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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Ron Brownstein

Aired December 07, 2003 - 07:14   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.


JIM MORET, CNN ANCHOR: Florida's primary does not come until March. And by then, there may be only one or two Democrats left standing. And for a look at Florida and the rest of the road ahead for the Democrats, we turn to CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein, who joins us from Orlando. Good morning, Ron.
RON BROWNSTEIN, "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES": Good morning.

MORET: Candy said this was everything you would expect from a Florida convention. Anything you didn't expect?

BROWNSTEIN: Good question. I think the main surprise for me was the depth of the Clark support here, Wesley Clark. Clearly, Howard Dean had the largest presence in the hall. I mean, the event was another reminder of Dean's appeal for grassroots hardcore Democratic activists. The partisans in the party, the activists really are attracted to Dean.

But next to Dean, behind Dean, I think the candidate who was the most visible, had the most support in the hall was Wesley Clark. And it may be another sign that after having a rough opening few weeks of his campaign, he's beginning to get a little bit of a second wind, moving up a little bit in the polls in New Hampshire, and possibly positioning himself with good fund-raising to emerge as the strongest alternative to Dean.

MORET: So with respect to Wesley Clark, do you think that this weekend could prove a catalyst for his campaign?

CLARK: Well, I think it was just a little bit of another marker along the way that we're seeing some signs of regeneration. You know, he came out with a lot of publicity. There was a lot of notice. He had a very tough first few weeks out of the box, stumbled on the question of whether he would've supported the war.

And in fact, his speech yesterday was kind of uneven, up and down. But there were a lot of people in the hall who said that they were attracted to him because they thought he had the best chance to beat Bush. Even people who say that they agree with Howard Dean on many of the issues, worried about his ability to beat Bush.

And especially in the South, I would think states like South Carolina, Oklahoma that are going to be voting on February 3, that could be a powerful argument for Clark.

MORET: Ron, we heard in Candy's piece a lot of anger. Not only with regard to the 2000 election, but specifically directed at the president. Is that the overriding theme, do you think, this weekend?

BROWNSTEIN: It's the overriding theme of the Democratic race so far. Look, the reality -- what we're seeing in this country, heading into this presidential race, is that consistently in polls, over 90 percent of Republicans say George Bush is doing a good job as president. Less than 20 percent of Democrats in polls often agree. That's the widest gap we've ever had in the modern history of polling. And you see that translated every week on both ends of the spectrum.

Over the last few days, George Bush has collected $3.6 million from Republican donors. Republicans really like this guy. And Democrats really dislike him. And Howard Dean, by tapping into and expressing that anger, really has driven the Democratic race.

An interesting little sidelight yesterday, Dick Gephardt, who voted for the no child left behind act, the Education Reform Act of 2001, joined John Kerry, who had earlier joined Howard Dean in renouncing it. The pressure on Democrats to basically oppose anything George Bush has done and to reconsider any times in which they had stood with him is fairly substantial.

MORET: Still, voters are looking to the Democrats for some leadership. Can they build a successful strategy if it's solely based around this anger?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, they would say it's not solely based around anger, but the question is still legitimate. Whether they are giving in too much to the antipathy and their base toward President Bush, and driving themselves toward rhetoric and positions, it may be difficult to sell in a general election.

Right now in the primary, as I said, the pressure is all in the direction of being critical of Bush. Even -- you know, the candidates who supported the war barely mention that anymore. They now mention their disappointment in the way Bush has handled the post-war situation. And you go on and on.

The rhetoric is very heated. The characterizations of the president very pointed. And I would say much more personally antagonistic than the way Bush described Bill Clinton in 2000 at a time when the Republican base was comparably angry at him.

So you do have a legitimate question there about whether the Democrats are moving themselves into a rhetoric and a series of positions as we saw yesterday, that could be harder to sell to swing voters, moderate voters in the general election than it is to the partisans who gather in places like this.

MORET: CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein, thanks so much for joining this morning.

BROWNSTEIN: 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 December 7, 2003 - 07:14   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JIM MORET, CNN ANCHOR: Florida's primary does not come until March. And by then, there may be only one or two Democrats left standing. And for a look at Florida and the rest of the road ahead for the Democrats, we turn to CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein, who joins us from Orlando. Good morning, Ron.
RON BROWNSTEIN, "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES": Good morning.

MORET: Candy said this was everything you would expect from a Florida convention. Anything you didn't expect?

BROWNSTEIN: Good question. I think the main surprise for me was the depth of the Clark support here, Wesley Clark. Clearly, Howard Dean had the largest presence in the hall. I mean, the event was another reminder of Dean's appeal for grassroots hardcore Democratic activists. The partisans in the party, the activists really are attracted to Dean.

But next to Dean, behind Dean, I think the candidate who was the most visible, had the most support in the hall was Wesley Clark. And it may be another sign that after having a rough opening few weeks of his campaign, he's beginning to get a little bit of a second wind, moving up a little bit in the polls in New Hampshire, and possibly positioning himself with good fund-raising to emerge as the strongest alternative to Dean.

MORET: So with respect to Wesley Clark, do you think that this weekend could prove a catalyst for his campaign?

CLARK: Well, I think it was just a little bit of another marker along the way that we're seeing some signs of regeneration. You know, he came out with a lot of publicity. There was a lot of notice. He had a very tough first few weeks out of the box, stumbled on the question of whether he would've supported the war.

And in fact, his speech yesterday was kind of uneven, up and down. But there were a lot of people in the hall who said that they were attracted to him because they thought he had the best chance to beat Bush. Even people who say that they agree with Howard Dean on many of the issues, worried about his ability to beat Bush.

And especially in the South, I would think states like South Carolina, Oklahoma that are going to be voting on February 3, that could be a powerful argument for Clark.

MORET: Ron, we heard in Candy's piece a lot of anger. Not only with regard to the 2000 election, but specifically directed at the president. Is that the overriding theme, do you think, this weekend?

BROWNSTEIN: It's the overriding theme of the Democratic race so far. Look, the reality -- what we're seeing in this country, heading into this presidential race, is that consistently in polls, over 90 percent of Republicans say George Bush is doing a good job as president. Less than 20 percent of Democrats in polls often agree. That's the widest gap we've ever had in the modern history of polling. And you see that translated every week on both ends of the spectrum.

Over the last few days, George Bush has collected $3.6 million from Republican donors. Republicans really like this guy. And Democrats really dislike him. And Howard Dean, by tapping into and expressing that anger, really has driven the Democratic race.

An interesting little sidelight yesterday, Dick Gephardt, who voted for the no child left behind act, the Education Reform Act of 2001, joined John Kerry, who had earlier joined Howard Dean in renouncing it. The pressure on Democrats to basically oppose anything George Bush has done and to reconsider any times in which they had stood with him is fairly substantial.

MORET: Still, voters are looking to the Democrats for some leadership. Can they build a successful strategy if it's solely based around this anger?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, they would say it's not solely based around anger, but the question is still legitimate. Whether they are giving in too much to the antipathy and their base toward President Bush, and driving themselves toward rhetoric and positions, it may be difficult to sell in a general election.

Right now in the primary, as I said, the pressure is all in the direction of being critical of Bush. Even -- you know, the candidates who supported the war barely mention that anymore. They now mention their disappointment in the way Bush has handled the post-war situation. And you go on and on.

The rhetoric is very heated. The characterizations of the president very pointed. And I would say much more personally antagonistic than the way Bush described Bill Clinton in 2000 at a time when the Republican base was comparably angry at him.

So you do have a legitimate question there about whether the Democrats are moving themselves into a rhetoric and a series of positions as we saw yesterday, that could be harder to sell to swing voters, moderate voters in the general election than it is to the partisans who gather in places like this.

MORET: CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein, thanks so much for joining this morning.

BROWNSTEIN: 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