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American Morning
Virginia, Tennessee, Hold Primaries Today
Aired February 10, 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Voters in Virginia and Tennessee are heading to the polls today in Democratic presidential primaries. At stake in Virginia: 82 pledged delegates to this summer's Democratic National Convention. Sixty-nine delegates are up for grabs in Tennessee. Polls indicate that front-runner John Kerry will once again be the big winner.
National correspondent Bob Franken joins us this morning with a little more about the race. He's in Fairfax, Virginia, for us today.
Hey, Bob, good morning.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
We're on the campus of George Mason University at the spot where the Kerry forces hope their candidate will be, again, declaring victory tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN (voice-over): Now, John Kerry gets to try his southern strategy, which is really quite simple: win in the South.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Stand up and fight with me.
FRANKEN: The polls show that Kerry can expect to be victorious here in Virginia and Tennessee, which would be his first wins in Dixie. In fact, he has become such a favorite that native sons John Edwards and Wesley Clark have jettisoned their southern victory hopes and are now battling for southern runner-up.
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I want to do is finish in the top two here in Virginia and the top two in Tennessee. And then we go on to Wisconsin. As I said earlier, I think this thing is very quickly narrowing to a two-person race.
WESLEY CLARK, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You've got some choices in this race. You've got a great lawyer. He's a wonderful man. He's a great lawyer. You've got a man who has spent his life in the Senate. He's a wonderful legislator. Or you've got somebody like me.
FRANKEN: Of course, there is somebody like Howard Dean way up north in Wisconsin, where he is trying not to make his last stand.
HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The media claims that this contest is already over. They say that Wisconsin's voice doesn't count, that your vote doesn't count. They expect you to rubber stamp everybody else's choice. You don't have to listen to them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: Howard Dean is doing the Wisconsin two-step, of course, saying first that that would be where he would either win or get out of the race. Now, he's saying no matter what happens in Wisconsin, he's in it to stay.
Of course, some of those decisions might be influenced by what happens here in the southern states this evening -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: OK, so let's say Howard Dean does stay in the race. What do you think overall the impact could be on everybody else?
FRANKEN: Well, you know, the common sense would be that the quicker the party unifies, the better chance it has to concentrate on George W. Bush, but the party seems to have gained in stature and President Bush seems to have lost some stature, if the polls are correct, since the Democrats have been very publicly having their fight and drawing what seems to be favorable attention to their party.
So, it's hard to predict whether that's a negative or a plus.
O'BRIEN: All right, Bob Franken joining us this morning. Appreciate it, Bob.
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 February 10, 2004 - 07:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Voters in Virginia and Tennessee are heading to the polls today in Democratic presidential primaries. At stake in Virginia: 82 pledged delegates to this summer's Democratic National Convention. Sixty-nine delegates are up for grabs in Tennessee. Polls indicate that front-runner John Kerry will once again be the big winner.
National correspondent Bob Franken joins us this morning with a little more about the race. He's in Fairfax, Virginia, for us today.
Hey, Bob, good morning.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
We're on the campus of George Mason University at the spot where the Kerry forces hope their candidate will be, again, declaring victory tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN (voice-over): Now, John Kerry gets to try his southern strategy, which is really quite simple: win in the South.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Stand up and fight with me.
FRANKEN: The polls show that Kerry can expect to be victorious here in Virginia and Tennessee, which would be his first wins in Dixie. In fact, he has become such a favorite that native sons John Edwards and Wesley Clark have jettisoned their southern victory hopes and are now battling for southern runner-up.
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I want to do is finish in the top two here in Virginia and the top two in Tennessee. And then we go on to Wisconsin. As I said earlier, I think this thing is very quickly narrowing to a two-person race.
WESLEY CLARK, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You've got some choices in this race. You've got a great lawyer. He's a wonderful man. He's a great lawyer. You've got a man who has spent his life in the Senate. He's a wonderful legislator. Or you've got somebody like me.
FRANKEN: Of course, there is somebody like Howard Dean way up north in Wisconsin, where he is trying not to make his last stand.
HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The media claims that this contest is already over. They say that Wisconsin's voice doesn't count, that your vote doesn't count. They expect you to rubber stamp everybody else's choice. You don't have to listen to them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: Howard Dean is doing the Wisconsin two-step, of course, saying first that that would be where he would either win or get out of the race. Now, he's saying no matter what happens in Wisconsin, he's in it to stay.
Of course, some of those decisions might be influenced by what happens here in the southern states this evening -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: OK, so let's say Howard Dean does stay in the race. What do you think overall the impact could be on everybody else?
FRANKEN: Well, you know, the common sense would be that the quicker the party unifies, the better chance it has to concentrate on George W. Bush, but the party seems to have gained in stature and President Bush seems to have lost some stature, if the polls are correct, since the Democrats have been very publicly having their fight and drawing what seems to be favorable attention to their party.
So, it's hard to predict whether that's a negative or a plus.
O'BRIEN: All right, Bob Franken joining us this morning. Appreciate it, Bob.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
