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CNN Live At Daybreak
America's Voice: Race for the White House
Aired December 09, 2003 - 06:41 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: Before we get to Rally and travel delays, we want to talk a little bit more about the race for the White House.
Gallup Poll Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport is live in Princeton, New Jersey with some new numbers.
So, Frank, how does Dean stack up against the rest of the Democrats?
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Well, this is significant, Carol. Actually, this is before, of course, news of the Gore endorsement had leaked out. Our CNN-USA Today Gallup Poll through the weekend shows for the first time nationally, let me repeat, significantly, for the first time nationally, Dean has moved into a significant lead among Democrats as their top choice for their party's nomination. An eight point lead now. Dean 25, Clark, the nearest competitor, at 17, then Gephardt, Lieberman and way down there John Kerry and John Edwards at 7 percent.
Let me zoom in on the path of two candidates, Howard Dean and John Kerry. Boy, they have moved in different directions. Taking this back to April, Kerry was at 17 and Dean only at 6 at that point. He was a little known former governor of Vermont. The paths have now crossed and we are at the 25 percent for Dean. Free fall I guess is the best way, sinkage is another word that I've been quoted as using here for Dean -- for John Kerry now down to just 7 percent of the Democratic vote -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Those are amazing numbers. OK, I was just wondering, how is President Bush doing?
NEWPORT: Well that's the other point. Whoever gets this nomination looks like still he is going to have a formidable challenge because Bush is looking fairly good for an incumbent. His approval actually back up in the weekend poll to 55 percent. You can see it has moved around in that range between 50 and 56. But any incumbent who is over 50 percent, Carol, is a formidable competitor, and Bush right now 55 job approval.
COSTELLO: Well did his job approval go up after he signed that big Medicare bill?
NEWPORT: I don't think so. In fact, I think the Medicare is actually a two-edged sword. I think it is probably that visit to Iraq that helped Bush more than anything else, the widely publicized shots of him serving Thanksgiving Day turkey to the troops over there. Look at this, we asked seniors about that Medicare plan, how will it affect you? Widespread cynicism. Fascinating.
COSTELLO: Whoa!
NEWPORT: I've really been studying this data. You have got 21 percent of senior citizens 65 and over who say they think the plan will actually hurt them financially. Only 15 help them. And that's been true at a lot of data that I have looked at, the senior citizens are very careful about their money. They like Medicare in many ways. And they are going to have to wait and see, they tell us, whether or not this plan is really going to help them or not.
COSTELLO: And many taxpayers are hoping they are wrong because of what was a $400 billion bill?
NEWPORT: That's right, $400 billion, and perhaps more over the next 10 or 20 years.
COSTELLO: So it's definitely going to cost all of us.
Thank you. Frank Newport reporting live from Princeton, New Jersey 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 December 9, 2003 - 06:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Before we get to Rally and travel delays, we want to talk a little bit more about the race for the White House.
Gallup Poll Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport is live in Princeton, New Jersey with some new numbers.
So, Frank, how does Dean stack up against the rest of the Democrats?
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Well, this is significant, Carol. Actually, this is before, of course, news of the Gore endorsement had leaked out. Our CNN-USA Today Gallup Poll through the weekend shows for the first time nationally, let me repeat, significantly, for the first time nationally, Dean has moved into a significant lead among Democrats as their top choice for their party's nomination. An eight point lead now. Dean 25, Clark, the nearest competitor, at 17, then Gephardt, Lieberman and way down there John Kerry and John Edwards at 7 percent.
Let me zoom in on the path of two candidates, Howard Dean and John Kerry. Boy, they have moved in different directions. Taking this back to April, Kerry was at 17 and Dean only at 6 at that point. He was a little known former governor of Vermont. The paths have now crossed and we are at the 25 percent for Dean. Free fall I guess is the best way, sinkage is another word that I've been quoted as using here for Dean -- for John Kerry now down to just 7 percent of the Democratic vote -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Those are amazing numbers. OK, I was just wondering, how is President Bush doing?
NEWPORT: Well that's the other point. Whoever gets this nomination looks like still he is going to have a formidable challenge because Bush is looking fairly good for an incumbent. His approval actually back up in the weekend poll to 55 percent. You can see it has moved around in that range between 50 and 56. But any incumbent who is over 50 percent, Carol, is a formidable competitor, and Bush right now 55 job approval.
COSTELLO: Well did his job approval go up after he signed that big Medicare bill?
NEWPORT: I don't think so. In fact, I think the Medicare is actually a two-edged sword. I think it is probably that visit to Iraq that helped Bush more than anything else, the widely publicized shots of him serving Thanksgiving Day turkey to the troops over there. Look at this, we asked seniors about that Medicare plan, how will it affect you? Widespread cynicism. Fascinating.
COSTELLO: Whoa!
NEWPORT: I've really been studying this data. You have got 21 percent of senior citizens 65 and over who say they think the plan will actually hurt them financially. Only 15 help them. And that's been true at a lot of data that I have looked at, the senior citizens are very careful about their money. They like Medicare in many ways. And they are going to have to wait and see, they tell us, whether or not this plan is really going to help them or not.
COSTELLO: And many taxpayers are hoping they are wrong because of what was a $400 billion bill?
NEWPORT: That's right, $400 billion, and perhaps more over the next 10 or 20 years.
COSTELLO: So it's definitely going to cost all of us.
Thank you. Frank Newport reporting live from Princeton, New Jersey 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
