Crossfire

Are Bush and Gore Saying Anything That Young Voters Want to Hear?

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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AL GORE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Prescription drug benefit.

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GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Prescription drug coverage.

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GORE: Medicare program.

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BUSH: We'll reform Medicare.

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GORE: Social Security.

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BUSH: Social Security.

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MARY MATALIN, CO-HOST: Tonight, are Bush or Gore saying anything that young voters want to hear? Are young people being ignored? And is this why so many are expected to stay home election day?

ANNOUNCER: Live from Washington, CROSSFIRE. On the left, Bill Press, on the right, Mary Matalin. In the crossfire, Mance Bowden, executive director of the Young Republican National Federation and Jay Parmley, national president of the Young Democrats of America.

MATALIN: Good evening, and welcome to CROSSFIRE. Tonight, the first election returns come in. Tens of thousands of K through 12 students across the country voted on-site and on-line. Those results will be announced our CNN election special at 8:00 p.m. Eastern tonight.

Sure, they don't officially count, but they never have been wrong. The theory being kids pick up on parental preferences. The bad news is this accurate youth becomes apathetic youth when it comes time to casting real votes. History shows a 30-year decline among young voters. So while George W. Bush enjoys a nine-point advantage over Al Gore among 18-29-year-olds, according to our latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, support doesn't count if it doesn't translate into votes.

So, in the crossfire tonight: the youth vote. Why are young people tuning out, turning off and dropping out of politics? Will Campaign 2000 reverse that trend? How are Bush and Gore appealing to our future leaders. Bill Press is spinning with Tucker Carlson in "THE SPIN ROOM" all week at 10:00 p.m.

Sitting on the left in Boston, is Brandeis professor, inspiration to youth, many, many youths across the country, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. Professor, good evening, you inspiration, you.

ROBERT REICH, GUEST HOST: Good evening to you, Mary.

And I have got a question for you, right off, and this is about a question of youthful indiscretion or maybe it's adult irresponsibility. And I am very curious about this. Apparently aides to Governor Bush have just admitted or just acknowledged that the governor at the age of 30 was arrested for driving under the influence, drunken driving. His license was taken away.

Now, you know, Mance, as well as I do, that drunken driving is the number one killer of young people in this country. Do you that think that this new revelation is going to change some young people's minds about this man, Governor George W. Bush?

MANCE BOWDEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, YOUNG REPUBLICANS: Mr. Secretary, I don't believe it will at all. I believe the governor has been very, very honest and said at one time in his life there was a point where he drank too much and he quit. He has admitted that and he's gone on.

REICH: But Mance, at the age of 30, it would be one thing if somebody was 18 or maybe 20 or 23, but are we talking about a youthful indiscretion here with regard to drunken driving or about a 30-year- old man who ought to know far better and might actually be quite careless with the reins or the steering wheel of the nation in his hands?

BOWDEN: Mr. Secretary, I think that's taking it a little bit too far. I believe the governor has said repeatedly that he had a drinking problem at one time. He quit drinking. He is reformed. He's just fine and I don't think this will make a difference.

I do believe that it was politically charged to come out five days before the election and I think it was wrong.

MATALIN: Well, while we are on it, let me say when we are talking about politicians in a really incredibly ancient indiscretion, I don't think we want to be bringing it five days before when we have somebody sitting in the Oval Office that was 50 years old, I guess, who should have known better at the time, OK? And do we want to talk about what Al Gore's friends said when he as in his 20s, right up until he ran for Congress, that he was the notorious pothead? I don't think so. So, let's just put that off and let's move on.

Let me talk to you, Jay, about the youth vote and a poll, an MTV poll reporting "Weekly Standard." This is really frightening. Eighteen to 24-year-olds, 33 percent don't plan to vote. Twenty-five percent can't name candidates and 70 percent can't name their running mates, whom all of adult pundits say should be at the top of the ticket.

Really, what's going on? Why do you think that's the case?

JAY PARMLEY, PRESIDENT, YOUNG DEMOCRATS: Well, I think we have seen a trend over the last 30 years where young people don't vote and I think it's directly related to the fact that candidates don't directly reach young people specifically. They talk about issues that we care about, but they are really not honing a message that directs it directly to young people. They talk a lot about senior citizens. They talk about middle-aged Americans, but they vote, so they get a return for the investment of the dollar, if you will, in a campaign. So, I think that both candidates, Governor Bush and Vice President Gore and their campaigns could certainly do a better job in terms of talking directly to young people. But I think that's the number one reason why we continue to see a decline.

MATALIN: Do you work, Jay? Of course you do, right?

PARMLEY: Yes, I do.

MATALIN: So, you have taxes taken out of your check and you are paying into Social Security. Don't you think young people understand that across-the-board tax relief, which they only get from George Bush and being able at your age to invest in Social Security to have an asset for your retirement?

PARMLEY: I think it's a publicity ploy in many senses, Mary. I think that young people do work, they do pay taxes but they also understand the value of helping other young people get a good education, helping other young people get a good job. And that's where Vice President Gore's record is outstanding in these last eight years. Creating 22 million new jobs...

(CROSSTALK) But honestly, though, why would we risk -- I mean young people can't remember the deficits of the Reagan-Bush era and they can't remember when this economy was bad and so they are being fooled if you will into believing that investing in the stock market is wise for them 20 and 30 years. We both know the stock market moves and cycles in and out and I think it's a much wiser investment.

MATALIN: And as your account said before he was running that if the stock market has proved repeatedly over cycle after cycle after cycle to give a greater return.

Go ahead, Professor, sorry to cut you off.

REICH: I just wanted pursue this whole question of lack of interest or apathy among young people. What is interesting to me, Mance, and I very much appreciate your view of this. We have had in recent, well, even in this primary, we had a lot of enthusiasm among youth for John McCain and for Bill Bradley. Over in Minnesota, not long ago in that gubernatorial election. Jesse Ventura got a lot of young people very excited. Ralph Nader in this election has lot of young people very exited.

Now, what is it, in your view, Mance, that is in common that all of these four men who attracted a great deal of young enthusiasm from young voters, what do they have in common that the two major candidates today, perhaps, lack?

BOWDEN: I believe Governor Bush has the same qualities that the other four gentlemen have that you have mentioned. I do believe that he comes across as real. I believe all of them came across as real. Young people these days have a BS meter, if you will, and Vice President Gore sets it on tilt. When he sits there and says, I invented the Internet, I did this, I did that and it comes out that he really didn't do it, that turns off younger voters and they look towards people who seem very real, who seem very honest and who seem good to go. And that's where they come up with Senator McCain, Senator Bradley and Governor Bush.

REICH: Well, there was a big problem I remember during the primaries. Governor Bush went to speak at Bob Jones University. He was very, very far on the right. He changed his stripes entirely. There was a lot of charges that he was very well-scripted. He even is now very well-scripted. Do you think, again, using your term, the BS meter, perhaps, rises considerably with George W. Bush?

BOWDEN: No, I don't. I believe the governor comes across as very real, as very honest. And that's why the Gallup polls and even your own CNN poll show that the 18 to 29 age bracket go better with Governor Bush than they do with Vice President Gore.

MATALIN: Jay, you know what I want to do now as a mother, I want you to give me some advice for my young ones because these scholastic polls and the election result that's going to be announced tonight that Wolf's going to do after the show. All of these, according to "The New York Post," the Channel 1, the Nickelodeon, the Scholastic, Weekly Reader, my personal favorite, all favored Bush. And again, the theory being, they are hearing their parents. But when they get to college, these same kids who wanted to do everything they're parents wanted, all of a sudden want to have nothing do with their parents. Isn't kind of the age group that we are looking at particularly at college age -- if Daddy and Mommy are saying it's good, I'm going to go the other way, including if Daddy and Mommy are voting, I don't want to have anything to do with it.

Isn't there kind of that rebellious stage?

PARMLEY: That may be part but of it, but I think the other thing we find in college is that it's a wonderful opportunity to, sort of, do new things and think differently and gives you an opportunity to, sort of, think a little more broadly. We also know, I mean, one of most disturbing things about this in some of these polls that are being conducted, we also know that young people in colleges, it's taken almost the entire decade of the '90s, but a slim 52 percent of them, side with Democrats, in terms of issues this time.

I think that what we have to be doing in terms of young people is really talking to them about the issues. And to back up just a second on what the secretary talked to Mance about was that, the thing that I think Governor Bush and that Al Gore both aren't doing enough of is saying the word young people. How many interviews do you hear Ralph Nader say and start off with, I'm talking to college students?

That's a particular segment of his base and as much as we try and as hard as we work, the message isn't getting out what we are really doing to attract young people. So, those candidates have say those words. It's not a scary thing. They have to say young Americans, voters. We are real people. If they would really go after us.

MATALIN: So it's a semantical thing.

PARMLEY: To some degree, but on the other side of it, it's saying our issues matter to you because it makes a difference in your life. And there is an incredible disconnect in that right now. We know that 60 percent of young people volunteer, do some sort of charitable work in their communities because they believe in something, yet they don't go vote. So why -- I mean, we really have to make that connection.

MATALIN: You know what, and that connection was attempted to be made in the last debate. When we come back, we'll talk about when the candidates -- the two major party candidates -- were asked about that when we return. After the show tonight, don't miss our online CROSSFIRE election debate. First with me and then with Secretary Reich. It all stars after the show at cnn.com/crossfire. We'll be right back with our young future leaders.

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REICH: Welcome back to CROSSFIRE. We're talking tonight about the youth vote, but we're also talking about youthful indiscretions. We learned just very, very recently that George W. Bush, his aides have acceded, have told us that George W. Bush was in fact arrested when he was 30 years old for drunken driving, for driving under the influence. He had has license suspended.

Now, is this a youthful indiscretion? This is a show about youth, about politics, maybe we ought to say it doesn't count. It's irrelevant for this election. On the other hand, this is new news. This is kind of a news-breaking news and he was 30 years old. This is not exactly a young person, not exactly a teenager. And I would actually -- let's do this.

Let's suspend what we were doing a moment ago. We want to come back to our young leaders but this is important enough. Let's ask Bill Schneider, a CNN correspondent. Bill Schneider, senior political analyst.

Bill, what about this? Is this serious? Is this going to shake- up the Bush camp and what about the timing of this? Isn't this kind of peculiar coming five days before the election?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think the charge itself is unlikely to have a big impact. It was 24 years ago. No one was hurt. He paid the penalty. He had his license suspended, paid a fine. The only way I think the charge would create a big issue is if there was any indication of preferential treatment because of his family.

There's one question about the way it was handled, however. Not just who released this information -- it was clearly released in a way to damage the Bush campaign, though no one has traced it to Bush's critics or any Democrats. But why in the world did the Bush campaign not release this information themselves months ago?

I mean, is there anything else there? Bush has said he doesn't want to talk about anything on his record more than 14 years ago. This opens the way for the press to start asking questions about Bush's record. There's an arrest record, there.

Only a misdemeanor charge, not serious. Is anything else there? It's going become a major diversion for the campaign for a couple of days at time when they cannot afford it.

MATALIN: OK, Bill, doesn't this also open the way for the press to talk about what Ralph Nader called today Democratic dirty tricks that the Democrats have opened up the spigot trying to demonize Ralph and his sex life and work life and everything else.

So now five days out, this inconsequential, irrelevant story which is -- doesn't it open up for the press to talk about the kind of tactics that the Democrats have demonstrated to be their stock and trade for the past eight years.

SCHNEIDER: I haven't heard any information directly linking this to the Gore campaign or to any Democrat. I don't know if you have. Clearly people are going to be looking into the timing of it, but I do think the charge itself should not be dismissed as something inconsequential. The main point it raises is what else is there on the record that he will not talk about? There is an arrest on that record. Is there anything else there? That will take a couple of days for the press to go through.

REICH: If we could go back at the point you just made, which I think is very, very interesting, why in your view did the Bush campaign not release this before? Now, if they had released this six months ago, people could say, yes he admitted to having a drinking problem. This is part of the drinking problem, but to not release then seems to have opened up the possibility that it could be released five day before the election and that's seems very strange.

SCHNEIDER: It was very foolish. If that's all there is on the record they could have dealt with it some time ago and it would have just disappeared as an issue. If Mary Matalin were running the campaign, she would have done that. That's why it raises the question is there anything else there. That's what the press is going to want to know. Is there anything else on the record?

MATALIN: Well, you know, that's absolutely not true, Bill, I wouldn't have done that, because again, as you said, it happened 24 years ago as our young leaders here have said, and both have said, that Bush has talked about this and what he said about it is there's no point going into all these details to raise this for young people.

At the same time in all of Al Gore's biographies it's widely documented he smoked pot way past his college years. I mean, are we really going into these final five days on this kind of dialogue. Doesn't the press have some kind of responsibility with five days left to continue discussing the substance and the distinction and the differences between these candidates? This is why people hold the media in lower esteem than whatever you want to think of.

SCHNEIDER: Well, Mary, don't kid yourself. The press is going to go into this. Al Gore has acknowledged quite readily when the issue was first raised back in the 1988 campaign, he acknowledged that he used marijuana. I think he said he did it while he was in Vietnam, but he did put it on the record the and the question is why didn't Bush put this on the record. This isn't a minor thing. First of all, he wasn't a youth, he was 30 years old. And second of all, it is an arrest record, although only a misdemeanor. Of that's all there is, it really should have been dealt with months ago.

MATALIN: OK, well, more on this when we return. Stay with us. This is apparently breaking news and there's going to be a lot of questions about why it's breaking five days out. Stay with us. We'll continue on all of this when we return.

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MATALIN: You know, Bob, I just had to tell you, talking to these future leaders, who were both charming and conscientious and working on getting out the vote, on the break, they both were disgusted about this.

I understand we have John King available to us now, who is in Illinois on the campaign trail with his -- the campaign's response to this late-breaking news about a 24-year-old charge. REICH: Mary, I think the -- the question really here is not so much whether this was something that he was doing years and years ago. I would be very interested in knowing what some other people are thinking about this right now, what the political implications are going to be. Let's talk to John King.

MATALIN: Well, we have John King available to us, so let's here what he's saying from the campaign trail. Go ahead, John.

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to both of you. Well, Mary, the Bush campaign acknowledging this incident, 1976, the Labor Day weekend. They say the governor was 30 years old at the time, driving with his sister and a few friends about a mile from the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. They say he acknowledged he was drinking when he was pulled over, that he had a misdemeanor DUI offense, paid a $150 fine, and then had his driving privileges temporarily suspended in the state of Maine.

Now, Governor Bush has acknowledged that 10 years after that, just after his 40th birthday, he gave up drinking. Already tonight the Bush campaign suggesting the timing of this is "curious" in their words. They believe Democrats or somebody -- some political opponent out to smear the governor just a few days before the presidential election.

I can say we've checked in with both the Democratic National Committee and the Gore campaign. They say they had no role in this, that they learned about this from news reports this evening, and they also say they won't comment on the substance of the matter.

Now, as the Bush campaign points fingers at the Democrats for this, let me just say quickly I have called quickly around to a few senior Republicans. They're obviously upset about the timing of this. Many of them questioning why Governor Bush would not have put this out some time ago when he was in a politically safe position, say, right after he was elected governor of Texas, or certainly, as one put it, why not the day after he was re-elected by such a big margin.

So this story, obviously, will continue, and it could be a big distraction in the final days of the campaign.

REICH: Well, John, particularly, in a campaign that is as close as this one, vulnerabilities, whatever the vulnerabilities are, whatever the news is, are going to be extremely sensitive, are going to perhaps sway just enough people to go over the line.

What's your theory, John, as to why the Bush campaign would not have put something out like this long ago, an arrest on something like drunken-driving? I mean, let's face it: Drunken-driving is a serious problem. It may have been 24 years ago, but it is a serious problem. An arrest on drunken driving is not something that you can simply -- simply not and brush off.

KING: Well, the governor said from the outset of this campaign that he made some mistakes in his youth, but he was not going to detail them. And the campaign is saying that again tonight, that the governor's position is that he's acknowledged he had a drinking problem, he quit drinking, and that his position is he should not have to go back and detail every one of his indiscretions.

Obviously, after the campaigns we had in 1992 and 1996, when President Clinton's character was such an issue, that was a remarkable turnabout, a candidate flat-out saying he would not talk about it.

Now, privately, even many Democrats who want Governor Bush to lose, we're hoping to get through the campaign and hold to that position, because they believe there's too much media attention on personal conduct, especially years before a candidate is running for office. But Governor Bush has steadfastly held to this position. The question now in the remaining days will be, Does he face questions from reporters, and perhaps even from voters, if he encounters them, governor, is there anything else we don't know? That will be the issue in the days ahead.

REICH: Well, we'll find out -- we'll find out more from the left. I'm Robert Reich. Good night from our good place.

MATALIN: And from the right, I'm Mary Matalin. Stay tuned for more on this at the top of hour, not to mention our youth vote, and stay tuned for Robert Reich and I on the cnn/crossfire.com.

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