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CNN Live Saturday
Howard Dean Joins President Bush In Refusing Pulic Funds
Aired November 08, 2003 - 14:32 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.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: The Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean has made a key campaign decision, he announced two hours ago he will join President Bush in turning down public campaign funds. Now that means neither men will be tied to campaign fund-raising and spending limits. It's the first time candidates from both major parties have made that decision. The former Vermont governor reached his decision after supporters voted on the issue on Dean's Web site.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD DEAN, (D) PRESIDENTAIL CANDIDATE: Today we will sign a Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence from the special interests that control our politics, and our government. We will pledge to write letters, to knock on doors, to educate our neighbors, and our co-workers and we will pledge to both. We will become active citizens again, we will take back our country. We will look hard for 2 million Americans to give this campaign $100 so that we can own our country again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARENA: CNN Political Analyst Ron Brownstein of the "L.A. Times" is with me now to talk more about Howard Dean's decision to refuse funds from Uncle Sam.
Ron, how significant is this that a Democrat is doing this?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It is really extraordinary, an extraordinary moment. He becomes the first Democrat since the public financing system was put in place after Watergate, almost 30 years ago, to opt out of the system. He's argued that he was driven to it by President Bush.
President Bush's decision to opt out of the system will allow him to spend up to $175 million, $200 million, whatever he raises, through the Republican convention next September. If the Democrats has stayed in the system, if Dean had stayed in, if he's the nominee, he would have been limited to spending $45 million to $49 million in that period, almost all of which would have been gone by the time the nominee settled on in early March.
So they felt they would have been in effect shut out March, April, May, June, July. They had to do this. This is really an extraordinary statement of how the system is eroding and really being undermined.
ARENA: Reality check, is that true? Is that the only way to compete with the president at this point?
BROWNSTEIN: That is a very good question. There is certainly a lot of outside fund-raising going on on behalf of Democrats by interest groups that are trying to meet this gap. Bush's decision puts a lot pressure on the Democrats to go in that direction. But the fact is, Kelli, Dean is the only one for whom this is a viable choice, because he is the only one who has the potential to rise anywhere near the amount of money you have to rise to make this make sense.
He is leaving on table as much as $18.6 million in public financing that he'd receiving in January, and he's betting his that his supporters will make that up in contributions, not only in January and February, but if he's the nominee, all the way through the Democratic election next July.
ARENA: Well John Kerry comes to mind as somebody who could raise lot money. Are you suggesting you don't believe other Democrats could follow suit?
BROWNSTEIN: Well I think John Kerry will follow suit possibly, but more because of the assets he would own personally and through, with his wife, Teresa Heinz, he has limited access to those. He would not raise enough money, I don't think. No Democrat, I think, would raise enough money to make this a viable decision for them.
I mean what Dean has done in the last few months is raise, from July through September, he raised more money than any Democrat, even President Clinton, as a sitting president, ever raised in a quarter. If he did not opt out of the system, if he chose to stay in, he probably would have to stop fundraising within the next few days. He would hit the wall right now in November. He would not have been legally allowed to raise hardly anymore money.
So in a way, his success also drove him to this decision. The big question that is unanswered is how much impact this will have on the primaries itself.
ARENA: One of the questions, your a mind reader.
BROWNSTEIN: Look, he has basically said he is doing this to be able to compete with President Bush, but it could give him a significantly advantage vis-a-vis the other Democrats if he spends more than they are legally allowed.
Anyone candidate who stays in the public financing system in return for getting this federal matching money, has to agree to spending limits in each state, as well as a total spending limit for the primaries. Dean's campaign manager said today they did note expect to exceed that limit during the primaries, but he didn't rule it out. He didn't say pardon fast we are not going to do it.
Now if Dean is going to spend more than the other Democrats during the primaries, that would give him another advantage at a time when he's about to get this huge boost from endorsements from two of the most politically powerful unions, the Service Employees and the American Federation of State, County Municipal Employees. So all and all, a lot of things are converging for Dean to put him in a strong position right now.
ARENA: All right, Ron Brownstein, we'll be watching. Thanks for joining us.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.
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 November 8, 2003 - 14:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: The Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean has made a key campaign decision, he announced two hours ago he will join President Bush in turning down public campaign funds. Now that means neither men will be tied to campaign fund-raising and spending limits. It's the first time candidates from both major parties have made that decision. The former Vermont governor reached his decision after supporters voted on the issue on Dean's Web site.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD DEAN, (D) PRESIDENTAIL CANDIDATE: Today we will sign a Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence from the special interests that control our politics, and our government. We will pledge to write letters, to knock on doors, to educate our neighbors, and our co-workers and we will pledge to both. We will become active citizens again, we will take back our country. We will look hard for 2 million Americans to give this campaign $100 so that we can own our country again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARENA: CNN Political Analyst Ron Brownstein of the "L.A. Times" is with me now to talk more about Howard Dean's decision to refuse funds from Uncle Sam.
Ron, how significant is this that a Democrat is doing this?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It is really extraordinary, an extraordinary moment. He becomes the first Democrat since the public financing system was put in place after Watergate, almost 30 years ago, to opt out of the system. He's argued that he was driven to it by President Bush.
President Bush's decision to opt out of the system will allow him to spend up to $175 million, $200 million, whatever he raises, through the Republican convention next September. If the Democrats has stayed in the system, if Dean had stayed in, if he's the nominee, he would have been limited to spending $45 million to $49 million in that period, almost all of which would have been gone by the time the nominee settled on in early March.
So they felt they would have been in effect shut out March, April, May, June, July. They had to do this. This is really an extraordinary statement of how the system is eroding and really being undermined.
ARENA: Reality check, is that true? Is that the only way to compete with the president at this point?
BROWNSTEIN: That is a very good question. There is certainly a lot of outside fund-raising going on on behalf of Democrats by interest groups that are trying to meet this gap. Bush's decision puts a lot pressure on the Democrats to go in that direction. But the fact is, Kelli, Dean is the only one for whom this is a viable choice, because he is the only one who has the potential to rise anywhere near the amount of money you have to rise to make this make sense.
He is leaving on table as much as $18.6 million in public financing that he'd receiving in January, and he's betting his that his supporters will make that up in contributions, not only in January and February, but if he's the nominee, all the way through the Democratic election next July.
ARENA: Well John Kerry comes to mind as somebody who could raise lot money. Are you suggesting you don't believe other Democrats could follow suit?
BROWNSTEIN: Well I think John Kerry will follow suit possibly, but more because of the assets he would own personally and through, with his wife, Teresa Heinz, he has limited access to those. He would not raise enough money, I don't think. No Democrat, I think, would raise enough money to make this a viable decision for them.
I mean what Dean has done in the last few months is raise, from July through September, he raised more money than any Democrat, even President Clinton, as a sitting president, ever raised in a quarter. If he did not opt out of the system, if he chose to stay in, he probably would have to stop fundraising within the next few days. He would hit the wall right now in November. He would not have been legally allowed to raise hardly anymore money.
So in a way, his success also drove him to this decision. The big question that is unanswered is how much impact this will have on the primaries itself.
ARENA: One of the questions, your a mind reader.
BROWNSTEIN: Look, he has basically said he is doing this to be able to compete with President Bush, but it could give him a significantly advantage vis-a-vis the other Democrats if he spends more than they are legally allowed.
Anyone candidate who stays in the public financing system in return for getting this federal matching money, has to agree to spending limits in each state, as well as a total spending limit for the primaries. Dean's campaign manager said today they did note expect to exceed that limit during the primaries, but he didn't rule it out. He didn't say pardon fast we are not going to do it.
Now if Dean is going to spend more than the other Democrats during the primaries, that would give him another advantage at a time when he's about to get this huge boost from endorsements from two of the most politically powerful unions, the Service Employees and the American Federation of State, County Municipal Employees. So all and all, a lot of things are converging for Dean to put him in a strong position right now.
ARENA: All right, Ron Brownstein, we'll be watching. Thanks for joining us.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
