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CNN Live At Daybreak
President Bush Wraps Up Campaigning for Republican Candidates
Aired November 04, 2002 - 05:02 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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: And President Bush wraps up his campaigning for Republican candidates today. His four appearances climax a 15 state, five day blitz.
As CNN's John King reports, Mr. Bush's theme is similar at each stop.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president's late campaign focus is on turnout. His opposition as much history as the Democrats.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You need to go to your coffee shops, your houses of worship, your community centers and tell the people they need to go and vote, and tell the people that we've got some fine candidates.
KING: If Republicans have a bad day Tuesday, it won't be for lack of effort by the president. He shattered records by raising more than $140 million this year alone and visited 40 states along the way, 30 of those at least twice.
BUSH: Next time you get me to come back, let's go pheasant hunting.
KING: The White House is confident it will beat the historical averages. In mid-term elections since 1950, the president's party, on average, has lost 24 House seats and four Senate seats. The Bush White House has been hands on from the outset. The president personally recruited former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Reardon to run for California governor, but he lost the primary. Mr. Bush also lobbied South Dakota Congressman John Thune and former St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman to run for Senate instead of governor. Both are now in hotly contested races.
SCOTT REED, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: The fact that the president went out and encouraged these men to take a risk and run for office in these Senate races is why we're in the competitive stance we're in right now. So, you know, Bush is showing he's a good party man at the end of the day.
KING: And this one is personal. Brother Jeb Bush is seeking reelection as Florida's governor, yet another bit midterm contests with major ramifications on President Bush's reelection effort two years from now.
BUSH: Go to the polls and take some friends to the polls so this good man can serve you for four more years.
KING: The congressional results will impact the president's success in selling his immediate legislative goals, making permanent the 10 year tax cut enacted last year, faster and more favorable action on his judicial nominees and an elderly prescription drug benefit that is more modest than Democrats propose.
BUSH: There's a lot of issues we can work on to make America better for everybody. The biggest issue we'll work together on is to secure our homeland, to prevent the American people from coming under attack again by a bunch of cold-blooded killers.
KING: Most of the president's late focus is on Congress. But this year's races for governor could have more of an impact on the president's long-term politics. Democrats are favored to make gains in the major industrial states critical come 2004.
JOHN PODESTA, CLINTON CHIEF OF STAFF: We're going to pick up governors' houses in Pennsylvania, in Michigan, in Illinois, in Wisconsin. So I think that you see a strengthening of the core Democratic vote and I think the reason for that, again, is the weak performance of the economy.
KING (on camera): Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas are the president's stops on the final day of campaigning. He votes Tuesday in Crawford, Texas, then back to the White House to watch the results that will determine the political climate for the two year run up to his own reelection.
John King, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLAWAY: How close is the race for Senate in Minnesota? One newspaper poll has Republican Norm Coleman leading by six percentage points. Another has Walter Mondale up by five percentage points. Mondale is reacquainting himself with voters, traveling the state by bus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALTER MONDALE (D), MINNESOTA SENATE CANDIDATE: We have a lot of problems confronting our nation -- the possibility of war, the growing threat in Korea, a serious threat of terrorism clearly around. We've got a stumbling economy. We're not supporting our schools. We need Social Security that's certain. We need Medicare covering, coverage of pharmaceuticals. We've got a system of regulation of corporations that allow the cheaters to continue to cheat that's got to stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLAWAY: The two candidates differ on tax policy. Coleman supports President Bush's income tax cut, but Mondale wants to roll it back. Walter Mondale and Norm Coleman will have a one hour debate this morning and we, of course, will bring that to you live. That's scheduled at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time. And then be sure to watch a special two hour edition of CNN's "Inside Politics" this afternoon at 3:00 Eastern time right here on CNN with Judy Woodruff.
Well, political parties are working hard to woo Latino voters in this election.
And as CNN's Maria Hinojosa reports, that effort includes speaking a language that voters understand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Unless you've been listening to Spanish language TV...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we are. Hola.
HINOJOSA: You might not have noticed.
GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: El futuro de los ninos de Nueva York.
HINOJOSA: That this year's Republican Party seems to be speaking in Spanish.
PATAKI: In the past, particularly people in my party, perhaps, haven't reached out to the Latino community the way they should have. But we certainly have been doing that, not just during the course of this campaign, but since my first day as governor. And I'm very proud of the support I've gotten from the Latino community.
HINOJOSA: Some New York polls say Pataki may be the first Republican in New York to take the Latino vote by a substantial margin, even though 75 percent of Latinos are registered Democrats, the party of his challenger, Carl McCall. Nationally, Republican efforts to woo Latino votes in Spanish have broken records, as both parties have taken to the air waves. Jeb Bush in Florida has outspent his Democratic rival by more than a million dollars. In New Mexico, Republican Pete Domenici has outspent the Democrat in that Senate race. But in the California governor's race, the Democrat, Gray Davis, has invested $1.2 million to his Republican challenger's $140,000.
(on camera): And that's just some of the $9 million spent this election season trying to woo Latino voters en Espanol, evidence, say political analysts, that Republicans are determined to break into what has traditionally been a Democratic constituency.
RODOLFO DE LA GARZA, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: They don't want to be stigmatized as an all white party. That's the first thing. And if they don't get the Latino vote, they're not going to get the black vote.
HINOJOSA (voice-over): Whether it's good public relations or good politics, the effort seems to be paying off, lading even third parties to chase Latino votes in Spanish. New York Conservative Party candidate Tom Golisano has outspent both major parties in Spanish ads.
ERICK MULLEN, GOLISANO STRATEGIST: We went from nine percent of the Latino support to 35 percent in a seven day period. We spent half a million dollars for that gain.
HINOJOSA: But the Democrats are counting on longstanding allegiances to hold onto Latino votes and argue the Republicans are wrong to assume they can lure Latinos away based on issues.
DE LA GARZA: They believe Latinos are religious, Republicans are religious. They believe Latinos are patriotic, Republicans are patriotic. Ergo, you're a natural Republican. What they don't acknowledge is Latinos are very divided on abortion, which is a big issue for the Republicans, Latinos are strongly supportive of gun control.
HINOJOSA: Whoever is right, Latinos seem to like haring politicians speak their language.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They take time to put ads that are actually analyzing that we as people it's growing in this city.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we matter to them. They're trying to get our vote. And if they're trying to get our vote, it's probably because within the years we have more and more Latinos who are going to the polls.
HINOJOSA: And getting more voters is, after all, the language of politics.
Maria Hinojosa, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLAWAY: And one more election note for you. CNN political analyst and "Los Angeles Times" reporter Ron Brownstein will join us coming up in the next hour of DAYBREAK with his political insights.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Candidates>
Aired November 4, 2002 - 05:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: And President Bush wraps up his campaigning for Republican candidates today. His four appearances climax a 15 state, five day blitz.
As CNN's John King reports, Mr. Bush's theme is similar at each stop.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president's late campaign focus is on turnout. His opposition as much history as the Democrats.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You need to go to your coffee shops, your houses of worship, your community centers and tell the people they need to go and vote, and tell the people that we've got some fine candidates.
KING: If Republicans have a bad day Tuesday, it won't be for lack of effort by the president. He shattered records by raising more than $140 million this year alone and visited 40 states along the way, 30 of those at least twice.
BUSH: Next time you get me to come back, let's go pheasant hunting.
KING: The White House is confident it will beat the historical averages. In mid-term elections since 1950, the president's party, on average, has lost 24 House seats and four Senate seats. The Bush White House has been hands on from the outset. The president personally recruited former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Reardon to run for California governor, but he lost the primary. Mr. Bush also lobbied South Dakota Congressman John Thune and former St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman to run for Senate instead of governor. Both are now in hotly contested races.
SCOTT REED, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: The fact that the president went out and encouraged these men to take a risk and run for office in these Senate races is why we're in the competitive stance we're in right now. So, you know, Bush is showing he's a good party man at the end of the day.
KING: And this one is personal. Brother Jeb Bush is seeking reelection as Florida's governor, yet another bit midterm contests with major ramifications on President Bush's reelection effort two years from now.
BUSH: Go to the polls and take some friends to the polls so this good man can serve you for four more years.
KING: The congressional results will impact the president's success in selling his immediate legislative goals, making permanent the 10 year tax cut enacted last year, faster and more favorable action on his judicial nominees and an elderly prescription drug benefit that is more modest than Democrats propose.
BUSH: There's a lot of issues we can work on to make America better for everybody. The biggest issue we'll work together on is to secure our homeland, to prevent the American people from coming under attack again by a bunch of cold-blooded killers.
KING: Most of the president's late focus is on Congress. But this year's races for governor could have more of an impact on the president's long-term politics. Democrats are favored to make gains in the major industrial states critical come 2004.
JOHN PODESTA, CLINTON CHIEF OF STAFF: We're going to pick up governors' houses in Pennsylvania, in Michigan, in Illinois, in Wisconsin. So I think that you see a strengthening of the core Democratic vote and I think the reason for that, again, is the weak performance of the economy.
KING (on camera): Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas are the president's stops on the final day of campaigning. He votes Tuesday in Crawford, Texas, then back to the White House to watch the results that will determine the political climate for the two year run up to his own reelection.
John King, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLAWAY: How close is the race for Senate in Minnesota? One newspaper poll has Republican Norm Coleman leading by six percentage points. Another has Walter Mondale up by five percentage points. Mondale is reacquainting himself with voters, traveling the state by bus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALTER MONDALE (D), MINNESOTA SENATE CANDIDATE: We have a lot of problems confronting our nation -- the possibility of war, the growing threat in Korea, a serious threat of terrorism clearly around. We've got a stumbling economy. We're not supporting our schools. We need Social Security that's certain. We need Medicare covering, coverage of pharmaceuticals. We've got a system of regulation of corporations that allow the cheaters to continue to cheat that's got to stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLAWAY: The two candidates differ on tax policy. Coleman supports President Bush's income tax cut, but Mondale wants to roll it back. Walter Mondale and Norm Coleman will have a one hour debate this morning and we, of course, will bring that to you live. That's scheduled at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time. And then be sure to watch a special two hour edition of CNN's "Inside Politics" this afternoon at 3:00 Eastern time right here on CNN with Judy Woodruff.
Well, political parties are working hard to woo Latino voters in this election.
And as CNN's Maria Hinojosa reports, that effort includes speaking a language that voters understand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Unless you've been listening to Spanish language TV...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we are. Hola.
HINOJOSA: You might not have noticed.
GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: El futuro de los ninos de Nueva York.
HINOJOSA: That this year's Republican Party seems to be speaking in Spanish.
PATAKI: In the past, particularly people in my party, perhaps, haven't reached out to the Latino community the way they should have. But we certainly have been doing that, not just during the course of this campaign, but since my first day as governor. And I'm very proud of the support I've gotten from the Latino community.
HINOJOSA: Some New York polls say Pataki may be the first Republican in New York to take the Latino vote by a substantial margin, even though 75 percent of Latinos are registered Democrats, the party of his challenger, Carl McCall. Nationally, Republican efforts to woo Latino votes in Spanish have broken records, as both parties have taken to the air waves. Jeb Bush in Florida has outspent his Democratic rival by more than a million dollars. In New Mexico, Republican Pete Domenici has outspent the Democrat in that Senate race. But in the California governor's race, the Democrat, Gray Davis, has invested $1.2 million to his Republican challenger's $140,000.
(on camera): And that's just some of the $9 million spent this election season trying to woo Latino voters en Espanol, evidence, say political analysts, that Republicans are determined to break into what has traditionally been a Democratic constituency.
RODOLFO DE LA GARZA, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: They don't want to be stigmatized as an all white party. That's the first thing. And if they don't get the Latino vote, they're not going to get the black vote.
HINOJOSA (voice-over): Whether it's good public relations or good politics, the effort seems to be paying off, lading even third parties to chase Latino votes in Spanish. New York Conservative Party candidate Tom Golisano has outspent both major parties in Spanish ads.
ERICK MULLEN, GOLISANO STRATEGIST: We went from nine percent of the Latino support to 35 percent in a seven day period. We spent half a million dollars for that gain.
HINOJOSA: But the Democrats are counting on longstanding allegiances to hold onto Latino votes and argue the Republicans are wrong to assume they can lure Latinos away based on issues.
DE LA GARZA: They believe Latinos are religious, Republicans are religious. They believe Latinos are patriotic, Republicans are patriotic. Ergo, you're a natural Republican. What they don't acknowledge is Latinos are very divided on abortion, which is a big issue for the Republicans, Latinos are strongly supportive of gun control.
HINOJOSA: Whoever is right, Latinos seem to like haring politicians speak their language.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They take time to put ads that are actually analyzing that we as people it's growing in this city.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we matter to them. They're trying to get our vote. And if they're trying to get our vote, it's probably because within the years we have more and more Latinos who are going to the polls.
HINOJOSA: And getting more voters is, after all, the language of politics.
Maria Hinojosa, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLAWAY: And one more election note for you. CNN political analyst and "Los Angeles Times" reporter Ron Brownstein will join us coming up in the next hour of DAYBREAK with his political insights.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Candidates>
