On the eve of the October 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, Joe Biden - then the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - was asked by Chris Matthews about what would happen after the Taliban was toppled.

Here's his first answer - will post the follow-up questions next:
Matthews then asked about the possibility of Afghanistan turning into another Vietnam:
And on what the government of Afghanistan would look like post-invasion:
And finally Matthews asked about Saddam Hussein:

"Do you think we should fight him?"

"Eventually, yes."

"Eventually fight him?

"Eventually."

• • •

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More from @SteveKornacki

19 Jan
I'm going to post some old clips here of news coverage from the final hours of recent presidencies....
1/19/81: Jimmy Carter works through the night seeking the release of the 52 American hostages in Iran - a crisis that had helped destroy his presidency - and hoping to personally greet them before his term ends.

(They ended up being freed minutes after his term expired)
1/18/89: Ronald Reagan, who'd played George Gipp in a 1940 movie, greets the national champion Notre Dame football team and along with First Lady Nancy Reagan delivers an emotional farewell to White House staff and members of his administration:
Read 5 tweets
25 Nov 20
With a few House races still outstanding and likely to be settled by a handful of votes (with potential legal maneuvering to come), here's a look back at one of the closest, most contested and most politically consequential House races of all time: Indiana's Bloody 8th in 1984...
The race pitted first-term Democrat Frank McCloskey against 28-year-old GOP challenger Rick McIntyre in a notoriously marginal Indiana district that spanned from Bloomington to Evansville. On Election Night, it was too close to call…
When all votes were initially tallied several days after Election Day, McCloskey was up by 72 votes. McIntyre, though, noted potential tabulation errors in several counties and filed for recounts and the GOP Sec. of State refused to certify McCloskey as the winner:
Read 8 tweets
24 Nov 20
For David Dinkins, who passed away at 93 yesterday, the path to his historic election as NYC mayor began in the 1988 NY presidential primary.

Jesse Jackson came to the April primary hot off a big win in Michigan, and third term Mayor Ed Koch made it his mission to stop him:
Jackson, who had been caught referring to NYC as "Hymietown" a few years earlier, was already a controversial figure. Koch's relentless attacks on him overshadowed the campaign and helped to polarize the electorate along familiar demographic lines:
Jackson ended up losing New York state handily to Michael Dukakis in the 4/19/88 primary, a result that effectively sealed the nomination for Dukakis.

But, in a surprise, Jackson, with overwhelming black turnout and support, carried New York City, a clear rebuke of the mayor:
Read 6 tweets
29 Oct 20
"It's 1980 all over again!"
“Well, it wasn’t 1980 -- but it was a lot like 2008”:
“Biden really ran up the score in metro areas and got the turnout Hillary couldn't in Milwaukee and Detroit, but wow -- Trump really did hold on to that rural white support":
Read 5 tweets
21 Sep 20
Morning Consult poll - new SCOTUS justice should be picked by:

Winner of election 50%
Trump, no matter who wins 37%

morningconsult.com/2020/09/21/sup…
---
Looking back at '16, NBC/WSJ asked several times about how the Scalia seat should be filled:

February 2016
Vote on Obama pick 43%
Leave vacant & wait for new president 42%

March 2016
Vote on Obama 48%
Leave and wait 37%

April 2016
Vote on Obama pick 52%
Leave and wait 30%
Except after Scalia's death, the Trump/GOP position in '16 was broadly unpopular. It's remembered as successful because he won and more Trump voters cited the court as their top issue. But again what I wonder is....
Read 4 tweets
21 Sep 20
In the summer of '16 and again this summer, Pew asked what issues voters consider "very important," with SCOTUS importance rising 4 points among Dem voters and falling 9 w/ Trump voters:

2016
Clinton voters 62%
Trump voters 70%

2020
Biden voters 66%
Trump voters 61%
While the court was more central to Trump voters in '16, Trump also fared poorly in '16 polls on broad SCOTUS questions. The Oct. '16 NBC/WSJ poll asked which candidate would be better when it came to making SCOTUS appointments:

Clinton 48%
Trump 38%
Like everyone, I'm curious if this new fight will scramble the numbers - if R's calling this very important will spike, if the Dem number will ratchet up too, if there will end being a disparity between the parties, etc. But I also wonder what all of this is really measuring.
Read 4 tweets

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