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American Morning
Political Air War
Aired November 24, 2003 - 09:11 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: According to the latest CNN/Gallup poll, slightly more Americans, 48 percent to 47, say they're unlikely to vote for President Bush in 2004 than those who plan to vote for him. Meanwhile, voters in Iowa, New Hampshire being hit with a blizzard of TV commercials. But the rest of the country has yet to see much of the political air war. Iraq becoming a battleground in the campaign and this week the Republicans throwing some ammunition into that fight.
Our senior political analyst Jeff Greenfield back with us here on AMERICAN MORNING with more on this.
Good morning.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
Well, we haven't yet seen the Democrats take positions on Michael Jackson, but what we are seeing is three very sharply different TV messages about the war and about national security in general. The first I'm going to show you is from Howard Dean, whose rise to the top in the Democratic field is due in substantial measure to his outright opposition to the war. In Iowa, where Dean's chief opponent is Representative Richard Gephardt, this Dean ad draws on their differences.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: October 2002, Dick Gephardt agrees to coauthor the Iraq War Resolution, giving George Bush the authority to go to war.
HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I opposed the war in Iraq, and I'm against spending another $87 billion there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now among Iowa Democrats that picture of Gephardt standing next to Bush carries a significant message. Gephardt has put on a brand-new ad saying Dean's position and mine were pretty much the same back then. But what if you're a Democrat who supported the war in Iraq and still does? If you're Senator Joseph Lieberman, you've got to take the issue on head-on, like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (D-CN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: $87 billion is a lot of money for Iraq. Too much, in fact. That's the price we're paying because George Bush antagonized our allies, and had no plan to win the peace. But we had to make a choice. I didn't duck it. I didn't play politics. I voted to support our troops and finish the job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now that Lieberman message, you may not like where I stood, but you should want a president tough enough to do the unpopular thing. Toughness is exactly what the two combat veterans in the race, John Kerry and Wesley Clark, are offering in their ads. Today, we'll take a look at Kerry's. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Who can take on George Bush and change the direction of the nation? John Kerry, a leader on national security, a decorated combat veteran, served on the intelligence committee, the Foreign Relations Committee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, notice that famous shot of the president on the aircraft carrier, Kerry is not attacking Bush for that photo-op, instead he's saying to win in November, a Democrat has to have the credibility to take him on. And who doesn't? Well, say a former Vermont governor with no combat or foreign policy experience. In other words, Kerry's target isn't Bush in that ad, it's Howard Dean.
Wesley Clark has a bio ad which shows him as a hero in Vietnam. We might be able to take a look at that next week. But speaking of Bush, the Republican National Committee has released its first ad, and it directly takes on the whole war terror issue and the Democratic political opposition, this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You can take one vile, one canister, one crate, slip into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known. Our war against terror is a contest of will in which perseverance is power. Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: By the way, that phrase, they're attacking the president for attacking the terrorists, has really got the hackles of Democrats up. Senator Daschle called that, I want to use his exact words, "repulsive and outrageous," wants the ad taken off the air. Also, Bill, I hope in the days ahead we'll be able to take a look at what other Democrats are doing on other issues like the economy and taxes, where there are also significant differences.
HEMMER: National security a big one. We'll see where Medicare goes after this. If you take it off the table, maybe you get some sort of compromise on an energy bill. Twelve months to go.
Thanks, Jeff.
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 November 24, 2003 - 09:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: According to the latest CNN/Gallup poll, slightly more Americans, 48 percent to 47, say they're unlikely to vote for President Bush in 2004 than those who plan to vote for him. Meanwhile, voters in Iowa, New Hampshire being hit with a blizzard of TV commercials. But the rest of the country has yet to see much of the political air war. Iraq becoming a battleground in the campaign and this week the Republicans throwing some ammunition into that fight.
Our senior political analyst Jeff Greenfield back with us here on AMERICAN MORNING with more on this.
Good morning.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
Well, we haven't yet seen the Democrats take positions on Michael Jackson, but what we are seeing is three very sharply different TV messages about the war and about national security in general. The first I'm going to show you is from Howard Dean, whose rise to the top in the Democratic field is due in substantial measure to his outright opposition to the war. In Iowa, where Dean's chief opponent is Representative Richard Gephardt, this Dean ad draws on their differences.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: October 2002, Dick Gephardt agrees to coauthor the Iraq War Resolution, giving George Bush the authority to go to war.
HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I opposed the war in Iraq, and I'm against spending another $87 billion there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now among Iowa Democrats that picture of Gephardt standing next to Bush carries a significant message. Gephardt has put on a brand-new ad saying Dean's position and mine were pretty much the same back then. But what if you're a Democrat who supported the war in Iraq and still does? If you're Senator Joseph Lieberman, you've got to take the issue on head-on, like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (D-CN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: $87 billion is a lot of money for Iraq. Too much, in fact. That's the price we're paying because George Bush antagonized our allies, and had no plan to win the peace. But we had to make a choice. I didn't duck it. I didn't play politics. I voted to support our troops and finish the job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now that Lieberman message, you may not like where I stood, but you should want a president tough enough to do the unpopular thing. Toughness is exactly what the two combat veterans in the race, John Kerry and Wesley Clark, are offering in their ads. Today, we'll take a look at Kerry's. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Who can take on George Bush and change the direction of the nation? John Kerry, a leader on national security, a decorated combat veteran, served on the intelligence committee, the Foreign Relations Committee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, notice that famous shot of the president on the aircraft carrier, Kerry is not attacking Bush for that photo-op, instead he's saying to win in November, a Democrat has to have the credibility to take him on. And who doesn't? Well, say a former Vermont governor with no combat or foreign policy experience. In other words, Kerry's target isn't Bush in that ad, it's Howard Dean.
Wesley Clark has a bio ad which shows him as a hero in Vietnam. We might be able to take a look at that next week. But speaking of Bush, the Republican National Committee has released its first ad, and it directly takes on the whole war terror issue and the Democratic political opposition, this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You can take one vile, one canister, one crate, slip into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known. Our war against terror is a contest of will in which perseverance is power. Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: By the way, that phrase, they're attacking the president for attacking the terrorists, has really got the hackles of Democrats up. Senator Daschle called that, I want to use his exact words, "repulsive and outrageous," wants the ad taken off the air. Also, Bill, I hope in the days ahead we'll be able to take a look at what other Democrats are doing on other issues like the economy and taxes, where there are also significant differences.
HEMMER: National security a big one. We'll see where Medicare goes after this. If you take it off the table, maybe you get some sort of compromise on an energy bill. Twelve months to go.
Thanks, Jeff.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
