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American Morning
Latest Developments in 2004 Presidential Race
Aired February 10, 2004 - 08:06 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: CNN political analyst and former Democratic strategist Donna Brazile back with us to talk about the deal today -- Donna, good morning to you.
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, AL GORE'S FORMER CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: A look at the polling numbers, first from Tennessee, then from Virginia. John Kerry a firm leader in both, 45 percent in Tennessee; in Virginia, 47 percent for him.
Is this his to lose at this point?
BRAZILE: Oh, absolutely. But John Kerry is running a national campaign. He's strong in practically every state in the country. I don't believe that John Kerry can be stopped at this moment. But I also believe, Bill, that the show must go on, that over the next 20 days you have states like California and Ohio and Georgia, and they want a piece of the pie, as well.
So this show will continue today and I do believe that one of the Southerners will drop out.
HEMMER: You believe that by when, tomorrow?
BRAZILE: Well, who knows? They may do it late tonight, or if not, tomorrow or at the end of the week. The fact is is that this race will narrow once again after the contest today and what you will find is a much sharper focus on the front runner as he begins his quest now to clinch the nomination.
HEMMER: So just to be clear, you're saying John Edwards or Wesley Clark could be gone by this time tomorrow?
BRAZILE: No question. Look, they're sipping from the same straw. At some point, one of them will run out of juice and they will have to, you know, abandon their bus because they won't have enough fuel to continue. This is a very expensive propaganda, Super Tuesday. You have so many states, so many media markets. How do you pick and choose? They have -- one of them will have to go.
HEMMER: What about Howard Dean? He's gone back and forth over the past week. Now just yesterday saying he's gotten so much support and words of encouragement over the past week that he's sticking with it, as well.
Your reaction to that? BRAZILE: Well, look, Dr. Dean has had a very, you know, difficult 30 days. He's trying to roll into Wisconsin to pick up some low hanging fruits. I don't believe he'll pick up a lot. But the decision to go on is probably a decision that his campaign made looking at the stakes ahead on March 2. No question Howard Dean will have the resources to go on, but will the voters reward him for continuing his journey? I don't believe so.
HEMMER: Dona, one of the things we consistently hear throughout this democratic process, on the Democratic side, anyway, is that the record turnout here is really impressive for the Democratic leadership.
Based on history, try to be as objective as you can on this answer, does it portend anything about the general election and turnout next November on the Democratic side?
BRAZILE: There's no question that the Democratic Party has really regained its sea legs. Democratic activists are very excited about this, these candidates who are running. They want a winner and they are hungry and they are showing their support by going to the polls in record numbers.
HEMMER: But if you go back to November of 2000, Republicans were very energized to get Bill Clinton out of office and still they lost the popular vote by 500,000 votes. Again, the question, does it tell us much now about what may happen in nine months?
BRAZILE: I think it will tell us a great deal because, you know, this will be a very competitive election, highly partisan. And if Democrats continue to do what they've been doing the last couple of weeks, which is enlarging the electorate, bringing more people to the table, I do believe it will be close. But this time Democrats will not only win the popular vote, but also the electoral college as well.
HEMMER: Donna, thanks for your time this morning.
Donna Brazile down there in D.C.
Two great quotes from you -- "sipping from the same straw," "low hanging fruit." We'll watch it later.
BRAZILE: All right.
HEMMER: Good to see you.
Bye-bye.
BRAZILE: Thank you.
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 - 08:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN political analyst and former Democratic strategist Donna Brazile back with us to talk about the deal today -- Donna, good morning to you.
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, AL GORE'S FORMER CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: A look at the polling numbers, first from Tennessee, then from Virginia. John Kerry a firm leader in both, 45 percent in Tennessee; in Virginia, 47 percent for him.
Is this his to lose at this point?
BRAZILE: Oh, absolutely. But John Kerry is running a national campaign. He's strong in practically every state in the country. I don't believe that John Kerry can be stopped at this moment. But I also believe, Bill, that the show must go on, that over the next 20 days you have states like California and Ohio and Georgia, and they want a piece of the pie, as well.
So this show will continue today and I do believe that one of the Southerners will drop out.
HEMMER: You believe that by when, tomorrow?
BRAZILE: Well, who knows? They may do it late tonight, or if not, tomorrow or at the end of the week. The fact is is that this race will narrow once again after the contest today and what you will find is a much sharper focus on the front runner as he begins his quest now to clinch the nomination.
HEMMER: So just to be clear, you're saying John Edwards or Wesley Clark could be gone by this time tomorrow?
BRAZILE: No question. Look, they're sipping from the same straw. At some point, one of them will run out of juice and they will have to, you know, abandon their bus because they won't have enough fuel to continue. This is a very expensive propaganda, Super Tuesday. You have so many states, so many media markets. How do you pick and choose? They have -- one of them will have to go.
HEMMER: What about Howard Dean? He's gone back and forth over the past week. Now just yesterday saying he's gotten so much support and words of encouragement over the past week that he's sticking with it, as well.
Your reaction to that? BRAZILE: Well, look, Dr. Dean has had a very, you know, difficult 30 days. He's trying to roll into Wisconsin to pick up some low hanging fruits. I don't believe he'll pick up a lot. But the decision to go on is probably a decision that his campaign made looking at the stakes ahead on March 2. No question Howard Dean will have the resources to go on, but will the voters reward him for continuing his journey? I don't believe so.
HEMMER: Dona, one of the things we consistently hear throughout this democratic process, on the Democratic side, anyway, is that the record turnout here is really impressive for the Democratic leadership.
Based on history, try to be as objective as you can on this answer, does it portend anything about the general election and turnout next November on the Democratic side?
BRAZILE: There's no question that the Democratic Party has really regained its sea legs. Democratic activists are very excited about this, these candidates who are running. They want a winner and they are hungry and they are showing their support by going to the polls in record numbers.
HEMMER: But if you go back to November of 2000, Republicans were very energized to get Bill Clinton out of office and still they lost the popular vote by 500,000 votes. Again, the question, does it tell us much now about what may happen in nine months?
BRAZILE: I think it will tell us a great deal because, you know, this will be a very competitive election, highly partisan. And if Democrats continue to do what they've been doing the last couple of weeks, which is enlarging the electorate, bringing more people to the table, I do believe it will be close. But this time Democrats will not only win the popular vote, but also the electoral college as well.
HEMMER: Donna, thanks for your time this morning.
Donna Brazile down there in D.C.
Two great quotes from you -- "sipping from the same straw," "low hanging fruit." We'll watch it later.
BRAZILE: All right.
HEMMER: Good to see you.
Bye-bye.
BRAZILE: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
