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American Morning
Jeff Greenfield Discusses Tipper Gore's Political Future
Aired March 15, 2002 - 08:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Husband couldn't carry the state in the last presidential election, but now there are rumors, or it goes beyond that, reports that Tipper Gore is considering a run in Tennessee for the U.S. Senate seat once held by her husband Al Gore.
And joining us now for a closer look at Tipper's future and the political fallout over the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Bush nominee Charles Pickering, our CNN senior political analyst Jeff Greenfield.
How you doing this morning?
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Just say old.
ZAHN: Old, he's not old,...
(CROSSTALK)
ZAHN: ... he's smart, prefer to say that.
Tell us a little bit about these reports that are burbling up that a number of people would like to see Tipper run for a Senate seat in Tennessee.
GREENFIELD: Putting aside the strength of the reports, I mean yes, they bought -- you know they're buying a home in Tennessee, but that makes sense if Al Gore wanted to run for president again. And as he said, you remember, famously at the end of that battle in 2000, I'm going to home -- go home and mend some fences. But it is -- it is -- first of all, it's a sign that the Republican Party has been really ascendant in Tennessee. They have both Senate seats, they have the governorship, and very much not uncommon that the Democrats in Tennessee say who do we have here against a likely candidacy of former Governor Lamar Alexander who starts out as the favorite to win that now open Senate seat. Makes some sense.
ZAHN: All right, but how does Tipper do? This is the state, after all, her husband couldn't carry in the presidential election.
GREENFIELD: Well what's interesting about it is ...
ZAHN: This is assuming she wants to run, of course.
GREENFIELD: Right, and we don't know that and this -- they will go away. But for instance, if you think about Elizabeth Dole, which is the most -- which is the most similar pattern, you know wife of a one-time nominee of her party now going home to run for the Senate in North Carolina, the difference is Elizabeth held two Cabinet positions, tried briefly to run for the presidency, is a much more, in her own right, political figure ...
ZAHN: Sure.
GREENFIELD: ... then has Tipper Gore. On the other hand, you know before women got important jobs like say anchoring a morning news show, becoming Supreme Court justices, this is how women got into high positions, by filling their husband's shoes -- Margaret Shay Smith in the United States Senate, Lurleen Wallace as governor. So in a way, and it's ironic because Tipper Gore is a modern feminist woman, it is almost a throwback. It's almost a throwback.
ZAHN: Interesting.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
ZAHN: Is there any indication from anybody you've talked to that she would take this prospect seriously?
GREENFIELD: I -- you know one of the things I always believe, Paula, say I don't know.
ZAHN: I don't know.
GREENFIELD: And I mean I don't know. What makes it intriguing is, in this sense, the analogy to Hillary Rodham Clinton in that she is a -- she is a heroine among feminists, among a lot of liberals and yet her visibility is so directly tied to the fact of what her husband did. I mean she's been active in a lot of causes, but politically, it's the -- it's as Al Gore's wife.
ZAHN: If she takes the plunge, are you envisioning this chorus of voices, carpetbagger, carpetbagger?
GREENFIELD: No, for two reasons. One, it would be very hard for the Republicans to yell carpetbagger at Tipper Gore when Elizabeth Dole, more or less next door, is running for the Senate.
Second, if you've lived in Washington, it's not like living in anther state. Washington is -- for most people is no place. In other words, your argument is look, I went from Tennessee, my husband went to serve the people of Tennessee in the House and the Senate and then as vice president, I went with him, now I'm coming home. So the carpetbagger argument is not like what it would be, for example, for Mitt Romney who is -- was the head of the Winter Olympics and now maybe going back to Massachusetts where he once ran for office.
ZAHN: Yes, like how long ago did he once move there?
GREENFIELD: Well that -- then that becomes a question. But for -- but there are two things you say, if you really want to be an out- and-out carpetbagger, you've got to come here, because New York you know,...
ZAHN: Well sure.
GREENFIELD: ... Bobby Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Jim Buckley.
ZAHN: We take them all.
GREENFIELD: Because nobody's from here. I'm the only person in New York who was born here. That's a fact.
But the second thing is...
ZAHN: We always knew you were an original.
GREENFIELD: That's right and there's -- or something.
And the second part about it is, as I say, if you served in Washington and then come home, the carpetbagger issue is much less potent. I don't think that would be the issue.
ZAHN: Let's move on to the Charles Pickering nomination issue. President Bush described the downfall of the nomination as "unfortunate for democracy, unfortunate for America."
This is the reaction of Mr. Pickering himself.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE CHARLES PICKERING, (R), MISSISSIPPI: Although I am disappointed, I am in good spirits. I will not let what has happened to me during this process embitter me or shape the balance of my life. Life is too precious. My faith has not been weakened. I will not withdraw my name.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Was Judge Pickering the victim of a witch hunt?
GREENFIELD: He was the victim of a deeply politicized process that has infected high judicial nominees for roughly the last 30 years.
ZAHN: So that's a real nice way of saying...
GREENFIELD: I don't think -- no, a witch hunt...
ZAHN: ... equal opportunity witch hunt?
GREENFIELD: Well you -- witch hunt's a very strong word and it implies there was something to it. It is immersed now in politics. It didn't used to be a generation ago. The core of each party's base cares more about these high judicial appointments than almost anything else because it's the flash point of issues like abortion and gender and sex. And when the first Supreme Court nomination comes down from Bush, that's when I think you're going to see the temperature hit white hot in Washington.
ZAHN: So that's what this represents?
GREENFIELD: Oh, I think on both sides it was a trial run. And both sides, if I may use the phrase, forget witch hunt for a minute, they're going to go to the mattresses on this one when a Supreme Court nominee comes down, unless it's a very safe pick.
ZAHN: Thank you for dropping by A.M.
GREENFIELD: Thank you.
ZAHN: Always delighted to see Jeff Greenfield.
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