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American Morning

Democratic Candidates Focused on Issues, Disagreements With Bush, Not Each Other

Aired January 23, 2004 - 07:30   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: Four days to go and the seven Democratic candidates are primed for the nation's first primary. Last night's debate in New Hampshire was make or break for many, although it was more polite than fight.
With us this morning from Washington, D.C. to talk about it is Terry McCauliffe.

He is, of course, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Nice to see you, Mr. McAuliffe.

Good morning to you.

TERRY MCAULIFFE, CHAIRMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Soledad, good morning.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

I know you hate to be put on the spot, but I'm going to do it anyway.

Who do you think won? Who did the best?

MCAULIFFE: Well, I don't think you saw much fireworks coming out of last night. I think all the candidates focused on George Bush, which is what I'm hoping the candidates do. Remember, this is about beating George Bush. And I thought it was a good discussion on the issues.

We are going to have a huge turnout, Soledad, on Tuesday in New Hampshire. I'm very excited. As you know, in Iowa, they had the biggest turnout in the history of that state. And what was even more exciting is that 55 percent of the voters who went to the polls in Iowa were first time voters. There is tremendous excitement. They like what our candidates are saying. They want to beat George Bush and what you're going to see Tuesday, I think, is going to be the beginning of the process of us rallying around a nominee in the Democratic Party.

O'BRIEN: So, in your mind there was not one candidate who stood out?

MCAULIFFE: They all stood out.

O'BRIEN: Terry...

MCAULIFFE: But, you know, in the debates people can (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

O'BRIEN: They can't all stand out. One of them has to stand out, otherwise they're not standing out, right?

MCAULIFFE: Well, listen, they all made their issues. I think people were looking for a lot of fireworks. You didn't see that last night and I don't think, you know, you can say that anyone really stood out last night. They all made their point clear. They all talked about why they want to beat George Bush. There is tremendous excitement, Soledad, in the Democratic Party right now. We're going to beat George Bush...

O'BRIEN: Do you...

MCAULIFFE: I mean, you know, the president has not led this country. He's not created jobs. He's not helped on health insurance. And the people are now tuning into the Democratic candidates to figure out who is it they want to be our standard bearer.

O'BRIEN: As you mentioned, the tone was much different from some previous debates, a much more polite tone, as you say.

MCAULIFFE: Yes.

O'BRIEN: More polite than fight. Do you think that's a message that was heeded from Iowa?

MCAULIFFE: I do. And I think what they were saying in Iowa is they're sick and tired of the negative attacks. People are hurting today. Three million people have lost their job in the last three years. Forty-three and a half million Americans have no health insurance. You know what? They want us to be focused on those issues. And that's why I think the president's State of the Union was such a failure because, you know, he didn't talk about manufacturing jobs. All he talked about was making the tax cuts permanent, high school abstinence, steroids for athletes and training prisoners for jobs.

People are worried about their jobs and that's what they want us focusing on. And I think what you saw last night is what you're going to see through the remaining part of our debates. The Democrats are going to get this economy going again. We're going to talk about the issues and we're not going to let Republicans try and get us off on wedge issues.

Jobs, jobs, jobs, health care and education, that is the Democratic message.

O'BRIEN: In the Democratic message, one of the Democratic messages from last night, from Howard Dean, was to really explain a little bit of what happened in his concession speech.

Let's listen first to a clip of what he said at the debate last night.

MCAULIFFE: OK

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I'm not a perfect person. I think a lot of people have had a lot of fun at my expense over the Iowa hooting and hollering, and I think that's justified. The one thing I can tell you is that I'm not kidding about what I say. The things that I do are things that I believe in. I think it's important that the president of the United States be willing to stand up for what's right and not stand up for what's popular.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Some of the, some people said that what he did in Iowa in his concession speech was campaign ending.

Do you think what he said in the debate last night made up for that? Do you think his campaign is back on track with those words?

MCAULIFFE: Listen, the governor went out and explained himself. You know, this is a presidential campaign. He went out, he had 3,500 people that he was speaking to who had been out in zero or minus 20 degree weather working on his campaign for weeks. He wanted to get them pumped up. He wanted to get them excited. He explained it. And, you know, people are playing it over and over again. You know, he was out there trying to get excitement, to tell people this campaign is going on and, you know, I was just in Atlanta speaking to thousands of people at a young hip-hop rally. You know what? You get excited, you want to motivate people and, you know, I think people are making, you know, a little too much of this and he explained himself.

And let's go back to what, you know, the folks in New Hampshire want us to talk about and, you know, how do we get this economy going? Bush has been a failure on these issues. They want us to lead and get off of these sort of side issues and focus on the key core issues. And that's why we're going to win in November.

I remind you, Soledad, there was a poll out this week that has George Bush's reelected 41 percent. He just went to Toledo, Ohio to talk about jobs. He went to a community college that is -- their primary focus is to do job training, and they had just laid off 20 percent of the job trainers the day before he got there. That is the kind of issues that they want us talking about, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: DNC Chairman Terry McCauliffe this morning.

MCAULIFFE: Thanks.

O'BRIEN: Nice to see you, Terry.

Thanks.

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





With Bush, Not Each Other>


Aired January 23, 2004 - 07:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Four days to go and the seven Democratic candidates are primed for the nation's first primary. Last night's debate in New Hampshire was make or break for many, although it was more polite than fight.
With us this morning from Washington, D.C. to talk about it is Terry McCauliffe.

He is, of course, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Nice to see you, Mr. McAuliffe.

Good morning to you.

TERRY MCAULIFFE, CHAIRMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Soledad, good morning.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

I know you hate to be put on the spot, but I'm going to do it anyway.

Who do you think won? Who did the best?

MCAULIFFE: Well, I don't think you saw much fireworks coming out of last night. I think all the candidates focused on George Bush, which is what I'm hoping the candidates do. Remember, this is about beating George Bush. And I thought it was a good discussion on the issues.

We are going to have a huge turnout, Soledad, on Tuesday in New Hampshire. I'm very excited. As you know, in Iowa, they had the biggest turnout in the history of that state. And what was even more exciting is that 55 percent of the voters who went to the polls in Iowa were first time voters. There is tremendous excitement. They like what our candidates are saying. They want to beat George Bush and what you're going to see Tuesday, I think, is going to be the beginning of the process of us rallying around a nominee in the Democratic Party.

O'BRIEN: So, in your mind there was not one candidate who stood out?

MCAULIFFE: They all stood out.

O'BRIEN: Terry...

MCAULIFFE: But, you know, in the debates people can (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

O'BRIEN: They can't all stand out. One of them has to stand out, otherwise they're not standing out, right?

MCAULIFFE: Well, listen, they all made their issues. I think people were looking for a lot of fireworks. You didn't see that last night and I don't think, you know, you can say that anyone really stood out last night. They all made their point clear. They all talked about why they want to beat George Bush. There is tremendous excitement, Soledad, in the Democratic Party right now. We're going to beat George Bush...

O'BRIEN: Do you...

MCAULIFFE: I mean, you know, the president has not led this country. He's not created jobs. He's not helped on health insurance. And the people are now tuning into the Democratic candidates to figure out who is it they want to be our standard bearer.

O'BRIEN: As you mentioned, the tone was much different from some previous debates, a much more polite tone, as you say.

MCAULIFFE: Yes.

O'BRIEN: More polite than fight. Do you think that's a message that was heeded from Iowa?

MCAULIFFE: I do. And I think what they were saying in Iowa is they're sick and tired of the negative attacks. People are hurting today. Three million people have lost their job in the last three years. Forty-three and a half million Americans have no health insurance. You know what? They want us to be focused on those issues. And that's why I think the president's State of the Union was such a failure because, you know, he didn't talk about manufacturing jobs. All he talked about was making the tax cuts permanent, high school abstinence, steroids for athletes and training prisoners for jobs.

People are worried about their jobs and that's what they want us focusing on. And I think what you saw last night is what you're going to see through the remaining part of our debates. The Democrats are going to get this economy going again. We're going to talk about the issues and we're not going to let Republicans try and get us off on wedge issues.

Jobs, jobs, jobs, health care and education, that is the Democratic message.

O'BRIEN: In the Democratic message, one of the Democratic messages from last night, from Howard Dean, was to really explain a little bit of what happened in his concession speech.

Let's listen first to a clip of what he said at the debate last night.

MCAULIFFE: OK

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I'm not a perfect person. I think a lot of people have had a lot of fun at my expense over the Iowa hooting and hollering, and I think that's justified. The one thing I can tell you is that I'm not kidding about what I say. The things that I do are things that I believe in. I think it's important that the president of the United States be willing to stand up for what's right and not stand up for what's popular.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Some of the, some people said that what he did in Iowa in his concession speech was campaign ending.

Do you think what he said in the debate last night made up for that? Do you think his campaign is back on track with those words?

MCAULIFFE: Listen, the governor went out and explained himself. You know, this is a presidential campaign. He went out, he had 3,500 people that he was speaking to who had been out in zero or minus 20 degree weather working on his campaign for weeks. He wanted to get them pumped up. He wanted to get them excited. He explained it. And, you know, people are playing it over and over again. You know, he was out there trying to get excitement, to tell people this campaign is going on and, you know, I was just in Atlanta speaking to thousands of people at a young hip-hop rally. You know what? You get excited, you want to motivate people and, you know, I think people are making, you know, a little too much of this and he explained himself.

And let's go back to what, you know, the folks in New Hampshire want us to talk about and, you know, how do we get this economy going? Bush has been a failure on these issues. They want us to lead and get off of these sort of side issues and focus on the key core issues. And that's why we're going to win in November.

I remind you, Soledad, there was a poll out this week that has George Bush's reelected 41 percent. He just went to Toledo, Ohio to talk about jobs. He went to a community college that is -- their primary focus is to do job training, and they had just laid off 20 percent of the job trainers the day before he got there. That is the kind of issues that they want us talking about, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: DNC Chairman Terry McCauliffe this morning.

MCAULIFFE: Thanks.

O'BRIEN: Nice to see you, Terry.

Thanks.

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





With Bush, Not Each Other>