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American Morning

Interview with DNC Chairman

Aired February 23, 2004 - 09:34   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: Let's talk politics now. Democrats say Ralph Nader played spoiler in the 2000 election, takes votes away from Al Gore, putting George Bush in the White House. So how do they feel about Nader's decision to run once again? Joining us this morning from Washington D.C. is Terry McAuliffe. He is the chairman, of course, of the Democratic National Committee.
Nice to see you, Terry. Thanks for being with us.

TERRY MCAULIFFE, CHAIRMAN, DNC: Soledad, congratulations on the twins.

O'BRIEN: Oh, thank you. Well, we haven't had them yet, you know, that's what I keep telling myself.

MCAULIFFE: That gets you four. I have got five, as you know, so one more to go to catch me.

O'BRIEN: Let's not even go there. Let's talk about Ralph Nader. Why do you think he's in the race?

MCAULIFFE: Let's talk about the twins.

O'BRIEN: Yes, really.

MCAULIFFE: You know, we're clearly disappointed that he decided to run again. I had had several conversations. But more importantly, every major liberal and progressive group who has supported the causes that he has worked on told him not to run. His closest advisers today him not to run. The stakes in this election are just so gigantic that we need every potential vote out there, and I think, though, that everyone's going to come home to the Democratic Party because the issues are so great, and he's not going to have the impact he had in 2000. He's not running as a Green Party candidate. He's running as an independent. It's harder to get on the ballot.

And most importantly, the issues are different. George Bush now has a horrible track record of tax cuts to the wealthiest, tax cuts to special interest, big business. You know, he hasn't created jobs. He's been a horrible environmental president. So I think people realize that. And when they go vote, they're going to vote for the Democratic nominee.

O'BRIEN: Here's how Ralph Nader responded when he was a spoiler in this race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RALPH NADER (I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A spoiler is a contemptuous term, as if anybody who dares challenge the two-party system of corrupt politics, and broken politics and corporate power is a spoiler? Come again?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Doesn't he have a point there?

MCAULIFFE: Well, you know, there are two states, as you know, New Hampshire, where he got 22,000 votes, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) only lost by 7,000 votes. And in Florida, close to 100,000 people voted for Ralph Nader. And we know the difference was 537 votes.

The issue is the issues that Ralph Nader care about, all those issues for working families and clean water and clean air, that's what this election's going to come down to, and those people need to support the Democratic nominee, because literally George Bush on every single one of these issues has been an absolute disaster, and we can't afford to have votes go elsewhere.

But I do think they will all come home to the Democratic nominee. The stakes are so big. The federal judiciary, as you know on Friday, they appointed, George Bush appointed a recess appointment, Justice Fryer, who said the Clean Water Act should be held unconstitutional, that Roe V. Wade was an abomination. I mean, these are the kind of justices that President Bush is putting on the court. That's why we need people to come out and support the Democratic nominee. Ralph Nader's going to go do whatever he's going to do. At the end of the day, these folks who supported him in 2000 are going to come home and support the Democratic nominee, because we're fighting, we're putting real solutions out there to the problems facing America's working families everyday.

O'BRIEN: Two of the men who are running for president had this to say. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... is for Ralph Nader to decide for himself what he should do. I do think it's important for the Democrats to have somebody at the top of the ticket who will be appealing to some of the voters that Ralph Nader might attract, and I think I'm that candidate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to appeal to everyone in this race. It will make it unnecessary in the end for an alternative. But I look forward to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: I got to tell you, Terry, you sound much more worried than either of them about Ralph Nader's entry into this race.

MCAULIFFE: Well, I want, as chairman of the party, I want every single vote coming home to the Democratic Party and to our nominee. As I keep saying, he will not have the impact he had in 2000. I think after this week, you're not going to hear this discussion any more. The stakes in this election are so great. He's made his decision.

Listen, George Bush's re-elect, Soledad, is around 41 percent. We have two candidates right now beating him in double digits. We are very excited about where we are.

But as you know, the president has just announced he's going to unleash $100 million of special interest money that will be aimed at attacking our nominees. So we have a long, hard fight to go. We're in a great position today. We're ahead in the polls, but you know, we got a long way to go until Election Day.

O'BRIEN: With that unleashing of the ad campaign, in addition to that, a big political speech that's expected tonight. How does the Democratic strategy change at this point, from this evening on, let's say?

MCAULIFFE: Well, it shows the desperation of George Bush. His policies just haven't worked. What people are telling is that George Bush has no plan. As you know, his economic report, Soledad, just came out, which he signed. No sooner had the ink dried on the report, which said they were going to create 2.6 new million jobs. He pulls back from that, and said, well, I'm not a statistician. You know, that gives a lot of confidence to people who have lost their jobs.

And secondly, there's four pages in the report, that say believe it or not, say that we should send our jobs overseas. You know, I just got back from Oregon, I just got back Washington State; 100,000 people have lost their jobs just in those two states. Don't tell these people that it's a good thing that our jobs should be shipped overseas. So our strategy is not going to change. We'll have a nominee, I believe, in the next three weeks, then we're off with our positive agenda. George Bush is going up early. George Bush is giving a speech tonight, because he knows he's in trouble. His plan isn't working. And Americans want a change. You see it in every single poll out there.

Terry McAuliffe is the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, joining us this morning. Nice to see you. Thanks as always.

MCAULIFFE: Thanks, Soledad.

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 23, 2004 - 09:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk politics now. Democrats say Ralph Nader played spoiler in the 2000 election, takes votes away from Al Gore, putting George Bush in the White House. So how do they feel about Nader's decision to run once again? Joining us this morning from Washington D.C. is Terry McAuliffe. He is the chairman, of course, of the Democratic National Committee.
Nice to see you, Terry. Thanks for being with us.

TERRY MCAULIFFE, CHAIRMAN, DNC: Soledad, congratulations on the twins.

O'BRIEN: Oh, thank you. Well, we haven't had them yet, you know, that's what I keep telling myself.

MCAULIFFE: That gets you four. I have got five, as you know, so one more to go to catch me.

O'BRIEN: Let's not even go there. Let's talk about Ralph Nader. Why do you think he's in the race?

MCAULIFFE: Let's talk about the twins.

O'BRIEN: Yes, really.

MCAULIFFE: You know, we're clearly disappointed that he decided to run again. I had had several conversations. But more importantly, every major liberal and progressive group who has supported the causes that he has worked on told him not to run. His closest advisers today him not to run. The stakes in this election are just so gigantic that we need every potential vote out there, and I think, though, that everyone's going to come home to the Democratic Party because the issues are so great, and he's not going to have the impact he had in 2000. He's not running as a Green Party candidate. He's running as an independent. It's harder to get on the ballot.

And most importantly, the issues are different. George Bush now has a horrible track record of tax cuts to the wealthiest, tax cuts to special interest, big business. You know, he hasn't created jobs. He's been a horrible environmental president. So I think people realize that. And when they go vote, they're going to vote for the Democratic nominee.

O'BRIEN: Here's how Ralph Nader responded when he was a spoiler in this race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RALPH NADER (I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A spoiler is a contemptuous term, as if anybody who dares challenge the two-party system of corrupt politics, and broken politics and corporate power is a spoiler? Come again?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Doesn't he have a point there?

MCAULIFFE: Well, you know, there are two states, as you know, New Hampshire, where he got 22,000 votes, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) only lost by 7,000 votes. And in Florida, close to 100,000 people voted for Ralph Nader. And we know the difference was 537 votes.

The issue is the issues that Ralph Nader care about, all those issues for working families and clean water and clean air, that's what this election's going to come down to, and those people need to support the Democratic nominee, because literally George Bush on every single one of these issues has been an absolute disaster, and we can't afford to have votes go elsewhere.

But I do think they will all come home to the Democratic nominee. The stakes are so big. The federal judiciary, as you know on Friday, they appointed, George Bush appointed a recess appointment, Justice Fryer, who said the Clean Water Act should be held unconstitutional, that Roe V. Wade was an abomination. I mean, these are the kind of justices that President Bush is putting on the court. That's why we need people to come out and support the Democratic nominee. Ralph Nader's going to go do whatever he's going to do. At the end of the day, these folks who supported him in 2000 are going to come home and support the Democratic nominee, because we're fighting, we're putting real solutions out there to the problems facing America's working families everyday.

O'BRIEN: Two of the men who are running for president had this to say. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... is for Ralph Nader to decide for himself what he should do. I do think it's important for the Democrats to have somebody at the top of the ticket who will be appealing to some of the voters that Ralph Nader might attract, and I think I'm that candidate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to appeal to everyone in this race. It will make it unnecessary in the end for an alternative. But I look forward to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: I got to tell you, Terry, you sound much more worried than either of them about Ralph Nader's entry into this race.

MCAULIFFE: Well, I want, as chairman of the party, I want every single vote coming home to the Democratic Party and to our nominee. As I keep saying, he will not have the impact he had in 2000. I think after this week, you're not going to hear this discussion any more. The stakes in this election are so great. He's made his decision.

Listen, George Bush's re-elect, Soledad, is around 41 percent. We have two candidates right now beating him in double digits. We are very excited about where we are.

But as you know, the president has just announced he's going to unleash $100 million of special interest money that will be aimed at attacking our nominees. So we have a long, hard fight to go. We're in a great position today. We're ahead in the polls, but you know, we got a long way to go until Election Day.

O'BRIEN: With that unleashing of the ad campaign, in addition to that, a big political speech that's expected tonight. How does the Democratic strategy change at this point, from this evening on, let's say?

MCAULIFFE: Well, it shows the desperation of George Bush. His policies just haven't worked. What people are telling is that George Bush has no plan. As you know, his economic report, Soledad, just came out, which he signed. No sooner had the ink dried on the report, which said they were going to create 2.6 new million jobs. He pulls back from that, and said, well, I'm not a statistician. You know, that gives a lot of confidence to people who have lost their jobs.

And secondly, there's four pages in the report, that say believe it or not, say that we should send our jobs overseas. You know, I just got back from Oregon, I just got back Washington State; 100,000 people have lost their jobs just in those two states. Don't tell these people that it's a good thing that our jobs should be shipped overseas. So our strategy is not going to change. We'll have a nominee, I believe, in the next three weeks, then we're off with our positive agenda. George Bush is going up early. George Bush is giving a speech tonight, because he knows he's in trouble. His plan isn't working. And Americans want a change. You see it in every single poll out there.

Terry McAuliffe is the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, joining us this morning. Nice to see you. Thanks as always.

MCAULIFFE: Thanks, Soledad.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com