Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Saturday

Was Bush's Middle-Ground Stance on Stem Cells Rooted in Politics?

Aired August 11, 2001 - 17:01   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: Since taking office, President Bush has received heavy criticism from Democrats and Republicans for appearing to act too conservative. Could his decision to fund limited embryonic stem cell research signal now a shift toward the center?

CNN White House correspondent Kelly Wallace takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two days after announcing his stem cell decision on national television, President Bush devoted his weekly radio address to the highly charged issue.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Embryonic stem cell research offers both great promise and great peril, so I have decided we must proceed with great care.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WALLACE: Mr. Bush chose to back federal funding of research only on stem cells already harvested from human embryos. Viewed by most as taking the middle ground, it was a decision based on ethics, not polls, the White House says, although observers say the political stakes were high.

RON BROWNSTEIN, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": I sense that he could not simply come across as someone who was beholden only to the most ideological elements of his coalition.

WALLACE: While before his decision Mr. Bush enjoyed the backing of more than 90 percent of Republicans, according to a CNN-"USA Today" Gallup poll, his environmental and energy policies during his first six months alienated many moderates.

Now his stem cell decision, combined with upcoming considerations such as whether to grant legal residence to illegal immigrants from Mexico, could be viewed as a movement towards the center.

BROWNSTEIN: On balance, he probably has to risk a little dissatisfaction among the conservatives to try to reach out to some of the voters who haven't supported him so far.

WALLACE: Conservatives who oppose embryonic stem cell research were split over the president's decision. Some abortion foes praised Mr. Bush, others expressed outrage.

BAY BUCHANAN, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN CAUSE: It's very disturbing to us, but there's some other decisions down the road that we'll be watching. And I guess it'll put even more emphasis on those.

WALLACE (on camera): And so the challenge for the president in the future will be reaching out to the middle without angering his base.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, Crawford, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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