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American Morning

Interview with Senator John Edwards

Aired January 20, 2004 - 07:08   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: Picking up on "the big mo" now, Senator John Edwards, that surprise surge yesterday. He's live with us today in New Hampshire.
Senator, good morning to you. It must have been a long night last night. Good morning.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: What explains your second-place finish in Iowa?

EDWARDS: I think what happened was, finally, in the last three weeks, the Iowa caucus-goers and voters got a chance to hear this positive optimistic vision of hope to change this country in a way that builds one America that everybody can be proud of. And I think that's -- it takes a while for that to get through, as you and I discussed yesterday, when there's a lot of negative sniping going on. But it finally got through. And when it got through, it was affirmed dramatically by the voters of Iowa.

HEMMER: You have said consistently you are the only candidate who can beat President Bush in every part of the country geographically.

EDWARDS: Yes.

HEMMER: Why do you believe you can beat him in the Northeast, specifically in New Hampshire?

EDWARDS: Oh, I think I can compete with him everywhere for a very simple reason: Because of my own personal background, and because not only does this message work with Democratic primary voters, with Independents and caucus-goers, this is a message that will go across the country and across party lines.

People are hungry, Bill, for a president who makes them feel hopeful again, that makes them believe that anything is possible again. And that's what my camp pain is about.

HEMMER: You stress a positive message, not a negative one; so, too, does the president right now in the White House. How do you compete against that?

EDWARDS: Well, the president may stress that message, but his rhetoric doesn't match his substance. You know, the difference between President Bush and my message is I've laid out very specific ideas about how to solve people's problems -- things like loss of jobs, the health care crisis in America. The president has no plan of any kind that I can see about any of those issues.

And I've actually been out in the real world every single day, listening to voters' concerns, and the president has not been doing that. And I think he's distance from and removed from the American people.

HEMMER: How is that possible to say that when we see him on the campaign stump all the time...

EDWARDS: Yes, but...

HEMMER: ... making speeches, collecting money, fund-raisers, et cetera? You name it.

EDWARDS: That's a fair question, but I think there's a big difference between what he's doing and what I'm doing. What he does is he comes into a ticketed event, stands at the podium, delivers a speech, may shake a few hands on his way out. What I've been doing is I've been in people's homes, on Main Street, in cafes, not only talking, but listening. Giving speeches does not teach you what the problems are that people are facing in their lives. You have to listen and answer questions.

HEMMER: One final question here. Polling shows that Iowans, half of them who went to the caucuses last night, said they made up their minds in the final week. How much do we really know after last night?

EDWARDS: We know a lot. We know that they were -- that what I've been talking about for the last three or four weeks caught fire in Iowa, and the reason is because people want to feel hopeful again, and they want real ideas about how to change this country.

HEMMER: Senator Edwards, thanks for your time. We'll see you in New Hampshire the first part of next week.

EDWARDS: Thanks, Bill.

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 January 20, 2004 - 07:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Picking up on "the big mo" now, Senator John Edwards, that surprise surge yesterday. He's live with us today in New Hampshire.
Senator, good morning to you. It must have been a long night last night. Good morning.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: What explains your second-place finish in Iowa?

EDWARDS: I think what happened was, finally, in the last three weeks, the Iowa caucus-goers and voters got a chance to hear this positive optimistic vision of hope to change this country in a way that builds one America that everybody can be proud of. And I think that's -- it takes a while for that to get through, as you and I discussed yesterday, when there's a lot of negative sniping going on. But it finally got through. And when it got through, it was affirmed dramatically by the voters of Iowa.

HEMMER: You have said consistently you are the only candidate who can beat President Bush in every part of the country geographically.

EDWARDS: Yes.

HEMMER: Why do you believe you can beat him in the Northeast, specifically in New Hampshire?

EDWARDS: Oh, I think I can compete with him everywhere for a very simple reason: Because of my own personal background, and because not only does this message work with Democratic primary voters, with Independents and caucus-goers, this is a message that will go across the country and across party lines.

People are hungry, Bill, for a president who makes them feel hopeful again, that makes them believe that anything is possible again. And that's what my camp pain is about.

HEMMER: You stress a positive message, not a negative one; so, too, does the president right now in the White House. How do you compete against that?

EDWARDS: Well, the president may stress that message, but his rhetoric doesn't match his substance. You know, the difference between President Bush and my message is I've laid out very specific ideas about how to solve people's problems -- things like loss of jobs, the health care crisis in America. The president has no plan of any kind that I can see about any of those issues.

And I've actually been out in the real world every single day, listening to voters' concerns, and the president has not been doing that. And I think he's distance from and removed from the American people.

HEMMER: How is that possible to say that when we see him on the campaign stump all the time...

EDWARDS: Yes, but...

HEMMER: ... making speeches, collecting money, fund-raisers, et cetera? You name it.

EDWARDS: That's a fair question, but I think there's a big difference between what he's doing and what I'm doing. What he does is he comes into a ticketed event, stands at the podium, delivers a speech, may shake a few hands on his way out. What I've been doing is I've been in people's homes, on Main Street, in cafes, not only talking, but listening. Giving speeches does not teach you what the problems are that people are facing in their lives. You have to listen and answer questions.

HEMMER: One final question here. Polling shows that Iowans, half of them who went to the caucuses last night, said they made up their minds in the final week. How much do we really know after last night?

EDWARDS: We know a lot. We know that they were -- that what I've been talking about for the last three or four weeks caught fire in Iowa, and the reason is because people want to feel hopeful again, and they want real ideas about how to change this country.

HEMMER: Senator Edwards, thanks for your time. We'll see you in New Hampshire the first part of next week.

EDWARDS: Thanks, Bill.

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