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Inside Politics Sunday
Bush, Kerry Make Final Pitches to Voters; Interview With John Kerry
Aired October 17, 2004 - 10:00 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.
KELLY WALLACE, HOST: INSIDE POLITICS today, 16 days and thousands of miles to go. President Bush and Senator Kerry make their final pitch to voters across the country. We'll have live reports.
Senator Kerry speaks out. An exclusive interview including discussion about the Mary Cheney controversy, Ralph Nader's run and more. And military matters, U.S. troops are loud and clear about their feelings and the war in Iraq. What does it mean for the presidential candidates? That's all straight ahead.
With just two weeks and two days and INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY shows left before election day, hard to believe. Hello. Good Sunday morning to you. I am Kelly Wallace in Washington. Thanks so much for joining us. Politics doesn't take weekends off and neither do we. And as usual, another jam packed show. So, let's get right to it.
There is no rest for the weary on the campaign trail as the battle for the White House heads for the home stretch. For President Bush and Senator John Kerry there is no time to lose. Every undecided voter is now a prime target. Coming up this hour, two campaign strategists fight it out as we head into the final weeks.
Plus Senator Kerry goes one on one with our very own Candy Crowley to talk about some crucial issues. And we visited their campuses for the campaign debates, now the leaders of college Democratic and Republican organizations get their turn in the spotlight. All that and more straight ahead.
But up first, some new polls showing just how close the presidential race is after the three presidential debates,. In the latest "Time" magazine poll of likely voters, 48 percent support President Bush, 46 percent back Senator Kerry, and that is within the poll's margin of error.
As for "Newsweek" a new poll in that magazine has the president with a slightly bigger lead among likely voters, 50 to 45 percent. That poll has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.
To the campaign trail now where it is another non stop day for Senator John Kerry as he tries to unseat President Bush. The Democratic candidate is in two big swing states today, Ohio and Florida. We check in now with CNN's Ed Henry in Columbus, Ohio.
And Ed, the senator spending a lot of time in GOP territory in that buckeye state.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good morning, Kelly.
John Kerry is feeling very good abut the state of this race. Just a couple of weeks ago the momentum was on the Republican side. President Bush was campaigning hard in blue states. Now John Kerry is here. He's been in rural Ohio this weekend pushing very hard in the red part of this red state.
Al Gore skipped southern Ohio in 2000 and still almost won the state. Democrats now feel that if they can flip these 20 electoral votes they can knock out President Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): John Kerry is hunting for votes, literally and figuratively.
The senator brought a hunting license for a return trip to Ohio this week. He wants to move to the middle by reminding swing voters he's a gun owner. And Kerry is ripping President Bush's record in cities like Appleton, Wisconsin, hometown of Harry Houdini.
JOHN KERRY, (D-MA) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I suddenly said to myself, you know, that's perfect because George Bush keeps trying to hide all of his mistakes.
HENRY: Kerry, who picked pumpkins with John Glenn, is feeling good about the race. Aids think he swept the debates and has whipped up his base with attacks on the president's Iraq policy. In the final two weeks the senator wants to woo undecided voters by pivoting hard to the domestic agenda, especially the economy.
In Ohio, Kerry brandished Treasury Secretary John Snow's suggestion, published in a local paper, that job loses are a myth. Snow said the comment was taken out of context, but Kerry pounced.
KERRY: I've got a message for the president of the United States. Mr. President the people who have lost jobs on your watch are not myths. They are our neighbors. They are middle class Americans and they deserve better.
(APPLAUSE)
HENRY: Kerry has a new ad accusing the president of mishandling the flu vaccine problem.
NARRATOR: Three years ago medical experts warned George Bush that a dangerous shortage loomed.
HENRY: On the stump Kerry needled the president.
KERRY: The production of the flu vaccine was sent to a factory overseas. Sounds like George Bush's jobs plan ladies and gentlemen. Now he tells healthy Americans not to get their flu shots. What's that sound like? Sounds like his health care plan, pray you don't get sick.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: And the Kerry campaign woke up to some good news this morning. Endorsements from "The New York Times, " "The Boston Globe," and "The Miami Herald." Not expected, but those are high profile endorsements they'd much rather have than not.
Kelly.
WALLACE: Definitely. Good point there, Ed. Ed, we know the senator attended a Catholic mass last night, going to be attending the Baptist church behind you this morning, what is the message that we will here from Senator Kerry?
HENRY: Senior Kerry aides are telling me that they are going to pounce on this "New York Times" magazine today suggesting that the president has privately been telling supporters hat he wants to take very hard right positions in the second term, specifically on Social Security maybe moving towards privatization of Social Security.
You'll remember that in that last presidential debate, President Bush painted John Kerry as an out of the mainstream liberal. John Kerry in this speech today and in the final two weeks is going to try to paint George W. Bush as an out of the mainstream conservative and they already have a new ad they're putting up today on that very Social issue, in fact.
Kelly.
WALLACE: Ed, thanks so much. Ed Henry on the Kerry campaign trail reporting from Columbus, Ohio. We appreciate it.
And continuing with the Kerry/Edwards campaign it is out with a new television ad attacking President Bush over Social Security. The ad is called January Surprise, and it claims the president's plan to privatize the government program with lead to a big drop in benefits.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: First George Bush threatened Social Security with record deficits of over $400 billion. Now Bush has a plan that cuts Social Security benefits by 30 to 45 percent. The real Bush agenda, cutting Social Security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: And under Mr. Bush's proposal younger workers would have the option of putting part of their Social Security contributions into personal retirement accounts. That would give them the chance to make a higher return on that investment in return for some smaller Social Security benefits.
Well now we want to turn to the president and the Bush campaign. As John Kerry keeps the campaign trail hot today, President Bush is spending some time off the trail. He is at the White House today. And for more on the president's campaign and how he's preparing for the sprint to the finish line we check in now with CNN's Elaine Quijano at the White House.
And Elaine, is this all about some R&R or can we assume there will be a little bit of strategizing going on behind the scenes at the White House today?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh you can bet, especially now the spring is on. As you said, it is in fact the home stretch. But this a day in which the president does not have any official campaign events on his schedule.
The president, in fact, earlier this morning attended services across the street at St. John's Episcopal Church. No events though as far as campaigning goes on his schedule today.
But yesterday the president visited the key battleground state of Florida. As you know, 27 highly coveted electoral votes are up for grabs. The president made stops yesterday in Florida in Sunrise, West Palm Beach and Daytona Beach. And it was at his last stop that he added some new language about the draft to his standard stump speech. But the line did not come out correctly at first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After standing on the stage after the debates I made it very plain we will not have an all volunteer Army. And yet this week -- we will have an all volunteer Army.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: Let me restate that. We will not have a draft.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now the president went on to accuse Senator Kerry of using the draft issue to try and scare voters. Meantime the president his morning is picking up a key endorsement, an endorsement from a major city newspaper, "The Chicago Tribune." The editorial board in today's edition saying quote, "Bush's sense of a president's duty to defend America is wider in scope than Kerry's, more ambitious in its tactics, more prone frankly to yield both casualties and lasting results. This is the stark difference on which American voters should choose a president."
And the president in he days ahead, we are told by campaign aids, will continue to try to draw a stark contrast between him and Senator Kerry. As for the week ahead, it's shaping up to be a busy one. Already on the president's schedule visits to New Jersey, Florida, once again, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. And Bush aids say that the strategy here is really to go into these blue areas, blue states, traditionally Democratic strongholds, but places where the president, hey feel, can make a connection with certain segments of the population. We say that yesterday in Florida. The Bush campaign very much looking at the Hispanic vote.. They are also trying to target the Jewish population as well as the large number of military personnel in that state.
Kelly.
WALLACE: And Elaine some of the states you mentioned, including New Jersey, some of our viewers might be surprised about that. Does the Bush campaign truly believe it has a chance to win in New Jersey?
QUIJANO: Well, what they are looking at is the fact that the lead there is not as great for Senator Kerry. So hey feel as though they have an opening here to perhaps make some headway. And that has been the strategy really that they are going to be taking in the days forward in all of these swing states going to areas, as aids describe them, they may be off the beaten path as well.
That's something else they say is different from the Kerry campaign. That the Bush campaign is focusing more not on the larger cities, but really the smaller communities. Why? Because they say those are areas that might have been neglected where people might feel that they've traditionally not been approached for their vote and so they feel that going to those areas will be quite effective for them in the days ahead.
Kelly.
WALLACE: So Elaine, bottom line, keep your suitcase packed.
QUIJANO: That's right.
WALLACE: Elaine Quijano reporting from the White House today. Thank you so much.
Coming up next on INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY an exclusive interview with Senator John Kerry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: I can fight a smarter more effective war on Terror tan George Bush has.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Plus two campaign strategists face off on the week's controversies in the final weeks of the race to the White House. With just 16 days until the election, this is INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY, the place for campaign news. Don't touch that dial.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: And welcome back. Let's get to the numbers in the latest CNN election analysis. It shows Senator Kerry controlling the swing states of Ohio and New Hampshire, but President Bush still has a small lead in the electoral college, 277 to 261 with, as you know, 270 needed to win.
How are the campaigns reacting? Chad Clanton is a senior adviser for the Kerry/Edwards campaign and Jennifer Millerwise is deputy communications director for the Bush/Cheney campaign. Thanks to you both for being here.
CHAD CLANTON, KERRY/EDWARDS '04: Good being here.
WALLACE: Well, we've looked at a number of polls. You've seen them coming out after the last presidential debate, and some of the trending appears to be moving, Chad, in President Bush's direction. In particular take a look at this question in "Newsweek." When asked how people feel about who would better handled the economy in October, early October 52 percent John Kerry, 39 percent President Bush. But take a look at those numbers now, 45 percent for President Bush, 48 percent for Senator Kerry. President Bush doing better when it comes to the economy in terms of making some gains. What do you say to that?
CLANTON: No. I think it's going to be a photo finish. I think this is going to be a very tight race. I think the most troubling poll number for the president is that a majority think the country is headed into the wrong direction, particularly on the economy.
WALLACE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
CLANTON: Over two million, almost two million jobs lost.
WALLACE: I know, but just looking at the economy, since it was very much a domestic issues debate in the last debate, the person who moved up when it comes tot he economy was President Bush. The person who went down, at least in "Newsweek's poll was Senator Kerry. You have to be disappointed about that.
CLANTON: No. I think these are a snap shot. That's what polls are. And I think the bottom line is people know that George Bush's economic strategy has failed. He said if we give more tax cuts to the riches people in America we'd create seven million jobs. In fact, we've lost almost two million. It's the worse jobs record of any president in 72 years. It's going to hurt him in November.
WALLACE: And Jennifer, you know, we have talked about this number, which is so important, approval rating for an incumbent president. In the latest "Time" poll 49 percent. Still under 50 percent for this president. All political observers believe it is danger territory for an incumbent to be under 50 percent, especially this close to the election.
JENNIFER MILLERWISE, BUSH/CHENEY '04: We've always said it's going to be close and there's no question. The Kerry campaign has been dancing on the 50 yard line for a while now, won all three debates. And you know, it's basically over and there's still 16 days left and I think you're going to see a lot of movement.
What you're seeing in the latest poll is that people like what they saw from the president in Tempe and I'm not surprised. He really laid out a plan and it was focused on domestic agenda. And if you look at the economy, for example, I think people recognize that what John Kerry is calling for is higher taxes and a plan that would be much better in the 1970s than it would in 2000.
CLANTON: They wish.
WALLACE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
MILLERWISE: What you're looking at is he's proposing policies that is going to hurt jobs and kill businesses, higher regulation, more litigation. Those are things that are going to really...
CLANTON: Insults instead of answers. Look, I mean...
WALLACE: All right. Well, let's just jump in at something which all of our viewers care about, most of them when it comes to the flu and a vaccine shortage now in this country. There are reports in "The New York Times," "Washington Post" that this is sort of several years in the making. Back in 2001 warnings signs from medical experts that we could face a vaccine shortage in this country. Doesn't the fault find with the president?
MILLERWISE: You know what, there's a good reason for this and that's because the makers of these flu vaccines are in a high risk low yield business. And a lot of them have moved out of this country because they fear that they are one lawsuit away from going under.
John Kerry has consistently stood on the side of the trial lawyer. Heck, he put one on the ticket...
CLANTON: You try telling that to a 71 year old lady in Detroit waiting in line to a flu shot.
MILLERWISE: You know what?
CLANTON: You can't get a flu shot in America today.
MILLERWISE: You want to know why, because John Kerry and people like him are driving these companies out of this country.
WALLACE: Let me...
CLANTON: The president knew about this for three years. He was warned and time again. On the front page of "The New York Times" it says this is a crisis that could have been averted.
MILLERWISE: And it also says because of the high - because of too much litigation...
CLANTON: The president is in charge of public health.
MILLERWISE: Because of two much litigation it is driving these companies out of the country.
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACE: But one when you look at -- but Chad, but you do want to look at one thing that is coming from the Bush campaign, but that the senator, there was a piece of legislation which would have encouraged vaccine production in the United States, Senator Kerry opposed it.
CLANTON: You couldn't even get enough Republicans to support that bill, first of all. Second of all John Kerry has supported similar efforts. The fact is that problem is fixed. I want -- I challenge Jennifer to go to any of these states where we have literally 300 plus seniors standing in line to get a flu shot and tell them that it's because of trial lawyers and litigation...
WALLACE: It is a bit of a problem.
CLANTON: It's crazy. It's bunk.
WALLACE: You wouldn't want a flu vaccine in this country. If you could predict all of the circumstances you wouldn't necessarily want it to be happening two and a half weeks before the election,.
MILLERWISE: You wouldn't want it to be happening at any time. The president is very concerned about this. And he's working hard that we do have vaccines coming into this country. We're working with many countries including Canada right now to try to get the flu vaccine in here.
The fact is "The New York Times" even today said unnecessary litigation drove these companies out. John Kerry had a chance with The Health of 2003 Act. He was not in support of it. John Edwards voted against it and we could have had...
CLANTON: They're experts at excuse making. A plus for excuse making.
WALLACE: All right. I want to jump on something else because we know Senator Kerry, other Democrats have been accusing President Bush and others of using fear, fear of terrorism to try and win votes. Well now Republicans are saying that Senator Kerry is doing that. He is told, in a newspaper interview he says that if the president is reelected there is a great potential of a draft. President Bush is saying time and time again there won't be a draft. Is John Kerry using fear over a draft here to win votes.
CLANTON: John Kerry is telling the truth. If we keep on with George Bush's go it alone foreign policy that has forced us, the U.S. military, to shoulder almost all the military burdens, without the help of our allies, we may have to have a draft. And it's stunning, it may scare people but it's true and people need to know the truth.
Right now we already have a back door draft where reservists and National Guardsmen are being called up sometimes after 10 years of being at home in normal private sector jobs. So look, this is an urgent problem and it's real. That's why the president had to go out of his way yesterday to try to mislead people and say it wouldn't' happen.
MILLERWISE: This is the worse kind of politics right here that he's engaged in. John Kerry, Chad, they should be embarrassed. This is absolutely despicable. They are going around the country trying to scare people. And that is what you do when you have a record that is so far out of the mainstream you can't talk about it and you have no plans for the future....
WALLACE: But Jennifer, you know it has come -- the criticism has been leveled against the president and others talking about fears of a terrorist attack. Even some statements -- Vice President Cheney and then he retreated from that statement where he talked abut maybe more of a danger of a terrorists attack if Senator Kerry is elected. Criticism has been directed at the Republicans too for putting out fear, no?
MILLERWISE: He goes to Florida he scares seniors and says the Bush campaign is going to take away your health care. He slides around in Iowa and says to mothers, you know, your sons and daughters are going to be drafted. It is absolutely absurd. That is what they're doing. That is they're tactic. Yes, we are in the middle of war on terror and it is a scary time and it is a frightening time. And that's why it underscores how important it is that you have a president who has the resolve who can fight it....
WALLACE: I've got to get one more topic in before we run out of time, which we're almost out of, the comments by Senator Kerry mentioning the vice president's daughter, Mary Cheney. "Washington Post" today two and three polled saying that Senator Kerry's comment inappropriate. Was this a big mistake on the part of the senator?
CLANTON: No. He was trying to say something positive. John Edward's said almost the same thing. And you know what Dick Cheney said, than you...
WALLACE: But people, Chad -- I know (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
CLANTON: I understand.
WALLACE: Isn't it something now you look back and say people are saying it was inappropriate.
CLANTON: No, no what was inappropriate...
WALLACE: Mentioning that a child of the vice president...
CLANTON: ...is the way the Bush campaign took this and said John Kerry is not a good man. Let me say something. I work for John Kerry. I know him. I am so proud to give my heart and soul working for this good man. He's a good man that's going to clean up the mess in Iraq, do something about the skyrocketing cost of health care, which is out of control and he's going to make sure we get a flu shot in America.
WALLACE: Jennifer, just one thing. The Cheneys obviously upset. But to say John Kerry not a good man was that just walking too far across the line there by the vice president's wife?
MILLERWISE: You know, she was speaking as a mother. I went to the Tempe debate. We had a couple of dozen college kids that were sitting there watching the debate with us. They audibly gasped when John Kerry said that and I think that's the same reaction most people had in their living rooms.
Mary Beth Cahill, their campaign manager, I can't believe this. This was a political calculation. She said Mary Cheney is fair game. I think that is horrible. I think -- I certainly didn't expect that from their campaign and I think it says a lot about what they're willing to...
CLANTON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they can't talk about too.
WALLACE: So much more to talk about. My executive producer in my ear saying we've got to go.
CLANTON: We didn't even get to Bush's secret plan to privatize Social Security. It's right there in that magazine.
WALLACE; There's so much more we didn't get to including the Red Sox, Chad, which I didn't want to bring up. I'm sure Senator Kerry -- OK. Senator can't be too happy about that.
Senator Millerwise, Chad Clanton thanks for being with us.
CLANTON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
WALLACE: See you again on INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY that is for sure.
And later on IP Sunday our very own Candy Crowley's exclusive interview with Senator John Kerry. But up next we will tell you where you can find Ralph Nader on election day. From state to state he is fighting to get his name on every ballot.
And once again we bring the late night laughs to you. That's coming up later this hour. This is INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: And you are looking right now a picture of John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate attending church services at a Baptist church in Columbus, Ohio. Our own Ed Henry telling us about that. And we expect John Kerry to talk about the issue of Social Security and President Bush's plan or proposal to privatize Social Security during services there.
John Kerry in the Buckeye State of Ohio.
Moving on now checking the headlines in our Sunday edition of campaign news daily, Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry has paid the tax man. According to tax forms released this weekend Mrs. Heinz Kerry had a gross taxable income of nearly $2.3 million in 2003. She paid almost $800,000 in federal and state income taxes, approximately 35 percent of her gross taxable income. She also made $4.6 million in charitable contributions through grants by the Heinz family foundation. In the battleground state of Florida, a new poll says the presidential race in a dead heat. In a "Washington Post" Univision poll of likely voters, 48 percent said they support President Bush, while another 48 percent support Senator Kerry. Ralph Nader received one percent.
And speaking of Mr. Nader, a U.S. district judge in Ohio has rejected Nader's attempt to force the secretary of state to put his name on the ballot in the buckeye state, a decision Nader plans to appeal. This leaves the independent candidate on the ballot in 34 states, plus the District of Columbia. He has been rejected from the ballot in nine states. In seven other states he is not on the ballot, but is suing to gain access.
Coming up at noon eastern today Ralph Nader will be a guest on CNN's "LATE EDITION" with Wolf Blitzer and you will not want to miss that interview.
Up next, more violence rocked Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood. We will get a check of the stop stories. Also, the debates were held on college campuses, but did they impact the collegiate vote? We'll ask the leaders of the national college Democrats and Republicans. But first...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Never once said to yourself, I wish I hadn't voted for that war resolution?
KERRY: No, I...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: The answer to this question and the rest of Candy Crowley's exclusive interview with Senator John Kerry is coming up next on INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. Don's go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning to you. I'm Betty Nguyen here at the CNN Center in Atlanta. INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY continues in just a moment. But first, stories "Now in the News."
Insurgents try to disrupt a peace plan in the volatile Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City. Militants fired mortar rounds on a football stadium used as an arms collection point. Police say at least three people were killed and seven others injured. Weapons are being collected from militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The weapons collection is part of a U.S. plan to reduce violence in Sadr City.
The military is investigating whether members of a reservist unit in Iraq failed to follow orders. The unit was on a dangerous refueling mission from Tallil and Taji in Iraqi. At least five soldiers allegedly broke military code by refusing to take part in that mission. The U.S. military will address the case in a news conference at the top of the hour from Iraq, and CNN plans live coverage.
Respected journalist Pierre Salinger has died. Salinger served as President Kennedy's press secretary and later reported for ABC News. The network says he died of a heart attack in a hospital in France. Salinger was 79.
Now back to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY with CNN's Kelly Wallace in Washington.
WALLACE: And welcome back to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY.
CNN senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, conducted the first interview with candidate John Kerry since the last presidential debate. The two sat down in Milwaukee on Friday, and the questioning began with Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: You have called this war the wrong war, wrong time, wrong place, which says to me mistake. Why do you think we have to stay in Iraq when you didn't think we should stay in Vietnam?
KERRY: They're very different. This is a war on terror, that was a civil war, an ideological war.
CROWLEY: But you said there wasn't a terror threat, right?
KERRY: Oh, there is now. That's the problem. The problem is that where there wasn't a connection to al Qaeda, now you have this extraordinary magnet that has been created for jihadists who have crossed the border in the thousands. And it is a haven for terrorism now.
You have to be accountable for your decisions. The decision they made was to go to war without adequate planning to win the peace. Now we're paying a price. I know how to win this peace. And we have to win it, and I'm determined to win it.
And we have to win the war on terror. But I can fight a smarter, more effective war on terror than George Bush has. And I can bring allies to our side.
George Bush has pushed people away and isolated America rather than America joining with other people to isolate the radical extremists of Islam. I think that you have to separate them from the real Islam and the religion. They haven't done that effectively. I will.
CROWLEY: How comfortable would you be if one of your political opponents used your daughter's sexual orientation to make a point of their own?
KERRY: I've said what I'm going to say about that yesterday. It was meant as a very constructive comment, in a positive way. I respect their love for their daughter and I respect who she is, as they do. CROWLEY: Do you understand why the Cheneys are upset that this feels like an invasion of their privacy?
KERRY: They have talked about it themselves publicly.
CROWLEY: But you know other gay -- other people with gay children, you could've mentioned them, but you specifically mentioned her.
KERRY: I have great respect for her, great respect for them. It was meant constructively in terms of their love and affection for a person who is who she is. And it was entirely an example of how people come together around these choices, entirely constructively and respectively.
CROWLEY: Let me ask about Ralph Nader. He was quoted in "The New York Times" saying that you are not your own man, that you've let George Bush push you to the right, that you're taking your liberal base for granted, and that it doesn't say much for your character. Can you respond to that?
KERRY: I've fought against powerful interests my entire life. And I'm not going to take a second seat to anybody, including Ralph Nader, in terms of my agenda for this nation. There's only one choice here. Either George Bush is going to be president, or John Kerry. And that's the vote.
CROWLEY: Are you worried?
KERRY: I'm confident the American people are going to look at this race as the most important election of our lifetime. There could be four justices of the Supreme Court at stake in this race.
Certainly, fairness for middle class Americans who are increasingly squeezed, who are -- they've seen their income go down $1,500, their jobs going overseas. The jobs that replace them pay $9,000 less. If people want an economy that's fiscally responsible, and we want a future where we engage with other nations responsibly, as we have in the past, there really is only one vote I think. And so I think Americans, as we get near Election Day, will really consider that vote in the most serious way.
CROWLEY: You've said repeatedly throughout this campaign that George Bush misled the American people into Iraq. More recently, you came closer to the "L" word, saying he has lied. Did George Bush deliberately distort intelligence information because he wanted to go to war in Iraq?
KERRY: Candy, I can't tell you that. I mean, I'm not -- I can't get into the intent.
CROWLEY: But do you think it's possible?
KERRY: What I know is this, that the president made a promise, a series of promises to America. He stood up in Cincinnati and he said to us, before we voted, we will take every precaution, we will plan carefully, war is not inevitable. He said he would go to the U.N. and go through that process respectfully.
Now Candy, he didn't. He didn't let the inspectors finish their job. He didn't build a real global coalition. He didn't go to war as a last resort.
CROWLEY: Name me one mistake that you've made in the past three- and-a-half years as a public policy maker.
(LAUGHTER)
KERRY: Gosh. I think I made a mistake in terms of the breadth of some of the programs that I have talked about in the primaries, because the deficit was larger than we anticipated and we obviously couldn't afford it. So I've scaled them back since then.
CROWLEY: You never once said to yourself, I wish I hadn't voted for that war resolution?
KERRY: No, it wasn't -- because, you see, what we did, we gave the president the authority to load the gun, to hold the trigger, so to speak. We didn't tell him to shoot himself in the foot.
We gave him an authority that he had to use properly. I would have wanted that authority if I was president because they -- it was the only way Saddam Hussein ever responded to anything, was with that part of force. But I would have used it very differently and more responsibly. That's the difference.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: And Candy Crowley's exclusive interview with Senator John Kerry.
Well, up next, college students were certainly mobilized during the recent debates on college campuses across the country. Well, we'll see if the chairmen of the college Republican and Democratic parties can tell us if the youth vote will make a difference in November. That's coming up next.
And also, as always, we've got your "Late Night Laughs."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, TALK SHOW HOST: Think about it. Over 100 million Americans will go to the polls and almost half that number will have their votes counted. That's something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: Courting the college vote. The presidential debates were held on campuses around the country, but how are the candidates making the grade among students?
Grant Woodard is president of College Democrats of America, and he is in Des Moines, Iowa. And Eric Hoplin is chairman of the College Republican National Committee. He joins us here in Washington.
Gentlemen, welcome to you both. Thanks for being here.
ERIC HOPLIN, CHAIRMAN, COLLEGE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Good morning.
GRANT WOODARD, PRESIDENT, COLLEGE DEMOCRATS OF AMERICA: Good morning, Kelly.
WALLACE: Grant, since you are the new person on INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY today, let me begin with you. We talk a lot about how excited young voters are. But if you look back in 2000, only 17 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds went out to vote. That is half the number of 30 to 44-year-olds that went out to vote.
So can we count on young voters changing the stats and going out in bigger numbers this time around?
WOODARD: I really think you can. If you look at the 2000 race, what was talked about? It was mostly Medicare, Social Security. Students are like any other voting demographic, where we're only going to participate as much as our issues are addressed.
There's been a series of polls released by the Harvard Institute of Politics that show that there's an immense -- there's a huge interest amongst college students in this race. Somewhere around 59 percent of college students surveyed said that they will definitely be voting in this election. If that manifests on Election Day, you know, I think the story on November 3 will be about how young people put John Kerry in the White House.
WALLACE: And I bet, Grant, Eric might disagree with that. Tell me, what are the top issues, though, you are hearing from young voters on college campuses right now?
HOPLIN: Absolutely. Well, I travel to college campuses every week.
WALLACE: And you were at all four debates.
HOPLIN: I was at ASU, U of A, yes.
WALLACE: Yes, exactly.
HOPLIN: I was at Washington University. I was at Reno this week.
And the number one issue that we are talking about that I'm hearing is the war on terrorism. September 11 is the most significant event that's happened in our generation's lifetime. And on the day that the planes went into the World Trade Center, young people connected with their government in a very real and personal way. And they've seen the president's strong and steady leadership on the war and terrorism, and they're flocking to him with support.
WALLACE: But one other thing we saw, and we saw it in the national Annenberg Survey, University of Pennsylvania, looking at the drift. Eighteen to 29-year-olds, almost half of them fear and believe that there will be a draft imposed if President Bush is re-elected. That has to be a problem for President Bush with the young voters.
HOPLIN: It's a major issue, absolutely. And the president said unequivocally during the second debate that under a Bush presidency there will be no draft. What's interesting is the Democrats...
WOODARD: The president also said unequivocally that there were weapons in Iraq.
HOPLIN: Grant, if I could, Charlie Rangel introduced it in the House of Representatives, every Republican voted against it. Terry McAuliffe, the chairman of the Democratic Party, said on CNN this week that it's -- the draft is an issue we need to talk about. And Senator Kerry said last year that if there is a major mobilization, the draft is the only fair way to do it. The Democrats are talking about the draft, not George W. Bush.
WALLACE: And you know what, Grant? And I asked this of Senator Kerry, one of his senior advisers earlier. Democrats accuse Republicans often of using fear to try and win votes. Is the criticism fair?
Republicans say that really Democrats are using fear here. Senator Kerry using fear of the draft to win young voters.
WOODARD: I think -- I think we are just being realistic. If you looked at some of the recent stories about how the National Guard is having trouble with the recruitments, the Army has had to relax their recruitment standards just to meet their quotas this year.
There's a serious problem there. This is real. This is not, you know, fear that -- you know, Eric says that the president is adamant about that there will be no draft. But he was pretty adamant about there being weapons in Iraq, and we all know how that turned out.
WALLACE: And Grant, I want our viewers to know you were a driver for Senator Kerry during most of the Iowa caucuses earlier this year. So you kind of got a look at him more than really most people can say they have -- are getting. Give us a sense, what sort of do you get a sense from him from that experience? What did you learn from him?
WOODARD: I am always amazed by his intelligence, at how he just a man that constantly is thinking. He -- I got the pleasure of seeing him engage the people of my state, answer all sorts of questions, questions that, you know, don't arise, you know, weekly in this national campaign. And I was just amazed by how intelligent he is.
WALLACE: But grant, he hasn't -- it's taken him a while. Most people say he won all three debates, and yet he's still in a neck- and--neck race with President Bush. What is it about him that you think is not breaking through right now with the American people?
WOODARD: I think it was just a very close election. I mean, it's a very divided country, where there are so few undecided voters out there. But I think like -- it's important we are talking about the student vote, because it's a segment that is not normally taken into account in national polls.
A lot of national polls only take into account people who have voted in prior presidential elections. This is going to be my first presidential elections. You know, most college students only have cell phones.
So I really think that we are sort of the stealth demographic out there. And, you know, there are all these other people that our vote -- are registered to vote for the first time that taken into account in these polls. And there's huge numbers of...
WALLACE: I want to bring Eric in. Let me bring Eric in, because we are talking about trying to reach out to young voters.
You have both candidates, their children, their families going to college campuses, you have the candidates doing interviews. But President Bush hasn't done an interview with MTV. MTV recently saying, what's the deal, they've interview presidential candidates all the time before.
Why won't the president do that if he truly wants to reach out to young voters? Shouldn't he go on MTV and try and directly attract those young viewers?
HOPLIN: Sure. And I can't speak for why the president will or won't do it. But I think instead of, you know, going to MTV, the president has talked about an ownership society. The president has talked about personal savings accounts for Social Security for young people.
The president has talked about leading the war on terrorism. The president has created 1.9 million new jobs.
This is talking to young people. And what I want to say, Kelly, something that the media is not reporting is, I agree with Grant that young people are hard to poll. But every fall leading up to elections, student governments across the country hold sample elections to gauge interest on campus and to get people involved in politics.
George Bush is winning by significant margins at liberal universities. UW-Madison, he won the election on campus. At UNLV he won the election on campus. Southern Florida University, George Bush. This is the stealth demographic...
(CROSSTALK)
WOODARD: The only poll that matters is November 2.
WALLACE: Exactly. I've got to jump in. Right, the poll that matters is November 2. Gentlemen, we'll have to bring you back and see what young voters did, if they turned out to vote and who they voted for.
Eric Hoplin, here in Washington...
HOPLIN: Thanks so much.
WALLACE: Grant Woodard...
WOODARD: Thank you, Kelly.
WALLACE: ... in Des Moines, Iowa, thanks to you both for being here. We look forward to having you on the program again in the coming weeks.
Coming up next here on INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY, the strength of the military is an important issue in this year's election. But which candidate will U.S. troops support? Bill Schneider breaks it down in his "Story Behind the Story."
Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: The conflict in Iraq and the war on terror have been important issues in the race for the White House this year. But have these issues affected how the military and their families will vote? Our Bill Schneider has the "Story Behind the Story."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Polls of the military are rare. But this year we have two with similar results. One was a survey by "Military Times" of its readers.
GORDON TROWBRIDGE, SR. WRITER, "THE MILITARY TIMES": We asked the troops who they were planning to vote for and President Bush won in the horse race question by more than four to one.
SCHNEIDER: The other was an Annenberg Election Survey of military service members and their families.
ADAM CLYMER, ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER: I think some of those indications, it's perfectly safe to say, a lot more of them will vote for Bush than for Kerry.
SCHNEIDER: John Kerry has showcased his support for the military.
KERRY: I will build a stronger military. We will add 40,000 active duty troops.
SCHNEIDER: The military today is an all-volunteer force. Those who join and their families tend to be mostly Republicans by better than two to one in the Annenberg Survey, compared to a nearly even balance in the general public.
Do military personnel and their families believe the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over? Over 60 percent say yes. But among those who have served in Iraq and their families, the numbers saying the war was worth it drops to 55. In the general public, fewer than half say it was worth going to war in Iraq.
CLYMER: They say they support Bush's handling. But they've got a number of serious criticisms with the way things are being done there.
SCHNEIDER: Like what? Like only 38 percent who believe National Guard and Reserve forces sent to Iraq was properly trained and equipped. Like 62 percent who say the Bush administration underestimated how many troops would be needed in Iraq. Like a split over whether President Bush has a clear plan to resolve the situation in Iraq.
TROWBRIDGE: Folks were much more -- much less supportive of Iraq policy than of the president.
SCHNEIDER: They support the policy in Iraq even though they have doubts about it. That's what military people are supposed to do.
CLYMER: These are people who have chosen a way of life and are proud of it. And, you know, the president is their commander in chief.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: There are 1.4 million Americans on active duty. And another 1.2 million in the National Guard and the Reserves. They and their families can be a significant voting group, especially in an election that's as close as this one.
WALLACE: And Bill, you know, we were talking about it throughout the show, discussion about the draft. Any sense of how military members and families feel about that issue?
SCHNEIDER: About the draft, solidly against it. More than 70 percent of military families and military service members oppose the draft, which is almost exactly the same as the general republic -- general public, solid opposition.
WALLACE: And overall, how crucial the military vote in this election? Can you tell?
SCHNEIDER: Well, there are a couple of million voters. A lot of them are in places like Texas and California, which are not swing states. But some of them, many of them vote in Florida. And, of course, the military vote we know from 2000 was utterly crucial in Florida. It could happen again.
WALLACE: Absolutely. Bill Schneider, great to see you, as always. Bill Schneider with "The Story Behind the Story." We appreciate it.
Well, we have been telling you, with just over two weeks left to go until the election, and the late night comedians are fired up. We stay up late so you don't have to. The best political punch lines when INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY returns.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: If you missed the best political laughs of the past week on television, don't fret. We bring you our weekly "Late Night Laughs," beginning with a behind the scenes look at "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LENO: Who is writing all these Bush jokes? Allen (ph), put on the camera in the cue card room.
Can we -- who is writing that? Sir? Hey, Buddy? Hey!
And while in Las Vegas yesterday, John Kerry met with the AARP. They were having their convention. And Kerry gave a speech, then Kerry introduced his retirement plan, his wife Teresa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, TALK SHOW HOST: John Kerry is facing a storm of criticism. Because during the debate the other night he referred to Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter and that got him in trouble. Yes, today, because of the controversy, Kerry canceled a speech entitled 'Boy, Can Those Bush Twins Drink.'
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LENO: Actually, Kerry looked a little more human than he did in the last debate, you know? Except when he tries to wave to the crowd. Then he gets really stiff, doesn't he? He gets that old Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean wave -- yo, ho, ho, ho, I'm John Kerry. Ho, ho, ho...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: What are they going to do after the election?
Well, thanks for joining us on INSIDE POLITICS Sunday. Coming up in 30 minutes, a live "RELIABLE SOURCES" taking a critical look at the favorable press Senator John Kerry has received since the presidential debates.
And at noon Eastern on "LATE EDITION," Wolf Blitzer speaks with Commerce Secretary Don Evans about the economy and the president's reelection campaign.
But up next, CNN is standing by to bring you coverage of a live news conference from Iraq about the platoon that refused to follow orders and carry out a refueling mission. Stay tuned for that. In the meantime, for all of us here at INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY, thanks so much for watching. I'm Kelly Wallace in Washington. Have a fabulous Sunday.
The news continues now with CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
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Aired October 17, 2004 - 10:00 ET
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KELLY WALLACE, HOST: INSIDE POLITICS today, 16 days and thousands of miles to go. President Bush and Senator Kerry make their final pitch to voters across the country. We'll have live reports.
Senator Kerry speaks out. An exclusive interview including discussion about the Mary Cheney controversy, Ralph Nader's run and more. And military matters, U.S. troops are loud and clear about their feelings and the war in Iraq. What does it mean for the presidential candidates? That's all straight ahead.
With just two weeks and two days and INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY shows left before election day, hard to believe. Hello. Good Sunday morning to you. I am Kelly Wallace in Washington. Thanks so much for joining us. Politics doesn't take weekends off and neither do we. And as usual, another jam packed show. So, let's get right to it.
There is no rest for the weary on the campaign trail as the battle for the White House heads for the home stretch. For President Bush and Senator John Kerry there is no time to lose. Every undecided voter is now a prime target. Coming up this hour, two campaign strategists fight it out as we head into the final weeks.
Plus Senator Kerry goes one on one with our very own Candy Crowley to talk about some crucial issues. And we visited their campuses for the campaign debates, now the leaders of college Democratic and Republican organizations get their turn in the spotlight. All that and more straight ahead.
But up first, some new polls showing just how close the presidential race is after the three presidential debates,. In the latest "Time" magazine poll of likely voters, 48 percent support President Bush, 46 percent back Senator Kerry, and that is within the poll's margin of error.
As for "Newsweek" a new poll in that magazine has the president with a slightly bigger lead among likely voters, 50 to 45 percent. That poll has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.
To the campaign trail now where it is another non stop day for Senator John Kerry as he tries to unseat President Bush. The Democratic candidate is in two big swing states today, Ohio and Florida. We check in now with CNN's Ed Henry in Columbus, Ohio.
And Ed, the senator spending a lot of time in GOP territory in that buckeye state.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good morning, Kelly.
John Kerry is feeling very good abut the state of this race. Just a couple of weeks ago the momentum was on the Republican side. President Bush was campaigning hard in blue states. Now John Kerry is here. He's been in rural Ohio this weekend pushing very hard in the red part of this red state.
Al Gore skipped southern Ohio in 2000 and still almost won the state. Democrats now feel that if they can flip these 20 electoral votes they can knock out President Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): John Kerry is hunting for votes, literally and figuratively.
The senator brought a hunting license for a return trip to Ohio this week. He wants to move to the middle by reminding swing voters he's a gun owner. And Kerry is ripping President Bush's record in cities like Appleton, Wisconsin, hometown of Harry Houdini.
JOHN KERRY, (D-MA) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I suddenly said to myself, you know, that's perfect because George Bush keeps trying to hide all of his mistakes.
HENRY: Kerry, who picked pumpkins with John Glenn, is feeling good about the race. Aids think he swept the debates and has whipped up his base with attacks on the president's Iraq policy. In the final two weeks the senator wants to woo undecided voters by pivoting hard to the domestic agenda, especially the economy.
In Ohio, Kerry brandished Treasury Secretary John Snow's suggestion, published in a local paper, that job loses are a myth. Snow said the comment was taken out of context, but Kerry pounced.
KERRY: I've got a message for the president of the United States. Mr. President the people who have lost jobs on your watch are not myths. They are our neighbors. They are middle class Americans and they deserve better.
(APPLAUSE)
HENRY: Kerry has a new ad accusing the president of mishandling the flu vaccine problem.
NARRATOR: Three years ago medical experts warned George Bush that a dangerous shortage loomed.
HENRY: On the stump Kerry needled the president.
KERRY: The production of the flu vaccine was sent to a factory overseas. Sounds like George Bush's jobs plan ladies and gentlemen. Now he tells healthy Americans not to get their flu shots. What's that sound like? Sounds like his health care plan, pray you don't get sick.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: And the Kerry campaign woke up to some good news this morning. Endorsements from "The New York Times, " "The Boston Globe," and "The Miami Herald." Not expected, but those are high profile endorsements they'd much rather have than not.
Kelly.
WALLACE: Definitely. Good point there, Ed. Ed, we know the senator attended a Catholic mass last night, going to be attending the Baptist church behind you this morning, what is the message that we will here from Senator Kerry?
HENRY: Senior Kerry aides are telling me that they are going to pounce on this "New York Times" magazine today suggesting that the president has privately been telling supporters hat he wants to take very hard right positions in the second term, specifically on Social Security maybe moving towards privatization of Social Security.
You'll remember that in that last presidential debate, President Bush painted John Kerry as an out of the mainstream liberal. John Kerry in this speech today and in the final two weeks is going to try to paint George W. Bush as an out of the mainstream conservative and they already have a new ad they're putting up today on that very Social issue, in fact.
Kelly.
WALLACE: Ed, thanks so much. Ed Henry on the Kerry campaign trail reporting from Columbus, Ohio. We appreciate it.
And continuing with the Kerry/Edwards campaign it is out with a new television ad attacking President Bush over Social Security. The ad is called January Surprise, and it claims the president's plan to privatize the government program with lead to a big drop in benefits.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: First George Bush threatened Social Security with record deficits of over $400 billion. Now Bush has a plan that cuts Social Security benefits by 30 to 45 percent. The real Bush agenda, cutting Social Security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: And under Mr. Bush's proposal younger workers would have the option of putting part of their Social Security contributions into personal retirement accounts. That would give them the chance to make a higher return on that investment in return for some smaller Social Security benefits.
Well now we want to turn to the president and the Bush campaign. As John Kerry keeps the campaign trail hot today, President Bush is spending some time off the trail. He is at the White House today. And for more on the president's campaign and how he's preparing for the sprint to the finish line we check in now with CNN's Elaine Quijano at the White House.
And Elaine, is this all about some R&R or can we assume there will be a little bit of strategizing going on behind the scenes at the White House today?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh you can bet, especially now the spring is on. As you said, it is in fact the home stretch. But this a day in which the president does not have any official campaign events on his schedule.
The president, in fact, earlier this morning attended services across the street at St. John's Episcopal Church. No events though as far as campaigning goes on his schedule today.
But yesterday the president visited the key battleground state of Florida. As you know, 27 highly coveted electoral votes are up for grabs. The president made stops yesterday in Florida in Sunrise, West Palm Beach and Daytona Beach. And it was at his last stop that he added some new language about the draft to his standard stump speech. But the line did not come out correctly at first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After standing on the stage after the debates I made it very plain we will not have an all volunteer Army. And yet this week -- we will have an all volunteer Army.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: Let me restate that. We will not have a draft.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now the president went on to accuse Senator Kerry of using the draft issue to try and scare voters. Meantime the president his morning is picking up a key endorsement, an endorsement from a major city newspaper, "The Chicago Tribune." The editorial board in today's edition saying quote, "Bush's sense of a president's duty to defend America is wider in scope than Kerry's, more ambitious in its tactics, more prone frankly to yield both casualties and lasting results. This is the stark difference on which American voters should choose a president."
And the president in he days ahead, we are told by campaign aids, will continue to try to draw a stark contrast between him and Senator Kerry. As for the week ahead, it's shaping up to be a busy one. Already on the president's schedule visits to New Jersey, Florida, once again, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. And Bush aids say that the strategy here is really to go into these blue areas, blue states, traditionally Democratic strongholds, but places where the president, hey feel, can make a connection with certain segments of the population. We say that yesterday in Florida. The Bush campaign very much looking at the Hispanic vote.. They are also trying to target the Jewish population as well as the large number of military personnel in that state.
Kelly.
WALLACE: And Elaine some of the states you mentioned, including New Jersey, some of our viewers might be surprised about that. Does the Bush campaign truly believe it has a chance to win in New Jersey?
QUIJANO: Well, what they are looking at is the fact that the lead there is not as great for Senator Kerry. So hey feel as though they have an opening here to perhaps make some headway. And that has been the strategy really that they are going to be taking in the days forward in all of these swing states going to areas, as aids describe them, they may be off the beaten path as well.
That's something else they say is different from the Kerry campaign. That the Bush campaign is focusing more not on the larger cities, but really the smaller communities. Why? Because they say those are areas that might have been neglected where people might feel that they've traditionally not been approached for their vote and so they feel that going to those areas will be quite effective for them in the days ahead.
Kelly.
WALLACE: So Elaine, bottom line, keep your suitcase packed.
QUIJANO: That's right.
WALLACE: Elaine Quijano reporting from the White House today. Thank you so much.
Coming up next on INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY an exclusive interview with Senator John Kerry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: I can fight a smarter more effective war on Terror tan George Bush has.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Plus two campaign strategists face off on the week's controversies in the final weeks of the race to the White House. With just 16 days until the election, this is INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY, the place for campaign news. Don't touch that dial.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: And welcome back. Let's get to the numbers in the latest CNN election analysis. It shows Senator Kerry controlling the swing states of Ohio and New Hampshire, but President Bush still has a small lead in the electoral college, 277 to 261 with, as you know, 270 needed to win.
How are the campaigns reacting? Chad Clanton is a senior adviser for the Kerry/Edwards campaign and Jennifer Millerwise is deputy communications director for the Bush/Cheney campaign. Thanks to you both for being here.
CHAD CLANTON, KERRY/EDWARDS '04: Good being here.
WALLACE: Well, we've looked at a number of polls. You've seen them coming out after the last presidential debate, and some of the trending appears to be moving, Chad, in President Bush's direction. In particular take a look at this question in "Newsweek." When asked how people feel about who would better handled the economy in October, early October 52 percent John Kerry, 39 percent President Bush. But take a look at those numbers now, 45 percent for President Bush, 48 percent for Senator Kerry. President Bush doing better when it comes to the economy in terms of making some gains. What do you say to that?
CLANTON: No. I think it's going to be a photo finish. I think this is going to be a very tight race. I think the most troubling poll number for the president is that a majority think the country is headed into the wrong direction, particularly on the economy.
WALLACE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
CLANTON: Over two million, almost two million jobs lost.
WALLACE: I know, but just looking at the economy, since it was very much a domestic issues debate in the last debate, the person who moved up when it comes tot he economy was President Bush. The person who went down, at least in "Newsweek's poll was Senator Kerry. You have to be disappointed about that.
CLANTON: No. I think these are a snap shot. That's what polls are. And I think the bottom line is people know that George Bush's economic strategy has failed. He said if we give more tax cuts to the riches people in America we'd create seven million jobs. In fact, we've lost almost two million. It's the worse jobs record of any president in 72 years. It's going to hurt him in November.
WALLACE: And Jennifer, you know, we have talked about this number, which is so important, approval rating for an incumbent president. In the latest "Time" poll 49 percent. Still under 50 percent for this president. All political observers believe it is danger territory for an incumbent to be under 50 percent, especially this close to the election.
JENNIFER MILLERWISE, BUSH/CHENEY '04: We've always said it's going to be close and there's no question. The Kerry campaign has been dancing on the 50 yard line for a while now, won all three debates. And you know, it's basically over and there's still 16 days left and I think you're going to see a lot of movement.
What you're seeing in the latest poll is that people like what they saw from the president in Tempe and I'm not surprised. He really laid out a plan and it was focused on domestic agenda. And if you look at the economy, for example, I think people recognize that what John Kerry is calling for is higher taxes and a plan that would be much better in the 1970s than it would in 2000.
CLANTON: They wish.
WALLACE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
MILLERWISE: What you're looking at is he's proposing policies that is going to hurt jobs and kill businesses, higher regulation, more litigation. Those are things that are going to really...
CLANTON: Insults instead of answers. Look, I mean...
WALLACE: All right. Well, let's just jump in at something which all of our viewers care about, most of them when it comes to the flu and a vaccine shortage now in this country. There are reports in "The New York Times," "Washington Post" that this is sort of several years in the making. Back in 2001 warnings signs from medical experts that we could face a vaccine shortage in this country. Doesn't the fault find with the president?
MILLERWISE: You know what, there's a good reason for this and that's because the makers of these flu vaccines are in a high risk low yield business. And a lot of them have moved out of this country because they fear that they are one lawsuit away from going under.
John Kerry has consistently stood on the side of the trial lawyer. Heck, he put one on the ticket...
CLANTON: You try telling that to a 71 year old lady in Detroit waiting in line to a flu shot.
MILLERWISE: You know what?
CLANTON: You can't get a flu shot in America today.
MILLERWISE: You want to know why, because John Kerry and people like him are driving these companies out of this country.
WALLACE: Let me...
CLANTON: The president knew about this for three years. He was warned and time again. On the front page of "The New York Times" it says this is a crisis that could have been averted.
MILLERWISE: And it also says because of the high - because of too much litigation...
CLANTON: The president is in charge of public health.
MILLERWISE: Because of two much litigation it is driving these companies out of the country.
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACE: But one when you look at -- but Chad, but you do want to look at one thing that is coming from the Bush campaign, but that the senator, there was a piece of legislation which would have encouraged vaccine production in the United States, Senator Kerry opposed it.
CLANTON: You couldn't even get enough Republicans to support that bill, first of all. Second of all John Kerry has supported similar efforts. The fact is that problem is fixed. I want -- I challenge Jennifer to go to any of these states where we have literally 300 plus seniors standing in line to get a flu shot and tell them that it's because of trial lawyers and litigation...
WALLACE: It is a bit of a problem.
CLANTON: It's crazy. It's bunk.
WALLACE: You wouldn't want a flu vaccine in this country. If you could predict all of the circumstances you wouldn't necessarily want it to be happening two and a half weeks before the election,.
MILLERWISE: You wouldn't want it to be happening at any time. The president is very concerned about this. And he's working hard that we do have vaccines coming into this country. We're working with many countries including Canada right now to try to get the flu vaccine in here.
The fact is "The New York Times" even today said unnecessary litigation drove these companies out. John Kerry had a chance with The Health of 2003 Act. He was not in support of it. John Edwards voted against it and we could have had...
CLANTON: They're experts at excuse making. A plus for excuse making.
WALLACE: All right. I want to jump on something else because we know Senator Kerry, other Democrats have been accusing President Bush and others of using fear, fear of terrorism to try and win votes. Well now Republicans are saying that Senator Kerry is doing that. He is told, in a newspaper interview he says that if the president is reelected there is a great potential of a draft. President Bush is saying time and time again there won't be a draft. Is John Kerry using fear over a draft here to win votes.
CLANTON: John Kerry is telling the truth. If we keep on with George Bush's go it alone foreign policy that has forced us, the U.S. military, to shoulder almost all the military burdens, without the help of our allies, we may have to have a draft. And it's stunning, it may scare people but it's true and people need to know the truth.
Right now we already have a back door draft where reservists and National Guardsmen are being called up sometimes after 10 years of being at home in normal private sector jobs. So look, this is an urgent problem and it's real. That's why the president had to go out of his way yesterday to try to mislead people and say it wouldn't' happen.
MILLERWISE: This is the worse kind of politics right here that he's engaged in. John Kerry, Chad, they should be embarrassed. This is absolutely despicable. They are going around the country trying to scare people. And that is what you do when you have a record that is so far out of the mainstream you can't talk about it and you have no plans for the future....
WALLACE: But Jennifer, you know it has come -- the criticism has been leveled against the president and others talking about fears of a terrorist attack. Even some statements -- Vice President Cheney and then he retreated from that statement where he talked abut maybe more of a danger of a terrorists attack if Senator Kerry is elected. Criticism has been directed at the Republicans too for putting out fear, no?
MILLERWISE: He goes to Florida he scares seniors and says the Bush campaign is going to take away your health care. He slides around in Iowa and says to mothers, you know, your sons and daughters are going to be drafted. It is absolutely absurd. That is what they're doing. That is they're tactic. Yes, we are in the middle of war on terror and it is a scary time and it is a frightening time. And that's why it underscores how important it is that you have a president who has the resolve who can fight it....
WALLACE: I've got to get one more topic in before we run out of time, which we're almost out of, the comments by Senator Kerry mentioning the vice president's daughter, Mary Cheney. "Washington Post" today two and three polled saying that Senator Kerry's comment inappropriate. Was this a big mistake on the part of the senator?
CLANTON: No. He was trying to say something positive. John Edward's said almost the same thing. And you know what Dick Cheney said, than you...
WALLACE: But people, Chad -- I know (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
CLANTON: I understand.
WALLACE: Isn't it something now you look back and say people are saying it was inappropriate.
CLANTON: No, no what was inappropriate...
WALLACE: Mentioning that a child of the vice president...
CLANTON: ...is the way the Bush campaign took this and said John Kerry is not a good man. Let me say something. I work for John Kerry. I know him. I am so proud to give my heart and soul working for this good man. He's a good man that's going to clean up the mess in Iraq, do something about the skyrocketing cost of health care, which is out of control and he's going to make sure we get a flu shot in America.
WALLACE: Jennifer, just one thing. The Cheneys obviously upset. But to say John Kerry not a good man was that just walking too far across the line there by the vice president's wife?
MILLERWISE: You know, she was speaking as a mother. I went to the Tempe debate. We had a couple of dozen college kids that were sitting there watching the debate with us. They audibly gasped when John Kerry said that and I think that's the same reaction most people had in their living rooms.
Mary Beth Cahill, their campaign manager, I can't believe this. This was a political calculation. She said Mary Cheney is fair game. I think that is horrible. I think -- I certainly didn't expect that from their campaign and I think it says a lot about what they're willing to...
CLANTON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they can't talk about too.
WALLACE: So much more to talk about. My executive producer in my ear saying we've got to go.
CLANTON: We didn't even get to Bush's secret plan to privatize Social Security. It's right there in that magazine.
WALLACE; There's so much more we didn't get to including the Red Sox, Chad, which I didn't want to bring up. I'm sure Senator Kerry -- OK. Senator can't be too happy about that.
Senator Millerwise, Chad Clanton thanks for being with us.
CLANTON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
WALLACE: See you again on INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY that is for sure.
And later on IP Sunday our very own Candy Crowley's exclusive interview with Senator John Kerry. But up next we will tell you where you can find Ralph Nader on election day. From state to state he is fighting to get his name on every ballot.
And once again we bring the late night laughs to you. That's coming up later this hour. This is INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: And you are looking right now a picture of John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate attending church services at a Baptist church in Columbus, Ohio. Our own Ed Henry telling us about that. And we expect John Kerry to talk about the issue of Social Security and President Bush's plan or proposal to privatize Social Security during services there.
John Kerry in the Buckeye State of Ohio.
Moving on now checking the headlines in our Sunday edition of campaign news daily, Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry has paid the tax man. According to tax forms released this weekend Mrs. Heinz Kerry had a gross taxable income of nearly $2.3 million in 2003. She paid almost $800,000 in federal and state income taxes, approximately 35 percent of her gross taxable income. She also made $4.6 million in charitable contributions through grants by the Heinz family foundation. In the battleground state of Florida, a new poll says the presidential race in a dead heat. In a "Washington Post" Univision poll of likely voters, 48 percent said they support President Bush, while another 48 percent support Senator Kerry. Ralph Nader received one percent.
And speaking of Mr. Nader, a U.S. district judge in Ohio has rejected Nader's attempt to force the secretary of state to put his name on the ballot in the buckeye state, a decision Nader plans to appeal. This leaves the independent candidate on the ballot in 34 states, plus the District of Columbia. He has been rejected from the ballot in nine states. In seven other states he is not on the ballot, but is suing to gain access.
Coming up at noon eastern today Ralph Nader will be a guest on CNN's "LATE EDITION" with Wolf Blitzer and you will not want to miss that interview.
Up next, more violence rocked Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood. We will get a check of the stop stories. Also, the debates were held on college campuses, but did they impact the collegiate vote? We'll ask the leaders of the national college Democrats and Republicans. But first...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Never once said to yourself, I wish I hadn't voted for that war resolution?
KERRY: No, I...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: The answer to this question and the rest of Candy Crowley's exclusive interview with Senator John Kerry is coming up next on INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. Don's go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning to you. I'm Betty Nguyen here at the CNN Center in Atlanta. INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY continues in just a moment. But first, stories "Now in the News."
Insurgents try to disrupt a peace plan in the volatile Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City. Militants fired mortar rounds on a football stadium used as an arms collection point. Police say at least three people were killed and seven others injured. Weapons are being collected from militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The weapons collection is part of a U.S. plan to reduce violence in Sadr City.
The military is investigating whether members of a reservist unit in Iraq failed to follow orders. The unit was on a dangerous refueling mission from Tallil and Taji in Iraqi. At least five soldiers allegedly broke military code by refusing to take part in that mission. The U.S. military will address the case in a news conference at the top of the hour from Iraq, and CNN plans live coverage.
Respected journalist Pierre Salinger has died. Salinger served as President Kennedy's press secretary and later reported for ABC News. The network says he died of a heart attack in a hospital in France. Salinger was 79.
Now back to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY with CNN's Kelly Wallace in Washington.
WALLACE: And welcome back to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY.
CNN senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, conducted the first interview with candidate John Kerry since the last presidential debate. The two sat down in Milwaukee on Friday, and the questioning began with Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: You have called this war the wrong war, wrong time, wrong place, which says to me mistake. Why do you think we have to stay in Iraq when you didn't think we should stay in Vietnam?
KERRY: They're very different. This is a war on terror, that was a civil war, an ideological war.
CROWLEY: But you said there wasn't a terror threat, right?
KERRY: Oh, there is now. That's the problem. The problem is that where there wasn't a connection to al Qaeda, now you have this extraordinary magnet that has been created for jihadists who have crossed the border in the thousands. And it is a haven for terrorism now.
You have to be accountable for your decisions. The decision they made was to go to war without adequate planning to win the peace. Now we're paying a price. I know how to win this peace. And we have to win it, and I'm determined to win it.
And we have to win the war on terror. But I can fight a smarter, more effective war on terror than George Bush has. And I can bring allies to our side.
George Bush has pushed people away and isolated America rather than America joining with other people to isolate the radical extremists of Islam. I think that you have to separate them from the real Islam and the religion. They haven't done that effectively. I will.
CROWLEY: How comfortable would you be if one of your political opponents used your daughter's sexual orientation to make a point of their own?
KERRY: I've said what I'm going to say about that yesterday. It was meant as a very constructive comment, in a positive way. I respect their love for their daughter and I respect who she is, as they do. CROWLEY: Do you understand why the Cheneys are upset that this feels like an invasion of their privacy?
KERRY: They have talked about it themselves publicly.
CROWLEY: But you know other gay -- other people with gay children, you could've mentioned them, but you specifically mentioned her.
KERRY: I have great respect for her, great respect for them. It was meant constructively in terms of their love and affection for a person who is who she is. And it was entirely an example of how people come together around these choices, entirely constructively and respectively.
CROWLEY: Let me ask about Ralph Nader. He was quoted in "The New York Times" saying that you are not your own man, that you've let George Bush push you to the right, that you're taking your liberal base for granted, and that it doesn't say much for your character. Can you respond to that?
KERRY: I've fought against powerful interests my entire life. And I'm not going to take a second seat to anybody, including Ralph Nader, in terms of my agenda for this nation. There's only one choice here. Either George Bush is going to be president, or John Kerry. And that's the vote.
CROWLEY: Are you worried?
KERRY: I'm confident the American people are going to look at this race as the most important election of our lifetime. There could be four justices of the Supreme Court at stake in this race.
Certainly, fairness for middle class Americans who are increasingly squeezed, who are -- they've seen their income go down $1,500, their jobs going overseas. The jobs that replace them pay $9,000 less. If people want an economy that's fiscally responsible, and we want a future where we engage with other nations responsibly, as we have in the past, there really is only one vote I think. And so I think Americans, as we get near Election Day, will really consider that vote in the most serious way.
CROWLEY: You've said repeatedly throughout this campaign that George Bush misled the American people into Iraq. More recently, you came closer to the "L" word, saying he has lied. Did George Bush deliberately distort intelligence information because he wanted to go to war in Iraq?
KERRY: Candy, I can't tell you that. I mean, I'm not -- I can't get into the intent.
CROWLEY: But do you think it's possible?
KERRY: What I know is this, that the president made a promise, a series of promises to America. He stood up in Cincinnati and he said to us, before we voted, we will take every precaution, we will plan carefully, war is not inevitable. He said he would go to the U.N. and go through that process respectfully.
Now Candy, he didn't. He didn't let the inspectors finish their job. He didn't build a real global coalition. He didn't go to war as a last resort.
CROWLEY: Name me one mistake that you've made in the past three- and-a-half years as a public policy maker.
(LAUGHTER)
KERRY: Gosh. I think I made a mistake in terms of the breadth of some of the programs that I have talked about in the primaries, because the deficit was larger than we anticipated and we obviously couldn't afford it. So I've scaled them back since then.
CROWLEY: You never once said to yourself, I wish I hadn't voted for that war resolution?
KERRY: No, it wasn't -- because, you see, what we did, we gave the president the authority to load the gun, to hold the trigger, so to speak. We didn't tell him to shoot himself in the foot.
We gave him an authority that he had to use properly. I would have wanted that authority if I was president because they -- it was the only way Saddam Hussein ever responded to anything, was with that part of force. But I would have used it very differently and more responsibly. That's the difference.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: And Candy Crowley's exclusive interview with Senator John Kerry.
Well, up next, college students were certainly mobilized during the recent debates on college campuses across the country. Well, we'll see if the chairmen of the college Republican and Democratic parties can tell us if the youth vote will make a difference in November. That's coming up next.
And also, as always, we've got your "Late Night Laughs."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, TALK SHOW HOST: Think about it. Over 100 million Americans will go to the polls and almost half that number will have their votes counted. That's something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: Courting the college vote. The presidential debates were held on campuses around the country, but how are the candidates making the grade among students?
Grant Woodard is president of College Democrats of America, and he is in Des Moines, Iowa. And Eric Hoplin is chairman of the College Republican National Committee. He joins us here in Washington.
Gentlemen, welcome to you both. Thanks for being here.
ERIC HOPLIN, CHAIRMAN, COLLEGE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Good morning.
GRANT WOODARD, PRESIDENT, COLLEGE DEMOCRATS OF AMERICA: Good morning, Kelly.
WALLACE: Grant, since you are the new person on INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY today, let me begin with you. We talk a lot about how excited young voters are. But if you look back in 2000, only 17 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds went out to vote. That is half the number of 30 to 44-year-olds that went out to vote.
So can we count on young voters changing the stats and going out in bigger numbers this time around?
WOODARD: I really think you can. If you look at the 2000 race, what was talked about? It was mostly Medicare, Social Security. Students are like any other voting demographic, where we're only going to participate as much as our issues are addressed.
There's been a series of polls released by the Harvard Institute of Politics that show that there's an immense -- there's a huge interest amongst college students in this race. Somewhere around 59 percent of college students surveyed said that they will definitely be voting in this election. If that manifests on Election Day, you know, I think the story on November 3 will be about how young people put John Kerry in the White House.
WALLACE: And I bet, Grant, Eric might disagree with that. Tell me, what are the top issues, though, you are hearing from young voters on college campuses right now?
HOPLIN: Absolutely. Well, I travel to college campuses every week.
WALLACE: And you were at all four debates.
HOPLIN: I was at ASU, U of A, yes.
WALLACE: Yes, exactly.
HOPLIN: I was at Washington University. I was at Reno this week.
And the number one issue that we are talking about that I'm hearing is the war on terrorism. September 11 is the most significant event that's happened in our generation's lifetime. And on the day that the planes went into the World Trade Center, young people connected with their government in a very real and personal way. And they've seen the president's strong and steady leadership on the war and terrorism, and they're flocking to him with support.
WALLACE: But one other thing we saw, and we saw it in the national Annenberg Survey, University of Pennsylvania, looking at the drift. Eighteen to 29-year-olds, almost half of them fear and believe that there will be a draft imposed if President Bush is re-elected. That has to be a problem for President Bush with the young voters.
HOPLIN: It's a major issue, absolutely. And the president said unequivocally during the second debate that under a Bush presidency there will be no draft. What's interesting is the Democrats...
WOODARD: The president also said unequivocally that there were weapons in Iraq.
HOPLIN: Grant, if I could, Charlie Rangel introduced it in the House of Representatives, every Republican voted against it. Terry McAuliffe, the chairman of the Democratic Party, said on CNN this week that it's -- the draft is an issue we need to talk about. And Senator Kerry said last year that if there is a major mobilization, the draft is the only fair way to do it. The Democrats are talking about the draft, not George W. Bush.
WALLACE: And you know what, Grant? And I asked this of Senator Kerry, one of his senior advisers earlier. Democrats accuse Republicans often of using fear to try and win votes. Is the criticism fair?
Republicans say that really Democrats are using fear here. Senator Kerry using fear of the draft to win young voters.
WOODARD: I think -- I think we are just being realistic. If you looked at some of the recent stories about how the National Guard is having trouble with the recruitments, the Army has had to relax their recruitment standards just to meet their quotas this year.
There's a serious problem there. This is real. This is not, you know, fear that -- you know, Eric says that the president is adamant about that there will be no draft. But he was pretty adamant about there being weapons in Iraq, and we all know how that turned out.
WALLACE: And Grant, I want our viewers to know you were a driver for Senator Kerry during most of the Iowa caucuses earlier this year. So you kind of got a look at him more than really most people can say they have -- are getting. Give us a sense, what sort of do you get a sense from him from that experience? What did you learn from him?
WOODARD: I am always amazed by his intelligence, at how he just a man that constantly is thinking. He -- I got the pleasure of seeing him engage the people of my state, answer all sorts of questions, questions that, you know, don't arise, you know, weekly in this national campaign. And I was just amazed by how intelligent he is.
WALLACE: But grant, he hasn't -- it's taken him a while. Most people say he won all three debates, and yet he's still in a neck- and--neck race with President Bush. What is it about him that you think is not breaking through right now with the American people?
WOODARD: I think it was just a very close election. I mean, it's a very divided country, where there are so few undecided voters out there. But I think like -- it's important we are talking about the student vote, because it's a segment that is not normally taken into account in national polls.
A lot of national polls only take into account people who have voted in prior presidential elections. This is going to be my first presidential elections. You know, most college students only have cell phones.
So I really think that we are sort of the stealth demographic out there. And, you know, there are all these other people that our vote -- are registered to vote for the first time that taken into account in these polls. And there's huge numbers of...
WALLACE: I want to bring Eric in. Let me bring Eric in, because we are talking about trying to reach out to young voters.
You have both candidates, their children, their families going to college campuses, you have the candidates doing interviews. But President Bush hasn't done an interview with MTV. MTV recently saying, what's the deal, they've interview presidential candidates all the time before.
Why won't the president do that if he truly wants to reach out to young voters? Shouldn't he go on MTV and try and directly attract those young viewers?
HOPLIN: Sure. And I can't speak for why the president will or won't do it. But I think instead of, you know, going to MTV, the president has talked about an ownership society. The president has talked about personal savings accounts for Social Security for young people.
The president has talked about leading the war on terrorism. The president has created 1.9 million new jobs.
This is talking to young people. And what I want to say, Kelly, something that the media is not reporting is, I agree with Grant that young people are hard to poll. But every fall leading up to elections, student governments across the country hold sample elections to gauge interest on campus and to get people involved in politics.
George Bush is winning by significant margins at liberal universities. UW-Madison, he won the election on campus. At UNLV he won the election on campus. Southern Florida University, George Bush. This is the stealth demographic...
(CROSSTALK)
WOODARD: The only poll that matters is November 2.
WALLACE: Exactly. I've got to jump in. Right, the poll that matters is November 2. Gentlemen, we'll have to bring you back and see what young voters did, if they turned out to vote and who they voted for.
Eric Hoplin, here in Washington...
HOPLIN: Thanks so much.
WALLACE: Grant Woodard...
WOODARD: Thank you, Kelly.
WALLACE: ... in Des Moines, Iowa, thanks to you both for being here. We look forward to having you on the program again in the coming weeks.
Coming up next here on INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY, the strength of the military is an important issue in this year's election. But which candidate will U.S. troops support? Bill Schneider breaks it down in his "Story Behind the Story."
Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: The conflict in Iraq and the war on terror have been important issues in the race for the White House this year. But have these issues affected how the military and their families will vote? Our Bill Schneider has the "Story Behind the Story."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Polls of the military are rare. But this year we have two with similar results. One was a survey by "Military Times" of its readers.
GORDON TROWBRIDGE, SR. WRITER, "THE MILITARY TIMES": We asked the troops who they were planning to vote for and President Bush won in the horse race question by more than four to one.
SCHNEIDER: The other was an Annenberg Election Survey of military service members and their families.
ADAM CLYMER, ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER: I think some of those indications, it's perfectly safe to say, a lot more of them will vote for Bush than for Kerry.
SCHNEIDER: John Kerry has showcased his support for the military.
KERRY: I will build a stronger military. We will add 40,000 active duty troops.
SCHNEIDER: The military today is an all-volunteer force. Those who join and their families tend to be mostly Republicans by better than two to one in the Annenberg Survey, compared to a nearly even balance in the general public.
Do military personnel and their families believe the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over? Over 60 percent say yes. But among those who have served in Iraq and their families, the numbers saying the war was worth it drops to 55. In the general public, fewer than half say it was worth going to war in Iraq.
CLYMER: They say they support Bush's handling. But they've got a number of serious criticisms with the way things are being done there.
SCHNEIDER: Like what? Like only 38 percent who believe National Guard and Reserve forces sent to Iraq was properly trained and equipped. Like 62 percent who say the Bush administration underestimated how many troops would be needed in Iraq. Like a split over whether President Bush has a clear plan to resolve the situation in Iraq.
TROWBRIDGE: Folks were much more -- much less supportive of Iraq policy than of the president.
SCHNEIDER: They support the policy in Iraq even though they have doubts about it. That's what military people are supposed to do.
CLYMER: These are people who have chosen a way of life and are proud of it. And, you know, the president is their commander in chief.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: There are 1.4 million Americans on active duty. And another 1.2 million in the National Guard and the Reserves. They and their families can be a significant voting group, especially in an election that's as close as this one.
WALLACE: And Bill, you know, we were talking about it throughout the show, discussion about the draft. Any sense of how military members and families feel about that issue?
SCHNEIDER: About the draft, solidly against it. More than 70 percent of military families and military service members oppose the draft, which is almost exactly the same as the general republic -- general public, solid opposition.
WALLACE: And overall, how crucial the military vote in this election? Can you tell?
SCHNEIDER: Well, there are a couple of million voters. A lot of them are in places like Texas and California, which are not swing states. But some of them, many of them vote in Florida. And, of course, the military vote we know from 2000 was utterly crucial in Florida. It could happen again.
WALLACE: Absolutely. Bill Schneider, great to see you, as always. Bill Schneider with "The Story Behind the Story." We appreciate it.
Well, we have been telling you, with just over two weeks left to go until the election, and the late night comedians are fired up. We stay up late so you don't have to. The best political punch lines when INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY returns.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: If you missed the best political laughs of the past week on television, don't fret. We bring you our weekly "Late Night Laughs," beginning with a behind the scenes look at "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LENO: Who is writing all these Bush jokes? Allen (ph), put on the camera in the cue card room.
Can we -- who is writing that? Sir? Hey, Buddy? Hey!
And while in Las Vegas yesterday, John Kerry met with the AARP. They were having their convention. And Kerry gave a speech, then Kerry introduced his retirement plan, his wife Teresa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, TALK SHOW HOST: John Kerry is facing a storm of criticism. Because during the debate the other night he referred to Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter and that got him in trouble. Yes, today, because of the controversy, Kerry canceled a speech entitled 'Boy, Can Those Bush Twins Drink.'
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LENO: Actually, Kerry looked a little more human than he did in the last debate, you know? Except when he tries to wave to the crowd. Then he gets really stiff, doesn't he? He gets that old Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean wave -- yo, ho, ho, ho, I'm John Kerry. Ho, ho, ho...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: What are they going to do after the election?
Well, thanks for joining us on INSIDE POLITICS Sunday. Coming up in 30 minutes, a live "RELIABLE SOURCES" taking a critical look at the favorable press Senator John Kerry has received since the presidential debates.
And at noon Eastern on "LATE EDITION," Wolf Blitzer speaks with Commerce Secretary Don Evans about the economy and the president's reelection campaign.
But up next, CNN is standing by to bring you coverage of a live news conference from Iraq about the platoon that refused to follow orders and carry out a refueling mission. Stay tuned for that. In the meantime, for all of us here at INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY, thanks so much for watching. I'm Kelly Wallace in Washington. Have a fabulous Sunday.
The news continues now with CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
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