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CNN Live At Daybreak

Sniping at Commander-in-Chief, His Iraq Policy

Aired October 27, 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.


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We cannot continue to play Bush roulette. There used to be Russian roulette. Now it's Bush roulette with the lives of American troops.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of sniping at the commander-in- chief and his Iraq policy during the latest Democratic debate in Detroit.

Time to talk party politics now with political analyst Mark Plotkin of WTOP Radio.

He's live from Washington this morning.

Mark, nice to see you.

Nice to be with you today.

MARK PLOTKIN, WTOP WASHINGTON: Thank you.

COLLINS: I want to ask you, we know this was the fifth debate, but how much of an impact are they having on the Democratic hopefuls?

PLOTKIN: Well, the only major problem for the candidates is not many people are watching. The debate in New York City about economic issues that was in the afternoon drew about 600,000. And the best debate didn't even draw better than the worst show on TV in terms of ratings. So not many people are watching.

But that's not the point. The point is that they're sharpening their lines. You heard the Al Sharpton line. They're sharpening their barbs against each other and it's kind of practice for whoever will become the general election nominee.

So they serve a purpose almost like spring training for baseball candidates. But as long as anybody doesn't drool on stage or pass out, there's probably not going to be too much impact.

COLLINS: And I know as far as people watching, they almost had to go up against game seven, had there been one, with the World Series. Still had football to contend with last night.

What do you think about a front runner, though, whether people were watching or not? Is there a new front runner after this fifth debate last night?

PLOTKIN: Well, I think the front runner is Howard Dean. And people took after him during the debate. They purposefully criticized him for airing negative ads in Iowa and New Hampshire. They said this is very early to do that and that shows that maybe his internal polls, the polls that he takes within his campaign, are not really very good.

There's always, you know, Dean didn't think he'd be a front runner, now he is a front runner, and people want to chip away. Now you can better be sure that the Republicans will be filming these debates and using the terrible and derogatory and offensive things that the candidates, the Democrats, say about each other to use in the general election campaign.

COLLINS: Well, that's an interesting question, then, too. Who do you think the Republican Party fears most? I was reading, I believe it was in the "Washington Post," about...

PLOTKIN: About Gephardt.

COLLINS: ... Gephardt. Right.

PLOTKIN: Yes. Well, you know, many people feel that Gephardt can win in the battleground states in the Midwest. But Democrats won in the Midwest except for Ohio and Missouri. They won in Illinois. They won in the other big battleground states. I think maybe they probably fear Wesley Clark the most, just because he has the golden resume and he can attract Republican and, very importantly, independent votes.

The problem with Wesley Clark is that will Democrats really view him as a true Democrat and does he have the organizational muscle to actually win a nomination? Winning the nomination and winning the general election are two separate contests and sometimes they don't reconcile each other.

COLLINS: Yes, and he kind of continued to get hammered for whether he was in support of or against the war in Iraq last night.

PLOTKIN: Yes, John Kerry has the same problem.

COLLINS: Yes.

PLOTKIN: But all the Democrats will forget what they said during the debates, forget what they said during the primaries and caucus, and support the nominee. The real problem will just be getting independent voters and turning out their own base in the general election.

COLLINS: Right. Always a challenge.

All right, thank you so much.

Mark Plotkin, WTOP Radio.

Appreciate your time this morning. 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 27, 2003 - 06:52   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We cannot continue to play Bush roulette. There used to be Russian roulette. Now it's Bush roulette with the lives of American troops.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of sniping at the commander-in- chief and his Iraq policy during the latest Democratic debate in Detroit.

Time to talk party politics now with political analyst Mark Plotkin of WTOP Radio.

He's live from Washington this morning.

Mark, nice to see you.

Nice to be with you today.

MARK PLOTKIN, WTOP WASHINGTON: Thank you.

COLLINS: I want to ask you, we know this was the fifth debate, but how much of an impact are they having on the Democratic hopefuls?

PLOTKIN: Well, the only major problem for the candidates is not many people are watching. The debate in New York City about economic issues that was in the afternoon drew about 600,000. And the best debate didn't even draw better than the worst show on TV in terms of ratings. So not many people are watching.

But that's not the point. The point is that they're sharpening their lines. You heard the Al Sharpton line. They're sharpening their barbs against each other and it's kind of practice for whoever will become the general election nominee.

So they serve a purpose almost like spring training for baseball candidates. But as long as anybody doesn't drool on stage or pass out, there's probably not going to be too much impact.

COLLINS: And I know as far as people watching, they almost had to go up against game seven, had there been one, with the World Series. Still had football to contend with last night.

What do you think about a front runner, though, whether people were watching or not? Is there a new front runner after this fifth debate last night?

PLOTKIN: Well, I think the front runner is Howard Dean. And people took after him during the debate. They purposefully criticized him for airing negative ads in Iowa and New Hampshire. They said this is very early to do that and that shows that maybe his internal polls, the polls that he takes within his campaign, are not really very good.

There's always, you know, Dean didn't think he'd be a front runner, now he is a front runner, and people want to chip away. Now you can better be sure that the Republicans will be filming these debates and using the terrible and derogatory and offensive things that the candidates, the Democrats, say about each other to use in the general election campaign.

COLLINS: Well, that's an interesting question, then, too. Who do you think the Republican Party fears most? I was reading, I believe it was in the "Washington Post," about...

PLOTKIN: About Gephardt.

COLLINS: ... Gephardt. Right.

PLOTKIN: Yes. Well, you know, many people feel that Gephardt can win in the battleground states in the Midwest. But Democrats won in the Midwest except for Ohio and Missouri. They won in Illinois. They won in the other big battleground states. I think maybe they probably fear Wesley Clark the most, just because he has the golden resume and he can attract Republican and, very importantly, independent votes.

The problem with Wesley Clark is that will Democrats really view him as a true Democrat and does he have the organizational muscle to actually win a nomination? Winning the nomination and winning the general election are two separate contests and sometimes they don't reconcile each other.

COLLINS: Yes, and he kind of continued to get hammered for whether he was in support of or against the war in Iraq last night.

PLOTKIN: Yes, John Kerry has the same problem.

COLLINS: Yes.

PLOTKIN: But all the Democrats will forget what they said during the debates, forget what they said during the primaries and caucus, and support the nominee. The real problem will just be getting independent voters and turning out their own base in the general election.

COLLINS: Right. Always a challenge.

All right, thank you so much.

Mark Plotkin, WTOP Radio.

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