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American Morning
Significance of Clark's Expected Endorsement Kerry
Aired February 13, 2004 - 08:05 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: Politics now. Democratic presidential front runner John Kerry picking up the support of a former rival today in Wisconsin. Retired General Wesley Clark, who left the race on Wednesday, will endorse Kerry, we are told. Also this morning, Senator Kerry appeared on the Don Imus radio program, "Imus In the Morning," and was asked whether or not he expected anything in his past to surface and derail his campaign.
Our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, was listening to that interview -- Bill, good morning to you.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: What did you hear?
SCHNEIDER: What I heard was that Senator Kerry, when asked, "Is there anything in your past that's going to come up that could derail your campaign" -- Don Imus is one of his supporters -- "that would lead me to change my mind?," Kerry said quite categorically there is nothing to report. There is nothing to talk about, nothing that would change your mind about supporting me.
I thought that was a pretty categorical statement -- Bill.
HEMMER: With a pretty simple statement, too.
Did Don Imus push him at all, Bill?
SCHNEIDER: No, he did not.
HEMMER: Yes. Today, Wesley Clark expected to give his endorsement to John Kerry.
How will that play out right now in the campaign?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I think it indicates that the Democrats are beginning to close ranks around Kerry as their apparent nominee, the front runner, certainly. He doesn't have anything close to a majority of delegates, but it's becoming clearer and clearer every week that his opponents just aren't winning any primaries.
Look, Clark appeals to many of the same voters as Kerry. Both of them have national security standing. Both of them have military experience. In fact, you might imagine, this is at least arguable, that if Clark had run in Iowa, he might have ended up like John Kerry, as the front runner. But he decided not to run in Iowa and Kerry was able to grab those votes and steal the initiative. So there's a certain logic in Clark endorsing Kerry, the candidate who can stand next to President Bush and make a strong argument for national security.
HEMMER: Is there a logic, also, that he will be picked as a running mate, possibly?
SCHNEIDER: Well, that's a possibility certainly. He doesn't have a lot of political experience. I think that was painfully evident during the campaign. And you would argue, well, what does he really add to the ticket?
He reinforces -- he would reinforce the message that this is a Democratic administration that would keep the country safe. Both John Kerry and Wesley Clark have a lot of experience and know how to do that.
HEMMER: Bill, I want you to listen here to a commercial that's playing on a Web site, georgebush.com. This is part of the Bush- Cheney reelection campaign for 2004, aimed directly at John Kerry.
Listen to this and we'll talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM BUSH-CHENEY WEB SITE COMMERCIAL)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... more special interest money than any other senator. How much? Whoa. For what? Nominations and donations coincided. Wait. Watchdog groups. Facts. Kerry. Brought to you by the special interests. Millions from executives at HMOs, telecoms, drug companies. Kaching. Unprincipled.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: February 13 on the calendar today, Bill. It's starting already.
What do you make of this, the first possible salvo that you can get online?
SCHNEIDER: Well, what they're doing is getting tough very quickly, very early in this campaign. It's going to be one of the longest general election campaigns and probably one of the most grueling in history, because this looks like it's going to be a very close election. And what the ad, of course, is accusing is that President -- I'm sorry -- Senator Kerry is a captive of special interests.
The records came out last week that he's received more money from organizations that lobby the government than any other senator over the course of his career. But, of course, if you ask voters, as [polls frequently do, you know, who do you think is captive of special interests, they're more likely to say President Bush than Senator Kerry.
It's an issue on which both sides seem to be vulnerable and it probably will be an issue that is neutralized in this campaign because both sides accepted an enormous amount of money from special interest organizations.
HEMMER: It's going to be a fascinating nine months ahead of us, that's for certain.
SCHNEIDER: It will be.
HEMMER: Thanks, Bill.
SCHNEIDER: OK.
HEMMER: Bill Schneider.
Have a good weekend.
SCHNEIDER: Thanks.
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 13, 2004 - 08:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Politics now. Democratic presidential front runner John Kerry picking up the support of a former rival today in Wisconsin. Retired General Wesley Clark, who left the race on Wednesday, will endorse Kerry, we are told. Also this morning, Senator Kerry appeared on the Don Imus radio program, "Imus In the Morning," and was asked whether or not he expected anything in his past to surface and derail his campaign.
Our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, was listening to that interview -- Bill, good morning to you.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: What did you hear?
SCHNEIDER: What I heard was that Senator Kerry, when asked, "Is there anything in your past that's going to come up that could derail your campaign" -- Don Imus is one of his supporters -- "that would lead me to change my mind?," Kerry said quite categorically there is nothing to report. There is nothing to talk about, nothing that would change your mind about supporting me.
I thought that was a pretty categorical statement -- Bill.
HEMMER: With a pretty simple statement, too.
Did Don Imus push him at all, Bill?
SCHNEIDER: No, he did not.
HEMMER: Yes. Today, Wesley Clark expected to give his endorsement to John Kerry.
How will that play out right now in the campaign?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I think it indicates that the Democrats are beginning to close ranks around Kerry as their apparent nominee, the front runner, certainly. He doesn't have anything close to a majority of delegates, but it's becoming clearer and clearer every week that his opponents just aren't winning any primaries.
Look, Clark appeals to many of the same voters as Kerry. Both of them have national security standing. Both of them have military experience. In fact, you might imagine, this is at least arguable, that if Clark had run in Iowa, he might have ended up like John Kerry, as the front runner. But he decided not to run in Iowa and Kerry was able to grab those votes and steal the initiative. So there's a certain logic in Clark endorsing Kerry, the candidate who can stand next to President Bush and make a strong argument for national security.
HEMMER: Is there a logic, also, that he will be picked as a running mate, possibly?
SCHNEIDER: Well, that's a possibility certainly. He doesn't have a lot of political experience. I think that was painfully evident during the campaign. And you would argue, well, what does he really add to the ticket?
He reinforces -- he would reinforce the message that this is a Democratic administration that would keep the country safe. Both John Kerry and Wesley Clark have a lot of experience and know how to do that.
HEMMER: Bill, I want you to listen here to a commercial that's playing on a Web site, georgebush.com. This is part of the Bush- Cheney reelection campaign for 2004, aimed directly at John Kerry.
Listen to this and we'll talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM BUSH-CHENEY WEB SITE COMMERCIAL)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... more special interest money than any other senator. How much? Whoa. For what? Nominations and donations coincided. Wait. Watchdog groups. Facts. Kerry. Brought to you by the special interests. Millions from executives at HMOs, telecoms, drug companies. Kaching. Unprincipled.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: February 13 on the calendar today, Bill. It's starting already.
What do you make of this, the first possible salvo that you can get online?
SCHNEIDER: Well, what they're doing is getting tough very quickly, very early in this campaign. It's going to be one of the longest general election campaigns and probably one of the most grueling in history, because this looks like it's going to be a very close election. And what the ad, of course, is accusing is that President -- I'm sorry -- Senator Kerry is a captive of special interests.
The records came out last week that he's received more money from organizations that lobby the government than any other senator over the course of his career. But, of course, if you ask voters, as [polls frequently do, you know, who do you think is captive of special interests, they're more likely to say President Bush than Senator Kerry.
It's an issue on which both sides seem to be vulnerable and it probably will be an issue that is neutralized in this campaign because both sides accepted an enormous amount of money from special interest organizations.
HEMMER: It's going to be a fascinating nine months ahead of us, that's for certain.
SCHNEIDER: It will be.
HEMMER: Thanks, Bill.
SCHNEIDER: OK.
HEMMER: Bill Schneider.
Have a good weekend.
SCHNEIDER: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
