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CNN Live At Daybreak

Dean, Clark in Tight Duel for Dems Lead

Aired January 08, 2004 - 06:07   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: Iowa is 11 days away now. New Hampshire is 19 days away. And after that, the presidential primaries come thick and fast. Howard Dean still holds a small lead nationally among the Democrats, but Wesley Clark is closing in on him, as our Dan Lothian reports from New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New Hampshire resident Frank Dobisky is part of Wesley Clark's new army of supporters: A recent convert who had been a diehard Dean backer, until he met Clark at a campaign stop late last year.

(on camera): You were equally committed to Dean, right?

FRANK DOBISKY, CLARK SUPPORTER: Yes, yes.

LOTHIAN: You thought Dean was the person.

DOBISKY: Yes.

LOTHIAN: What made you change?

DOBISKY: I like -- I like the way the general spoke about how he would deal with Iraq. I thought he was very specific, but he wasn't hard-edged.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): Clark, meeting with voters at a packed event in Peterborough, New Hampshire, is enjoying a sudden surge in national polls. Once trailing Howard Dean by 21 points, the race between the two candidates is now a virtual tie. What changed?

ANDREW SMITH, POLLSTER UNH PROFESSOR: First, he's shown the ability to raise money, and the ability to raise money, I think, is key, that it makes him a viable candidate. Secondly, that viability is being pulled together with a sense that he is a plausible alternative to Howard Dean.

LOTHIAN: Clark says he's not watching polls, but admits voters are tuning in to his message.

WESLEY CLARK (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm getting a lot of resonance out there for what I'm saying. I believe we need a higher standard of leadership in America, and so do the people in New Hampshire.

LOTHIAN: For his part, Dean, flipping pancakes at a campaign stop in Iowa, seemed unconcerned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you worried about the latest polls showing Clark creeping up on you nationwide?

HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No.

LOTHIAN: But Dean's campaign appeared to be speaking volumes. Volunteers handing out this anti-Clark flying outside the retired general's New Hampshire event, questioning whether he's a real Democrat, criticizing his shifting position on the war in Iraq.

(on camera): One Clark aide said the retired general knows what it's like to be fired at with real bullets, so he'll be more than able to handle verbal attacks.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Keene, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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 8, 2004 - 06:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Iowa is 11 days away now. New Hampshire is 19 days away. And after that, the presidential primaries come thick and fast. Howard Dean still holds a small lead nationally among the Democrats, but Wesley Clark is closing in on him, as our Dan Lothian reports from New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New Hampshire resident Frank Dobisky is part of Wesley Clark's new army of supporters: A recent convert who had been a diehard Dean backer, until he met Clark at a campaign stop late last year.

(on camera): You were equally committed to Dean, right?

FRANK DOBISKY, CLARK SUPPORTER: Yes, yes.

LOTHIAN: You thought Dean was the person.

DOBISKY: Yes.

LOTHIAN: What made you change?

DOBISKY: I like -- I like the way the general spoke about how he would deal with Iraq. I thought he was very specific, but he wasn't hard-edged.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): Clark, meeting with voters at a packed event in Peterborough, New Hampshire, is enjoying a sudden surge in national polls. Once trailing Howard Dean by 21 points, the race between the two candidates is now a virtual tie. What changed?

ANDREW SMITH, POLLSTER UNH PROFESSOR: First, he's shown the ability to raise money, and the ability to raise money, I think, is key, that it makes him a viable candidate. Secondly, that viability is being pulled together with a sense that he is a plausible alternative to Howard Dean.

LOTHIAN: Clark says he's not watching polls, but admits voters are tuning in to his message.

WESLEY CLARK (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm getting a lot of resonance out there for what I'm saying. I believe we need a higher standard of leadership in America, and so do the people in New Hampshire.

LOTHIAN: For his part, Dean, flipping pancakes at a campaign stop in Iowa, seemed unconcerned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you worried about the latest polls showing Clark creeping up on you nationwide?

HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No.

LOTHIAN: But Dean's campaign appeared to be speaking volumes. Volunteers handing out this anti-Clark flying outside the retired general's New Hampshire event, questioning whether he's a real Democrat, criticizing his shifting position on the war in Iraq.

(on camera): One Clark aide said the retired general knows what it's like to be fired at with real bullets, so he'll be more than able to handle verbal attacks.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Keene, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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