David Axelrod

I think he needs to debate. This is a close race. Everyone's seen these polls. They have their own polls. He knows that he has to cross this hurdle.

If you're sitting around the kitchen table talking about the Democracy in the future of democracy, probably because you don't have to worry about the cost of the food on your table.

He is a force. He -- they think he is doing well in this campaign. These guys want to be vice president. That's why they're turning up.

I think his economic messaging is incredibly weak.

I think he is desperate for -- I think he must be mortified when he looks at poll after poll that says the American people trust Donald Trump more on the economy.

I think the analogy just doesn't hold up.

It must be mortifying and he can't find a way out of this cul-de-sac.

I do think he's concerned about going to jail. I think the judge was pretty clear in his remarks and Trump heard him.

What if there's an acquittal or a hung jury? That could have a helpful effect for Trump and coloring all of these prosecutions.

I don't think there's as much evidence that this will help him in a general election.

It seems improbable. But 91 counts and four indictments strengthened him through the primary season because we are living in tribal times and Republicans rallied around Trump.

I think it helps him a lot. There's a big body of evidence in polling that conviction in any of these cases, but in these federal cases, in particular, would be harmful to him.

Joe Lieberman was a really significant figure in history. And he will be remembered as such.

I think very, I mean, money is very, very important in campaigns. It's how, you know, you need that money to pay for organization. You need that money to get your message out.

There's a reason why the president's lawyers are working so hard to delay these trials. They're trying to push them off past November because they understand that this case... could cost them the election.

Butler told CNN that he's speaking publicly now because he believes voters should hear the truth before the November election.

Fundamentally, what his message should be is I am fighting for your future. The other guy is absorbed by his past and vengeance.

He needs to talk about the day to day struggles that people are having and fit the things he's done and the things he wants to do into the fight to make it work for them.

And remember, someone said it earlier. He worked in this building for 36 years. He's very comfortable in that kind of environment.

Yes, look, I think he's got two big missions here. One has to do with what he has to say, because there are a lot of people who are hungering to know what is the message?

He's got to demand that they take action. They're probably 300 votes on the floor of that Congress for this, and the Speaker of the House at the instance of Donald Trump won't bring it up.

Donald Trump is not focused on the American people. He's focused - I mean, how you do it in a State of the Union is trick, but he's focused on himself.

He has to tell a narrative - he has to share a narrative that gives people a sense of where he's been, what he's done and why.

I would - if I were the Biden campaign, I would pay to have every American see the CPAC convention because the thing that has been thwarting Republicans in the midterms and since has been this impression of the Republican Party as an…

I think that if you look at this poll after poll, one thing that would concern Democrats is that Trump is consistently pulling 20, 21 percent of African American voters. If it stays that way, he's going to be president of the United States…