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American Morning

Interview with John Podesta, Cliff May

Aired November 04, 2002 - 07:06   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: With voters across the country so evenly divided, both parties are really pulling out all of the stops -- 34 Senate seats, as we mentioned a little bit earlier on, are up for grabs; 36 states will pick governors.
So, what could be the impact of tomorrow's outcome?

Joining us from Washington, our John Podesta, former chief of staff under President Clinton, and Cliff May, former communications director for the Republican National Committee.

Welcome, gentlemen -- glad to have both of you with us.

JOHN PODESTA, FMR. W.H. CHIEF OF STAFF: Good morning.

CLIFF MAY, FMR. RNC COMM. DIRECTOR: Good morning.

ZAHN: So, John, if you read this latest Gallup Poll, there's a suggestion that the Republicans probably will add to their Senate majority and the House. If that's the case tomorrow, what does that spell for the Democrats?

PODESTA: Well, this -- you know, this race has been close all along. The country is evenly divided. The Congress is evenly divided. We're talking about just a handful of races.

My expectation is that Democrats will continue to pick up some seats, but you know, we'll have to wait and see until the polls close.

But you know, President Bush never had any coattails in 2000, so he didn't bring in a bunch of people who are now being swept out. And we're fighting this out race by race on the ground in just a handful of races.

ZAHN: What does it mean, though, that you had a bunch of Democratic candidates actually pretty much aligning themselves with the president on a number of key issues, Senator (UNINTELLIGIBLE), for example?

PODESTA: Well, I think that for the most part, the Democratic Party has aligned itself with the president on the war on terrorism. They have very different views on the economy. And I think for those voters who are looking to the economy, I think Democrats when you look at your exit polls tomorrow, you're going to find that Democrats did very well, because the economy is not going in the right direction.

ZAHN: Cliff, what about that? We saw some "New York Times" polls yesterday, which showed that basically that neither Republicans nor Democrats had much faith in either party to fix the economy.

MAY: Well, you see the country sort of divided in almost every way, certainly in terms of the economy about 50-50, in terms of terrorism and Iraq and national security concerns, there's a lot more trust in Republicans.

What you're seeing that's interesting there, though -- according to that poll and others, and if you look at the various vulnerable races -- where Democrats are vulnerable, they're tending to hug the president. They're trying to -- they're embracing him, including on the economy. There aren't any Democrats in vulnerable races saying, let's raise taxes or the president is wrong; only Democrats in safe districts.

In terms of the war on terrorism, national security and those kinds of things, the Democratic Party is not just split; it's really fractured into three.

You have the sort of Scoop Jackson (ph) wing represented by Joe Lieberman and Zell Miller, who are very much where the president is on the war.

You have a sort of inaction wing, who want to do nothing, or wait for Kofi Annan and the French to tell us what to do.

And you have frankly the appeasement wing -- people like Jim McDermott and Dave Bonior who actually go to Baghdad, say we can trust Saddam Hussein, but we can't trust the president of the United States.

So, it's sort of a mixed bag. Vulnerable Democrats tend to be hugging the president.

PODESTA: Cliff is still working off of Jim McDermott, which happened a couple of months ago.

MAY: Well...

PODESTA: But let me tell you, Paula, this state -- this election has always been, in the Senate especially, been about a race that's been fought out in the red states, in the so-called Bush states. And in those states, I think Democrats have fought the president to a draw.

If you go over to the blue states, you're going to see that Democrats are going to pick up governor's houses in Pennsylvania, in Michigan, in Illinois and Wisconsin. And I think that those are states that are hurting by this bad economy, by income going down, by unemployment going up, and the president is offering no solutions to that.

And I think that in those states that are competitive, that will be -- form the basis for the 2004 election, Democrats are going to do pretty well tomorrow night.

MAY: I...

ZAHN: That seems to be what most of the polls suggest, Cliff. Why won't Republicans do better in these gubernatorial races?

MAY: The country has been, for some years, split almost exactly down the middle, as you know, Paula, and that means we have presidential elections in which neither candidate wins a majority of the votes; you win by a plurality.

It means in congressional races -- again, it's almost half-and- half. The Senate is obviously almost half-and-half. It makes sense that the governorships would also be almost half-and-half. For quite a while, the Republicans have enjoyed an advantage in the governors' mansions, because they've been very -- those governors, those Republican governors, have been in touch with their states very well.

But over time, with the country split down the middle, you're going to have a pretty much split down the middle of governors' mansions.

What's going to be very important -- we should just get this in -- is turnout tomorrow. And traditionally, the Democrats have been better at turnout than Republicans. They have the unions, for example, which spend millions of dollars to bus their people to the polls.

What's going to matter a lot is if Republicans are motivated enough to get out the vote as well, because a very small difference in turnout can make an enormous difference in an election that's this close.

ZAHN: John, final thought. No matter how you look at it, there are those who say the turnout tomorrow is going to be absolutely obscenely low. Williams Sapphire has a very interesting piece in "The New York Times," talking about ways to rectify that.

How bad is it going to be?

PODESTA: Well, I think that turnout will be kind of traditional. I think that this is an election in which the partisans on both Democratic and Republican sides are going to turn out. What's left is the middle, the kind of independent voters, who we'll have to wait and see.

But Cliff and I actually agree on this. I think turnout will be significant. It will make a difference. And the question is: Who is going to motivate their people to get out to the polls? And we'll see the results of that tomorrow night when the polls close.

ZAHN: Thank you, gentlemen. Cliff May, John Podesta, appreciate your time.

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 4, 2002 - 07:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: With voters across the country so evenly divided, both parties are really pulling out all of the stops -- 34 Senate seats, as we mentioned a little bit earlier on, are up for grabs; 36 states will pick governors.
So, what could be the impact of tomorrow's outcome?

Joining us from Washington, our John Podesta, former chief of staff under President Clinton, and Cliff May, former communications director for the Republican National Committee.

Welcome, gentlemen -- glad to have both of you with us.

JOHN PODESTA, FMR. W.H. CHIEF OF STAFF: Good morning.

CLIFF MAY, FMR. RNC COMM. DIRECTOR: Good morning.

ZAHN: So, John, if you read this latest Gallup Poll, there's a suggestion that the Republicans probably will add to their Senate majority and the House. If that's the case tomorrow, what does that spell for the Democrats?

PODESTA: Well, this -- you know, this race has been close all along. The country is evenly divided. The Congress is evenly divided. We're talking about just a handful of races.

My expectation is that Democrats will continue to pick up some seats, but you know, we'll have to wait and see until the polls close.

But you know, President Bush never had any coattails in 2000, so he didn't bring in a bunch of people who are now being swept out. And we're fighting this out race by race on the ground in just a handful of races.

ZAHN: What does it mean, though, that you had a bunch of Democratic candidates actually pretty much aligning themselves with the president on a number of key issues, Senator (UNINTELLIGIBLE), for example?

PODESTA: Well, I think that for the most part, the Democratic Party has aligned itself with the president on the war on terrorism. They have very different views on the economy. And I think for those voters who are looking to the economy, I think Democrats when you look at your exit polls tomorrow, you're going to find that Democrats did very well, because the economy is not going in the right direction.

ZAHN: Cliff, what about that? We saw some "New York Times" polls yesterday, which showed that basically that neither Republicans nor Democrats had much faith in either party to fix the economy.

MAY: Well, you see the country sort of divided in almost every way, certainly in terms of the economy about 50-50, in terms of terrorism and Iraq and national security concerns, there's a lot more trust in Republicans.

What you're seeing that's interesting there, though -- according to that poll and others, and if you look at the various vulnerable races -- where Democrats are vulnerable, they're tending to hug the president. They're trying to -- they're embracing him, including on the economy. There aren't any Democrats in vulnerable races saying, let's raise taxes or the president is wrong; only Democrats in safe districts.

In terms of the war on terrorism, national security and those kinds of things, the Democratic Party is not just split; it's really fractured into three.

You have the sort of Scoop Jackson (ph) wing represented by Joe Lieberman and Zell Miller, who are very much where the president is on the war.

You have a sort of inaction wing, who want to do nothing, or wait for Kofi Annan and the French to tell us what to do.

And you have frankly the appeasement wing -- people like Jim McDermott and Dave Bonior who actually go to Baghdad, say we can trust Saddam Hussein, but we can't trust the president of the United States.

So, it's sort of a mixed bag. Vulnerable Democrats tend to be hugging the president.

PODESTA: Cliff is still working off of Jim McDermott, which happened a couple of months ago.

MAY: Well...

PODESTA: But let me tell you, Paula, this state -- this election has always been, in the Senate especially, been about a race that's been fought out in the red states, in the so-called Bush states. And in those states, I think Democrats have fought the president to a draw.

If you go over to the blue states, you're going to see that Democrats are going to pick up governor's houses in Pennsylvania, in Michigan, in Illinois and Wisconsin. And I think that those are states that are hurting by this bad economy, by income going down, by unemployment going up, and the president is offering no solutions to that.

And I think that in those states that are competitive, that will be -- form the basis for the 2004 election, Democrats are going to do pretty well tomorrow night.

MAY: I...

ZAHN: That seems to be what most of the polls suggest, Cliff. Why won't Republicans do better in these gubernatorial races?

MAY: The country has been, for some years, split almost exactly down the middle, as you know, Paula, and that means we have presidential elections in which neither candidate wins a majority of the votes; you win by a plurality.

It means in congressional races -- again, it's almost half-and- half. The Senate is obviously almost half-and-half. It makes sense that the governorships would also be almost half-and-half. For quite a while, the Republicans have enjoyed an advantage in the governors' mansions, because they've been very -- those governors, those Republican governors, have been in touch with their states very well.

But over time, with the country split down the middle, you're going to have a pretty much split down the middle of governors' mansions.

What's going to be very important -- we should just get this in -- is turnout tomorrow. And traditionally, the Democrats have been better at turnout than Republicans. They have the unions, for example, which spend millions of dollars to bus their people to the polls.

What's going to matter a lot is if Republicans are motivated enough to get out the vote as well, because a very small difference in turnout can make an enormous difference in an election that's this close.

ZAHN: John, final thought. No matter how you look at it, there are those who say the turnout tomorrow is going to be absolutely obscenely low. Williams Sapphire has a very interesting piece in "The New York Times," talking about ways to rectify that.

How bad is it going to be?

PODESTA: Well, I think that turnout will be kind of traditional. I think that this is an election in which the partisans on both Democratic and Republican sides are going to turn out. What's left is the middle, the kind of independent voters, who we'll have to wait and see.

But Cliff and I actually agree on this. I think turnout will be significant. It will make a difference. And the question is: Who is going to motivate their people to get out to the polls? And we'll see the results of that tomorrow night when the polls close.

ZAHN: Thank you, gentlemen. Cliff May, John Podesta, appreciate your time.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.