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Democratic Presidential Candidates Face Off Tonight in Last Debate Before Super Tuesday
Aired February 26, 2004 - 11:30 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: The Democratic presidential candidates face off tonight in their last debate before Super Tuesday. The debate is sponsored by CNN and "The Los Angeles Times."
CNN's national correspondent Frank Buckley joining us now from L.A. with a preview of tonight. Hi, Frank.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Heidi. Right now, we are at Bovard Auditorium at USC. And right down there the stage the final preparations getting underway for this debate, moderated by CNN's Larry King and with panelists Ron Brownstein and Janet Clayton from "The Los Angeles Times."
This is an important debate coming up tonight. We are finally down to four candidates open the Democrat side. Of course you've got the front runner John Kerry who will be here. Senator John Edwards also taking place in the debate. Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich.
The long-shot candidacies of Sharpton and Kucinich won't get a meaningful boost from the debate. But more is at stake for Senators Kerry and Edwards. It's considered Kerry's debate to lose. His mission to keep his shoelaces tied up tight so he doesn't trip. For Senator Edwards, it's a chance to make some noise, to distinguish himself from Senator Kerry who is the presumptive nominee at this point.
Bottom line, with fewer candidates on the stage, it's possible the dynamic of this debate will be different than ones in the past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN KAPLAN, USC: When there was a nine-candidate field, it was much more like "Hellzapoppin'." Lots of fun, quips, wisecracks, body language, who's doing what. This, now, has a certain amount of gravity.
And also because it is Super Tuesday come up, the California debate is not only for the people of California, in some ways it's a proxy for a national debate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: In looking ahead to Super Tuesday, right now, Senator Kerry has the lead in the polls. He's won all about two of the primary contests so far. Senator Edwards has only won one. General Clark won Oklahoma, the other state.
But looking ahead to Super Tuesday, what if Senator Edwards loses again? What if he doesn't pick up any states? Does he have to drop out? We put that question to California's top Democrat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ART TORRES, CAL. DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHMN.: I mean if he keeps a positive attitude, which he's doing, there's no reason for him to drop out because as I said I think the competition is healthy for the party and for John Kerry who as of probably right now is the presumptive nominee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: But at this point there, the bottom line is for Senator Edwards this is a moment for Edward to make some sort of move, to make some sort of a noise and to distinguish himself tonight in this debate, before Super Tuesday, from Senator Kerry, the front runner -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Some sort of noise like the noise behind you, maybe, Frank.
Hey, I want to ask you, though, some pundits said early on after they saw the way John Edwards handled himself as a stumper, that he had really grown and really developed into a great speaker, is this going to be something that could really help him out tonight? Could he shine possibly?
BUCKLEY: Well I think he certainly can shine. The difficulty for Senator Edwards is how negative does he want to go? If he goes negative, then he's going against the grain of his campaign message, which is to be optimistic and to be positive. That's what he's been promising all along.
If he now goes negative, which is one of the things that you often do to try to distinguish yourself from another candidate, it's going to really cast some doubt on his credibility.
As to his speaking style, Senator Edwards is a very charismatic speaker. He's a former trial attorney. He's -- yes, he may have grown some as a candidate, but he always had those skills there.
You might make the case that Senator Kerry is the one who has really grown as a candidate, especially since Iowa and Hew Hampshire. He's learned how to campaign on the trial. He's become a little more warm with people and is better at interacting, perhaps, with some of the people when he's in a forum like this.
So it will be interesting tonight to see who does what during this debate.
COLLINS: All right. CNN's Frank Buckley, thanks so much, live from L.A. today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Last Debate Before Super Tuesday>
Aired February 26, 2004 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The Democratic presidential candidates face off tonight in their last debate before Super Tuesday. The debate is sponsored by CNN and "The Los Angeles Times."
CNN's national correspondent Frank Buckley joining us now from L.A. with a preview of tonight. Hi, Frank.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Heidi. Right now, we are at Bovard Auditorium at USC. And right down there the stage the final preparations getting underway for this debate, moderated by CNN's Larry King and with panelists Ron Brownstein and Janet Clayton from "The Los Angeles Times."
This is an important debate coming up tonight. We are finally down to four candidates open the Democrat side. Of course you've got the front runner John Kerry who will be here. Senator John Edwards also taking place in the debate. Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich.
The long-shot candidacies of Sharpton and Kucinich won't get a meaningful boost from the debate. But more is at stake for Senators Kerry and Edwards. It's considered Kerry's debate to lose. His mission to keep his shoelaces tied up tight so he doesn't trip. For Senator Edwards, it's a chance to make some noise, to distinguish himself from Senator Kerry who is the presumptive nominee at this point.
Bottom line, with fewer candidates on the stage, it's possible the dynamic of this debate will be different than ones in the past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN KAPLAN, USC: When there was a nine-candidate field, it was much more like "Hellzapoppin'." Lots of fun, quips, wisecracks, body language, who's doing what. This, now, has a certain amount of gravity.
And also because it is Super Tuesday come up, the California debate is not only for the people of California, in some ways it's a proxy for a national debate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: In looking ahead to Super Tuesday, right now, Senator Kerry has the lead in the polls. He's won all about two of the primary contests so far. Senator Edwards has only won one. General Clark won Oklahoma, the other state.
But looking ahead to Super Tuesday, what if Senator Edwards loses again? What if he doesn't pick up any states? Does he have to drop out? We put that question to California's top Democrat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ART TORRES, CAL. DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHMN.: I mean if he keeps a positive attitude, which he's doing, there's no reason for him to drop out because as I said I think the competition is healthy for the party and for John Kerry who as of probably right now is the presumptive nominee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: But at this point there, the bottom line is for Senator Edwards this is a moment for Edward to make some sort of move, to make some sort of a noise and to distinguish himself tonight in this debate, before Super Tuesday, from Senator Kerry, the front runner -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Some sort of noise like the noise behind you, maybe, Frank.
Hey, I want to ask you, though, some pundits said early on after they saw the way John Edwards handled himself as a stumper, that he had really grown and really developed into a great speaker, is this going to be something that could really help him out tonight? Could he shine possibly?
BUCKLEY: Well I think he certainly can shine. The difficulty for Senator Edwards is how negative does he want to go? If he goes negative, then he's going against the grain of his campaign message, which is to be optimistic and to be positive. That's what he's been promising all along.
If he now goes negative, which is one of the things that you often do to try to distinguish yourself from another candidate, it's going to really cast some doubt on his credibility.
As to his speaking style, Senator Edwards is a very charismatic speaker. He's a former trial attorney. He's -- yes, he may have grown some as a candidate, but he always had those skills there.
You might make the case that Senator Kerry is the one who has really grown as a candidate, especially since Iowa and Hew Hampshire. He's learned how to campaign on the trial. He's become a little more warm with people and is better at interacting, perhaps, with some of the people when he's in a forum like this.
So it will be interesting tonight to see who does what during this debate.
COLLINS: All right. CNN's Frank Buckley, thanks so much, live from L.A. today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Last Debate Before Super Tuesday>
