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CNN Live At Daybreak
Wake-Up Call: Field of Democrats
Aired January 13, 2003 - 06:37 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk politics now -- more politics, I should say. The field of Democrats is growing for a White House run next year. Senator Joe Lieberman is expected to announce his candidacy at his high school in Stanford, Connecticut later this morning. Lieberman was Al Gore's running mate in the 2000 presidential election, and right now enjoys better national name recognition than the others who are running.
For more on the Lieberman candidacy, we've placed a "Wake-Up Call" to our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider.
Good morning -- Bill. Are you awake?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I'm awake, I'm awake!
COSTELLO: I know Joe Lieberman has name recognition, but this early in the game, does it really matter?
SCHNEIDER: Oh, it certainly does matter. Name recognition, politicians spend millions of dollars to become well-known. He already is. And because he was on the ticket, in a way he's pre- certified as someone qualified to serve as president. Clearly, his record has been vetted thoroughly before Al Gore chose him to go on the ticket.
COSTELLO: I know something you're going to talk about "INSIDE POLITICS" this afternoon is the fact that Lieberman is Jewish and how that might affect his candidacy.
SCHNEIDER: Well, there's a lot of questions being raised. Can a Jewish man get elected president of the United States? It certainly didn't mean anything, or we couldn't tell it meant much at all when he was Al Gore's running mate in 2000. Nobody believes that Al Gore lost the White House because he put Lieberman on the ticket. And we couldn't find much evidence anecdotally or in the polls or anywhere else of anti-Semitism in that campaign.
But running for president is a whole different enterprise. A couple of Jewish candidates have run for president in the past. They haven't gotten very far. Arlen Specter once ran briefly as a Republican, Milton Shaft (ph) as a Democrat. But clearly, Joe Lieberman would be one of the top contenders.
Would it make a difference? When people run for president, especially someone for the first time -- a woman, a Jewish candidate, an African-American -- it's hard to predict what voter reaction will be. And you can't really tell from a poll, because people don't give their real reactions to a pollster.
COSTELLO: That's true, and just because maybe Jewish voters aren't really more likely to vote for a Jewish candidate, is that kind of what you're saying, part of it anyway?
SCHNEIDER: Well, what I've found among Jewish voters whom I interviewed in south Florida, and these were mostly older Jewish voters who live in the condominium complexes there, is that they like Lieberman, they're proud of him, they respect him, and they'll support him. But he worries them, particularly the more partisan Democrats, because they say, can he beat George Bush?
They want to see some proof that Lieberman is a candidate who will win, because their primary motivation, while they have a lot of ethnic pride in one of their co-religionists, their primary motivation is to beat Bush.
So, I heard Jewish leaders tell me, I can't support him, because I don't think he can win, there are too many anti-Semites out there.
How is Lieberman going to contend with that? He has to show in the polls and some early victories that he can appeal to voters all over the country.
COSTELLO: All right, Bill Schneider, thanks waking up with us on DAYBREAK. We appreciate it.
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 January 13, 2003 - 06:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk politics now -- more politics, I should say. The field of Democrats is growing for a White House run next year. Senator Joe Lieberman is expected to announce his candidacy at his high school in Stanford, Connecticut later this morning. Lieberman was Al Gore's running mate in the 2000 presidential election, and right now enjoys better national name recognition than the others who are running.
For more on the Lieberman candidacy, we've placed a "Wake-Up Call" to our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider.
Good morning -- Bill. Are you awake?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I'm awake, I'm awake!
COSTELLO: I know Joe Lieberman has name recognition, but this early in the game, does it really matter?
SCHNEIDER: Oh, it certainly does matter. Name recognition, politicians spend millions of dollars to become well-known. He already is. And because he was on the ticket, in a way he's pre- certified as someone qualified to serve as president. Clearly, his record has been vetted thoroughly before Al Gore chose him to go on the ticket.
COSTELLO: I know something you're going to talk about "INSIDE POLITICS" this afternoon is the fact that Lieberman is Jewish and how that might affect his candidacy.
SCHNEIDER: Well, there's a lot of questions being raised. Can a Jewish man get elected president of the United States? It certainly didn't mean anything, or we couldn't tell it meant much at all when he was Al Gore's running mate in 2000. Nobody believes that Al Gore lost the White House because he put Lieberman on the ticket. And we couldn't find much evidence anecdotally or in the polls or anywhere else of anti-Semitism in that campaign.
But running for president is a whole different enterprise. A couple of Jewish candidates have run for president in the past. They haven't gotten very far. Arlen Specter once ran briefly as a Republican, Milton Shaft (ph) as a Democrat. But clearly, Joe Lieberman would be one of the top contenders.
Would it make a difference? When people run for president, especially someone for the first time -- a woman, a Jewish candidate, an African-American -- it's hard to predict what voter reaction will be. And you can't really tell from a poll, because people don't give their real reactions to a pollster.
COSTELLO: That's true, and just because maybe Jewish voters aren't really more likely to vote for a Jewish candidate, is that kind of what you're saying, part of it anyway?
SCHNEIDER: Well, what I've found among Jewish voters whom I interviewed in south Florida, and these were mostly older Jewish voters who live in the condominium complexes there, is that they like Lieberman, they're proud of him, they respect him, and they'll support him. But he worries them, particularly the more partisan Democrats, because they say, can he beat George Bush?
They want to see some proof that Lieberman is a candidate who will win, because their primary motivation, while they have a lot of ethnic pride in one of their co-religionists, their primary motivation is to beat Bush.
So, I heard Jewish leaders tell me, I can't support him, because I don't think he can win, there are too many anti-Semites out there.
How is Lieberman going to contend with that? He has to show in the polls and some early victories that he can appeal to voters all over the country.
COSTELLO: All right, Bill Schneider, thanks waking up with us on DAYBREAK. We appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
