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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview with Kevin Landrigan

Aired January 24, 2004 - 07:40   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: Now for a little politics. There are just a few days left before the New Hampshire primary. In our latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, tracking poll, that is, a group of likely voters, more than 600, made Senator John Kerry their first choice, with 34 percent of the support, which is close to the numbers he polled in Iowa this week. Howard Dean and Wesley Clark stand second and third respectively.
Well, the candidates on the trail can't do all the campaigning by themselves, so they have to rely on others to help out.

And as our Richard Quest reports, New Hampshire leads the nation in campaign volunteers per square foot.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They come from here, they come from there, they come from just about everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm from Michigan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from Baltimore, so, I don't know, 600 miles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've come from Brooklyn. Brooklyn, New York.

QUEST (on camera): Why?

(voice-over): But wherever they're from, eventually they all end up in the same spot.

(on camera): Behind these mass ranks of posters is the candidate Senator Joe Lieberman, with dozens of his supporters. But the reason New Hampshire is so important in the process is because everybody else has their supporters just yards away. Just over here the Howard Dean supporters. Further down the road, you end up with the John Kerry supporters. And pretty much nowhere else in the United States do you get this hothouse environment of so much support in such a small place.

(voice-over): The out of town volunteers are unbridled in their enthusiasm.

UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEERS: Joe Lieberman's the best!

QUEST: This is all the more extraordinary since they are mostly unpaid. Coming to New Hampshire is a labor of love.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're sleeping on people's floors. We had to pay our way. We had to pay for the plane tickets up here. But it's worth it because this is where we need to be to get support for Howard Dean.

QUEST: For political junkies, this is a right of passage, to slog through the snows of New England working on a campaign. And however their candidates finally fare, it's an experience they won't forget.

Richard Quest, CNN, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Well, as you know, coming out of Iowa, there are the one, two, three placements -- Kerry, Dean and Clark, and those placements are now being projected about the same for New Hampshire. But as you know in politics, anything can happen, especially now Iowa is semi-forgotten.

So to talk a little bit more about the political scene coming up for this Tuesday, we are joined by Kevin Landrigan, political reporter for the "Nashua Telegraph."

Kevin, thanks so much for taking time out this morning to discuss your area of expertise, of course.

KEVIN LANDRIGAN, "NASHUA TELEGRAPH": A pleasure being with you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Let me ask you this. You know, we saw, I think, what everyone would agree was an upset with John Kerry in Iowa. Certainly a man who's been around politics for quite some time, but not projected to the be the winner there.

What are we going to see in New Hampshire and could there be another upset, even though these poll numbers now are stretched out quite a bit?

LANDRIGAN: Yes, anything is possible here. It's such a volatile electorate it's almost a four for all, really, in New Hampshire, with John Kerry holding onto a pretty good lead here, but Howard Dean and trying to stabilize, trying to stop the bleeding from Monday night and the rant after the caucus finish that was very disappointing to him.

And we have some surging candidates. John Edwards, North Carolina senator, who has been mired in single digits, in the overnight tracking now has passed Wesley Clark. That seems to be the most interesting battle now, for third place between Wesley Clark and John Edwards.

But, Heidi, as you alluded to at the beginning, there isn't any question, New Hampshire likes to be contrary. I mean we picked Gary Hart, not Walter Mondale. We picked Pat Buchanan, not Bob Dole. We picked John McCain, not George W. Bush. COLLINS: OK, let's talk for a minute, you mentioned those overnight tracking polls, too. Can you give me those numbers? Because as we said in the intro to you, we've got Kerry at 34 percent, Dean at 22, Clark at 17 and Edwards at 12. You're saying overnight Edwards has gotten ahead of Clark.

LANDRIGAN: Yes, it's only a one night tracking poll. But there are a couple of sources that have shown just in that one night, which is very unreliable, the margin of error is very high, that Edwards has actually passed Clark, but by a slight margin. It's within the margin of error. That's why it's unclear whether it really is going to remain firm.

What folks have to remember is there is an anybody but Dean vote out there and Kerry has gotten a great deal of it. But John Kerry has been in politics for a long time and people forget that only three or four months ago he was behind by 20 points in the polls. So there is an anybody but Kerry vote, as well, in New Hampshire. They're shopping for a candidate now. Many of them were looking at Howard Dean. Some of them were disappointed, some are staying with Howard Dean.

Those who were disappointed and are wandering, are taking a second, maybe a third look at John Edwards and General Clark, and maybe even Joe Lieberman, as well.

COLLINS: So you would not say that the Democrats have found their nominee quite yet?

LANDRIGAN: No, I don't think they have. And, in fact, I think it's really possible that what New Hampshire will do is what it generally does, which is winnow down the field, but not end this nomination. There are a lot of voters here that take their role in the primary very seriously and one of the ways they take it seriously is they don't want to be the last word. So as I talk to voters, a lot of candidates who even like John Kerry, say well, I don't want this to end on Tuesday, I'm going to look for a candidate who maybe could give John Kerry the biggest battle in the key South and Midwest states than any Democratic nominee has to compete in if they're going to be able to beat George W. Bush.

COLLINS: So you say you talk to voters, of course you do, quite a bit. What is it that you're going to be looking for in these final days right before the New Hampshire primaries as far as how people will vote? What is the issue in New Hampshire that these folks are looking for and will concentrate on?

LANDRIGAN: Well, all the polls seem to show that health care is the most important issue on folks' minds. Our economy is doing better than the national average. But there still are a lot of people struggling. But as you know, Heidi, with the seven major candidates, the differences among a lot of these issues, including health care, are in the margins. They're not all that significant. So what people are looking for in this primary more than any other -- and I've covered seven in New Hampshire -- they're looking for the issue of electability, who they think could be the nominee who could best beat George W. Bush.

In some of the polls, for example, they asked a question -- is it more important for you to vote for someone who you agree with on issues or someone who you may disagree on an issue but you think they're more electable against George W. Bush? They picked the second choice 60 to 30 percent, two to one.

COLLINS: It is interesting, that's for sure.

All right, Kevin Landrigan, we appreciate your time this morning.

All eyes, as you know, will be on your state on Tuesday.

Again, have a great day.

We appreciate your time.

LANDRIGAN: Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: And if you want to know more about the campaigns or the happenings on the political trail, be sure to stay with us. CNN analysts Al Hunt and Mark Shields will take your questions tomorrow morning at 9:30 Eastern.

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 24, 2004 - 07:40   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now for a little politics. There are just a few days left before the New Hampshire primary. In our latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, tracking poll, that is, a group of likely voters, more than 600, made Senator John Kerry their first choice, with 34 percent of the support, which is close to the numbers he polled in Iowa this week. Howard Dean and Wesley Clark stand second and third respectively.
Well, the candidates on the trail can't do all the campaigning by themselves, so they have to rely on others to help out.

And as our Richard Quest reports, New Hampshire leads the nation in campaign volunteers per square foot.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They come from here, they come from there, they come from just about everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm from Michigan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from Baltimore, so, I don't know, 600 miles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've come from Brooklyn. Brooklyn, New York.

QUEST (on camera): Why?

(voice-over): But wherever they're from, eventually they all end up in the same spot.

(on camera): Behind these mass ranks of posters is the candidate Senator Joe Lieberman, with dozens of his supporters. But the reason New Hampshire is so important in the process is because everybody else has their supporters just yards away. Just over here the Howard Dean supporters. Further down the road, you end up with the John Kerry supporters. And pretty much nowhere else in the United States do you get this hothouse environment of so much support in such a small place.

(voice-over): The out of town volunteers are unbridled in their enthusiasm.

UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEERS: Joe Lieberman's the best!

QUEST: This is all the more extraordinary since they are mostly unpaid. Coming to New Hampshire is a labor of love.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're sleeping on people's floors. We had to pay our way. We had to pay for the plane tickets up here. But it's worth it because this is where we need to be to get support for Howard Dean.

QUEST: For political junkies, this is a right of passage, to slog through the snows of New England working on a campaign. And however their candidates finally fare, it's an experience they won't forget.

Richard Quest, CNN, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Well, as you know, coming out of Iowa, there are the one, two, three placements -- Kerry, Dean and Clark, and those placements are now being projected about the same for New Hampshire. But as you know in politics, anything can happen, especially now Iowa is semi-forgotten.

So to talk a little bit more about the political scene coming up for this Tuesday, we are joined by Kevin Landrigan, political reporter for the "Nashua Telegraph."

Kevin, thanks so much for taking time out this morning to discuss your area of expertise, of course.

KEVIN LANDRIGAN, "NASHUA TELEGRAPH": A pleasure being with you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Let me ask you this. You know, we saw, I think, what everyone would agree was an upset with John Kerry in Iowa. Certainly a man who's been around politics for quite some time, but not projected to the be the winner there.

What are we going to see in New Hampshire and could there be another upset, even though these poll numbers now are stretched out quite a bit?

LANDRIGAN: Yes, anything is possible here. It's such a volatile electorate it's almost a four for all, really, in New Hampshire, with John Kerry holding onto a pretty good lead here, but Howard Dean and trying to stabilize, trying to stop the bleeding from Monday night and the rant after the caucus finish that was very disappointing to him.

And we have some surging candidates. John Edwards, North Carolina senator, who has been mired in single digits, in the overnight tracking now has passed Wesley Clark. That seems to be the most interesting battle now, for third place between Wesley Clark and John Edwards.

But, Heidi, as you alluded to at the beginning, there isn't any question, New Hampshire likes to be contrary. I mean we picked Gary Hart, not Walter Mondale. We picked Pat Buchanan, not Bob Dole. We picked John McCain, not George W. Bush. COLLINS: OK, let's talk for a minute, you mentioned those overnight tracking polls, too. Can you give me those numbers? Because as we said in the intro to you, we've got Kerry at 34 percent, Dean at 22, Clark at 17 and Edwards at 12. You're saying overnight Edwards has gotten ahead of Clark.

LANDRIGAN: Yes, it's only a one night tracking poll. But there are a couple of sources that have shown just in that one night, which is very unreliable, the margin of error is very high, that Edwards has actually passed Clark, but by a slight margin. It's within the margin of error. That's why it's unclear whether it really is going to remain firm.

What folks have to remember is there is an anybody but Dean vote out there and Kerry has gotten a great deal of it. But John Kerry has been in politics for a long time and people forget that only three or four months ago he was behind by 20 points in the polls. So there is an anybody but Kerry vote, as well, in New Hampshire. They're shopping for a candidate now. Many of them were looking at Howard Dean. Some of them were disappointed, some are staying with Howard Dean.

Those who were disappointed and are wandering, are taking a second, maybe a third look at John Edwards and General Clark, and maybe even Joe Lieberman, as well.

COLLINS: So you would not say that the Democrats have found their nominee quite yet?

LANDRIGAN: No, I don't think they have. And, in fact, I think it's really possible that what New Hampshire will do is what it generally does, which is winnow down the field, but not end this nomination. There are a lot of voters here that take their role in the primary very seriously and one of the ways they take it seriously is they don't want to be the last word. So as I talk to voters, a lot of candidates who even like John Kerry, say well, I don't want this to end on Tuesday, I'm going to look for a candidate who maybe could give John Kerry the biggest battle in the key South and Midwest states than any Democratic nominee has to compete in if they're going to be able to beat George W. Bush.

COLLINS: So you say you talk to voters, of course you do, quite a bit. What is it that you're going to be looking for in these final days right before the New Hampshire primaries as far as how people will vote? What is the issue in New Hampshire that these folks are looking for and will concentrate on?

LANDRIGAN: Well, all the polls seem to show that health care is the most important issue on folks' minds. Our economy is doing better than the national average. But there still are a lot of people struggling. But as you know, Heidi, with the seven major candidates, the differences among a lot of these issues, including health care, are in the margins. They're not all that significant. So what people are looking for in this primary more than any other -- and I've covered seven in New Hampshire -- they're looking for the issue of electability, who they think could be the nominee who could best beat George W. Bush.

In some of the polls, for example, they asked a question -- is it more important for you to vote for someone who you agree with on issues or someone who you may disagree on an issue but you think they're more electable against George W. Bush? They picked the second choice 60 to 30 percent, two to one.

COLLINS: It is interesting, that's for sure.

All right, Kevin Landrigan, we appreciate your time this morning.

All eyes, as you know, will be on your state on Tuesday.

Again, have a great day.

We appreciate your time.

LANDRIGAN: Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: And if you want to know more about the campaigns or the happenings on the political trail, be sure to stay with us. CNN analysts Al Hunt and Mark Shields will take your questions tomorrow morning at 9:30 Eastern.

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