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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview With Terry Neal
Aired January 11, 2004 - 07:41 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: Just eight days before the Iowa Caucuses, the Democrats seeking the White House are searching for an extra boost, whether it's by the numbers or on paper.
North Carolina Senator John Edwards is sure to tout his new endorsement by "The Des Moines Register." The paper says he's the best choice, even though he lacks the political experience of many of his rivals.
One such veteran, long time Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, is enjoying the endorsement of three other papers, "The Iowa City Press Citizen," "The Hawkeye" in Burlington, and "The Quad City Times" all say he's the Democrat to challenge President Bush.
But Kerry and Edwards are still trailing the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, Howard Dean. The former Vermont governor campaigned in Iowa with two of his best known backers, former Vice President Al Gore and Iowa Senator Tom Harkin.
A "Los Angeles Times"/"Chicago Tribune" poll of registered Democrats show Dean leading the pack now with 30 percent. Dick Gephardt trails with 23 percent and Kerry follows with 18.
A "Newsweek" poll released yesterday shows Dean enjoying an even bigger lead nationwide. 24 percent of registered Democrats and Democratic leaners say they favor him. 12 percent back retired General Wesley Clark. And an equal number support Gephardt.
We want to go ahead and hear a little bit more now about the first big test for Democratic presidential candidates. Here to tell us about the Iowa caucuses and the task at hand for Democrats is Terry Neal, chief political correspondent of washingtonpost.com.
Good morning to you, Terry. Thanks for being here. Not much time until the Iowa Caucuses. What needs to be done here, mainly for the frontrunner, Howard Dean?
TERRY NEAL, WASHINGTONPOST.COM: Well, I mean, what Howard Dean needs to do, what a lot of people need to remember is that while the Iowa caucuses are very important and influential relatively -- a relatively small number of people actually turn out for these things this year. And maybe somewhere around 100,000 or whatever, which is -- will probably be about a fifth of the state's registered Democrats. So organization is the key.
And while Howard Dean leads in the polls, he's got to remember that Richard Gephardt is probably the most organized in the sense that he's been there. He knows these people. He's got a very strong backing from his union supporters.
So organization's going to be the key. It's going to be getting the right people out to the caucuses on election day.
COLLINS: And what do you make of what we were just talking about, the endorsements of the different newspapers there in Iowa? John Edwards, mainly.
NEAL: Well, you know, I don't -- I usually don't think that newspaper endorsements make a whole heck of a lot of difference. I mean, I think the people are going to look at -- I mean, endorsements in general don't make a heck of a lot of difference. I think the most important endorsements, however, Howard Dean has gotten both Gore, Bradley, and most importantly, in the state of Iowa, more important than either of those two are Tom Harkin.
And Tom Harkin -- Senator Tom Harkin's endorsement came at a really crucial time. It came as Howard Dean was getting some bad news on another subject, the release of some old tapes with him same disparaging things about the Iowa caucuses.
COLLINS: Right.
NEAL: So.
COLLINS: Well, let me ask you this then. In your eyes, what is the absolute most important thing for the Democrats to be doing at this point? As a party as a whole?
NEAL: Well, I mean, I think one of the most important things for the party right now is to start looking beyond this nomination process. It's been a pretty brutal battle. Nomination battles are always tough, but in this particular case, it's been tough because the party's been very split on what direction it wants to go in.
And I think the party's going to have to start thinking -- even though the contests haven't started they've got to start thinking as a party, not necessarily by the -- about which individual is going to represent them, but how the party can come together and sort of bridge some of these divisions that they've been having over ideology the last few months.
COLLINS: Yes, you write a lot about electability...
NEAL: Right.
COLLINS: ...and who actually is going to be the individual that can beat President Bush. Does that argument really ever work?
NEAL: Well, the electability argument tends to work, but only when a party has been out of office for -- out of the White House for about eight years. In this particular case, when a party's been out of office for four years, party's have nominated all sorts of people. And electability is never the top issue. If electability were the top issue, people might be more receptive to Joseph Lieberman and John Kerry's argument, which is you've got to vote for me because we have the best chance of beating George W. Bush.
In this particular case, what Democratic voters seem to be saying is we want somebody who believes what we believe. So when Joseph Lieberman says that Howard Dean's comments about the war and about Saddam Hussein make him unelectable, they're saying well it may make him unelectable, but he believes and we believe. And we're going to support him.
So electability is an issue, but it's not the top issue four years out of the White House.
COLLINS: I'm always curious to know from political strategists that we talked to, and experts like yourself, if Dean does get this nomination, he typically has been running an anti-Bush campaign, if you will, very much against the war, problems with the economy in his eyes.
Saddam Hussein has now been captured. The economy is turning around. How is he going to identify himself? What will he run on?
NEAL: Well, I think what you're going to start to see is if he does capture this nomination, he's going to do what everybody does. He's going to start turning around and running a more centrist campaign, trying to swing back and get some -- trying to swing a little bit back towards the middle to get some of these swing voters.
He probably will talk less about Iraq. But they're -- but you know, issues like the economy are still going to be ripe issues for the campaign. You know, there's -- while the economy does seem to be coming back, there still seems to be some legitimate argument about what -- to what extent job creation is really occurring. There's still the issue of manufacturing losses throughout the middle swathe of the country. So there's some legitimate issues.
But the campaign will turn from a less ideological one to a more pragmatic and practice one in which the fight will really be over the center.
COLLINS: All right, Terry Neal, we certainly appreciate your time this morning. Chief political correspondent for Washingtonpost.com.
NEAL: Yes, ma'am.
COLLINS: Thanks, again. Have a great Sunday.
NEAL: Thanks, you too.
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 January 11, 2004 - 07:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Just eight days before the Iowa Caucuses, the Democrats seeking the White House are searching for an extra boost, whether it's by the numbers or on paper.
North Carolina Senator John Edwards is sure to tout his new endorsement by "The Des Moines Register." The paper says he's the best choice, even though he lacks the political experience of many of his rivals.
One such veteran, long time Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, is enjoying the endorsement of three other papers, "The Iowa City Press Citizen," "The Hawkeye" in Burlington, and "The Quad City Times" all say he's the Democrat to challenge President Bush.
But Kerry and Edwards are still trailing the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, Howard Dean. The former Vermont governor campaigned in Iowa with two of his best known backers, former Vice President Al Gore and Iowa Senator Tom Harkin.
A "Los Angeles Times"/"Chicago Tribune" poll of registered Democrats show Dean leading the pack now with 30 percent. Dick Gephardt trails with 23 percent and Kerry follows with 18.
A "Newsweek" poll released yesterday shows Dean enjoying an even bigger lead nationwide. 24 percent of registered Democrats and Democratic leaners say they favor him. 12 percent back retired General Wesley Clark. And an equal number support Gephardt.
We want to go ahead and hear a little bit more now about the first big test for Democratic presidential candidates. Here to tell us about the Iowa caucuses and the task at hand for Democrats is Terry Neal, chief political correspondent of washingtonpost.com.
Good morning to you, Terry. Thanks for being here. Not much time until the Iowa Caucuses. What needs to be done here, mainly for the frontrunner, Howard Dean?
TERRY NEAL, WASHINGTONPOST.COM: Well, I mean, what Howard Dean needs to do, what a lot of people need to remember is that while the Iowa caucuses are very important and influential relatively -- a relatively small number of people actually turn out for these things this year. And maybe somewhere around 100,000 or whatever, which is -- will probably be about a fifth of the state's registered Democrats. So organization is the key.
And while Howard Dean leads in the polls, he's got to remember that Richard Gephardt is probably the most organized in the sense that he's been there. He knows these people. He's got a very strong backing from his union supporters.
So organization's going to be the key. It's going to be getting the right people out to the caucuses on election day.
COLLINS: And what do you make of what we were just talking about, the endorsements of the different newspapers there in Iowa? John Edwards, mainly.
NEAL: Well, you know, I don't -- I usually don't think that newspaper endorsements make a whole heck of a lot of difference. I mean, I think the people are going to look at -- I mean, endorsements in general don't make a heck of a lot of difference. I think the most important endorsements, however, Howard Dean has gotten both Gore, Bradley, and most importantly, in the state of Iowa, more important than either of those two are Tom Harkin.
And Tom Harkin -- Senator Tom Harkin's endorsement came at a really crucial time. It came as Howard Dean was getting some bad news on another subject, the release of some old tapes with him same disparaging things about the Iowa caucuses.
COLLINS: Right.
NEAL: So.
COLLINS: Well, let me ask you this then. In your eyes, what is the absolute most important thing for the Democrats to be doing at this point? As a party as a whole?
NEAL: Well, I mean, I think one of the most important things for the party right now is to start looking beyond this nomination process. It's been a pretty brutal battle. Nomination battles are always tough, but in this particular case, it's been tough because the party's been very split on what direction it wants to go in.
And I think the party's going to have to start thinking -- even though the contests haven't started they've got to start thinking as a party, not necessarily by the -- about which individual is going to represent them, but how the party can come together and sort of bridge some of these divisions that they've been having over ideology the last few months.
COLLINS: Yes, you write a lot about electability...
NEAL: Right.
COLLINS: ...and who actually is going to be the individual that can beat President Bush. Does that argument really ever work?
NEAL: Well, the electability argument tends to work, but only when a party has been out of office for -- out of the White House for about eight years. In this particular case, when a party's been out of office for four years, party's have nominated all sorts of people. And electability is never the top issue. If electability were the top issue, people might be more receptive to Joseph Lieberman and John Kerry's argument, which is you've got to vote for me because we have the best chance of beating George W. Bush.
In this particular case, what Democratic voters seem to be saying is we want somebody who believes what we believe. So when Joseph Lieberman says that Howard Dean's comments about the war and about Saddam Hussein make him unelectable, they're saying well it may make him unelectable, but he believes and we believe. And we're going to support him.
So electability is an issue, but it's not the top issue four years out of the White House.
COLLINS: I'm always curious to know from political strategists that we talked to, and experts like yourself, if Dean does get this nomination, he typically has been running an anti-Bush campaign, if you will, very much against the war, problems with the economy in his eyes.
Saddam Hussein has now been captured. The economy is turning around. How is he going to identify himself? What will he run on?
NEAL: Well, I think what you're going to start to see is if he does capture this nomination, he's going to do what everybody does. He's going to start turning around and running a more centrist campaign, trying to swing back and get some -- trying to swing a little bit back towards the middle to get some of these swing voters.
He probably will talk less about Iraq. But they're -- but you know, issues like the economy are still going to be ripe issues for the campaign. You know, there's -- while the economy does seem to be coming back, there still seems to be some legitimate argument about what -- to what extent job creation is really occurring. There's still the issue of manufacturing losses throughout the middle swathe of the country. So there's some legitimate issues.
But the campaign will turn from a less ideological one to a more pragmatic and practice one in which the fight will really be over the center.
COLLINS: All right, Terry Neal, we certainly appreciate your time this morning. Chief political correspondent for Washingtonpost.com.
NEAL: Yes, ma'am.
COLLINS: Thanks, again. Have a great Sunday.
NEAL: Thanks, you too.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
