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CNN Live At Daybreak
Sliding Scale for President Bush
Aired October 13, 2003 - 06:52 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: We have some more Gallup Poll numbers for you now. When asked how the United States is doing in Iraq, only 42 percent thought things were going well over there. That's down from 47 percent last month.
And a sliding scale for President Bush, as well. When people were asked about his handling of Iraq, he got a 47 percent approval rating on Iraq. That's a drop of 13 points since July.
So it is time to party, as in party politics.
Our favorite political analyst, Mark Plotkin, of WTOP Radio in Washington, is back with us live.
Good morning.
MARK PLOTKIN, WTOP POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.
Favorite? You don't have anyone else. I'm it.
Go ahead.
COSTELLO: You're right about that. But we love having you, we do.
PLOTKIN: Thank you.
COSTELLO: What do make of these poll numbers?
PLOTKIN: Well, it's not surprising. There are casualties every day in Iraq and the American public was told that mission was accomplished and all military operations were done on May 1st. And they like clarity and they're literal and they felt that they wouldn't see this. So obviously they're terribly disappointed and they're worried and apprehensive about the future. Is this a quagmire? Is this going to go on forever and ever? And it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
Vice President Cheney came out to talk to the Heritage Foundation and said look, we're going to stay in, and we were right in going in in the first place.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, the president has launched this so- called P.R. campaign. Can it work?
PLOTKIN: Well, you know, I don't mean to be overly critical of the president -- maybe I do. Mr. Cheney is much better in expressing the reasons for going in, it seems to me, and so is Tony Blair, who is obviously not the president of this country, but the prime minister of Great Britain.
The president's articulation skills and persuasion skills are not the highest and it seems to me that they're going to call upon other people to make the case because he doesn't make the case, at least verbally, very well.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, the Democrats have been using all of this. And how effective have they been?
PLOTKIN: Well, you know, you can't give them total commendation either. Dennis Kucinich, who is a fifth tier candidate, he gets one or two percent, said look, if you really -- sorry, he's announcing today, but I have to say that. Sorry to hurt you on your day of announcement. But, look, Bob Graham is the only senator -- and he's out of the race -- who was running for president who voted against the resolution last October. Every one of the other candidates voted for it.
Now, Senator Kerry seems to want to try to get away from voting for it. But Edwards and all the others, Gephardt, voted for it. Those people were the vote.
Now, Wesley Clark and Howard Dean, who don't have a vote because they don't serve in the House and the Senate, say they wouldn't have voted for it. Well, we don't know because they didn't have a vote.
So I think the next thing to look forward to is how do they vote on the $87 billion authorization. They will have a vote and do they in any way change the vote in terms of certain details so they can say look, I had some influence on the final implementation of this money?
COSTELLO: Well, we'll see what happens.
Mark Plotkin joining us live from Washington.
Many thanks.
Interesting, as always.
PLOTKIN: Thank you.
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 October 13, 2003 - 06:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We have some more Gallup Poll numbers for you now. When asked how the United States is doing in Iraq, only 42 percent thought things were going well over there. That's down from 47 percent last month.
And a sliding scale for President Bush, as well. When people were asked about his handling of Iraq, he got a 47 percent approval rating on Iraq. That's a drop of 13 points since July.
So it is time to party, as in party politics.
Our favorite political analyst, Mark Plotkin, of WTOP Radio in Washington, is back with us live.
Good morning.
MARK PLOTKIN, WTOP POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.
Favorite? You don't have anyone else. I'm it.
Go ahead.
COSTELLO: You're right about that. But we love having you, we do.
PLOTKIN: Thank you.
COSTELLO: What do make of these poll numbers?
PLOTKIN: Well, it's not surprising. There are casualties every day in Iraq and the American public was told that mission was accomplished and all military operations were done on May 1st. And they like clarity and they're literal and they felt that they wouldn't see this. So obviously they're terribly disappointed and they're worried and apprehensive about the future. Is this a quagmire? Is this going to go on forever and ever? And it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
Vice President Cheney came out to talk to the Heritage Foundation and said look, we're going to stay in, and we were right in going in in the first place.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, the president has launched this so- called P.R. campaign. Can it work?
PLOTKIN: Well, you know, I don't mean to be overly critical of the president -- maybe I do. Mr. Cheney is much better in expressing the reasons for going in, it seems to me, and so is Tony Blair, who is obviously not the president of this country, but the prime minister of Great Britain.
The president's articulation skills and persuasion skills are not the highest and it seems to me that they're going to call upon other people to make the case because he doesn't make the case, at least verbally, very well.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, the Democrats have been using all of this. And how effective have they been?
PLOTKIN: Well, you know, you can't give them total commendation either. Dennis Kucinich, who is a fifth tier candidate, he gets one or two percent, said look, if you really -- sorry, he's announcing today, but I have to say that. Sorry to hurt you on your day of announcement. But, look, Bob Graham is the only senator -- and he's out of the race -- who was running for president who voted against the resolution last October. Every one of the other candidates voted for it.
Now, Senator Kerry seems to want to try to get away from voting for it. But Edwards and all the others, Gephardt, voted for it. Those people were the vote.
Now, Wesley Clark and Howard Dean, who don't have a vote because they don't serve in the House and the Senate, say they wouldn't have voted for it. Well, we don't know because they didn't have a vote.
So I think the next thing to look forward to is how do they vote on the $87 billion authorization. They will have a vote and do they in any way change the vote in terms of certain details so they can say look, I had some influence on the final implementation of this money?
COSTELLO: Well, we'll see what happens.
Mark Plotkin joining us live from Washington.
Many thanks.
Interesting, as always.
PLOTKIN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
