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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Andrea Seabrook

Aired February 22, 2004 - 07:12   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: A look back at the 2000 presidential voting results provides some clue why a Nader run makes some Democrats pretty nervous. In New Hampshire, President Bush won the state over Al Gore and the four electoral votes by just over 7,000 votes, while Nader garnered just over 22,000 votes.
And in Florida, with 25 electoral votes, just 537 votes separated Bush and Gore. While Nader picked up more than 97,000 votes. But would a Nader candidacy have the same effect this year?

For that, we turn to NPR congressional reporter, Andrea Seabrook, live this morning from Washington.

Andrea, thanks for being here. A lot of people questioning this move. What's going to happen? Is he going to be the spoiler for the Democrats this year?

ANDREA SEABROOK, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: Well, that's a good question. Of course we don't know yet whether or not he's actually going to run. He -- his campaign won't confirm that, but most people at this point are acting on the assumption that, you know, you go on live TV on Sunday morning, big political morning, and you pretty much say big news.

So most people think he's probably going to run at this point. Whether or not he'll be a spoiler is another question. I just spoke to a lot of sources on Friday about this. And a lot of people who would normally have voted for Nader, and in fact did vote for Nader last time, are saying, you know what? Last time, you know, we still love him. We loved him last time, but this time, we're going to get practical. You know, this is a different race. We've had, you know, these are people who run, you know, activist organizations, Nader's own organization, saying to me, you know, we've had four years of President Bush. And President Bush doesn't -- isn't good for these kinds of liberal organizations. And so, they're saying we're going to go with the Democrat this time.

COLLINS: Well, last time he ran, I know that he didn't even have enough to get federal funding. Do you think that this time around, as you were saying, you know, people are going to either really vote for him -- I mean, I'm just not understanding the effect that he could have.

Because as we looked at last time, the breakdown that we just gave, it was enough to spoil, but not really enough of a following?

SEABROOK: Yes. You know, last time you got about, what, 2.7...

COLLINS: Right.

SEABROOK: ...that's about 2.7 percent of the vote nationwide. That's the popular vote and that's spread out among the states. Of course, it was a little bit more chopped up than that.

But you know, that wasn't, as you say, enough to get federal funding. You need about five percent to get federal funding. And what it meant was that a lot of people -- well, Democrats say that people who voted for Nader would have voted for Al Gore if Nader hasn't been in the race.

And so, they're the ones who are begging him to -- I think this time around, it's going to be a lot different. I think there are a lot of people who would have voted for Nader, either because he was in the Green Party, which he isn't this time, or who really wanted to give him a shot last time at that federal funding, who are saying this time it's not going to happen.

And I think -- you know what I think? There's something else that people are kind of overlooking here. And that is the -- if you go -- if you look at a Bush-Kerry race, or even a Bush-Edwards race, the Bush campaign is probably going to try and paint Kerry or Edwards, but most likely Kerry, as sort of a Massachusetts liberal, you know, far out on the left. And I think if you have Nader in the race, that's going to be a harder picture to paint for the Bush campaign. So...

COLLINS: A more middle of the line alternative?

SEABROOK: Exactly. And so, Kerry could even take advantage of this, or Edwards could take advantage of this.

COLLINS: But interesting, Andrea, you say, you know, he's not going to be with -- Nader that is, not going to be with the Green Party. What is his platform looking like?

SEABROOK: Well, he says if he gets into the race, again, that what he wants to do is highlight issues that he doesn't think are going to get out there otherwise in a Bush-Kerry race or a Bush- Edwards race. He's talking about corporate crime. He's talking about single pair health care, you know, a national system of health care. He's talking about these sort of very left issues, that in fact up to now, have been carried by one Democratic candidate in particular. And that's Dennis Kucinich, the Ohio congressman, who is still in the race, but who isn't really campaigning anymore, and isn't really getting...

COLLINS: Right.

SEABROOK: ...certainly hasn't broken out of single digits in the primaries.

COLLINS: All right, Andrea, before we let you go, you mentioned, you know, when you go on these big Sunday morning talk shows, usually you're going to try to make big news. Anything else that he could be saying?

SEABROOK: Well, you know, I don't put it past him to go on one of the Sunday morning talk shows and say, OK, I'm not going to run, but here are the things that need to get out in the election.

COLLINS: Right.

SEABROOK: But you know, again, my gut is saying he's going to make some news this morning.

COLLINS: All right, we will wait to see that. NPR congressional reporter Andrea Seabrook this morning. Andrea, thanks again, appreciate your time.

SEABROOK: My pleasure.

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 22, 2004 - 07:12   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A look back at the 2000 presidential voting results provides some clue why a Nader run makes some Democrats pretty nervous. In New Hampshire, President Bush won the state over Al Gore and the four electoral votes by just over 7,000 votes, while Nader garnered just over 22,000 votes.
And in Florida, with 25 electoral votes, just 537 votes separated Bush and Gore. While Nader picked up more than 97,000 votes. But would a Nader candidacy have the same effect this year?

For that, we turn to NPR congressional reporter, Andrea Seabrook, live this morning from Washington.

Andrea, thanks for being here. A lot of people questioning this move. What's going to happen? Is he going to be the spoiler for the Democrats this year?

ANDREA SEABROOK, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: Well, that's a good question. Of course we don't know yet whether or not he's actually going to run. He -- his campaign won't confirm that, but most people at this point are acting on the assumption that, you know, you go on live TV on Sunday morning, big political morning, and you pretty much say big news.

So most people think he's probably going to run at this point. Whether or not he'll be a spoiler is another question. I just spoke to a lot of sources on Friday about this. And a lot of people who would normally have voted for Nader, and in fact did vote for Nader last time, are saying, you know what? Last time, you know, we still love him. We loved him last time, but this time, we're going to get practical. You know, this is a different race. We've had, you know, these are people who run, you know, activist organizations, Nader's own organization, saying to me, you know, we've had four years of President Bush. And President Bush doesn't -- isn't good for these kinds of liberal organizations. And so, they're saying we're going to go with the Democrat this time.

COLLINS: Well, last time he ran, I know that he didn't even have enough to get federal funding. Do you think that this time around, as you were saying, you know, people are going to either really vote for him -- I mean, I'm just not understanding the effect that he could have.

Because as we looked at last time, the breakdown that we just gave, it was enough to spoil, but not really enough of a following?

SEABROOK: Yes. You know, last time you got about, what, 2.7...

COLLINS: Right.

SEABROOK: ...that's about 2.7 percent of the vote nationwide. That's the popular vote and that's spread out among the states. Of course, it was a little bit more chopped up than that.

But you know, that wasn't, as you say, enough to get federal funding. You need about five percent to get federal funding. And what it meant was that a lot of people -- well, Democrats say that people who voted for Nader would have voted for Al Gore if Nader hasn't been in the race.

And so, they're the ones who are begging him to -- I think this time around, it's going to be a lot different. I think there are a lot of people who would have voted for Nader, either because he was in the Green Party, which he isn't this time, or who really wanted to give him a shot last time at that federal funding, who are saying this time it's not going to happen.

And I think -- you know what I think? There's something else that people are kind of overlooking here. And that is the -- if you go -- if you look at a Bush-Kerry race, or even a Bush-Edwards race, the Bush campaign is probably going to try and paint Kerry or Edwards, but most likely Kerry, as sort of a Massachusetts liberal, you know, far out on the left. And I think if you have Nader in the race, that's going to be a harder picture to paint for the Bush campaign. So...

COLLINS: A more middle of the line alternative?

SEABROOK: Exactly. And so, Kerry could even take advantage of this, or Edwards could take advantage of this.

COLLINS: But interesting, Andrea, you say, you know, he's not going to be with -- Nader that is, not going to be with the Green Party. What is his platform looking like?

SEABROOK: Well, he says if he gets into the race, again, that what he wants to do is highlight issues that he doesn't think are going to get out there otherwise in a Bush-Kerry race or a Bush- Edwards race. He's talking about corporate crime. He's talking about single pair health care, you know, a national system of health care. He's talking about these sort of very left issues, that in fact up to now, have been carried by one Democratic candidate in particular. And that's Dennis Kucinich, the Ohio congressman, who is still in the race, but who isn't really campaigning anymore, and isn't really getting...

COLLINS: Right.

SEABROOK: ...certainly hasn't broken out of single digits in the primaries.

COLLINS: All right, Andrea, before we let you go, you mentioned, you know, when you go on these big Sunday morning talk shows, usually you're going to try to make big news. Anything else that he could be saying?

SEABROOK: Well, you know, I don't put it past him to go on one of the Sunday morning talk shows and say, OK, I'm not going to run, but here are the things that need to get out in the election.

COLLINS: Right.

SEABROOK: But you know, again, my gut is saying he's going to make some news this morning.

COLLINS: All right, we will wait to see that. NPR congressional reporter Andrea Seabrook this morning. Andrea, thanks again, appreciate your time.

SEABROOK: My pleasure.

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