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American Morning
Dick Gephardt Expected to Endorse Kerry Today
Aired February 06, 2004 - 07:44 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: John Kerry is about to get a little more help in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. He is expected to receive a significant endorsement today from a former rival, Missouri Congressman Dick Gephardt.
So, how would a Kerry-Gephardt alliance affect the campaign? Let's talk about it this morning with CNN senior analyst Jeff Greenfield.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Hi.
COLLINS: Is this big news?
GREENFIELD: It's not earth-shaking news, but what it does is to just solidify what's going on. I mean, one thing about Dick Gephardt was he was the favorite of the older wing of the Democratic Party. Most of the industrial unions had backed him in Iowa. He had been the leading opponent of NAFTA. So, he's sort of a bridge back to that constituency, which, in places like Michigan, is extremely significant. In Wisconsin, it's fairly significant, where Howard Dean and John Edwards both think they can make a last stand.
So, it's a kind of underscoring of what's been going on...
COLLINS: Sure.
GREENFIELD: ... that people are really moving in large measure to this guy, who they think is the likely nominee.
COLLINS: In fact, let's go ahead and take a look at one of the polls now coming to us from the "Detroit News"/Mitchell Poll, 450 likely caucus voters statewide. This was taken Monday through Wednesday. It's showing, as you can see, 56 percent from John Kerry, 9 percent, Howard Dean, and the rest follow, as we see on the screen there.
GREENFIELD: Yes. My learned analysis is if you're 45 or 50 points behind with one day to go, you've got a problem.
COLLINS: You've got some serious (UNINTELLIGIBLE) there.
GREENFIELD: The other thing is, this is by far the biggest state in play in the whole primary season so far. And the fact that it's apparently going to go overwhelmingly for Kerry is another sign of just how things have moved for him in the last couple of weeks.
COLLINS: What about the union support? Obviously, this is something that Gephardt has had for a long time. How is this going to affect someone like Howard Dean?
GREENFIELD: Well, Howard Dean still has the support of the big public employee unions -- American Federation, the State and County Municipal Employees, Service Employees International. They are still sticking with him.
In a place like Michigan, the older industrial unions are probably more significant. But Wisconsin has a great number of public employees. It's what he's got going for him. It was the split that we saw in Iowa, the blue-collar unions for Gephardt, the more grayer, white-collar unions for Dean.
And as I say, they are sticking with him. But what difference that's going to make over the next 10 days is very dubious. I mean, his campaign -- Howard Dean's campaign has had one of the more likable freefalls we've seen in recent primaries.
COLLINS: Now, what about the endorsement of the establishment, if you will, in this state? Kerry has already got the governor and some senators there.
GREENFIELD: You mean in Michigan.
COLLINS: Yes.
GREENFIELD: Yes. Well, you know, Michigan is a done deal. It's happening tomorrow. He's got a 50-point lead.
COLLINS: Yes.
GREENFIELD: I mean, that -- you know, that says the voice out on Wall Street. We've discounted that. Everybody assumes Kerry is going to have a huge victory.
The test that Howard Dean is pointing to is Wisconsin on February 17, and that is a state -- you heard it here earlier, Roy Neel, his campaign chief, said-- it's a state with a tradition of support for insurgents and reformers and outsiders. It's his one shot left.
And if you want a prediction, you have to talk to somebody else.
COLLINS: I was going to say, what do you see happening on Wednesday, the day after?
GREENFIELD: Oh, no, no, no. Haven't we learned enough...
COLLINS: Yes, exactly.
GREENFIELD: Haven't we learned enough to just keep our mouth shut and not prove that we don't know what we're doing when we try to predict the future?
COLLINS: Well, good for you. All right, Jeff Greenfield, thanks for being here. We appreciate your time very much.
GREENFIELD: All right. 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 6, 2004 - 07:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: John Kerry is about to get a little more help in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. He is expected to receive a significant endorsement today from a former rival, Missouri Congressman Dick Gephardt.
So, how would a Kerry-Gephardt alliance affect the campaign? Let's talk about it this morning with CNN senior analyst Jeff Greenfield.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Hi.
COLLINS: Is this big news?
GREENFIELD: It's not earth-shaking news, but what it does is to just solidify what's going on. I mean, one thing about Dick Gephardt was he was the favorite of the older wing of the Democratic Party. Most of the industrial unions had backed him in Iowa. He had been the leading opponent of NAFTA. So, he's sort of a bridge back to that constituency, which, in places like Michigan, is extremely significant. In Wisconsin, it's fairly significant, where Howard Dean and John Edwards both think they can make a last stand.
So, it's a kind of underscoring of what's been going on...
COLLINS: Sure.
GREENFIELD: ... that people are really moving in large measure to this guy, who they think is the likely nominee.
COLLINS: In fact, let's go ahead and take a look at one of the polls now coming to us from the "Detroit News"/Mitchell Poll, 450 likely caucus voters statewide. This was taken Monday through Wednesday. It's showing, as you can see, 56 percent from John Kerry, 9 percent, Howard Dean, and the rest follow, as we see on the screen there.
GREENFIELD: Yes. My learned analysis is if you're 45 or 50 points behind with one day to go, you've got a problem.
COLLINS: You've got some serious (UNINTELLIGIBLE) there.
GREENFIELD: The other thing is, this is by far the biggest state in play in the whole primary season so far. And the fact that it's apparently going to go overwhelmingly for Kerry is another sign of just how things have moved for him in the last couple of weeks.
COLLINS: What about the union support? Obviously, this is something that Gephardt has had for a long time. How is this going to affect someone like Howard Dean?
GREENFIELD: Well, Howard Dean still has the support of the big public employee unions -- American Federation, the State and County Municipal Employees, Service Employees International. They are still sticking with him.
In a place like Michigan, the older industrial unions are probably more significant. But Wisconsin has a great number of public employees. It's what he's got going for him. It was the split that we saw in Iowa, the blue-collar unions for Gephardt, the more grayer, white-collar unions for Dean.
And as I say, they are sticking with him. But what difference that's going to make over the next 10 days is very dubious. I mean, his campaign -- Howard Dean's campaign has had one of the more likable freefalls we've seen in recent primaries.
COLLINS: Now, what about the endorsement of the establishment, if you will, in this state? Kerry has already got the governor and some senators there.
GREENFIELD: You mean in Michigan.
COLLINS: Yes.
GREENFIELD: Yes. Well, you know, Michigan is a done deal. It's happening tomorrow. He's got a 50-point lead.
COLLINS: Yes.
GREENFIELD: I mean, that -- you know, that says the voice out on Wall Street. We've discounted that. Everybody assumes Kerry is going to have a huge victory.
The test that Howard Dean is pointing to is Wisconsin on February 17, and that is a state -- you heard it here earlier, Roy Neel, his campaign chief, said-- it's a state with a tradition of support for insurgents and reformers and outsiders. It's his one shot left.
And if you want a prediction, you have to talk to somebody else.
COLLINS: I was going to say, what do you see happening on Wednesday, the day after?
GREENFIELD: Oh, no, no, no. Haven't we learned enough...
COLLINS: Yes, exactly.
GREENFIELD: Haven't we learned enough to just keep our mouth shut and not prove that we don't know what we're doing when we try to predict the future?
COLLINS: Well, good for you. All right, Jeff Greenfield, thanks for being here. We appreciate your time very much.
GREENFIELD: All right. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
