Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Interview with Former Georgia Senator Max Cleland

Aired February 18, 2004 - 07:05   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Former Georgia Senator Max Cleland, who is a major Kerry supporter, has been at the candidate's side on the campaign trail, and Senator Cleland joins us this morning from Madison, Wisconsin, to talk a little bit about Kerry's victory last night.
Nice to see you, Senator. Thanks for being with us.

MAX CLELAND, FORMER GEORGIA SENATOR: Good morning, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: You know, the pre-primary polls actually showed that Senator Kerry was going to wrap this thing up. He had a pretty wide margin. When it actually happened, it turned out it was not such a big lead after all. Are you surprised by that?

CLELAND: Well, actually what we see here is that John Kerry continues to be the all-American candidate all over America. Other candidates can cherry-pick where they want to make a fight, but John Kerry is not a regional candidate, and he's not a niche candidate. He's an all-American candidate.

He's won all over America. This is his 16th victory in 18 outings. And I think that's quite impressive. Secondly, he has four times more delegates than all of the other candidates put together.

So, the fight continues, but I feel very good about the win in Wisconsin, and now it's on to the other primaries. The other candidates will have to decide what they do, but John Kerry is beginning to put together the all-American campaign for all-America, and George Bush is on the run.

O'BRIEN: Your all-American candidate has really been focusing, in fact, on President Bush in all of his recent remarks, or the bulk of them at least. Do you think now he needs to turn and start focusing on his close No. 2, John Edwards? Or you don't think that's going to be a problem?

CLELAND: No. I mean, the real opposition here is President Bush. That's why all of the candidates are in this, and they've all had decent showings. But John Kerry has been head and shoulders above them all in every way. And I think Americans have responded all over America -- the Northeast, the South, the Midwest, the Southwest and the Northwest.

All Americans are now beginning to see John Kerry as that committed, courageous, positive leader that they really want in the White House -- one with experience in war, but also experience in the Senate for 20 years and a fighter for peace. So -- and certainly one to take on Bush, because he's losing two Americans a day in Iraq and two jobs a minute here in this country.

O'BRIEN: Senator Edwards...

CLELAND: And John Kerry more and more is the man to take him on.

O'BRIEN: Senator Edwards seemed to be able to leverage the issue of NAFTA. How vulnerable do you think that Senator Kerry is going to be on NAFTA, especially as you head into primaries like in Ohio?

CLELAND: Well, what that really means is that jobs are a powerful issue in this campaign and should be. The Bush presidency has lost almost a million jobs a year. This is the first time since Herbert Hoover and the onset of the Great Depression that this economy has contracted for three years in a row.

So, the trickle-down theory does not work. John Kerry says most working Americans have been trickled on.

So, people are responding not just to John Kerry's message, but to him personally as a real war hero in Vietnam, an all-American candidate that more and more Americans around the country are responding to, and they responded to him right here in Wisconsin with a win.

O'BRIEN: Final question for you. Governor Dean had said that he had to win in Wisconsin. That was a little bit back. And then he said if he didn't win, he wasn't going to drop out. Do you think that Governor Dean and some of the others who are in the race who have really not found any traction should leave at this point?

CLELAND: It's strictly up to them. But John Kerry is more and more proving himself as the man who can not only win in open primaries, in caucuses all over America, but who can really beat George Bush in the fall. And that's really what this is all about, because we need a real deal in the White House, not a raw deal.

O'BRIEN: Former Georgia Senator Max Cleland joining us this morning. Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for being with us.

CLELAND: 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 18, 2004 - 07:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Former Georgia Senator Max Cleland, who is a major Kerry supporter, has been at the candidate's side on the campaign trail, and Senator Cleland joins us this morning from Madison, Wisconsin, to talk a little bit about Kerry's victory last night.
Nice to see you, Senator. Thanks for being with us.

MAX CLELAND, FORMER GEORGIA SENATOR: Good morning, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: You know, the pre-primary polls actually showed that Senator Kerry was going to wrap this thing up. He had a pretty wide margin. When it actually happened, it turned out it was not such a big lead after all. Are you surprised by that?

CLELAND: Well, actually what we see here is that John Kerry continues to be the all-American candidate all over America. Other candidates can cherry-pick where they want to make a fight, but John Kerry is not a regional candidate, and he's not a niche candidate. He's an all-American candidate.

He's won all over America. This is his 16th victory in 18 outings. And I think that's quite impressive. Secondly, he has four times more delegates than all of the other candidates put together.

So, the fight continues, but I feel very good about the win in Wisconsin, and now it's on to the other primaries. The other candidates will have to decide what they do, but John Kerry is beginning to put together the all-American campaign for all-America, and George Bush is on the run.

O'BRIEN: Your all-American candidate has really been focusing, in fact, on President Bush in all of his recent remarks, or the bulk of them at least. Do you think now he needs to turn and start focusing on his close No. 2, John Edwards? Or you don't think that's going to be a problem?

CLELAND: No. I mean, the real opposition here is President Bush. That's why all of the candidates are in this, and they've all had decent showings. But John Kerry has been head and shoulders above them all in every way. And I think Americans have responded all over America -- the Northeast, the South, the Midwest, the Southwest and the Northwest.

All Americans are now beginning to see John Kerry as that committed, courageous, positive leader that they really want in the White House -- one with experience in war, but also experience in the Senate for 20 years and a fighter for peace. So -- and certainly one to take on Bush, because he's losing two Americans a day in Iraq and two jobs a minute here in this country.

O'BRIEN: Senator Edwards...

CLELAND: And John Kerry more and more is the man to take him on.

O'BRIEN: Senator Edwards seemed to be able to leverage the issue of NAFTA. How vulnerable do you think that Senator Kerry is going to be on NAFTA, especially as you head into primaries like in Ohio?

CLELAND: Well, what that really means is that jobs are a powerful issue in this campaign and should be. The Bush presidency has lost almost a million jobs a year. This is the first time since Herbert Hoover and the onset of the Great Depression that this economy has contracted for three years in a row.

So, the trickle-down theory does not work. John Kerry says most working Americans have been trickled on.

So, people are responding not just to John Kerry's message, but to him personally as a real war hero in Vietnam, an all-American candidate that more and more Americans around the country are responding to, and they responded to him right here in Wisconsin with a win.

O'BRIEN: Final question for you. Governor Dean had said that he had to win in Wisconsin. That was a little bit back. And then he said if he didn't win, he wasn't going to drop out. Do you think that Governor Dean and some of the others who are in the race who have really not found any traction should leave at this point?

CLELAND: It's strictly up to them. But John Kerry is more and more proving himself as the man who can not only win in open primaries, in caucuses all over America, but who can really beat George Bush in the fall. And that's really what this is all about, because we need a real deal in the White House, not a raw deal.

O'BRIEN: Former Georgia Senator Max Cleland joining us this morning. Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for being with us.

CLELAND: 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.