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America Votes 2004: Carol Moseley Braun Joins Race for White House

Aired September 22, 2003 - 15:22   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: Carol Moseley Braun today became the latest Democrat to hold an official kickoff announcement for her White House campaign. The former senator and ambassador has been mired near the bottom of virtually every opinion poll.
When I spoke with her this morning, I asked her how she thinks she can jump-start her campaign just four months before the first party primaries.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL MOSELEY BRAUN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, as you know, these, you know, polls are very fluid. And it's a snapshot. And I just believe that when the people get a chance to actually go to the polls and vote, we will win, that we'll get it one voter at a time. That's been my record. That's how I've done it before, and I have every confidence it will work again.

WOODRUFF: Senator, you were recently endorsed by the National Organization for Women, National Women's Political Caucus, but it seems to me you didn't get the -- quite the boost you were looking for. The "New York Times" editorialized right after that and said it was a silly move on the part of these organizations, that it trivialized the role that women will play in this election. What do you say to that?

BRAUN: I say that those organizations have been consistent over time in their advocacy for women and in their advocacy for the empowerment of women. I came as ambassador. I served in a country that was on its second woman prime minister, and both parties, both Conservative and Labor Party, had elected a woman to the office. And yet it's still considered silly by some that a woman would try. I don't think that's the case. I think Americans are ready to make the next great step toward equality and based on merit and based on performance. And I have a message and a policy that I believe the American people are going to respond to.

WOODRUFF: Let me just, if you will, let me quote a little bit from what else the "New York Times" said in its editorial. This was just a week or two ago. He said it's hard to avoid the conclusion that Ms. Braun's presidential candidacy is a vanity affair. Her scarcely funded campaign seems less a serious bid for the White House than a personal quest to return to the limelight and redeem a reputation. What do you say to this?

BRAUN: Nothing, why would I? Why would I? WOODRUFF: But this is a...

BRAUN: I mean, that's their opinion. I -- we have -- we have -- I'm excited by this campaign. People are responding to it. You know you mentioned one poll, there are other polls that show me way ahead of people who have spent 10 times the money I have. So I just -- I just have -- I just have confidence that this democracy is not dead and that people still respond based on what a person -- what a candidate has to offer. And I've got a lot to offer to the American people and I'm looking forward to it.

WOODRUFF: Let me quote your hometown newspaper, the "Chicago Tribune." There was a columnist who wrote Carol Moseley Braun is burdened by the record of eccentric behavior that caused her defeat when she ran for re-election to the Senate.

BRAUN: Well, you know.

WOODRUFF: I mean these are two major newspapers making these points about your candidacy.

BRAUN: Listen, Judy, let me just say this. If I hadn't been eccentric, I wouldn't have run for office in the first place. They told me when I ran in 1978 for the state legislature that nobody would vote for me because I was a woman. That they wouldn't vote for me because the blacks wouldn't vote for me because I wasn't part of the Chicago machine and the whites wouldn't vote for me because I was black and nobody would vote for me because I was a woman. And I ran anyway, and I won and I came in first in an integrated district. And the same thing when I ran for countywide office, I was the first woman to get elected to executive office in the county.

WOODRUFF: This is the national scene, this is the entire country.

BRAUN: And -- well, but it's the same thing, isn't it? I mean when you think about it, you don't -- you don't change things by going along with the program. You don't make history by just going along with the status quo. And the only way that young women will have the -- will be inspired to even try is if they stand up to people calling them silly and eccentric.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: Carol Moseley Braun talking to me today as she formally kicks off her candidacy.

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





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Aired September 22, 2003 - 15:22   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Carol Moseley Braun today became the latest Democrat to hold an official kickoff announcement for her White House campaign. The former senator and ambassador has been mired near the bottom of virtually every opinion poll.
When I spoke with her this morning, I asked her how she thinks she can jump-start her campaign just four months before the first party primaries.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL MOSELEY BRAUN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, as you know, these, you know, polls are very fluid. And it's a snapshot. And I just believe that when the people get a chance to actually go to the polls and vote, we will win, that we'll get it one voter at a time. That's been my record. That's how I've done it before, and I have every confidence it will work again.

WOODRUFF: Senator, you were recently endorsed by the National Organization for Women, National Women's Political Caucus, but it seems to me you didn't get the -- quite the boost you were looking for. The "New York Times" editorialized right after that and said it was a silly move on the part of these organizations, that it trivialized the role that women will play in this election. What do you say to that?

BRAUN: I say that those organizations have been consistent over time in their advocacy for women and in their advocacy for the empowerment of women. I came as ambassador. I served in a country that was on its second woman prime minister, and both parties, both Conservative and Labor Party, had elected a woman to the office. And yet it's still considered silly by some that a woman would try. I don't think that's the case. I think Americans are ready to make the next great step toward equality and based on merit and based on performance. And I have a message and a policy that I believe the American people are going to respond to.

WOODRUFF: Let me just, if you will, let me quote a little bit from what else the "New York Times" said in its editorial. This was just a week or two ago. He said it's hard to avoid the conclusion that Ms. Braun's presidential candidacy is a vanity affair. Her scarcely funded campaign seems less a serious bid for the White House than a personal quest to return to the limelight and redeem a reputation. What do you say to this?

BRAUN: Nothing, why would I? Why would I? WOODRUFF: But this is a...

BRAUN: I mean, that's their opinion. I -- we have -- we have -- I'm excited by this campaign. People are responding to it. You know you mentioned one poll, there are other polls that show me way ahead of people who have spent 10 times the money I have. So I just -- I just have -- I just have confidence that this democracy is not dead and that people still respond based on what a person -- what a candidate has to offer. And I've got a lot to offer to the American people and I'm looking forward to it.

WOODRUFF: Let me quote your hometown newspaper, the "Chicago Tribune." There was a columnist who wrote Carol Moseley Braun is burdened by the record of eccentric behavior that caused her defeat when she ran for re-election to the Senate.

BRAUN: Well, you know.

WOODRUFF: I mean these are two major newspapers making these points about your candidacy.

BRAUN: Listen, Judy, let me just say this. If I hadn't been eccentric, I wouldn't have run for office in the first place. They told me when I ran in 1978 for the state legislature that nobody would vote for me because I was a woman. That they wouldn't vote for me because the blacks wouldn't vote for me because I wasn't part of the Chicago machine and the whites wouldn't vote for me because I was black and nobody would vote for me because I was a woman. And I ran anyway, and I won and I came in first in an integrated district. And the same thing when I ran for countywide office, I was the first woman to get elected to executive office in the county.

WOODRUFF: This is the national scene, this is the entire country.

BRAUN: And -- well, but it's the same thing, isn't it? I mean when you think about it, you don't -- you don't change things by going along with the program. You don't make history by just going along with the status quo. And the only way that young women will have the -- will be inspired to even try is if they stand up to people calling them silly and eccentric.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: Carol Moseley Braun talking to me today as she formally kicks off her candidacy.

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





White House>