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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Karen Tumulty

Aired October 26, 2003 - 09:36   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.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Expect more criticism of President Bush tonight when the nine democratic candidates for the president square off in Detroit. For more on the debate and the democratic landscape, we turn to "Time" magazine's Karen Tumulty, who joins us from Washington.
Karen, thanks for being here so early on a Sunday. Appreciate it.

KAREN TUMULTY, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Heidi. Good to see you again.

COLLINS: Good to see you, too. We know that there is a very large field of democratic contenders, if you will. Do you think that will hamper the debate process here tonight?

TUMULTY: That, in fact, has been the problem all along. As hard as it is to believe, we are now less than three months away from the Iowa caucuses. And these debates should be the candidate's best opportunities to show themselves sort of undiluted to the democratic base that will be voting in these caucuses and primaries. But the fact is with nine of them on stage at one time, at least three of whom don't have much of a shot at the nomination at all, it's really hard for any one of them to get more than five or seven minutes.

COLLINS: So, who is it that we're going to be listening to and watching tonight? In your opinion.

TUMULTY: Well, a lot of attention remains on Wes Clark, the newest entry into the field. Of course, one real question right here is whether he will have any voice at all. He's actually been sidelined quite a bit trying to overcome a viral infection that has robbed him of his voice. You will see if there are any shots taken, I think it's Wes Clark on the receiving end.

COLLINS: Isn't Howard Dean a little bit ahead of him now in the polls?

TUMULTY: He is, indeed. The fact is that the candidates are learning the harder they beat up on Howard Dean, the more money he collects and the more supporters he collects. So, Wes Clark is really the unknown quantity in the field.

COLLINS: All right. What are we talking about as far as issues tonight? What will the candidates be doing? I know in some other debates they have been just focusing on President Bush, and Iraq, and not really going after each other. Will that be different tonight?

TUMULTY: Each debate has seen them get a bit more aggressive about going after each other. I think that with the news today out of Iraq, we may see them turning more of their attention to an issue that really concerns more Americans than who voted how on last fall's resolution, and that is what are we going to do to finish this war? Now that we're there.

COLLINS: Wondering about the audience for tonight. We were just talking a little bit earlier that if the World Series had gone into game seven that would have been some huge competition. That did not happen, but there's still Sunday night football. So what do you think about people watching?

TUMULTY: These audiences have been and probably will continue to be pretty minuscule. But again, the people who are watching are likely to be these really committed democratic voters. In fact, these are the people that these candidates need to be talking to right now.

COLLINS: So are those then people who are just trying to make up their mind between which candidate? Or, I mean, if they're already democrats, they are not swaying anybody from the other side. That is not their intent.

TUMULTY: No, it is really talking to democrats, and the fact this one is in Michigan, which is actually going to be a big battleground state, not only in the primaries but in the fall, also that could draw in a few additional viewers. But I think nowhere near what football is going to get.

COLLINS: All right. We'll have to see if the debates have any bearing on the poll numbers in the coming days after tonight. Thanks so much, Karen Tumulty, from "Time" magazine. Appreciate it.

TUMULTY: Thank you, Heidi.

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 26, 2003 - 09:36   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Expect more criticism of President Bush tonight when the nine democratic candidates for the president square off in Detroit. For more on the debate and the democratic landscape, we turn to "Time" magazine's Karen Tumulty, who joins us from Washington.
Karen, thanks for being here so early on a Sunday. Appreciate it.

KAREN TUMULTY, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Heidi. Good to see you again.

COLLINS: Good to see you, too. We know that there is a very large field of democratic contenders, if you will. Do you think that will hamper the debate process here tonight?

TUMULTY: That, in fact, has been the problem all along. As hard as it is to believe, we are now less than three months away from the Iowa caucuses. And these debates should be the candidate's best opportunities to show themselves sort of undiluted to the democratic base that will be voting in these caucuses and primaries. But the fact is with nine of them on stage at one time, at least three of whom don't have much of a shot at the nomination at all, it's really hard for any one of them to get more than five or seven minutes.

COLLINS: So, who is it that we're going to be listening to and watching tonight? In your opinion.

TUMULTY: Well, a lot of attention remains on Wes Clark, the newest entry into the field. Of course, one real question right here is whether he will have any voice at all. He's actually been sidelined quite a bit trying to overcome a viral infection that has robbed him of his voice. You will see if there are any shots taken, I think it's Wes Clark on the receiving end.

COLLINS: Isn't Howard Dean a little bit ahead of him now in the polls?

TUMULTY: He is, indeed. The fact is that the candidates are learning the harder they beat up on Howard Dean, the more money he collects and the more supporters he collects. So, Wes Clark is really the unknown quantity in the field.

COLLINS: All right. What are we talking about as far as issues tonight? What will the candidates be doing? I know in some other debates they have been just focusing on President Bush, and Iraq, and not really going after each other. Will that be different tonight?

TUMULTY: Each debate has seen them get a bit more aggressive about going after each other. I think that with the news today out of Iraq, we may see them turning more of their attention to an issue that really concerns more Americans than who voted how on last fall's resolution, and that is what are we going to do to finish this war? Now that we're there.

COLLINS: Wondering about the audience for tonight. We were just talking a little bit earlier that if the World Series had gone into game seven that would have been some huge competition. That did not happen, but there's still Sunday night football. So what do you think about people watching?

TUMULTY: These audiences have been and probably will continue to be pretty minuscule. But again, the people who are watching are likely to be these really committed democratic voters. In fact, these are the people that these candidates need to be talking to right now.

COLLINS: So are those then people who are just trying to make up their mind between which candidate? Or, I mean, if they're already democrats, they are not swaying anybody from the other side. That is not their intent.

TUMULTY: No, it is really talking to democrats, and the fact this one is in Michigan, which is actually going to be a big battleground state, not only in the primaries but in the fall, also that could draw in a few additional viewers. But I think nowhere near what football is going to get.

COLLINS: All right. We'll have to see if the debates have any bearing on the poll numbers in the coming days after tonight. Thanks so much, Karen Tumulty, from "Time" magazine. Appreciate it.

TUMULTY: Thank you, Heidi.

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