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Interview With Ron Brownstein
Aired September 08, 2003 - 15:15 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: Now we're going to take a look at President Bush's speech last night on Iraq and the fallout from it. Joining us now, Ron Brownstein of the "Los Angeles Times." He's with us from Miami.
Ron, we're making a quick U-turn here, but I think most of our viewers are aware of President Bush's speech last night. What in your view was the president trying to accomplish, and did he accomplish it?
RON BROWNSTEIN, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Well, I think, Judy, overall, it was a strong speech. It was a necessary speech because not only Democrats, but Republicans on Capitol Hill have been growing nervous about the way this is going.
In one respect, though, I think it may have been slightly off the mark. The president spent time and energy making the case for why we had to remain engaged in Iraq. But if you look at the polls, and even what the Democratic presidential candidates are saying, I don't think the most pressing danger for him is that people will begin to say, we need to leave Iraq.
By and large, Americans have reached the conclusion that it's important for our national security to stabilize and pacify Iraq. The bigger risk is the question of whether the president's strategy is moving us toward that goal. And on those fronts, on whether the means are appropriate to the ends, he wasn't able to be quite as emphatic because events on the ground simply don't allow him to answer questions like, when will it get better, when can we leave, when can the troops start coming home.
WOODRUFF: Ron, I guess the $64,000 question is, just how vulnerable is President Bush on the situation in Iraq? And looking ahead, as we get closer to the election, how vulnerable is he going to be?
BROWNSTEIN: You know, in presidential elections, more than any other campaign, Judy, reality counts. Reality outweighs argument; it outweighs spin. And I believe we have reached the stage in Iraq where the president is, to a very large extent, hostage to events.
If conditions on the ground improve, the criticism of Democrats who have argued that he did not have a plan for post-war Iraq, that he alienated too much of the world, all of those will be much less effective. But if in fact events still seem to be somewhat chaotic, even unraveling there a year from now, I think it's reasonable to expect based on what we're seeing in the polls that there will be vulnerability. Less on the ideological issue of whether we should have done it at all, than on the confidence question of whether he is effectively carrying out a mission that most Americans support.
WOODRUFF: All right. Ron Brownstein of the "Los Angeles Times" joining us today from Miami. Thank you, Ron, very much.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, Judy.
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 September 8, 2003 - 15:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Now we're going to take a look at President Bush's speech last night on Iraq and the fallout from it. Joining us now, Ron Brownstein of the "Los Angeles Times." He's with us from Miami.
Ron, we're making a quick U-turn here, but I think most of our viewers are aware of President Bush's speech last night. What in your view was the president trying to accomplish, and did he accomplish it?
RON BROWNSTEIN, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Well, I think, Judy, overall, it was a strong speech. It was a necessary speech because not only Democrats, but Republicans on Capitol Hill have been growing nervous about the way this is going.
In one respect, though, I think it may have been slightly off the mark. The president spent time and energy making the case for why we had to remain engaged in Iraq. But if you look at the polls, and even what the Democratic presidential candidates are saying, I don't think the most pressing danger for him is that people will begin to say, we need to leave Iraq.
By and large, Americans have reached the conclusion that it's important for our national security to stabilize and pacify Iraq. The bigger risk is the question of whether the president's strategy is moving us toward that goal. And on those fronts, on whether the means are appropriate to the ends, he wasn't able to be quite as emphatic because events on the ground simply don't allow him to answer questions like, when will it get better, when can we leave, when can the troops start coming home.
WOODRUFF: Ron, I guess the $64,000 question is, just how vulnerable is President Bush on the situation in Iraq? And looking ahead, as we get closer to the election, how vulnerable is he going to be?
BROWNSTEIN: You know, in presidential elections, more than any other campaign, Judy, reality counts. Reality outweighs argument; it outweighs spin. And I believe we have reached the stage in Iraq where the president is, to a very large extent, hostage to events.
If conditions on the ground improve, the criticism of Democrats who have argued that he did not have a plan for post-war Iraq, that he alienated too much of the world, all of those will be much less effective. But if in fact events still seem to be somewhat chaotic, even unraveling there a year from now, I think it's reasonable to expect based on what we're seeing in the polls that there will be vulnerability. Less on the ideological issue of whether we should have done it at all, than on the confidence question of whether he is effectively carrying out a mission that most Americans support.
WOODRUFF: All right. Ron Brownstein of the "Los Angeles Times" joining us today from Miami. Thank you, Ron, very much.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, Judy.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
