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CNN Live Saturday
America Votes 2004 Political Debate
Aired February 14, 2004 - 14:12 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 battle for the Democratic presidential nomination rolls on this weekend. Two more caucuses are under way today. They're in the District of Columbia and the state of Nevada. Sixteen Democratic delegates will be chosen today in D.C. and 24 in Nevada.
Nationwide, Democratic front-runner John Kerry is far out front in the delegate count. Here's how things stack up at the moment. Kerry has 538 delegates. That's about a quarter of the delegates that he needs to win the nomination. His nearest rival, Howard Dean, has fewer than 200.
Well, the next Democrat to drop out of the ways and why is the bush campaign slamming John Kerry in a new ad? To talk more about these and other hot-button election issues, Republican strategist Cheri Jacobus and Democratic strategist Rachel Gorlin.
I want to thank you both for joining us.
CHERI JACOBUS, GOP STRATEGIST: Good to be here. Thank you.
ARENA: This is looking very much like a head-to-head Bush/Kerry race and it is only February. Is this how it's looking to you? I mean, is there any hope for anyone else?
JACOBUS: I think it's almost a forgone conclusion that it will be Kerry, of course that's always a dangerous thing to say in any primary season or any election. We saw what happened to Howard Dean. I think for awhile it was a forgone conclusion that it was going to be Howard Dean. But because Terry McAuliffe and the DNC sort of remaneuvered how - and remanipulated how they were going to be handling the primaries by scrunching them all together, it was designed just for this purpose, so they'd have a nominee very early
ARENA: Well, this ad -- this - the Republican ad that just came out, you know, going at Kerry. It seemed to some that that might be playing defense a little early.
RACHEL GORLIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think what they wanted to do was to piggyback on the criticisms that were still being leveled by Edwards and by Dean. I think while what you've got Democrats attacking Kerry, from the left arguably. Why not pile on a little bit?
And I think this is an interesting ad because it's only an Internet ad. It's not being played on television. It's a 60-second spot. It's actually very similar to ads that we did for a bunch of clients in 2000, when we found that voters were likely to take seriously any charges that they saw, people were able to actually access on the Internet. For some reason, focus groups found that this was very effective. It made people think charges were real.
ARENA: Or more credible.
GORLIN: Yes.
JACOBUS: Well, and, you know, the fact is that it is being played on television. Because it's an Internet ad, it's so new, it's so different that the news media is very interested in it. So it's getting a lot of play on television.
(CROSSTALK)
JACOBUS: But the real reason I think it's important and the reason the Bush campaign is doing this - and it's the right thing to do - is that John Kerry has spent $4.9 million running ads over 10,000 times in this country attacking George W. Bush. So why shouldn't the president come out and defend himself? I think it's a good thing; I think his supporters think it's a good thing. And I also think it's brilliant the way they've done this on the Internet, which is very cheap to do, as you know, and again, is getting a lot of news play because it is so new and different.
ARENA: Let's talk about the military situation here. I mean, because you have it on both ends. You know, did Bush show up? Did he not show up? You know, was Kerry, you know, coming back and railing against Vietnam after he served?
I mean, so - so you have - you have a lot going on (UNINTELLIGIBLE). How long does this last? Does this really have legs through November?
GORLIN: Well, I think it's very interesting.
I mean, one of the things that fascinates me about this is that -- the reason I think this has legs now is because of Iraq. I think the weapons of mass destruction question and all the questions that, you know, folks who are swing voters are now raising in their own minds about -- we voted for George W. Bush back in 2000 in a very different world.
Now we're sort of looking at a dangerous world, who do we want as commander-in-chief? And I they're asking tough questions.
Now, it may be a very good thing for George Bush that this came out now, it's getting out of the way and it's early.
ARENA: Well, what do you think?
JACOBUS: Well, I think that the media should be spanked hard on this. The fact is, they need to re-evaluate their standards for covering these allegations. They won't cover other allegations on other candidates. This is something that -- there wasn't even circumstantial evidence that he was AWOL, and I think it was Michael Moore, a Clark supporter, who used the term deserter, which is punishable by death. AWOL you go to jail.
These are serious charges against the president of the United States, the commander-in-chief that are completely unsubstantiated. Now that we've had this document dump and the White House has, you know, put out all these documents, there has been nothing found by the media or anyone. This is equivalent of me standing up here and saying, John Kerry stole a car. Now it's up to the Kerry campaign to come forward and prove that he did not. And that's exactly what (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I think the media owes the Bush campaign an apology.
GORLIN: I don't agree with that at all.
I think that when it comes to someone who's going to be the commander-in-chief, going to be sending our troops into battle, I think that it's very relevant what his military service was. For better or worse, we know what John Kerry did in Vietnam.
(CROSSTALK)
ARENA: The economy. I mean, this - you know, jobs still an issue. Outsourcing became an issue, big issue this week. That seems to be something that could very well play a major role come November.
GORLIN: Well, I think that it is a state-by-state battle. This is going to be interesting. Because there are some states, very clearly, where jobs leaving the country, basically not much of an issue. There are other states that have been hit hugely hard -- Pennsylvania, Indiana. You know, I think that you're going to watch this -- this is going to be one of those moving targets.
ARENA: All right. Cheri, quick last word.
JACOBUS: I think the Bush campaign needs to do an even better job than they have been doing in getting out the word that just last month, 112,000 new jobs were created. And just in five months, 366,000. To hear the Democrats talk, you would think that this did not happen.
These are good numbers. Everything is looking better. And I think that this is something that is going to favor the Bush campaign in the coming months.
ARENA: All right. Well, you know, it's still early. We have a way to go.
GORLIN: it's early.
ARENA: You wouldn't know it, but we have a way to go.
GORLIN: It's early.
ARENA: Thank you both for joining us.
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 February 14, 2004 - 14:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: The battle for the Democratic presidential nomination rolls on this weekend. Two more caucuses are under way today. They're in the District of Columbia and the state of Nevada. Sixteen Democratic delegates will be chosen today in D.C. and 24 in Nevada.
Nationwide, Democratic front-runner John Kerry is far out front in the delegate count. Here's how things stack up at the moment. Kerry has 538 delegates. That's about a quarter of the delegates that he needs to win the nomination. His nearest rival, Howard Dean, has fewer than 200.
Well, the next Democrat to drop out of the ways and why is the bush campaign slamming John Kerry in a new ad? To talk more about these and other hot-button election issues, Republican strategist Cheri Jacobus and Democratic strategist Rachel Gorlin.
I want to thank you both for joining us.
CHERI JACOBUS, GOP STRATEGIST: Good to be here. Thank you.
ARENA: This is looking very much like a head-to-head Bush/Kerry race and it is only February. Is this how it's looking to you? I mean, is there any hope for anyone else?
JACOBUS: I think it's almost a forgone conclusion that it will be Kerry, of course that's always a dangerous thing to say in any primary season or any election. We saw what happened to Howard Dean. I think for awhile it was a forgone conclusion that it was going to be Howard Dean. But because Terry McAuliffe and the DNC sort of remaneuvered how - and remanipulated how they were going to be handling the primaries by scrunching them all together, it was designed just for this purpose, so they'd have a nominee very early
ARENA: Well, this ad -- this - the Republican ad that just came out, you know, going at Kerry. It seemed to some that that might be playing defense a little early.
RACHEL GORLIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think what they wanted to do was to piggyback on the criticisms that were still being leveled by Edwards and by Dean. I think while what you've got Democrats attacking Kerry, from the left arguably. Why not pile on a little bit?
And I think this is an interesting ad because it's only an Internet ad. It's not being played on television. It's a 60-second spot. It's actually very similar to ads that we did for a bunch of clients in 2000, when we found that voters were likely to take seriously any charges that they saw, people were able to actually access on the Internet. For some reason, focus groups found that this was very effective. It made people think charges were real.
ARENA: Or more credible.
GORLIN: Yes.
JACOBUS: Well, and, you know, the fact is that it is being played on television. Because it's an Internet ad, it's so new, it's so different that the news media is very interested in it. So it's getting a lot of play on television.
(CROSSTALK)
JACOBUS: But the real reason I think it's important and the reason the Bush campaign is doing this - and it's the right thing to do - is that John Kerry has spent $4.9 million running ads over 10,000 times in this country attacking George W. Bush. So why shouldn't the president come out and defend himself? I think it's a good thing; I think his supporters think it's a good thing. And I also think it's brilliant the way they've done this on the Internet, which is very cheap to do, as you know, and again, is getting a lot of news play because it is so new and different.
ARENA: Let's talk about the military situation here. I mean, because you have it on both ends. You know, did Bush show up? Did he not show up? You know, was Kerry, you know, coming back and railing against Vietnam after he served?
I mean, so - so you have - you have a lot going on (UNINTELLIGIBLE). How long does this last? Does this really have legs through November?
GORLIN: Well, I think it's very interesting.
I mean, one of the things that fascinates me about this is that -- the reason I think this has legs now is because of Iraq. I think the weapons of mass destruction question and all the questions that, you know, folks who are swing voters are now raising in their own minds about -- we voted for George W. Bush back in 2000 in a very different world.
Now we're sort of looking at a dangerous world, who do we want as commander-in-chief? And I they're asking tough questions.
Now, it may be a very good thing for George Bush that this came out now, it's getting out of the way and it's early.
ARENA: Well, what do you think?
JACOBUS: Well, I think that the media should be spanked hard on this. The fact is, they need to re-evaluate their standards for covering these allegations. They won't cover other allegations on other candidates. This is something that -- there wasn't even circumstantial evidence that he was AWOL, and I think it was Michael Moore, a Clark supporter, who used the term deserter, which is punishable by death. AWOL you go to jail.
These are serious charges against the president of the United States, the commander-in-chief that are completely unsubstantiated. Now that we've had this document dump and the White House has, you know, put out all these documents, there has been nothing found by the media or anyone. This is equivalent of me standing up here and saying, John Kerry stole a car. Now it's up to the Kerry campaign to come forward and prove that he did not. And that's exactly what (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I think the media owes the Bush campaign an apology.
GORLIN: I don't agree with that at all.
I think that when it comes to someone who's going to be the commander-in-chief, going to be sending our troops into battle, I think that it's very relevant what his military service was. For better or worse, we know what John Kerry did in Vietnam.
(CROSSTALK)
ARENA: The economy. I mean, this - you know, jobs still an issue. Outsourcing became an issue, big issue this week. That seems to be something that could very well play a major role come November.
GORLIN: Well, I think that it is a state-by-state battle. This is going to be interesting. Because there are some states, very clearly, where jobs leaving the country, basically not much of an issue. There are other states that have been hit hugely hard -- Pennsylvania, Indiana. You know, I think that you're going to watch this -- this is going to be one of those moving targets.
ARENA: All right. Cheri, quick last word.
JACOBUS: I think the Bush campaign needs to do an even better job than they have been doing in getting out the word that just last month, 112,000 new jobs were created. And just in five months, 366,000. To hear the Democrats talk, you would think that this did not happen.
These are good numbers. Everything is looking better. And I think that this is something that is going to favor the Bush campaign in the coming months.
ARENA: All right. Well, you know, it's still early. We have a way to go.
GORLIN: it's early.
ARENA: You wouldn't know it, but we have a way to go.
GORLIN: It's early.
ARENA: Thank you both for joining us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
