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American Morning

Interview with Senator John Edwards' Wife

Aired February 16, 2004 - 09:08   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 John Edwards is looking to close in on front-runner John Kerry. And to that end, he's been courting churchgoers, students and others voters in Wisconsin before tomorrow's primary. But can he narrow the gap? With him on the campaign trail has been one very key figure, his wife, Elizabeth. Tomorrow's primary in Wisconsin will be a key test.
Elizabeth Edwards joins us this morning live from Milwaukee.

How are you, Mrs. Edwards. Nice to see you again. Thanks for being with us.

ELIZABETH EDWARDS, WIFE OF DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE JOHN EDWARDS: Good morning, Soledad. Nice to be with you.

O'BRIEN: Well, thank you very much. We heard your husband say yesterday in the debate, I'm going to continue to fight on with everything I have got, but at the same time, the numbers, the poll numbers, do not support a John Edwards victory in Wisconsin. So the big question is, how do you narrow that gap? And does he realistically think he can win?

EDWARDS: I think what you see every place that John goes is he has growing support. His numbers go up every place that he visits. In every state he's been, his numbers when he came into the state are lower than when they came out. That's what we're expecting to see here. We're expecting to see that kind of increase. I loved hearing the story about Dale Earnhardt Jr. laying back for the first couple of laps and coming and winning the checkered flag. I don't think where you are in the beginning of the race is what's important. Where you are at the end is what matters.

O'BRIEN: Ah, so that's the strategy. We just figured it out. He's Dale Earnhardt Jr. in this race. I want to ask you about a really nice endorsement that came from "The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel." Here's just a little bit of what they wrote: "John Kerry would make a strong run at Bush and might defeat him," they write, "but we think John Edwards with his combination of message and method may have the stronger legs in this long-distance race." That's the end of the endorsement there. That's a really wonderful endorsement. Why haven't other voters in past primaries and caucuses caught on to that same sentiment?

EDWARDS: I think a lot of it is actually, you know, these editorial boards have a chance to see these candidates as close as anyone does. They sit them down in a room, they ask them questions, talk to them about what their strategies are, what their policies are. They get the feel of the people individually. That's where John shines. When we get a chance to do that, when he has a chance to talk to voters in that same sort of a setting, really communicate with them one on one, even in a rally setting, he wins them over. He did it there. He did it with the Madison paper here in Wisconsin as well, so, and getting a great endorsement there. I expect that he'll be able to do that. The question is whether he has time to do it. That's really the only question in our minds, is just not whether he can, it's whether he's got time.

O'BRIEN: And in fact, your husband said one of the goals to this campaign is trying to get in to this one on one sort of debate with John Kerry. How exactly does he have an advantage? In that scenario you're describing, how does he have an advantage over John Kerry?

EDWARDS: John makes an immediate connection with people. He does this -- a lot of people that he talks to, most of the American voters actually grew up the way John grew up. They see that immediately. They trust him. They can figure out right away that he gets their life, gets their problems, understands their struggles. The issues that he talks about, the loss of jobs, is not something that he's read about as a headline a paper, it's something he's felt in his own life. His opposition to NAFTA, for example, comes from his own experience in his own hometown. And I think people understand that, they relate to it.

O'BRIEN: When the senator last appeared on our broadcast, I asked him if he had any interest whatsoever in being vice president, and he said, and I'm quoting here, "absolutely no interest." Then you heard him, I think he was doing a radio interview with Don Imus, and he didn't come out quite as stridently against it. So, you know, I'm not saying he came out agreeing with that, but do you think there's a change there. Do you think -- I mean, I've got to ask you the vice presidency question -- would he be interested in being a vice presidential candidate?

EDWARDS: You all have to ask this question. The truth of the matter is that he is not interested. We talk every day, have always talked every day in 26 years of marriage. We do not talk about the vice presidency. It is not matter of any discussion. He has his eye on one ball and one ball only, and that is getting the nomination of president.

O'BRIEN: Well, I had to ask. But look, I saved it for the last question, right, Mr. Edwards?

EDWARDS: You did. You did.

O'BRIEN: Thanks for being with us, Mrs. Edwards, joining us this morning on the campaign trail for her husband.

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 16, 2004 - 09:08   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 John Edwards is looking to close in on front-runner John Kerry. And to that end, he's been courting churchgoers, students and others voters in Wisconsin before tomorrow's primary. But can he narrow the gap? With him on the campaign trail has been one very key figure, his wife, Elizabeth. Tomorrow's primary in Wisconsin will be a key test.
Elizabeth Edwards joins us this morning live from Milwaukee.

How are you, Mrs. Edwards. Nice to see you again. Thanks for being with us.

ELIZABETH EDWARDS, WIFE OF DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE JOHN EDWARDS: Good morning, Soledad. Nice to be with you.

O'BRIEN: Well, thank you very much. We heard your husband say yesterday in the debate, I'm going to continue to fight on with everything I have got, but at the same time, the numbers, the poll numbers, do not support a John Edwards victory in Wisconsin. So the big question is, how do you narrow that gap? And does he realistically think he can win?

EDWARDS: I think what you see every place that John goes is he has growing support. His numbers go up every place that he visits. In every state he's been, his numbers when he came into the state are lower than when they came out. That's what we're expecting to see here. We're expecting to see that kind of increase. I loved hearing the story about Dale Earnhardt Jr. laying back for the first couple of laps and coming and winning the checkered flag. I don't think where you are in the beginning of the race is what's important. Where you are at the end is what matters.

O'BRIEN: Ah, so that's the strategy. We just figured it out. He's Dale Earnhardt Jr. in this race. I want to ask you about a really nice endorsement that came from "The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel." Here's just a little bit of what they wrote: "John Kerry would make a strong run at Bush and might defeat him," they write, "but we think John Edwards with his combination of message and method may have the stronger legs in this long-distance race." That's the end of the endorsement there. That's a really wonderful endorsement. Why haven't other voters in past primaries and caucuses caught on to that same sentiment?

EDWARDS: I think a lot of it is actually, you know, these editorial boards have a chance to see these candidates as close as anyone does. They sit them down in a room, they ask them questions, talk to them about what their strategies are, what their policies are. They get the feel of the people individually. That's where John shines. When we get a chance to do that, when he has a chance to talk to voters in that same sort of a setting, really communicate with them one on one, even in a rally setting, he wins them over. He did it there. He did it with the Madison paper here in Wisconsin as well, so, and getting a great endorsement there. I expect that he'll be able to do that. The question is whether he has time to do it. That's really the only question in our minds, is just not whether he can, it's whether he's got time.

O'BRIEN: And in fact, your husband said one of the goals to this campaign is trying to get in to this one on one sort of debate with John Kerry. How exactly does he have an advantage? In that scenario you're describing, how does he have an advantage over John Kerry?

EDWARDS: John makes an immediate connection with people. He does this -- a lot of people that he talks to, most of the American voters actually grew up the way John grew up. They see that immediately. They trust him. They can figure out right away that he gets their life, gets their problems, understands their struggles. The issues that he talks about, the loss of jobs, is not something that he's read about as a headline a paper, it's something he's felt in his own life. His opposition to NAFTA, for example, comes from his own experience in his own hometown. And I think people understand that, they relate to it.

O'BRIEN: When the senator last appeared on our broadcast, I asked him if he had any interest whatsoever in being vice president, and he said, and I'm quoting here, "absolutely no interest." Then you heard him, I think he was doing a radio interview with Don Imus, and he didn't come out quite as stridently against it. So, you know, I'm not saying he came out agreeing with that, but do you think there's a change there. Do you think -- I mean, I've got to ask you the vice presidency question -- would he be interested in being a vice presidential candidate?

EDWARDS: You all have to ask this question. The truth of the matter is that he is not interested. We talk every day, have always talked every day in 26 years of marriage. We do not talk about the vice presidency. It is not matter of any discussion. He has his eye on one ball and one ball only, and that is getting the nomination of president.

O'BRIEN: Well, I had to ask. But look, I saved it for the last question, right, Mr. Edwards?

EDWARDS: You did. You did.

O'BRIEN: Thanks for being with us, Mrs. Edwards, joining us this morning on the campaign trail for her husband.

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