Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Campaign Cash: Who Has It, Who Needs More; Awaiting Mitt Romney's Speech to Conservative Political Action Conference; Romney Suspends Campaign
Aired February 07, 2008 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to this special Thursday edition of "BALLOT BOWL '08." I'm Dana Bash.
This is your chance for you, the voters, to hear from the presidential candidates as they campaign. You'll hear from them in their own words on the campaign trail. Some of them will be live, but we are going to bring a lot of that to you today, some will be taped, but regardless, it is going to be large portions of these candidates as they vi for their party's nomination and you'll be able to hear from them unfiltered in their own words.
We have an extensive game plan for you ahead today. First of all, we'll start where I am. I'm in Washington, D.C. at the convention called CPAC, Conservative Political Action Committee. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is going to be speaking here in just a few minutes. We'll bring that to you live.
We're also going to go to New Orleans where Democrat Barack Obama is speaking. In fact, he's just wrapping up his speech there. I'll turn it over to my colleague Suzanne Malveaux who is with him. Hi, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Dana. We just heard from Barack Obama in New Orleans. Obviously a very important speech because of the timing as well as what he is saying, his message to the people. I was in New Orleans just last week visiting with relatives who are still in trailers, and that is really his audience.
The people in New Orleans, those who are looking to the government and say what is the plan. So he outlined his recovery plan, talking about rebuilding, talking about, again, having trust in the government, the health care system that he is going to bring that city back, as well as the gulf coast.
There is another important audience, however, not just the people who live there in New Orleans, but also John Edwards. As you may recall, he dropped out of the race just last week. He was in the ninth ward in New Orleans, a backdrop really of destruction and a lot of folks who are still dismayed by what has happened. And he is looking for the candidate, whether it is Senator Clinton or Senator Barack Obama, who can really bring that city back.
But also make a real commitment to the poor, to those that he has been talking about in his own candidacy, and both of these candidates are looking for a possible endorsement from John Edwards. That would be a prize. That would be very important if they could win those voters over to their camp. So it is no mistake, no accident, that Barack Obama is in New Orleans putting out his recovery plan. Let's take a listen.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can talk about a trust that was broken, is promise that our government will be prepared, will protect us, and will respond in a catastrophe. But we also know the broken promises did not start when a storm hit. They did not end there. When President Bush came down to Jackson square two weeks after the storm, the setting was spectacular. His promise is soaring, "We will do what it takes," he said. "We will take as long as it takes to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives." But over two years later, those words have been caught in a tangle of half measures, half-hearted leadership and red tape.
Dr. Cohen described it aptly while we were talking outside; he said it is a tale of two cities. A tale of two cities. Yes, parts of New Orleans are coming back to life, but we also know that over 25,000 families are still living in small trailers, that thousands of homes sit empty and condemned, and that schools and hospitals and firehouses and police stations remain shut. We know that even though the street car is running, there are fewer passengers, that even though the parades sound their joyful noise, there is too much violence in the shadows.
To confront these challenges we have to understand that Katrina may have battered the levees, but it also exposed silent storms that have ravaged parts of this city and our country for far too long. The storms of poverty and joblessness, inequality, and injustice. Those are the storms that swirled before Katrina hit.
I was down in Houston visiting evacuees a few days after Katrina. I met a woman in the Reliant Center who had long known these storms in her life. She told me, and I quote, "We had nothing before the hurricane, now we got less than nothing." "We had nothing before the hurricane, now we got less than nothing." Think about. I think about her sometimes. I think about how America left her behind before the storm. I wonder where she is today. America failed that woman long before that failure showed up on our television screens. We failed her again during Katrina. And tragically, we are failing her for a third time, and that needs to change, and that's one of the reasons I am running for president of the United States of America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!
OBAMA: It is time for us to restore our trust with her. And time for America to rebuild trust with the people of New Orleans and the gulf coast. When I am president, I will start by restoring that most basic trust, that your government will do what it takes to keep you safe. The words never again spoken so often in those weeks after Katrina must not fade to a whisper.
The army corps of engineers has rebuilt the levees that were most damaged by the storm, but funding has sometimes stalled, and New Orleans remains unprotected. We can't gamble every hurricane season. That's why when I am president, we will finish building a system of levees that can withstand a 100-year storm by 2011 with the goal of expanding that protection against a category 5 storm. Let's get it done when I'm president of the United States of America!
MALVEAUX: Big cheers for Barack Obama and bringing back New Orleans. Obviously a lot of folks looking for what the government will do next in that city.
Clearly, some very important races ahead. Looking at Louisiana, the primary on Saturday, Barack Obama's camp believe they have a good shot at winning this because of the significant African-American community. Looking at that particular race, also Saturday, looking at some caucuses for Democrats and Republican s, Nebraska, as well as Washington State, the Virgin Islands. For the Republican s, it is Kansas. All of those races happening right around the corner.
And candidates scramble to try to get as many delegates as possible, because obviously this is a race for those delegates. Now Sunday you'll see a Maine caucus. 24 delegates up for grabs. Want to break down the delegates for you. Senator Clinton has the lead with 823 delegates so far, but Barack Obama is not far behind. He has 741. But these two candidates believe that they have strengths and weaknesses in various states.
Barack Obama looking at the caucuses as a potential win because of the open process. It allows independents and Republican s to move over to participate in some of those states, and he believes he has crossover appeal. It is also a caucus where he has real grass-roots, a strong organization. They believe that will work in his favor.
Senator Clinton, on the other hand, looking ahead at March 4th, at Ohio and Texas. They believe they have certain groups that will work for them. That is working class white voters, blue collar, older voters, and Latinos, all groups where she does very well. So both of them crisscrossing the state. They'll both end up in Washington State at the end of the day -- Dana.
BASH: Suzanne, you talk about the candidates crisscrossing the country and that map you just put up really illustrated the challenge that these candidates have. You have them campaigning on one side of the country, Maine on the other, in Washington state, and that really speaks to some of the problems, perhaps, some of these candidates are having on both sides but particularly we are talking about Democrats now in terms of the money that it takes to do this. Hillary Clinton of course announcing that she had to write herself a check essentially to keep it going.
MALVEAUX: Yes. Money is everything when it comes to this race here. Just because -- really, it is so compressed, the calendar here. But in January you had Barack Obama's campaign raising $32 million. You had Hillary Clinton on the other hand raised $13.5 million. Definitely put him in a dominant position for advertising throughout the country so that if you're not in one place, at least your message is out there, you can tailor it to particular groups. But it all takes money. It takes cash to move people from one place to the other, to run campaigns. Clearly with a lot of momentum in Barack Obama's camp.
We learned just yesterday that Senator Clinton actually had to take out a loan. Let's listen to how she explained after Super Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I did, I loaned the campaign $5 million from my money. That's where I got the money. I loaned it because I believe very strongly in this campaign. We had a great month fund-raising in January. Broke all records. But my opponent was able to raise more money and we intended to be competitive and we were, and I think the results last night proved the wisdom of my investment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Dana, it seems like there is quite a bit of wisdom in that investment because it seems to be paying off. There is a huge fund-raiser online for Senator Clinton since Super Tuesday. They were saying they would raise $3 million within three days. Well, they got it within 24 hours. They say they have since paid off the loan and now they're working for $6 million in 72 hours.
We'll see how all of that shakes out. But they feel very confident that they're back in the game, back in the money game. The Obama people say since Super Tuesday they have avenue raised $7 million. Clearly these guys are going at it very competitive and cold cash is at the bottom line to this -- Dana.
BASH: It is. There is no question cold cash is the bottom line. It is fascinating how much both of these candidates have been able to raise in just the past couple of days. But as you know Suzanne, what these candidates really like to do especially at this time when there is sort of a national primary, we saw the biggest one on Tuesday but you see these candidates vying for votes across the country, they're trying to get national exposure, right? With spending the least amount of money. The best way to do that, they know, looking at CNN's ratings and others, is through debates. That's part of Hillary Clinton's strategy now, isn't it, to try to have more debates?
MALVEAUX: It is really interesting. Kind of what's happening now, the debate over the debates. You have the Clinton camp, their campaign manager is matter of fact sending the letter to the campaign manager of Barack Obama essentially inviting him, challenging him for five debates before March 4th. They want to have them debate at least once a week every weekend starting this weekend. That's the challenge they've thrown out there.
Barack Obama, at a press conference yesterday, we asked him about this, if he accepted this challenge. He said that at least he'll do one debate. What's kind of happening, behind the scenes here, it's all about strategy. The Clinton folks feel that she performs very well, this is a strength of hers, that she is better in that venue and the debate arena, talking about the issues, talking about specifics.
The Barack Obama folks feel like -- Obama said it himself -- he doesn't have as much time to prepare for these debates. What he wants to do is go out and meet the voters so they get to know him better. As he does that with these big rallies and these small sessions, he tends to do much better. You see his numbers go up in the polls. You see people actually respond to him. They say Clinton has 100% recognition here, name recognition. There's a brand there. She's already known so they don't feel that's the best way to spend their time. Dana?
BASH: Suzanne, thank you very much.
We want to break in with this breaking news. This huge, huge news when it comes to the presidential campaign on the Republican side. That is that three Republican sources tell our John King that Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, will suspend his campaign. We are told that he will suspend his campaign. We're told that that is going to happen where I am, at a convention in Washington, the Conservative Political Action Committee. Mitt Romney is scheduled to speak here in just a few moments.
Again, the headline is that CNN has learned, according to our John King, that Mitt Romney will announce that he is going to suspend his campaign. Quite a seismic event when you are talking about the Republican race here and quite a different tone from Mitt Romney given the fact that it was just yesterday that he and his aides were saying they were going to press on despite the fact that he had an incredibly disappointing night a couple of nights ago on Super Tuesday.
But the reality is, Mitt Romney is somebody who understands numbers and he understands data. So he understands that he is now well, well behind in terms of the number of delegates he needs to get the nomination. I'm told that John King is actually on the phone.
John, this is a pretty seismic event.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Big news. With John McCain coming to reach out to conservatives, now bigger news at this event or comparable news, any way, we are told by three Republican sources Mitt Romney's plan is to suspend his campaign. Now remember that's the same technical term John Edwards used when he stepped down. That means Romney is not quitting the race but he is suspending his campaign, which is all but quitting the race.
By suspending, he allows himself to keep his delegates. Sudden something happen a week or month down the road to Senator McCain's candidacy he could get back in. But the sources I've spoken with say that's not his intention, that governor Romney has reached the conclusion that Senator McCain is now past the point where he or any other Republican contender had any decent likelihood of catching Senator McCain. Governor Romney making that conclusion after, as you know from our own reporting, saying rather defiantly after the results on Super Tuesday he would continue in the race.
He was scheduled to even speak at a Republican dinner in Baltimore tonight. It was taken as a sign he'd fight on through at least next week's primaries in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. But these three sources tell us after looking at the data again and again, Governor Romney has reached the decision to suspend his campaign. He will announce it in that room today where many of the activists were hoping he would fight on.
They're either critical or skeptical of Senator McCain. Some have said outright they couldn't even vote for Senator McCain even if it is a race against Senator Clinton. We're told he will suspend his campaign. I'm waiting for more information and you will hear it when he speaks shortly there as to what he says about the campaign. It will be quite interesting to see if Governor Romney just suspends his campaign and says Senator McCain is a good man or whether he suspends his campaign and jumps immediately urging other Republican s to rally behind Senator McCain. It will be a fascinating question.
BASH: It definitely will be considering the fact that over and over again Mitt Romney has been saying John McCain is too liberal to be the Republican nominee, setting a whole host of issues he sponsored in the legislation saying he is not the man you are seeing standing in that room.
John, we both talked to sources inside the Romney campaign as late as last need who said privately they understood the numbers, they understood that it would be mathematically very, very difficult for Mitt Romney to catch up with John McCain at this point considering the fact that he is so far ahead, McCain, in terms of the delegate count. I think 60 percent of the way there.
But they were making the case, well, we have a couple of big states on March 4th, Texas, Ohio, particularly where in Ohio they thought his plan for the economy would play well. But it will be fascinating to see what that eureka moment was for Mitt Romney given the fact he was poring over that data. He knew the deal yesterday before they announced that he was going to press on and now the sudden switch.
KING: Perhaps he has decided yesterday and they did not relay that information. It was fascinating. Yesterday, we were with Senator McCain where he talked about reaching out to conservatives, but starting to reach out to Democrats , specifically mentioning independents and so-called Reagan Democrats . Governor Romney had a meeting with his staff and his press secretary comes out and says they'll fight on but Governor Romney gets in his car and says absolutely nothing.
Just the study and the contrast of the pictures yesterday told you about the dynamic in the Republican race. You're exactly right. Governor Romney's message in the past week was what many of those in that conservative activist group say, is that they don't want a president who immediately reflectively reaches out to Democrats . They want someone who first talks about the conservative principles.
Senator McCain says you can do both, but many in that room, Governor Romney played to this, are suspicious of the fact even in that picture, who was standing behind John McCain but the Democrat- turned-Democrat, one-time Democratic vice presidential candidate, Joe Lieberman. Many see that and are suspicious of John McCain. Governor Romney was stoking that fire. Now he's going to walk into that room and we are told announce he is suspending his campaign for the Republican nomination. A stunning turn.
MALVEAUX: Dana, John, both of you have been covering the Republican s. Mitt Romney's been watching them very closely. Does this come as a surprise to you? What do you think was his greatest challenge and why now?
BASH: Why now, I think because -- it is interesting. Those people who cover Mitt Romney and covered him for a long time watched him give power point presentations on his health care plan and all the reasons why he should be the president. He's a very data oriented, numbers oriented businessman kind of candidate and he understands raw numbers.
That's why kind of it was kind of surprising yesterday that they were so defiant in public that he was going to press on. Because the fact that he understands what it would take mathematically to actually come back and overtake John McCain at this point when you are talking about the number of delegates to win the nomination. In that sense, it is not surprising at all that he's decided to make this decision now. Frankly more surprising they were so defiant in public.
In terms of why he didn't catch on, that's been one of the most interesting things to watch. Mitt Romney, there's one thing I think that I've talked to several Republican s outside the campaigns, who have been observing this for a long time. They say this is a time when people want to connect with a candidate, they want authenticity, they want to understand and know that a candidate really says what he means and believes what he says.
That's perhaps explaining the phenomenon of Mike Huckabee who came from essentially nowhere and did extremely well, particularly in the south on Super Tuesday. He certainly had a connection there, and maybe in part it explains why John McCain has been able to rise from the political dead and come back.
Mitt Romney has made -- had a very tactical, strategic campaign where he decided I know in Iowa, for example, there are Christian conservative voters. Therefore I am going to go into Iowa early and I am going to basically explain that I've changed my position on some core issues that they care about, like abortion, like same-sex marriage. That didn't really sell there.
He went in with an extremely well-funded, well-organized ground game there and it just couldn't compete. All of that money, all of that organization simply couldn't compete with kind of the passion and connection, perhaps, that some of these Republican -- many of these Republican voters this election season are looking for. They perhaps found another candidate.
MALVEAUX: There was a lot of talk over his faith as well, the fact that he's a Mormon. How much of that do you think was in play, that people just couldn't get over perhaps their suspicion or their questions over his faith? Do you think that that was a reason why it didn't resonate with some voters?
BASH: Well, it's possible. It's possible in some of the states like Iowa where there really is a strong evangelical base. Of course when you poll people you don't necessarily always get a straight answer on something like whether or not somebody's faith is going to preclude you from voting for them. But I think it seems to be sort of a bigger issue than just his faith, I think it is just his approach and the kind of candidate that he is.
Again, a very sort of methodical candidate, a very impressive candidate on the stump, no question about it, a very articulate candidate. He certainly looks the part. But again that connection simply didn't seem to be there. I'd like to bring back in John King who might be able to answer that question as well.
KING: Well, I think certainly the Mormon question did affect his standing in South Carolina. It also helped him. If you look out in the mountain west where he won on Super Tuesday, Mitt Romney racked up impressive numbers in places in the country where there are a lot more Mormons, where it is not a question mark, where they are every day members and your neighbors and friends. Mitt Romney did very well in the mountain west where being a Mormon is not unusual. So there is a credit to Governor Romney for that certainly. Very fascinating dynamic.
Two quick points I'd like to make. One is, Governor Romney is now making -- learning the same thing that Rudy Giuliani learned in Florida. Rudy Giuliani camped out in Florida assuming John McCain would falter around stumble and the race would come to Florida without Senator McCain in it or without Senator McCain viable. Mitt Romney is the latest Republican in this field to find out despite all the questions, all the "flaws," Senator McCain is still a candidate, who is a remarkably stubborn man who many declared him literally dead last summer.
I find it quite compelling, I'm told the decision was tentatively reached yesterday, Governor Romney left his headquarters wanting to think about it and finally made the decision this morning that this is what he would do. And two of these forces have sent me e-mails in the past five minutes saying this is a young man who does not want to be perceived as "Beating Mitt." When it is apparent to most in the Republican party, like it or not, John McCain is going to be the Republican nominee or is most likely going to be the Republican nominee.
Governor Romney is a young man, I believe he is 61 years old. I may be off by a year or two there. To use a term that's been used in the past, I think he is thinking about his future political liability and does not want to be seen as a Republican who stayed in the race roughing up a man who most likely will be the party standard bearer in the election. It certainly appears from the information we are getting from sources there is a long-term political calculation in it as well.
BASH: Fascinating. I want to bring in our CNN contributor Bill Bennett. Bill, obviously you have your ear to the ground with your radio show every day. Talk about that particular bit of nugget that John King just got on Mitt Romney and his decision here about his own political viability. Interesting given the fact that Mitt Romney before Super Tuesday was sort of chiding Mike Huckabee saying that he didn't want him to be the spoiler in the race. Now he's sort of looking in the mirror saying I better not be the spoiler in the race if I want to have a future in this party.
BILL BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, yesterday it was very interesting Bill said I expect Romney will drop out of the race. I said do you know something we don't? He said, no, I just expect this will happen. That's all he'd say. So there it is.
I agree with John, I think that's right. By the way, John said 61 is young. There's hope. There's hope for all of us. But also Mitt Romney is a perfect gentleman. I think that this rough and tumble stuff -- I don't think it was pleasant for him. I think he does not want to hurt the man who is likely to be the candidate. That's second. Third, I agree that I think Mitt Romney has a future in politics. He will be an important voice in this party. I expect to see him become something. I don't know if that means cabinet. Wouldn't he be a great RNC chairman down the road, something like that? I guess that's the sum of my thoughts.
Now I'm just interested -- thinking right now, because you know you got this meeting this afternoon, this CPAC meeting that McCain will address, how McCain will speak of Romney and what effect that will have on Romney supporters. Boy, that's an interesting one to watch. I'll be over there myself.
BASH: I'm actually here right now, Bill. It is going to be fascinating. I want to remind our viewers, they are looking at a room where Mitt Romney is going to walk in, any minute now, and he's going to give his speech here, a very, very different speech than we thought he was going to give just a few hours ago. He's going to announce that he's going to suspend his campaign.
Again, just like Bill was saying, he's going to tell it to a group of conservative activists who came here, many of whom perhaps thought Mitt Romney is from their perspective the last hope to get somebody who they really agree with on some of their key issues to be the Republican nominee. John McCain will be speaking a little bit later and again just like Bill Bennett said, it will be interesting to see how he changes his speech to deal with this big news in the race that effectively makes him the Republican nominee.
I want to bring in our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, who's been watching all of this, talking to her sources. Candy, what do you make of this?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is interesting from the democratic perspective, because they sort of, early on when it looked like Mitt Romney was on a roll, polls sort of suggested that Iowa would be good for him and New Hampshire would be good for him, they were looking at Mitt Romney as pretty doable in the political sense, saying, you know, this is a guy that has a record that we can really run with, and they ran with it in the Republican Party, as you know, saying, well, he used to be pro choice, now he's antiabortion.
He's changed his position on stem cells; he's changed his position on gay unions. That sort of thing. So they saw him as a vulnerable opponent that could take some issues off the table in terms of flip-flopping and that kind of thing. It leaves them with John McCain or perhaps Mike Huckabee, but they believe John McCain.
Most of the sources in all of these camps think he is, by far, the tougher one. And we have seen that and they have -- we have seen how they view him in recent days when Barack Obama has talked about how he would look up against John McCain. So they sort of saw this coming. But this is a lot tougher campaign for them. They think with John McCain, if it is to be him, than with Mitt Romney.
BASH: No surprise, Candy, that's exactly what John McCain has been saying to Republican voters as he campaigns, saying he is the best guy to go up against the Democrats . Candy, stand by for a second.
We want to remind our viewers we do have the best political team on television joining us, that includes our CNN analyst, Bill Schneider.
Bill, you have been looking at all the numbers each election night and I wonder what you think right now listening to this news about Mitt Romney suspending his campaign, and based on the numbers you saw coming in from all of these Super Tuesday states where he did well and more importantly where he didn't.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: He hung on for longer than I thought he would. After he lost Iowa and New Hampshire he looked like he didn't have much of a future. He hung on through Super Tuesday. Did not do very well. I think the Democrats have to be kind of envious here because this is the Republican Party rules at work. Primaries are killing fields. They take losing candidates and get their bodies off the field. They've gotten rid of Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney.
The Democrats are having a tougher time because their rules allow candidates who aren't doing too well to just keep on going for week after week after week. You can't shut the process down. The Republican rules have winner-take-all states. John McCain won several of them, New York, Arizona, Missouri, and therefore, he is the presumptive nominee. The process is shutting down, which is exactly what's supposed to happen in the primaries.
BASH: It is supposed to happen. It is perhaps happening a little bit sooner than we thought a couple of days ago. I want to bring back in our CNN contributor, Bill Bennett.
And, Bill, we talked about the fact that you have a special advantage because you have your ear to the ground because of your radio show. And I'm wondering, you know, you have been -- I think it's important to point out -- that you've been one of the talk radio hosts who has not been trashing John McCain. I think it's fair to say. But you also have been listening to your listeners about what they think about John McCain.
So given the news, given the room that John McCain is going to walk into just a couple of hours after Mitt Romney tells these conservative activists here in Washington that he, the person who they wanted perhaps to be their alternative to John McCain, is stepping out, what does John McCain -- looking forward a little bit -- have to say to these conservatives to say -- to sort of assuage their fears?
BENNETT: That's interesting. First, though, you know, I'm just thinking about what we talked about earlier, Dana. And I think first it will be interesting to see what Romney says. Obviously he can't say -- you know, just endorse -- I don't think he will endorse McCain because Huckabee's still in there.
But, you know, -- and there was no love lost, as we all know, between the Romney and Huckabee campaign, or the Romney and McCain campaigns. So I wonder if he'll kind of tilt in either direction here. My guess is he'll say something like, you know, we need to get behind whoever the eventual nominee is. But how he says it, the inflection, the emphasis, could be helpful.
In terms of the ear to the ground, I have to say the criticism of McCain continues. It's softening a little bit and I think people are saying -- are believing that they're getting closer to the day when John McCain becomes the nominee. And I think that recognition obviously will be now, unless people believe Mike Huckabee will. I think most people will believe McCain's got it. Then, will that have an affect on their sentiments.
I have to say, the radio stuff continues from most of my colleagues, some of my best friends. And, you know, I don't know why. It's now -- now the key question is, are people so angry at McCain that they're going to take that extra step -- you've heard a few people take, Dana -- saying, well, I won't vote or it doesn't matter whether I vote for McCain or Clinton or Obama. I think at the end of the day, most people will not do that. But that sentiment has been out there and even expressed by a few people.
So what happens in the next few hours where you are will, I think, have some effect. What will John McCain say? He's been advised all last 24 hours by my callers and by prominent conservatives to talk about not differences in the party, not fights, not interim (ph) government, but fights with the Democrats. I'm the guy who's opposed Harry Reid on this. I'm the guy who's opposed Nancy Pelosi on this, et cetera, et cetera. We'll see if he takes it (ph). John McCain has a . . .
BASH: Hey Bill, I want to . . .
BENNETT: Stubborn streak of going his own way.
BASH: Yes, he does. Bill, I want to ask you the same question that Suzanne asked me a few minutes ago, and that is, why do you think that Mitt Romney had such trouble taking off? With all of that money. Millions and millions of dollars. He spent tens of millions of dollars. $35 million of his own. He had this tremendous organization that I witnessed myself. I'm sure you did, too, in Iowa, in New Hampshire, all over the country. What was it about Mitt Romney that just didn't fit?
BENNETT: He never connected. He never made the sale. That's a terrible thing to say about a businessman, but there was something people thought they weren't sure about. It may be that he was coming across, not just as someone who changed his mind, but as a real conservative, you know, a right-winger on all sorts of things. People said, wait a minute, he's a business guy. It just didn't seem quite credible.
So when he became most himself, according to most people's views, that is when he became, you know, the business guy talking about the economy, he really, it seemed to a lot of us, found his voice in Florida, campaigning very well, but he wasn't successful in Florida. At the end of the day, I know we do these profiles on issues, but at the end of the day, people vote for people. And there was something they just weren't sure about with Mitt Romney.
I don't think it was the Mormon thing. Surely for some people it was. But as John King pointed out, that obviously helped him a great deal in the west. I think it was something about they weren't sure who he was and that had to do with it. They know who McCain is. They think they know who Huckabee is. They weren't sure who Mitt Romney is.
BASH: Fascinating. Well, Bill, thank you for that insight.
Again, I want to remind our viewers that we are waiting for Mitt Romney to speak, to make the announcement that we've been bringing to you that our John King first broke just a few minutes ago, which is that Mitt Romney is going to suspend his campaign. I am at the CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Convention here in Washington waiting for Mitt Romney as well.
And we have all of our fabulous political reporters to bring you analysis and to bring you information. John King, Candy Crowley, Bill Bennett, Bill Schneider and Suzanne Malveaux and I, we will be all back right after this break. Don't go away. You want to tune in to hear Mitt Romney. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BASH: Welcome back to a special edition of BALLOT BOWL '08. What we do here on BALLOT BOWL is bring you the latest news and the candidates speaking in their own words. And this hour you are going to hear a remarkable change in the Republican race, because the candidate we are going to hear from is going to be former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. He is here about to speak to the Conservative Political Action Committee and he is going to announce, as we have been reporting to you for the large part of the hour, that he is going to suspend his candidacy for president of the United States.
And I want to bring back in our John King who first reported this story with a little bit of information -- John.
KING: Correct. We are first with a lot of the details here, but I want to give credit where credit is due. Mark Halperin, or friend and colleague over at "Time" magazine, was the first with the big headline, which is that Mitt Romney plans to suspend his campaign today. So Mark deserves the credit for that.
We are learning a great deal more information. Governor Romney made this dramatic decision, we are told, tentatively yesterday, even though his campaign was still putting out a public schedule saying his campaign would go on, that he began to think about this moment yesterday and that early this morning made the final call to suspend his campaign. Now technically that means he keeps hold of his delegates and he is second, a distant second, to Senator McCain right now in the Republican race, that he keeps hold of his delegates for now.
We're told he made this decision when he realized that it was almost impossible for him to catch up to Senator McCain in the contest still ahead. And I'm told by several sources now, he made it because he did not want to be seen as "mean Mitt." He did not want to continue to beat up on the man and criticize the man who is most likely to be the Republican Party standard bearer. Two of the sources saying he believes that at the right posture anyway, not to rough up the man likely to be the party's standard bearer, and also because he is thinking about his own political future and does not want to damage his own reputation within the Republican Party.
So he will announce in this room of conservative activists, many of whom wanted him to stay in the race as the conservative alternative to a man they are quite skeptical, if not outright critical of, John McCain. He will announce that he is suspending his campaign. And I am told he will have "very generous and forward looking things to say about Senator McCain." That sounds short of an endorsement. And as Bill Bennett was noting earlier, Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, is still in the race.
But again I am told Governor Romney will say things that are quite positive about Senator McCain, even as he repeats his own message in what he believes the Republican Party needs to talk about going forward as he makes this dramatic, dramatic step. You cannot overstate how important this is, both to Senator McCain and the Republican -- how it painted (ph) the dynamic of the Republican race. Governor Romney suspending his campaign for the nomination today -- Dana.
BASH: Certainly is dramatic. And it is hard to overstate. And I also want to add my kudos to our colleague over at "Time," Mark Halperin. That information is hard to get here in the bowels of CPAC, but that's important to note and congratulations to Mark Halperin.
I want to bring back in our Bill Bennett, who has been monitoring this. We're watching one of his colleagues on radio, Laura Ingraham, who is at the podium right now here at CPAC. She is likely to be introducing Mitt Romney. Laura Ingraham has actually endorsed Mitt Romney. So we could be hearing from Mitt Romney very soon. But while we wait for that, Bill, what do you think about what John just reported, about the fact that he didn't want to be -- essentially that Mitt Romney didn't want to be a spoiler. That he didn't want to be the guy in the way for McCain and that he's going to say nice things about him today?
BENNETT: Well, I think that would be obviously very helpful to McCain. It doesn't surprise me. He's a large minded man, magnanimous man and, you know, he loves his country. He wants to support his party and loves his country and thinks this is the way to show it.
I have to say, at the same time, Mike Huckabee must be chuckling -- not chuckling, I don't mean to suggest he's taking pleasure in this -- well, he probably is. But in perspective. You know, he's one of the last two standing. And, you know, there were suggestions just, what, how many days ago, guys, help me? Super Tuesday. What, 72 hours ago? There were suggestions from the Romney camp and supporters that Mike Huckabee should drop out of the race. Remember this? So that they hoped his delegates or supporters would vote for Mitt Romney. And now Huckabee's standing and Romney is departing.
Huckabee, a longshot, is still there. As Bill Schneider was saying, we Republican believe in, you know, putting them out of their misery, clearing the field and Democrats let them bleed to death. But, yes, that the second last man standing would be Mike Huckabee.
It will be very good for John McCain, bottom line, if Mitt Romney says very good and positive things about him. A little more than he's done in the debates if he says something more than, you know, he's a great American, a great war hero. If he adds a little to that pot, I think that will help maybe take the edge off some of this tough, tough criticism that McCain's getting from a number of conservative spokesmen.
BASH: Well, it certainly will be interesting to hear exactly what he says, hear the tone of his speech and perhaps, as you were just sort of alluded to there, Bill, more importantly to see the reaction in that room. That room, we'll remind our viewers, is a huge ball room of conservative activists because this, here where I am in Washington, is the annual meeting, the annual convention of the Conservative Political Action Committee. This is a group that sort of prides itself on the fact that they believe that they kind of are a telltale sign of where the conservative movement is and any kind of reaction to the candidate will be interesting to watch given the weight and the depth of the people in this room.
So we're going to actually wait for Mitt Romney to speak. Again, you see Laura Ingraham, the talk radio host, there on the stage talking to this group at CPAC. Perhaps about to introduce Mitt Romney. So don't go away. We're going to bring all of our political team back to you an hopefully Mitt Romney very soon who will, we are told, announce he is suspending his campaign. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BASH: Welcome back. You're listening to and watching conservative radio host Laura Ingraham speaking here in Washington at the Conservative Political Action Committee. And we are waiting for a monumental moment in the race for the presidency. And that is, we are about to hear from Republican Mitt Romney announcing that he is going to suspend his campaign. Let's listen in.
LAURA INGRAHAM, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: Also describe this man that I've known for so long now -- selflessness and someone who exhibits, on a daily basis, the principle of sacrificial concern. So let's all calm down for former Massachusetts governor and my friend, Mitt Romney.
MITT ROMNEY, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Thank you! What a welcome! Thank you! Thanks you, guys! Thank you!
It's an -- what an honor -- what an honor to be here. Thank you. Thank you so much. What a welcome. That is so fabulous.
It is such an honor to be introduced by Laura Ingraham. You know, we have all the fun. The people in our party, they're gorgeous, they're brilliant. It's wonderful to have Laura Ingraham on our side, you know that? She is wonderful. Thanks to her and all of talk radio for what they do to keep the conservative movement strong and alive and vibrant. And I appreciate her generous introduction. I love being introduced as the conservative's conservative. And that's exactly how I feel. Thank you.
I was also proud to be joined by my wife. You know my wife, Ann. She was here with me. And our five boys have been out campaigning. They're fabulous. It's been a family affair. I want to begin today by thanking you. It was a real honor to be here last year. It's great to be here with you here again. And I look forward to joining you many, many more times in the future.
Now last year, last year CPAC gave me the sendoff I need. At the time I was in single digits in the polls and I was facing household names in the Republican contest. As of today, more than four million people have given me their vote for president. That's good. Yes. That's, of course, less than Senator McCain's 4.7 million, but quite a statement nonetheless. Eleven states have given me their nod, compared to his 13. Thank you. Those 11, thank you. Of course, because size does matter, he's doing quite a bit better with the number of delegates he's got. Now to all of you, thank you, here for caring enough about America to show up, to speak up, to stand up for conservative principles.
As I said to you last year, conservative principles are needed now more than every. We face a new generation of challenges. Challenges which threaten our prosperity, our security, and our future. I'm convinced that unless America changes course, we could become the France of the 21st century. Still a great nation, but not the leader of the world. Not the super power. And, to me, that's unthinkable.
Look, it was a while ago Shimon Peres came to Boston for a visit and he was asked what he thought about the war in Iraq. First he said, I have to put something in context. He said, America is unique in the history of the world. In the history of the world, he said, whenever there's been conflict, the nation that wins takes land from the nation that loses.
One nation in history, and this during the last century, laid down hundreds of thousands of lives and took no land. No land from Germany, no land from Korea, no land from Japan. America, he said, is unique in the sacrifice it has made for liberty, for itself and for freedom-loving people around the world. And Colin Powell added, the only land we took after the last great conflict was enough land to bury our dead.
The best ally, peace has ever known, and will ever know, is a strong America. And that's why it is that we have to rise to the occasion, as we've always done before, to confront the challenges that are ahead of us. Perhaps the most fundamental of the challenges that we face is the attack on America's culture.
Over the years, my business took me to a lot of different countries and I've been struck by the enormous differences in the wealth and the well-being of people from different nations. I've read a number of scholarly explanations for the disparities and I found the most convincing was written by a fellow named David Landis (ph). He's a professor emeritus at Harvard University. I presume he's a liberal. I guess that's redundant.
And his work traces the coming and going of great civilizations throughout history. And after hundreds of pages of analysis, he concludes with this, "if we learn anything from the history of economic development, it is that culture makes all the difference." "Culture makes all the difference."
What is it about America's culture that's led us to become the most powerful nation in the history of the world? Well, we believe in hard work and education. We love opportunity. Almost all of us are immigrants or decedents of immigrants who came here for opportunities.
Opportunity's in our DNA. Americans love God. And those who don't have faith typically believe in something greater than themself, a purpose-driven life, if you will. And we sacrifice as Americans everything we have, even our lives, for our families, for our freedoms, and for our country. These values and beliefs of free American people are the source of the nation's strength, and they always will be.
The threat to our culture comes from within. In the 1960s, there were welfare programs that created a culture of poverty in our country. Now some people think we won that battle when we reformed welfare. But the liberals haven't given up.
At every turn, they try to substitute government largess for individual responsibility. They fight to strip work requirements from welfare, to put more people on Medicaid and remove more and more people from having to pay any income tax whatsoever. Dependency is death (ph) to initiative, risk taking an opportunity. Dependency is culture-killing. It's a drug. We have got to fight it like the poison it is.
The attack on faith and religion is no less relentless. And tolerance for pornography, even celebration of it, an sexual promiscuity, combined with the twisted incentives in government welfare, have led to today's grim realities. Sixty-eight percent of African-American kids born out of wedlock. Forty-five percent of Hispanic kids. Twenty-five percent of white kids. How much harder it is for these kids to succeed in school and in life. A nation built on the principles that the founding father cannot longstand when its children are raised without fathers in the home.
The development of a child is enhanced by having a mother and a father. Such a family is the ideal for the future of the child and for the strength of the nation. I wonder how it is that unelected judges, like some in my state of Massachusetts, are so unaware of this reality, so oblivious to the millennia of recorded history. It's time for the people of America to fortify marriage through constitutional amendment so that liberal judges cannot continue to attack it.
Europe is facing a demographic disaster. That's the inevitable product of weakened faith in the creator, failed families, disrespect for the sanctity of human life, and a road in immorality. Some reason that culture is merely an accessory to American's vitality. We know that it's the source of our strength and we will not be dissuaded by the snickers and knowing glances when we stand up for family values and morality and culture. We will -- conservatives here and conservatives across the country will always be honored to stand on principle and to stand for principle.
The attack on our culture is not the only challenge that we face. We face economic competition unlike anything we've ever known before. China and Asia are emerging from centuries of poverty. Their people are plentiful, innovative and ambitious. If we don't change course, Asia or China will pass us by as the economic super power, just as we passed England and France during the last century.
The prosperity and security of our children and grandchildren depend on us. Our prosperity and security also depend on finally acting to become energy-secure. Oil producing states like Russia and Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran are siphoning over $400 billion out of our economy. That's almost what we spend annually for our national defense. It is past time for us to invest in energy technology, nuclear power, clean coal, liquid coal, renewable sources, energy efficiency. Simply put, America must never be held hostage by the likes of Putin, Chavez and Ahmadinejad.
Our economy is also burdened by the ineptual (ph) ramping-up of government spending. And let's be careful. Let's not just focus on the pork alone, even though it is indeed irritating and shameful. Look also at the entitlements. They make up 60 percent of federal spending today. And by the end of the next president's second term, they will total 70 percent. Any conservative plan for the future has to include entitlement reform that solves the problem, not just acknowledges it.
You know, I found that most politicians don't seem to understand the connection between our ability to compete and our national wealth and the wealth of our families. They act as if money just happens. That it just happens to be there. But every dollar represents a good or service that's been produced in the private sector. If you depress the private sector, you depress the well-being of all Americans.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxantshop.com
