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American Morning

Interview With Joseph Lieberman

Aired February 03, 2004 - 07:09   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut has said that the first big test of his presidential candidacy would come today. He's been stumping hard for votes, but he hasn't generated what he's called the Joe-mentum he needs to move up in the polls.
Earlier, we caught up with Senator Lieberman in Wilmington, Delaware, and I asked him why he's still in the race with such an uphill battle ahead of him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Oh, I'm in this race, because, as all of the newspapers have said, I have a unique message. I'm the one moderate Democrat in this field. I've got 30 years of experience, a record of independence, of working together across party lines to get things done. I've got a combination of the strongest record on security of any of the candidates, defense, and also a real fighting record to protect and grow the middle class, security and opportunity.

So, I'm offering the voters a choice that no one else does. That's my cause, and today is the voters' day. I begin it with a real sense of optimism.

O'BRIEN: Your polling is in the single digits in lots of places. What's your prediction for how you're going to do today? Give me a sense of how you think it will come out at the end of the day.

LIEBERMAN: Well, the great thing is we don't know until the voters vote. I mean, I loved the editorial in "The Arizona Republic" that said to the Arizonans -- and I say it to the folks in Delaware and six other states voting today -- be bold. Don't just be an echo of what happened in the first two states that voted. Choose somebody who can actually win, and then bring the country together to make us safer and get our economy going again.

So, today is the voters' day, and I put my trust in them, as I always have. And I'm ready to be respectful of their decision.

O'BRIEN: You have long said that, in fact, today, February 3, is a much more important date to you than the previous contests.

LIEBERMAN: That's right.

O'BRIEN: What happens if it doesn't happen for you today? What's the next step? LIEBERMAN: I'm not really thinking about that. In fact, we're planning ahead. Our party tonight is in Virginia, which has a primary a week from now. I've got a schedule in Virginia tomorrow.

So, I'm going forward today with great hope about what's going to happen here in Delaware, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and Arizona. And I look forward to staying in the race and continuing to bring the unique choice.

Somebody said to me the other day in Oklahoma, if you're not in this race, we moderate Democrats don't have a choice. And, remember, it's moderate Democrats like Bill Clinton that win national elections, and that's what this should be all about for my fellow Democrats.

O'BRIEN: Where do you think your best chance of winning a primary or caucus is?

LIEBERMAN: The best chance? I think I've got really good chances here in Delaware. We like to say this is the first state -- the first state to ratify the Constitution. We want it to be the first state to give Joe Lieberman a victory. Also South Carolina, Arizona and Oklahoma are probably the others with the best choice.

There are a lot of undecided voters in all of the polls. And so, I'd really urge people, come on out and vote. This is about the future of the greatest country in the world and who will make it better. And I offer myself based on my lifetime of experience as the person you can trust to level with you and do what's right for America, whether it's politically popular or not, as I've done in this campaign, on the war, on trade, on tax cuts for the middle class.

O'BRIEN: Do you think in any way that you are hurting the Democratic Party by staying in the race so long, maybe with a couple of others as well? Not allowing the field to be kind of winnowed down to one or two people that everyone can get behind?

LIEBERMAN: I do not. This is very early. It's only early February, and most people thought this would go until at least early March. The convention isn't until later this summer.

I think this dialogue with the various voices in it is healthy for the party and healthy for America. in fact, I might say just stepping back that I do believe this campaign has increased the public's respect for the Democratic Party as a party of diversity and a party that does have a lot of new ideas about how to make America's future better.

Of course, I believe I'm the one who has got the proven record of working across party lines to cut out some of the partisan nonsense and actually get some of these new ideas adopted to make life better for the people we serve.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That was Senator Joe Lieberman talking with us 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 February 3, 2004 - 07:09   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut has said that the first big test of his presidential candidacy would come today. He's been stumping hard for votes, but he hasn't generated what he's called the Joe-mentum he needs to move up in the polls.
Earlier, we caught up with Senator Lieberman in Wilmington, Delaware, and I asked him why he's still in the race with such an uphill battle ahead of him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Oh, I'm in this race, because, as all of the newspapers have said, I have a unique message. I'm the one moderate Democrat in this field. I've got 30 years of experience, a record of independence, of working together across party lines to get things done. I've got a combination of the strongest record on security of any of the candidates, defense, and also a real fighting record to protect and grow the middle class, security and opportunity.

So, I'm offering the voters a choice that no one else does. That's my cause, and today is the voters' day. I begin it with a real sense of optimism.

O'BRIEN: Your polling is in the single digits in lots of places. What's your prediction for how you're going to do today? Give me a sense of how you think it will come out at the end of the day.

LIEBERMAN: Well, the great thing is we don't know until the voters vote. I mean, I loved the editorial in "The Arizona Republic" that said to the Arizonans -- and I say it to the folks in Delaware and six other states voting today -- be bold. Don't just be an echo of what happened in the first two states that voted. Choose somebody who can actually win, and then bring the country together to make us safer and get our economy going again.

So, today is the voters' day, and I put my trust in them, as I always have. And I'm ready to be respectful of their decision.

O'BRIEN: You have long said that, in fact, today, February 3, is a much more important date to you than the previous contests.

LIEBERMAN: That's right.

O'BRIEN: What happens if it doesn't happen for you today? What's the next step? LIEBERMAN: I'm not really thinking about that. In fact, we're planning ahead. Our party tonight is in Virginia, which has a primary a week from now. I've got a schedule in Virginia tomorrow.

So, I'm going forward today with great hope about what's going to happen here in Delaware, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and Arizona. And I look forward to staying in the race and continuing to bring the unique choice.

Somebody said to me the other day in Oklahoma, if you're not in this race, we moderate Democrats don't have a choice. And, remember, it's moderate Democrats like Bill Clinton that win national elections, and that's what this should be all about for my fellow Democrats.

O'BRIEN: Where do you think your best chance of winning a primary or caucus is?

LIEBERMAN: The best chance? I think I've got really good chances here in Delaware. We like to say this is the first state -- the first state to ratify the Constitution. We want it to be the first state to give Joe Lieberman a victory. Also South Carolina, Arizona and Oklahoma are probably the others with the best choice.

There are a lot of undecided voters in all of the polls. And so, I'd really urge people, come on out and vote. This is about the future of the greatest country in the world and who will make it better. And I offer myself based on my lifetime of experience as the person you can trust to level with you and do what's right for America, whether it's politically popular or not, as I've done in this campaign, on the war, on trade, on tax cuts for the middle class.

O'BRIEN: Do you think in any way that you are hurting the Democratic Party by staying in the race so long, maybe with a couple of others as well? Not allowing the field to be kind of winnowed down to one or two people that everyone can get behind?

LIEBERMAN: I do not. This is very early. It's only early February, and most people thought this would go until at least early March. The convention isn't until later this summer.

I think this dialogue with the various voices in it is healthy for the party and healthy for America. in fact, I might say just stepping back that I do believe this campaign has increased the public's respect for the Democratic Party as a party of diversity and a party that does have a lot of new ideas about how to make America's future better.

Of course, I believe I'm the one who has got the proven record of working across party lines to cut out some of the partisan nonsense and actually get some of these new ideas adopted to make life better for the people we serve.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That was Senator Joe Lieberman talking with us 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.