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American Morning
America Votes 2002: Coming Out Swinging
Aired November 01, 2002 - 09:13 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The Senate race between Walter Mondale and Norm Coleman is a little over a day old, but the Minnesota candidates are not wasting time at all. They are getting into the spirit of the battle. We will take a closer look at this pivotal race in which age is becoming a key issue.
Our Bob Franken joins us now live from Minneapolis.
Good morning, Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is what we call spin, Leon. The Republican supporters would privately say it's age. The Democrats would say, no, we're talking about experience. So that's kind of the choice that folks will make. Walter Mondale has certainly has had experience, and he began his new campaign 18 years after the last one by walking down the part of downtown where the Mary Tyler Moore statue is. That's the one that shows her tossing her hat in the air. Now that Mondale has tossed his hat tossed into the ring, or had it tossed into the ring, following the tragedy a week ago in which Wellstone died in an airplane crash, he was out doing what they call retail politics, pressing the flesh, and he's going to be doing that in other parts of the state today, Rochester, Duluth and the like.
Meanwhile, his Republican opponent, Norm Coleman, is politely talking about the fact that he is a man of the future, while Mondale is a man whose time has come and gone. Coleman is out there. Of course, he had been running very vigorously against Paul Wellstone, and now he has to run a little bit of a subdued campaign because of the new propriety that's been imposed on the campaign.
But that doesn't mean that both parties aren't taking it seriously. Mondale enjoys a little bit of a lead, according to the polls, but the Republicans are trying to overturn that, and they're sending in their big guns to do it. Vice President Dick Cheney is in the state today, campaigning with Coleman. Tomorrow, the first lady Laura Bush will be in Minnesota, and then on Sunday, President Bush , as he does his whirlwind campaign tour.
Of course the stakes are very high. There are about 10 tossups around the country in the battle for control of the Senate, and certainly Minnesota now, particularly with the uniquely tragic and human story here, has become one of the most fascinating races in what is turning into an extremely tight election around the country -- Leon.
HARRIS: All right, thank you very much. Bob Franken, checking in live this morning from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 1, 2002 - 09:13 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The Senate race between Walter Mondale and Norm Coleman is a little over a day old, but the Minnesota candidates are not wasting time at all. They are getting into the spirit of the battle. We will take a closer look at this pivotal race in which age is becoming a key issue.
Our Bob Franken joins us now live from Minneapolis.
Good morning, Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is what we call spin, Leon. The Republican supporters would privately say it's age. The Democrats would say, no, we're talking about experience. So that's kind of the choice that folks will make. Walter Mondale has certainly has had experience, and he began his new campaign 18 years after the last one by walking down the part of downtown where the Mary Tyler Moore statue is. That's the one that shows her tossing her hat in the air. Now that Mondale has tossed his hat tossed into the ring, or had it tossed into the ring, following the tragedy a week ago in which Wellstone died in an airplane crash, he was out doing what they call retail politics, pressing the flesh, and he's going to be doing that in other parts of the state today, Rochester, Duluth and the like.
Meanwhile, his Republican opponent, Norm Coleman, is politely talking about the fact that he is a man of the future, while Mondale is a man whose time has come and gone. Coleman is out there. Of course, he had been running very vigorously against Paul Wellstone, and now he has to run a little bit of a subdued campaign because of the new propriety that's been imposed on the campaign.
But that doesn't mean that both parties aren't taking it seriously. Mondale enjoys a little bit of a lead, according to the polls, but the Republicans are trying to overturn that, and they're sending in their big guns to do it. Vice President Dick Cheney is in the state today, campaigning with Coleman. Tomorrow, the first lady Laura Bush will be in Minnesota, and then on Sunday, President Bush , as he does his whirlwind campaign tour.
Of course the stakes are very high. There are about 10 tossups around the country in the battle for control of the Senate, and certainly Minnesota now, particularly with the uniquely tragic and human story here, has become one of the most fascinating races in what is turning into an extremely tight election around the country -- Leon.
HARRIS: All right, thank you very much. Bob Franken, checking in live this morning from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
