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American Morning
Interview with Former Dean Campaign Chairman
Aired February 19, 2004 - 07:35 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: Back to politics now. Howard Dean admits that his campaign for the White House is over, but he vows that his campaign for change will continue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will support the nominee of our party. I will do everything I can to beat George W. Bush. I urge you to do the same. But we will not be above in this organization of letting our nominee know that we expect them to adhere to the standards that this organization has set for decency, honesty, integrity and standing up for ordinary American working people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That's Howard Dean from yesterday in Vermont.
Steve Grossman experienced the highs and the lows of that campaign. He was campaign chairman until leaving right before the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday of this week.
Steve Grossman is our guest from Watertown, Massachusetts.
Good morning.
Nice to see you back here on AMERICAN MORNING.
STEVE GROSSMAN, FORMER DEAN CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: Good morning.
Thanks for having me.
HEMMER: Where do the Dean supporters go, Steve?
GROSSMAN: I think the Dean supporters are going to support the nominee and I think Howard said yesterday, and I think he struck exactly the right tone, you have the power to be extraordinarily important to the success of the nominee between now and November. This is a grassroots movement. He reignited a sense of belief in participatory politics and that group of 400,000 donors and 700,000 people who supported him can be also extraordinarily supportive financially of the ultimate nominee.
So Howard will be a force in this party for a long time to come, most notably between now and November.
HEMMER: But I come back to my question, where do they go? And I want to go back to some of Howard Dean's words from yesterday. Quoting, "I urge my supporters not to be tempted, not to be tempted to support any effort by another candidate."
GROSSMAN: Well, he was referring...
HEMMER: Now, what does that mean? Do you not get behind Kerry or Edwards?
GROSSMAN: No, that was in the context of third party candidates, Ralph Nader, etc. I think what he said is, look, we've got to beat George Bush. George Bush has united Democrats more than any president has done in my lifetime and whatever the disappointments are and the sadness around the Dean campaign, the Dean supporters are going to be with Howard every step of the way for the nominee because they know that change won't take place in America unless we have the Democratic president.
So they may split one way or the other in the next couple of weeks, but I think Howard, if he wants to, can lead this movement and can be, as I said earlier, a very important spokesman and a leader and a statesman in this party between now and November and beyond.
HEMMER: What do you believe the level of discussions that have taken place between the Edwards camp and the Kerry camp, trying to get the Deaniacs behind them?
GROSSMAN: Well, I think, look, they both want this passion and this sense of voter empowerment to come their way. And it will eventually. But I think probably the Dean supporters will take a little bit of a step back, regain their composure and momentum a little bit, as Howard will, and then I think they will be very engaged once we have a nominee. And I think the unity that you'll see is going to be absolutely critical.
I mean Howard is and defined the race and defined the terms and the debate all the way through this race. And I think his lasting legacy will be as a unifier and as a person who brought lots of people to the party who never participated in politics before.
HEMMER: Steve, let me get back to you on Monday.
GROSSMAN: Sure.
HEMMER: You essentially bail out of this campaign a day before everyone knew that Howard Dean had to do very well in Wisconsin. He didn't, a distant third, with about 18 percent of that primary vote on Tuesday.
Why get out on Monday? Why not wait until Wednesday at least?
GROSSMAN: Well, look, if I offended anybody or caused any pain to Howard or anybody else doing it the way I did, you know, I certainly apologize for that because I meant no harm. I was involved in this campaign from day one, for 19 months, and all I said really was if Howard doesn't win Wisconsin, then I'll be supporting my friend, John Kerry. And Howard really said if I don't win Wisconsin, I'll be out of the race.
But I didn't mean to offend anybody and I hope nobody took it that way.
HEMMER: Are you still friends with Howard Dean?
GROSSMAN: Absolutely. And I'll support him in this grassroots movement every step of the way.
HEMMER: Steve Grossman, Watertown, Massachusetts.
GROSSMAN: Thank you.
HEMMER: Nice to talk to you.
GROSSMAN: 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 19, 2004 - 07:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to politics now. Howard Dean admits that his campaign for the White House is over, but he vows that his campaign for change will continue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will support the nominee of our party. I will do everything I can to beat George W. Bush. I urge you to do the same. But we will not be above in this organization of letting our nominee know that we expect them to adhere to the standards that this organization has set for decency, honesty, integrity and standing up for ordinary American working people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That's Howard Dean from yesterday in Vermont.
Steve Grossman experienced the highs and the lows of that campaign. He was campaign chairman until leaving right before the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday of this week.
Steve Grossman is our guest from Watertown, Massachusetts.
Good morning.
Nice to see you back here on AMERICAN MORNING.
STEVE GROSSMAN, FORMER DEAN CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: Good morning.
Thanks for having me.
HEMMER: Where do the Dean supporters go, Steve?
GROSSMAN: I think the Dean supporters are going to support the nominee and I think Howard said yesterday, and I think he struck exactly the right tone, you have the power to be extraordinarily important to the success of the nominee between now and November. This is a grassroots movement. He reignited a sense of belief in participatory politics and that group of 400,000 donors and 700,000 people who supported him can be also extraordinarily supportive financially of the ultimate nominee.
So Howard will be a force in this party for a long time to come, most notably between now and November.
HEMMER: But I come back to my question, where do they go? And I want to go back to some of Howard Dean's words from yesterday. Quoting, "I urge my supporters not to be tempted, not to be tempted to support any effort by another candidate."
GROSSMAN: Well, he was referring...
HEMMER: Now, what does that mean? Do you not get behind Kerry or Edwards?
GROSSMAN: No, that was in the context of third party candidates, Ralph Nader, etc. I think what he said is, look, we've got to beat George Bush. George Bush has united Democrats more than any president has done in my lifetime and whatever the disappointments are and the sadness around the Dean campaign, the Dean supporters are going to be with Howard every step of the way for the nominee because they know that change won't take place in America unless we have the Democratic president.
So they may split one way or the other in the next couple of weeks, but I think Howard, if he wants to, can lead this movement and can be, as I said earlier, a very important spokesman and a leader and a statesman in this party between now and November and beyond.
HEMMER: What do you believe the level of discussions that have taken place between the Edwards camp and the Kerry camp, trying to get the Deaniacs behind them?
GROSSMAN: Well, I think, look, they both want this passion and this sense of voter empowerment to come their way. And it will eventually. But I think probably the Dean supporters will take a little bit of a step back, regain their composure and momentum a little bit, as Howard will, and then I think they will be very engaged once we have a nominee. And I think the unity that you'll see is going to be absolutely critical.
I mean Howard is and defined the race and defined the terms and the debate all the way through this race. And I think his lasting legacy will be as a unifier and as a person who brought lots of people to the party who never participated in politics before.
HEMMER: Steve, let me get back to you on Monday.
GROSSMAN: Sure.
HEMMER: You essentially bail out of this campaign a day before everyone knew that Howard Dean had to do very well in Wisconsin. He didn't, a distant third, with about 18 percent of that primary vote on Tuesday.
Why get out on Monday? Why not wait until Wednesday at least?
GROSSMAN: Well, look, if I offended anybody or caused any pain to Howard or anybody else doing it the way I did, you know, I certainly apologize for that because I meant no harm. I was involved in this campaign from day one, for 19 months, and all I said really was if Howard doesn't win Wisconsin, then I'll be supporting my friend, John Kerry. And Howard really said if I don't win Wisconsin, I'll be out of the race.
But I didn't mean to offend anybody and I hope nobody took it that way.
HEMMER: Are you still friends with Howard Dean?
GROSSMAN: Absolutely. And I'll support him in this grassroots movement every step of the way.
HEMMER: Steve Grossman, Watertown, Massachusetts.
GROSSMAN: Thank you.
HEMMER: Nice to talk to you.
GROSSMAN: 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
