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American Morning

Political Analysis With Judy Woodruff

Aired September 01, 2003 - 9:10   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Labor Day weekend is the unofficial kickoff of the political season. President Bush has ended his Texas vacation. Lawmakers are set to return to Capitol Hill.
Meanwhile, California voters are being bombarded by candidates who are hoping to unseat Governor Gray Davis. And for a look at all of this, we're joined by Judy Woodruff. She is, of course, the host of CNN's "INSIDE POLITICS" and also a special edition called "CROSSFIRE GOES INSIDE POLITICS," which is at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time today.

Judy, good morning. Nice to see you, as always.

JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Great to see you, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. As we mentioned, Labor Day, the jumping off point for many campaigns. Is there a sense that there's a lot going on this week?

WOODRUFF: Well, there really is. I mean, you look at the state of Iowa. You have not just Howard Dean, but Joe Lieberman, John Edwards, several other of the candidates there. In New Hampshire you have John Kerry and Dick Gephardt.

These candidates are out there. They're going to pancake breakfasts, hot dog roasts. Whatever you want, they're out there.

And, you know, some people would look at this and say, well, wait a minute, isn't it a little early? Because it's only 2003. But historically, the year before the presidential election is really the first important presidential primary. It's more important than Iowa. It is more important than New Hampshire. And it is the year when future presidents, like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton got out there and established themselves as the candidate to beat.

They had a message. They were testing the message. They did well. And right now, in 2003, the winner of the primary this year, if trends continue, is Howard Dean.

Now, that's why you see John Kerry relaunching his candidacy this week in the state of New Hampshire. He's going to be out there explaining again why he wants to be president. It's also why you're going to see, Soledad, on Thursday in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the first debate, or at least of the fall season among these candidates. You're going to see all the other candidates from the left, from the right, from every which way going after Howard Dean. He's the one at this point who is a Democrat to beat.

O'BRIEN: Hey, Judy, can I ask a quick question about California? With only five weeks before the recall election there, is there a sense that bottom line it's between Bustamante and Schwarzenegger?

WOODRUFF: You know, people will say that because it's the polls, and that's probably the case. I don't think it's out of the question that Gray Davis could beat this. I think it's very difficult, very uphill.

The real X factor here, Soledad, is that there are so many voters who we don't know whether they're going to turn out or not. Arnold Schwarzenegger may turn out voters who haven't voted ever in California. So it is an election that is very hard to call, and these debates could make a difference.

O'BRIEN: Judy Woodruff, thanks, as always. Appreciate it.

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 1, 2003 - 9:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Labor Day weekend is the unofficial kickoff of the political season. President Bush has ended his Texas vacation. Lawmakers are set to return to Capitol Hill.
Meanwhile, California voters are being bombarded by candidates who are hoping to unseat Governor Gray Davis. And for a look at all of this, we're joined by Judy Woodruff. She is, of course, the host of CNN's "INSIDE POLITICS" and also a special edition called "CROSSFIRE GOES INSIDE POLITICS," which is at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time today.

Judy, good morning. Nice to see you, as always.

JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Great to see you, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. As we mentioned, Labor Day, the jumping off point for many campaigns. Is there a sense that there's a lot going on this week?

WOODRUFF: Well, there really is. I mean, you look at the state of Iowa. You have not just Howard Dean, but Joe Lieberman, John Edwards, several other of the candidates there. In New Hampshire you have John Kerry and Dick Gephardt.

These candidates are out there. They're going to pancake breakfasts, hot dog roasts. Whatever you want, they're out there.

And, you know, some people would look at this and say, well, wait a minute, isn't it a little early? Because it's only 2003. But historically, the year before the presidential election is really the first important presidential primary. It's more important than Iowa. It is more important than New Hampshire. And it is the year when future presidents, like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton got out there and established themselves as the candidate to beat.

They had a message. They were testing the message. They did well. And right now, in 2003, the winner of the primary this year, if trends continue, is Howard Dean.

Now, that's why you see John Kerry relaunching his candidacy this week in the state of New Hampshire. He's going to be out there explaining again why he wants to be president. It's also why you're going to see, Soledad, on Thursday in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the first debate, or at least of the fall season among these candidates. You're going to see all the other candidates from the left, from the right, from every which way going after Howard Dean. He's the one at this point who is a Democrat to beat.

O'BRIEN: Hey, Judy, can I ask a quick question about California? With only five weeks before the recall election there, is there a sense that bottom line it's between Bustamante and Schwarzenegger?

WOODRUFF: You know, people will say that because it's the polls, and that's probably the case. I don't think it's out of the question that Gray Davis could beat this. I think it's very difficult, very uphill.

The real X factor here, Soledad, is that there are so many voters who we don't know whether they're going to turn out or not. Arnold Schwarzenegger may turn out voters who haven't voted ever in California. So it is an election that is very hard to call, and these debates could make a difference.

O'BRIEN: Judy Woodruff, thanks, as always. Appreciate it.

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