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CNN Live Saturday

Michael Weisskopf Discusses President Bush's First 100 Days

Aired April 28, 2001 - 17:05   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.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us from Washington to review the president's record and his impact so far is "TIME" magazine senior Washington correspondent Michael Weisskopf, a frequent visitor here.

And we're glad to have you back, Mr. Weisskopf.

MICHAEL WEISSKOPF, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good to be here.

FRAZIER: Thank you for joining us. Let's first about that tax cut. Surely the president would get high marks for the speed which with he built a consensus on that. It was very, very quick.

WEISSKOPF: Well, indeed, and he deserves credit for teeing up the issue. During the election that tax cut of $1.6 trillion was pretty much laughed off. We won't get that high but it will be something closer to what he proposed than Al Gore.

FRAZIER: What would you say about the fact that we won't get that high? Is that in any way symptomatic of what faces a president, that he can't always get everything he wants?

WEISSKOPF: Well certainly, and in Bush's case it reflects a conciliatory approach. At first he came in quite hard, fast with that 1.6. Once the Senate got its back up and he moved quickly to the center. He looks for the middle ground if he can find it. This is how he worked in Texas.

FRAZIER: Would you say he's enjoyed any other success? Was his handling of the surveillance plane issue well done?

WEISSKOPF: Well, certainly, he deserves some credit for restoring a measure of civility in the debate in Washington. There's not quite as hard fast and deep the partisan lines as we saw in President Clinton's period. At the same time, I would say foreign policy has been one area of weakness for this president.

Particularly, in the last week when he began muddling up the formula by which we have been running our relations with both China and Taiwan. This could cause long-term consequences and really was unnecessary. Also in the foreign policy area, his rather quick unceremonious withdrawal from the Kyoto Treaty on carbon dioxide and global warming gasses was done without consulting allies and without a great deal of forethought as it appears. FRAZIER: Of course I read somewhere that his administration points out that we were never a signatory to that treaty, that Congress hadn't voted for it initially, so there was nothing really to withdraw from, that we just weren't going to go ahead.

WEISSKOPF: Well indeed, and of course, Vice President Gore had worked out a position the United States hoped to achieve in all this. However, there was some reason to believe that he could have finessed the issue more than he did, rather than just a preemptive withdrawal from it.

FRAZIER: Right. Let's go back to Washington for a minute. You did point out, and it seems to me very important for this president, the issue of civility. He talked about that today in his radio address. He says there's less name-calling now, less finger pointing. Is that going to help him, though, get what he wants?

WEISSKOPF: Well, it certainly going to lower the temperature here, and has. And it does enhance compromise. And you see in legislation not quite as stark, the partisan divisions as we had during the Clinton period. Part of this is personality. He has a charming side. He nicknames Democrats, and tries to befriend them and in the end, you need to have a lower temperature in order toe reach that middle ground. It certainly will.

Another big area for him is a question of compassion with his conservatism. Thus far, he's shown more on the latter side, the conservative side than the compassionate side. And in the end this will be the main rub with Democrats.

FRAZIER: Yes, I understand Tom Daschle said he was compassionate to conservatives. A nice turn of phrase there. But let's go pack to use the benefit of your expertise in that city there. Would you give us just a very quick thumbnail comparison between these 100 days and the first 100 days of Mr. Clinton's administration.

WEISSKOPF: Well, they are really incomparable, because president Clinton started right off the fire line with gays in the military which created a firestorm. And then he tried to push through a budget and a spending program which ended up dividing the Congress pretty much down the middle with Democrats on one side and Republicans on the other.

And he inserted himself a great deal more into the spotlight and into every issue right in the center. This is a president who likes to govern from A-6, as we say, referring to inside of a newspaper. He is -- he is shy of the camera, he -- he says that he doesn't want to take credit away from others. He didn't show up in Washington State when the surveillance plane guys came back. And he is not rhetorically confident, so he doesn't try to grab that microphone as much.

At the same time, he's created some of his own controversies, such as in the China situation and probably on carbon dioxide, which created a great deal of controversy with environmentalists. FRAZIER: Well, on that former we'll see whether he may have to back track a little bit -- the line about coming to Taiwan's defense. But at this point, I would like to say thanks from Washington, the senior White House and senior Washington correspondent for "TIME" magazine, Michael Weisskopf, thank you for joining us.

WEISSKOPF: Pleasure.

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