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The Democrats Debate
Aired October 27, 2003 - 15:10 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: Well, with every setback in Iraq, the Democrats who want the president's job seem to find more fuel for their criticism of Mr. Bush. The attacks were flying at their debate in Detroit last night. Our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The audience applauded loudest when the rhetoric was toughest.
WESLEY CLARK (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This president didn't know how he wanted it to end; he doesn't know what he's doing today.
CROWLEY: And you know how much politicians love applause.
AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bush was wrong to go in, in the first place. To delay coming out is not going to make it right.
CROWLEY: Still, this is a Democratic primary. And eventually, eight of these candidates must go. There wasn't even a single knockdown in the fifth debate sanctioned by the Democratic Party. But there were some sharp elbows.
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D-CT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know how John Kerry and John Edwards can say that they supported the war, but then opposed the funding of the troops.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, Joe, I have seared in me an experience which you don't have, and that's the experience of being one of those troops on the front lines when the policy has gone wrong.
CROWLEY: No real bloopers, though Dennis Kucinich got Detroit crime statistics wrong. And John Edwards had trouble explaining why he reels against the Patriot Act he voted for.
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The attorney general of the United States came before us and told us that he would not abuse his discretion.
CROWLEY: But the hot seat is still occupied by the new kid, Wesley Clark, testy and on defense when asked yet again about his position on war in Iraq.
CLARK: I was against it in the winter, I was against it in the spring, and I'm against it now.
CROWLEY: But the general was on offense when asked about a military colleague's statement that Clark was relieved of his NATO command for matters dealing with integrity and character.
CLARK: We used to call charges like that McCarthyism when they came out in the 1950s.
CROWLEY: Candy Crowley, CNN, Detroit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 October 27, 2003 - 15:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Well, with every setback in Iraq, the Democrats who want the president's job seem to find more fuel for their criticism of Mr. Bush. The attacks were flying at their debate in Detroit last night. Our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The audience applauded loudest when the rhetoric was toughest.
WESLEY CLARK (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This president didn't know how he wanted it to end; he doesn't know what he's doing today.
CROWLEY: And you know how much politicians love applause.
AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bush was wrong to go in, in the first place. To delay coming out is not going to make it right.
CROWLEY: Still, this is a Democratic primary. And eventually, eight of these candidates must go. There wasn't even a single knockdown in the fifth debate sanctioned by the Democratic Party. But there were some sharp elbows.
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D-CT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know how John Kerry and John Edwards can say that they supported the war, but then opposed the funding of the troops.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, Joe, I have seared in me an experience which you don't have, and that's the experience of being one of those troops on the front lines when the policy has gone wrong.
CROWLEY: No real bloopers, though Dennis Kucinich got Detroit crime statistics wrong. And John Edwards had trouble explaining why he reels against the Patriot Act he voted for.
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The attorney general of the United States came before us and told us that he would not abuse his discretion.
CROWLEY: But the hot seat is still occupied by the new kid, Wesley Clark, testy and on defense when asked yet again about his position on war in Iraq.
CLARK: I was against it in the winter, I was against it in the spring, and I'm against it now.
CROWLEY: But the general was on offense when asked about a military colleague's statement that Clark was relieved of his NATO command for matters dealing with integrity and character.
CLARK: We used to call charges like that McCarthyism when they came out in the 1950s.
CROWLEY: Candy Crowley, CNN, Detroit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
