went down, you would think any place he would do well it would be there. it makes me wonder of the broader appeal of his kind of politics of the place he's most designed to appeal to. we talk to connie schultz. her first novel of "the daughters of erietown" and "desk 88" of sherrod brown. you guys know each other, right? >> i am curious of what the view from the ground of ohio looks like to you right now? >> sherrod ran for reelection last year. >> we help focus groups throughout the state. something started happening as we got closer. the guys and men were lost.
would be there. it makes me wonder about the broader appeal of his pollacktipolitics in places it's designed to appeal to. she got her first daughter the daughters of erie town coming out next year. and the author of "desk 88" here. good to have you here. you guys know each other, right? i'm just curious in a general sense what the view from the ground of ohio looks like to you right now at this moment. >> as you know he ran for re-election last year. we held focus groups with trump voters throughout the state, and something started happening as we got closer to november. the guys, the men were lost to us. i remember sitting there listening to them talk about how
and i said ted come here a second, and he said it's got to be bobby's. i have jack's desk. gore in his last term voted against civil rights in 1964. his son, the fumer vice president and his daughter who i believe became the elected official in new jersey both implored him to vote for and he decided not to. he then broke with the democratic president, opposed the war in vietnam, only politician in tennessee, and then he lost in 1970 because he was willing to stand up to nixon on two racist judges and nixon went after him. but he made a decision late in his career, i'm willing to lose an election. and politicians willing to lose an election are always better at their jobs. don't go anywhere. rachel maddow is next. jobs don't go anywhere. rachel maddow is next. prepare d with retirement planning and advice for what you need today and tomorrow. because when you're with fidelity, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward.
figure that out. but you use this title of senator to do all kinds of things in your state to help working families, and that all comes out of the dignity of work that dr. king said no job is menial if it pays an adequate wage, and my job is to help make sure that happens. >> your most recent book is about some of the senators that had the desk you have. many of them had interesting ideological trajectories where they put themselves arguing for places in progressive places. >> al gore, sr. and when you decide where you're going to sits on the senate floor, you full your desk drawer out and they had their names in it, and one name said kennedy and ted kennedy was sitting nearby.
>> let me phrase it this way, i think there is a greater risk of having donald trump re-elected than there was before and in the end i looked in the mirror and said you just cannot let this happen. >> out front now cher rot brown of ohio. he has a new book, desk 88. and i want to talk to you about the message of that in a moment. i think it's important and relevant to the field as we look at it. when it comes to mayor bloomberg, you considered running for the white house. you decided not to. do you agree with him, that there is a greater risk of president trump being re-elected now. >> i do not. trump is in more trouble now. it's in the gene. it's in the democrat's gene pool, i think, their genetic makeup. woe is us, we're going to win. we have a good shot of beating them. my state's harder than the other midwest industrial states. he will leave the white house
sometime in early 2021. >> i want to ask you about your date on that, too, because obviously that's important in the context -- >> the operation? >> i'm thinking about the impeachment conversation. you told "the new york times" in july, quote, you never thought joe biden would be the nominee. do you still feel that way? >> i don't know. i think that -- i think it's wide open. i think any number of five or six or seven people, i'm not going to let you narrow it down to which five or six. i think it is a wide open race. the leader in state by state at this time in the campaign often isn't the one who wins that state. i think we all have to talk about it. that's what we do. i'm not really that concerned. i think we're going to win. >> in your new book you write about the generations of progressives who occupy your seat in desk 88. president obama has been ta-- p
relationship with putin and what all that means. they all know better, but they love the tax cuts trump's given them, they love the tax on labor and government and the young right wing judges, plus republicans are scared of their primary voters. they helped build this president up by never criticizing him, and now they've realized they've created this monster at home where they if they attack trump at home in any way they pay a price. >> "desk 88," eight progressive senators who changed america, right? we've got a picture of your desk in the senate. it's up on the screen now. senator robert kennedy also sat there, and many others. this desk represents really the figurative torch that you're carrying for these progressive senators that came before you. what was that like when you realized you'd be sitting in
that desk? >> well, it was pretty exciting. it started off this way. the freshman senators choose last where we're going to sit. there were ten desks left to the ten freshman and there were no bad seats. you're not sitting behind a pillar or anything. i heard senators carve their names in desk drawers so i pulled out three or four drawers. this desk i saw said mcgovern south dakota, and just said kennedy. i said which brother's desk is this, it just says kennedy, and he says well it's got to be bobby's because i have jack's desk and i started thinking about when the desk represented. and it really does represent my belief in the power of government to make peoples lives better. and that's what hugo black did, t.f. green did, ben taylor did, that's what bobby kennedy did. and that's why i wrote this book to emphasize the importance of progressive change. >> it's fascinating. thank you so much.
what a pleasure to have you on. i really appreciate it. >> and my pleasure, too. thanks for the show, don. it really matters. >> the book again is "desk 88 eight progressive senators who changed america" by sharrod brown. roger stone on trial. and today in court insults, threats and "the godfather."