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Page Turners: Interview With Margaret Carlson
Aired June 06, 2003 - 15:20 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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: As we continue our series of interviews with authors of interesting books, our guest today is "TIME" magazine columnist, Margaret Carlson. Her latest book, "Anyone can Grow Up: How George Bush and I made it to the White House". I spoke earlier with Margaret, and I began by asking her how someone who grew up in a middle class Catholic family in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, ended up as a journalist.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARGARET CARLSON, AUTHOR, "ANYONE CAN GROW UP": Well, I also grew up as my brother's protector and keeper in the neighborhood because he was two years older than I am and was born with severe brain damage. And inside the house, my parents were in charge. But outside the house, in the neighborhood, I was in charge.
So from a very early age, I learned who were the good guys and who were the bad guys, and who was going to pick on the weak, and said, you know, if you want me on your team, you've got to choose my brother. And by the way don't twist his training wheels so he can't ride his bike.
And I became, also, a little bit of a tattle tale, which prepares you for journalism. I go knock on the door and say, do you know what Johnny did to my brother? And, you know, try to get a little bit of action.
WOODRUFF: You also said that it's not always the people you think who were mean to the people who can't help themselves.
CARLSON: Sometimes it was the kid with the fancy Schwinn bike and best baseball bat who would be the meanest. And you come to Washington and you see sometimes it's the people with the most power who are abusing it.
WOODRUFF: What do you think drew you to Washington?
CARLSON: Well, my first job was with Ralph Nader. And I heard him speak. And I said to myself, you know, he is going to go after the big guys who are bullying the weak guys. And I like that in a person. And I went to work for him for $75 a week.
I went to law school to become a lawyer, like Ralph Nader. Eventually I gave up the law because I saw that what Ralph Nader had done to achieve much of what he achieved was to write books and articles, to kind of change the attitude towards General Motors and seat belts and air bags.
WOODRUFF: Margaret, in what you've written over the years, you've been very tough on some politicians. A number of politicians. Where do you get the guts to be so tough on these people who usually deserve it?
CARLSON: Well, you know, I've been guardian of my brother for the last...
WOODRUFF: And I should say both Democrats and Republicans.
CARLSON: Yes, it's an equal opportunity type thing. For the last 12 years, I've been my brother's guardian. And when you're going up against the bureaucracy, and when you're trying to find a job, and when you're trying to get services out of the government, you just become just so ferocious for somebody that you care about and you love, that, you know, going against Tom DeLay, or, you know, Bill Thomas because he's sticking something in the tax bill that's going to deprive people of their fair share of that tax cut, you know, just doesn't -- it seems like fair, and it doesn't seem as if it's an attack on anybody.
WOODRUFF: Put your political -- a complete political hat on. We're looking at a -- right now, a presidential contest with nine Democrats running against George W. Bush. What kind of campaign are we in for?
CARLSON: At this point, it's a bunch of adolescents who really haven't gotten to the main show yet, but they seem to be going at each other in a very childish way. And Howard Dean, who is the press favorite because he's the new anti-Washington person, he's come off kind of badly in the first two big events, in that he keeps scrapping with John Kerry in a way that's like, hey, you're taking my baseball bat and ball. Don't you dare do that.
And he looks a little bit like Al Gore at his worst moments. And I'm not sure Howard Dean, at this point, is somebody we want in our living rooms every night. And I think his star is fading. John Kerry, who is the leader, looks like the person who might be able to go up against George Bush, having had the Vietnam experience, having all the money, having the hair, the teeth, the Kennedy look. The money.
WOODRUFF: But it's still early.
CARLSON: Still very early.
WOODRUFF: All right, the book is, "Anyone can Grow Up. How George Bush and I made it to the White House". There are wonderful pictures in here of Margaret Carlson as a very little girl with curly hair and a great bow.
CARLSON: My mother did a lot to that hair.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: Margaret says her mother had to work really hard to get those curls in her hair.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 6, 2003 - 15:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: As we continue our series of interviews with authors of interesting books, our guest today is "TIME" magazine columnist, Margaret Carlson. Her latest book, "Anyone can Grow Up: How George Bush and I made it to the White House". I spoke earlier with Margaret, and I began by asking her how someone who grew up in a middle class Catholic family in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, ended up as a journalist.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARGARET CARLSON, AUTHOR, "ANYONE CAN GROW UP": Well, I also grew up as my brother's protector and keeper in the neighborhood because he was two years older than I am and was born with severe brain damage. And inside the house, my parents were in charge. But outside the house, in the neighborhood, I was in charge.
So from a very early age, I learned who were the good guys and who were the bad guys, and who was going to pick on the weak, and said, you know, if you want me on your team, you've got to choose my brother. And by the way don't twist his training wheels so he can't ride his bike.
And I became, also, a little bit of a tattle tale, which prepares you for journalism. I go knock on the door and say, do you know what Johnny did to my brother? And, you know, try to get a little bit of action.
WOODRUFF: You also said that it's not always the people you think who were mean to the people who can't help themselves.
CARLSON: Sometimes it was the kid with the fancy Schwinn bike and best baseball bat who would be the meanest. And you come to Washington and you see sometimes it's the people with the most power who are abusing it.
WOODRUFF: What do you think drew you to Washington?
CARLSON: Well, my first job was with Ralph Nader. And I heard him speak. And I said to myself, you know, he is going to go after the big guys who are bullying the weak guys. And I like that in a person. And I went to work for him for $75 a week.
I went to law school to become a lawyer, like Ralph Nader. Eventually I gave up the law because I saw that what Ralph Nader had done to achieve much of what he achieved was to write books and articles, to kind of change the attitude towards General Motors and seat belts and air bags.
WOODRUFF: Margaret, in what you've written over the years, you've been very tough on some politicians. A number of politicians. Where do you get the guts to be so tough on these people who usually deserve it?
CARLSON: Well, you know, I've been guardian of my brother for the last...
WOODRUFF: And I should say both Democrats and Republicans.
CARLSON: Yes, it's an equal opportunity type thing. For the last 12 years, I've been my brother's guardian. And when you're going up against the bureaucracy, and when you're trying to find a job, and when you're trying to get services out of the government, you just become just so ferocious for somebody that you care about and you love, that, you know, going against Tom DeLay, or, you know, Bill Thomas because he's sticking something in the tax bill that's going to deprive people of their fair share of that tax cut, you know, just doesn't -- it seems like fair, and it doesn't seem as if it's an attack on anybody.
WOODRUFF: Put your political -- a complete political hat on. We're looking at a -- right now, a presidential contest with nine Democrats running against George W. Bush. What kind of campaign are we in for?
CARLSON: At this point, it's a bunch of adolescents who really haven't gotten to the main show yet, but they seem to be going at each other in a very childish way. And Howard Dean, who is the press favorite because he's the new anti-Washington person, he's come off kind of badly in the first two big events, in that he keeps scrapping with John Kerry in a way that's like, hey, you're taking my baseball bat and ball. Don't you dare do that.
And he looks a little bit like Al Gore at his worst moments. And I'm not sure Howard Dean, at this point, is somebody we want in our living rooms every night. And I think his star is fading. John Kerry, who is the leader, looks like the person who might be able to go up against George Bush, having had the Vietnam experience, having all the money, having the hair, the teeth, the Kennedy look. The money.
WOODRUFF: But it's still early.
CARLSON: Still very early.
WOODRUFF: All right, the book is, "Anyone can Grow Up. How George Bush and I made it to the White House". There are wonderful pictures in here of Margaret Carlson as a very little girl with curly hair and a great bow.
CARLSON: My mother did a lot to that hair.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: Margaret says her mother had to work really hard to get those curls in her hair.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
