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CNN Live At Daybreak

Senator from Massachusetts Beats Southern Rivals in Virginia, Tennessee

Aired February 11, 2004 - 05:23   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: Oh, on to the election now. America votes and John Kerry kicks. The senator from Massachusetts beat his Southern rivals in Virginia and in Tennessee.
On the phone with us live from Richmond, Virginia, Jimmy Barrett at 1140 WRVA Radio -- Chad, are you with us, too?

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

JIMMY BARRETT, WRVA RADIO MORNING SHOW HOST: I think he's over there, as well.

COSTELLO: Chad is with us.

Jimmy Barrett -- we're simulcasting. That's why this intro is kind of weird to our listeners, and probably to Jimmy's listeners, as well.

BARRETT: And, you know, I'm not the most coordinated guy on the planet. My gym teacher would be glad to vouch for that.

MYERS: I've seen you play horseshoes, Jimmy.

BARRETT: Yes, exactly.

MYERS: Yes, yes.

BARRETT: One problem, I keep having the spike in the other guy's pit. That doesn't work real well.

COSTELLO: Oh, that is truly bad.

MYERS: But you've got to get that shoe off the horse first.

BARRETT: Speaking of horses, what do we think of John Kerry? He looks like a prize winner to me.

MYERS: Yes.

BARRETT: He looks like a Derby winner.

MYERS: Good transition.

COSTELLO: There was no, I mean Virginia just made up its mind and voted John Kerry all the way, didn't it?

MYERS: Yes.

BARRETT: Well, they did. And you know what? There's a lot of exit polling, I think, that explains that. Number one, I think everybody likes a winner, don't they? Everybody likes to jump on the bandwagon and endorse a winner.

COSTELLO: But the interesting thing about Virginia, according to our polls, four in 10 Virginians made up their minds in the last three days.

BARRETT: Well, and, again, I think that has a lot to do with the bandwagon factor. And I -- here's the other motivating factor here, at least, I think, for Democrats. I really do truly feel, at the risk of sounding a little paranoid, I really do truly feel that the big factor for Democrats who are willing to go out and vote in a primary yesterday was their unabated hate for President George W. Bush. And they're going to vote for the person they think is most likely to be able to beat him, even if they don't necessarily agree with the politics of that individual.

COSTELLO: I think that you're absolutely right. Electability certainly played a big factor in Virginia. I mean Kerry ran strong among every economic group, particularly those making under $75,000. Two thirds of black respondents voted for Kerry. He did well in every single demographic category in Virginia.

BARRETT: Well, he did well. The voter turnout, by the way, here in Virginia was not particularly high. This is the first Democratic primary that has been held here in Virginia in the last 16 years and they predicted probably around 400,000 or less, which would be about 10 percent of the vote turned out yesterday. It's also an open primary, which makes it interesting. You don't have to be a registered Democrat to vote in Virginia in the primary.

COSTELLO: Really?

BARRETT: Yes.

COSTELLO: But you're right about the turnout, because it has been high so far in other primaries and caucuses but it's interesting that it has not been in Virginia.

BARRETT: Well, I think that shows, again, a lack of enthusiasm and the people who are motivated to go out and vote in this. You have to remember, too, Virginia, with the exception of the fact that we have a Democratic governor, has been pretty much a Republican state for the last, you know, 15 or 20 years. The Republicans do very well here. Certainly this is a state that George W. Bush carried in the last election and I would guess would be expected to carry again in this upcoming presidential election.

MYERS: Jimmy, you said yesterday how the state is split north and south, how there is northern Virginia and then the rest of Virginia.

How did the voting break down in those two areas? Do you know? BARRETT: Well, I think Carol hit on it. I think it was pretty much evenly spread. If you went from north to south, to southwest and even the Tidewater area, it was pretty overwhelming for John Kerry. He did well in all particular areas of the state.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, you have to wonder about John Edwards. He's got to be disappointed, you know, being a Southern boy and all.

BARRETT: Well, I think John Edwards is a little disappointed, although, you know, he got 27 percent of the vote. What about what...

COSTELLO: Yes, but he was a distant second. I mean he didn't come close.

BARRETT: Well, no, and I -- quite frankly, I don't think anybody really expected him to come that close. He really was not a player in this election. I don't think there was ever a time in any of the advanced polling information that it looked like John Edwards was going to be real strong.

But imagine Wesley Clark. Now here's a guy we talked to on the air, just as Judy Woodruff did, by the way, from your own CNN, the day before he declared his presidential candidacy. And I and Judy, I think, tied for the most amount of times we tried to get him to confess that he was going to run for president, and failed. And then yesterday we talked to General Wesley Clark, the day before, it turns out, he's going to end up dropping out of this particular race. And no matter how hard I tried yesterday, I couldn't get him to admit that maybe he'd like to be the next secretary of state if John Kerry wins.

COSTELLO: Whoa, you never know about that. That's very interesting. But you're right, he is dropping out of the race. He's expected to do that, oh, around 2:30 Eastern in Little Rock, Arkansas. So, of course, CNN will carry that live.

Jimmy Barrett, I know you have to go.

Jimmy Barrett from WRVA Radio in Richmond, Virginia.

Thanks for joining us.

BARRETT: See you later, Carol.

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





Virginia, Tennessee>


Aired February 11, 2004 - 05:23   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, on to the election now. America votes and John Kerry kicks. The senator from Massachusetts beat his Southern rivals in Virginia and in Tennessee.
On the phone with us live from Richmond, Virginia, Jimmy Barrett at 1140 WRVA Radio -- Chad, are you with us, too?

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

JIMMY BARRETT, WRVA RADIO MORNING SHOW HOST: I think he's over there, as well.

COSTELLO: Chad is with us.

Jimmy Barrett -- we're simulcasting. That's why this intro is kind of weird to our listeners, and probably to Jimmy's listeners, as well.

BARRETT: And, you know, I'm not the most coordinated guy on the planet. My gym teacher would be glad to vouch for that.

MYERS: I've seen you play horseshoes, Jimmy.

BARRETT: Yes, exactly.

MYERS: Yes, yes.

BARRETT: One problem, I keep having the spike in the other guy's pit. That doesn't work real well.

COSTELLO: Oh, that is truly bad.

MYERS: But you've got to get that shoe off the horse first.

BARRETT: Speaking of horses, what do we think of John Kerry? He looks like a prize winner to me.

MYERS: Yes.

BARRETT: He looks like a Derby winner.

MYERS: Good transition.

COSTELLO: There was no, I mean Virginia just made up its mind and voted John Kerry all the way, didn't it?

MYERS: Yes.

BARRETT: Well, they did. And you know what? There's a lot of exit polling, I think, that explains that. Number one, I think everybody likes a winner, don't they? Everybody likes to jump on the bandwagon and endorse a winner.

COSTELLO: But the interesting thing about Virginia, according to our polls, four in 10 Virginians made up their minds in the last three days.

BARRETT: Well, and, again, I think that has a lot to do with the bandwagon factor. And I -- here's the other motivating factor here, at least, I think, for Democrats. I really do truly feel, at the risk of sounding a little paranoid, I really do truly feel that the big factor for Democrats who are willing to go out and vote in a primary yesterday was their unabated hate for President George W. Bush. And they're going to vote for the person they think is most likely to be able to beat him, even if they don't necessarily agree with the politics of that individual.

COSTELLO: I think that you're absolutely right. Electability certainly played a big factor in Virginia. I mean Kerry ran strong among every economic group, particularly those making under $75,000. Two thirds of black respondents voted for Kerry. He did well in every single demographic category in Virginia.

BARRETT: Well, he did well. The voter turnout, by the way, here in Virginia was not particularly high. This is the first Democratic primary that has been held here in Virginia in the last 16 years and they predicted probably around 400,000 or less, which would be about 10 percent of the vote turned out yesterday. It's also an open primary, which makes it interesting. You don't have to be a registered Democrat to vote in Virginia in the primary.

COSTELLO: Really?

BARRETT: Yes.

COSTELLO: But you're right about the turnout, because it has been high so far in other primaries and caucuses but it's interesting that it has not been in Virginia.

BARRETT: Well, I think that shows, again, a lack of enthusiasm and the people who are motivated to go out and vote in this. You have to remember, too, Virginia, with the exception of the fact that we have a Democratic governor, has been pretty much a Republican state for the last, you know, 15 or 20 years. The Republicans do very well here. Certainly this is a state that George W. Bush carried in the last election and I would guess would be expected to carry again in this upcoming presidential election.

MYERS: Jimmy, you said yesterday how the state is split north and south, how there is northern Virginia and then the rest of Virginia.

How did the voting break down in those two areas? Do you know? BARRETT: Well, I think Carol hit on it. I think it was pretty much evenly spread. If you went from north to south, to southwest and even the Tidewater area, it was pretty overwhelming for John Kerry. He did well in all particular areas of the state.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, you have to wonder about John Edwards. He's got to be disappointed, you know, being a Southern boy and all.

BARRETT: Well, I think John Edwards is a little disappointed, although, you know, he got 27 percent of the vote. What about what...

COSTELLO: Yes, but he was a distant second. I mean he didn't come close.

BARRETT: Well, no, and I -- quite frankly, I don't think anybody really expected him to come that close. He really was not a player in this election. I don't think there was ever a time in any of the advanced polling information that it looked like John Edwards was going to be real strong.

But imagine Wesley Clark. Now here's a guy we talked to on the air, just as Judy Woodruff did, by the way, from your own CNN, the day before he declared his presidential candidacy. And I and Judy, I think, tied for the most amount of times we tried to get him to confess that he was going to run for president, and failed. And then yesterday we talked to General Wesley Clark, the day before, it turns out, he's going to end up dropping out of this particular race. And no matter how hard I tried yesterday, I couldn't get him to admit that maybe he'd like to be the next secretary of state if John Kerry wins.

COSTELLO: Whoa, you never know about that. That's very interesting. But you're right, he is dropping out of the race. He's expected to do that, oh, around 2:30 Eastern in Little Rock, Arkansas. So, of course, CNN will carry that live.

Jimmy Barrett, I know you have to go.

Jimmy Barrett from WRVA Radio in Richmond, Virginia.

Thanks for joining us.

BARRETT: See you later, Carol.

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





Virginia, Tennessee>