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Clark Has to Sharpen on Economy to Win

Aired September 17, 2003 - 13:33   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Side by side with Judy also our Congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl. And we have Republican strategist Kim Alfano standing by in our Washington bureau.
Jon, let's talk about the two main issues, It looks like, Wesley Clark said he's going to make a point to talk about in some upcoming speeches, national security and the economy. Which one do you think he'll address first? Which one do you think is the most important at this point?

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what was interesting here is you had a complete lack of specifics in this speech about either one of those two issues except for saying that he will be delivering a speech in the coming months on the -- in the coming weeks on the economy and a speech on national security.

But he said we've got to find a way to deal with the deficit. We've got to find a way to deal with the economy. Nothing specific about that. The economy speech, I understand will come first.

Clearly, Wes Clark is in this race as the one who knows national security, as the one with the true golden resume when it comes to dealing with international issues, which of course in the wake of Iraq and with all that's going on with Iraq are moving to the forefront.

But all along, Democrats have been saying, even with these troubles unfolding in Iraq, that if the Democrats are going to get bush out of the White House, it's going to be by and large on the economy.

So Wes Clark's got to bone up and he's got to bone up fast on that. He's talked in interviews about how he's got to learn something about these issue, has to get out there and talk to people and learn. There's not a lot of time to learn on this one.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Kim Alfano, Republican strategist. Not a lot of time to learn, but really, Wes Clark has been thinking about this for quite some time. He's had an opportunity to do his homework, he's a man who is a quick study, to say the least. How soon does he have to get specific on domestic issues?

KIM ALFANO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I'd say that it's a conundrum in politics of how soon you get specific. From today on, every specific is going to turn someone off, potentially.

I'm not certain that any Democrat and maybe Wes Clark has it -- but I'm not sure any Democrat has a magic bullet on the economy. None of them have been specific about how they'll turn the economy around. They've just sort of been attacking Bush. And Wes Clark probably need to prove his credentials on that pretty quickly.

But as soon as he starts doing it, the best day, like we just said a little bit earlier is gone.

O'BRIEN: All right. So you go with that theory that he might have peaked just this moment.

ALFANO: I think this is Wes Clark's big day. And that's true in all of politics. I mean you get two really good days in politics, the day that you announce and the that day you either win or you drop out, where the press is nice to you.

O'BRIEN: And the rest is hell, huh?

ALFANO: The rest is not so fun.

He thinks war is hell, wait until he tries this on for size. All right.

ALFANO: This is a lot harder.

PHILLIPS: All right. Republican strategist Kim Alfano there in our Washington bureau. Also our Jonathan Karl and Judy Woodruff out in Little Rock, Arkansas. We'll continue to check with you throughout the day.

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 17, 2003 - 13:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Side by side with Judy also our Congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl. And we have Republican strategist Kim Alfano standing by in our Washington bureau.
Jon, let's talk about the two main issues, It looks like, Wesley Clark said he's going to make a point to talk about in some upcoming speeches, national security and the economy. Which one do you think he'll address first? Which one do you think is the most important at this point?

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what was interesting here is you had a complete lack of specifics in this speech about either one of those two issues except for saying that he will be delivering a speech in the coming months on the -- in the coming weeks on the economy and a speech on national security.

But he said we've got to find a way to deal with the deficit. We've got to find a way to deal with the economy. Nothing specific about that. The economy speech, I understand will come first.

Clearly, Wes Clark is in this race as the one who knows national security, as the one with the true golden resume when it comes to dealing with international issues, which of course in the wake of Iraq and with all that's going on with Iraq are moving to the forefront.

But all along, Democrats have been saying, even with these troubles unfolding in Iraq, that if the Democrats are going to get bush out of the White House, it's going to be by and large on the economy.

So Wes Clark's got to bone up and he's got to bone up fast on that. He's talked in interviews about how he's got to learn something about these issue, has to get out there and talk to people and learn. There's not a lot of time to learn on this one.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Kim Alfano, Republican strategist. Not a lot of time to learn, but really, Wes Clark has been thinking about this for quite some time. He's had an opportunity to do his homework, he's a man who is a quick study, to say the least. How soon does he have to get specific on domestic issues?

KIM ALFANO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I'd say that it's a conundrum in politics of how soon you get specific. From today on, every specific is going to turn someone off, potentially.

I'm not certain that any Democrat and maybe Wes Clark has it -- but I'm not sure any Democrat has a magic bullet on the economy. None of them have been specific about how they'll turn the economy around. They've just sort of been attacking Bush. And Wes Clark probably need to prove his credentials on that pretty quickly.

But as soon as he starts doing it, the best day, like we just said a little bit earlier is gone.

O'BRIEN: All right. So you go with that theory that he might have peaked just this moment.

ALFANO: I think this is Wes Clark's big day. And that's true in all of politics. I mean you get two really good days in politics, the day that you announce and the that day you either win or you drop out, where the press is nice to you.

O'BRIEN: And the rest is hell, huh?

ALFANO: The rest is not so fun.

He thinks war is hell, wait until he tries this on for size. All right.

ALFANO: This is a lot harder.

PHILLIPS: All right. Republican strategist Kim Alfano there in our Washington bureau. Also our Jonathan Karl and Judy Woodruff out in Little Rock, Arkansas. We'll continue to check with you throughout the day.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com