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CNN Sunday Morning
Mondale Democrats' First Choice to Replace Wellstone
Aired October 27, 2002 - 10:03 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.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: CNN has confirmed that former Vice President Walter Mondale is the Minnesota Democratic Party's first choice to replace Senator Paul Wellstone on the November 5 ballot.
Mondale himself, a former three-term Minnesota senator, has had no comment yet.
Joining us with some insight into this story is senior political analyst Bill Schneider, who joins us from Washington, D.C.
And Bill, obviously, Walter Mondale, if he decides to accept this request from the Wellstone family to take the place of the late senator on the ballot brings name recognition within the state but also has been out of the public eye for two decades now, and that might have an impact on younger voters.
Which one of those factors do you think will carry the day with voters there?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think his stature is well known in Minnesota. He has been out of the public eye, but he has been active. He was, of course, vice president of the United States under Jimmy Carter, who just received the Noble Peace Price. He also was ambassador to Japan.
If he decides to take this position, I think he'll seek some assurance that he can he retain his seniority. He was in the United States Senate for 12 years; he may seek a significant committee chairmanship, most likely in international affairs.
And if he does get elected, then I think he'll be an important voice in the Democratic Party on world affairs.
SAN MIGUEL: How does this change the strategy for the Republicans and Norm Coleman, the former St. Paul mayor, who was in a very tight race with Wellstone before the tragedy?
SCHNEIDER: It changes it utterly. This was one of the toughest, nastiest races in the country. The ads, not just among the candidates but from independent groups, were very, very tough.
Well, the whole campaign has been suspended. Norm Coleman can't run any ads right now. He has to wait and see what the Democrats do. If Mondale is the nominee, well, I don't think he's going to be running really nasty ads against Walter Mondale. Mondale's kind of an icon in Minnesota. So it's going to kind of suspend the Republican campaign. The worst he could say, probably, is Mondale is yesterday's man, and he's, of course, most famous for promising to raise taxes when he was nominated in 1984. Republicans may try to revive that memory. But that was a long time ago.
SAN MIGUEL: It was indeed. Bill Schneider, senior political analyst, thanks your insight. We appreciate it.
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 October 27, 2002 - 10:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: CNN has confirmed that former Vice President Walter Mondale is the Minnesota Democratic Party's first choice to replace Senator Paul Wellstone on the November 5 ballot.
Mondale himself, a former three-term Minnesota senator, has had no comment yet.
Joining us with some insight into this story is senior political analyst Bill Schneider, who joins us from Washington, D.C.
And Bill, obviously, Walter Mondale, if he decides to accept this request from the Wellstone family to take the place of the late senator on the ballot brings name recognition within the state but also has been out of the public eye for two decades now, and that might have an impact on younger voters.
Which one of those factors do you think will carry the day with voters there?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think his stature is well known in Minnesota. He has been out of the public eye, but he has been active. He was, of course, vice president of the United States under Jimmy Carter, who just received the Noble Peace Price. He also was ambassador to Japan.
If he decides to take this position, I think he'll seek some assurance that he can he retain his seniority. He was in the United States Senate for 12 years; he may seek a significant committee chairmanship, most likely in international affairs.
And if he does get elected, then I think he'll be an important voice in the Democratic Party on world affairs.
SAN MIGUEL: How does this change the strategy for the Republicans and Norm Coleman, the former St. Paul mayor, who was in a very tight race with Wellstone before the tragedy?
SCHNEIDER: It changes it utterly. This was one of the toughest, nastiest races in the country. The ads, not just among the candidates but from independent groups, were very, very tough.
Well, the whole campaign has been suspended. Norm Coleman can't run any ads right now. He has to wait and see what the Democrats do. If Mondale is the nominee, well, I don't think he's going to be running really nasty ads against Walter Mondale. Mondale's kind of an icon in Minnesota. So it's going to kind of suspend the Republican campaign. The worst he could say, probably, is Mondale is yesterday's man, and he's, of course, most famous for promising to raise taxes when he was nominated in 1984. Republicans may try to revive that memory. But that was a long time ago.
SAN MIGUEL: It was indeed. Bill Schneider, senior political analyst, thanks your insight. We appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
