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CNN Saturday Morning News

A look at Democratic Presidential Race

Aired February 21, 2004 - 07:44   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.


MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: We are on the campaign trail and Democratic front runner John Kerry and rival John Edwards are looking ahead to Super Tuesday. Ten states hold electoral contests and Edwards is trying to convince voters that he is a viable alternative to front runner Kerry.
Let's talk about all of this with CNN political contributor Ron Brownstein -- good morning to you, Ron.

RON BROWNSTEIN, "LOS ANGELES TIMES," CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Marty.

SAVIDGE: Well, as we look ahead here, have we come up with specific issues or is it still all about electability when it comes to Democrats?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, so far this race has been driven more by personal qualities, assessments of the candidates, life stories and skills. John Kerry has gotten most of his energy from the sense that he is more electable than President Bush. Also, voters have liked his experience, the fact that he has been in public life for a long time.

John Edwards has really been the flip side. He's done well around another E, empathy. If you look at the exit poll, he does very well with people, establishing a connection with them. They feel that he cares about their lives.

The one issue that really has been in the race since last fall, when Howard Dean made Iraq a central point of division, has only come up really in the last couple weeks, as John Edwards has argued against John Kerry on trade, Edwards saying that he opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement as a candidate in 1998. Kerry, of course, voted for it.

It's a tough argument to sell too far, though, because Kerry now has the endorsement of organized labor, the AFL-CIO. And with people like John Sweeney and James Hoffa of the Teamsters out there saying look, he's good enough for us on trade, it's not clear that's going to be enough to turn the tide by itself for John Edwards.

SAVIDGE: Well, as much talk as we may put into Iraq, it still seems to be that old quote, "it's the economy, stupid," and specifically this time around jobs and concerns of jobs going overseas.

Does either candidate, Kerry or Edwards, really carry the day on this particular issue?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, Edwards, you know, it's interesting, as we've been looking at the exit polls, there have been 10 states now that have had exit polls in them. And John Edwards has consistently done well with people who say their principal concern is the economy. The differences between the candidates on their economic views really aren't that great, except, to some extent, on trade.

But I think Edwards has had a clearer focus on the economy in his message. As I said, he's established more of a sense among people that he understands what's going on in their lives.

In some ways the concerns about Kerry that are raised by the comparison with Edwards are the problems that Kerry had originally way back in the race, when people worried whether he would be able to connect with average voters, whether he had that kind of blue blood background and was able to make those kind of personal connections.

To some extent, that's coming up again. But, again, it's rising at a point where John Kerry is pretty far along the line toward the nomination.

SAVIDGE: Super Tuesday, which of the states to watch? Are they the obvious ones or are there some others we might not necessarily consider?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, here's one way to look at this. John Edwards, a little like John McCain in 2000, has been keeping himself in the race largely on the votes of people who aren't Democrats -- independents and some Republicans. In almost every state, John Kerry has beaten him by at least 17 points among Democratic partisans.

So one of the questions on Super Tuesday is which states allow non-Democrats to vote? Those are California, Georgia and three states in New England. Those may be more fertile territory for John Edwards than some of the other states, like Maryland, Connecticut and New York, that are open only to Democrats. So really you have to see a reversal in fortune for him to compete in those places, a real change in the pattern we've seen so far.

SAVIDGE: Ron Brownstein with the "L.A. Times," thank you very much.

We appreciate it.

It's going to be a big day, Super Tuesday.

Well, the remaining four Democratic presidential candidates will participate in a CNN/"Los Angeles Times" debate. That'll be next Thursday, February 26. The debate will be moderated by CNN's "Larry King Live" and you can watch it at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time.

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 February 21, 2004 - 07:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: We are on the campaign trail and Democratic front runner John Kerry and rival John Edwards are looking ahead to Super Tuesday. Ten states hold electoral contests and Edwards is trying to convince voters that he is a viable alternative to front runner Kerry.
Let's talk about all of this with CNN political contributor Ron Brownstein -- good morning to you, Ron.

RON BROWNSTEIN, "LOS ANGELES TIMES," CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Marty.

SAVIDGE: Well, as we look ahead here, have we come up with specific issues or is it still all about electability when it comes to Democrats?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, so far this race has been driven more by personal qualities, assessments of the candidates, life stories and skills. John Kerry has gotten most of his energy from the sense that he is more electable than President Bush. Also, voters have liked his experience, the fact that he has been in public life for a long time.

John Edwards has really been the flip side. He's done well around another E, empathy. If you look at the exit poll, he does very well with people, establishing a connection with them. They feel that he cares about their lives.

The one issue that really has been in the race since last fall, when Howard Dean made Iraq a central point of division, has only come up really in the last couple weeks, as John Edwards has argued against John Kerry on trade, Edwards saying that he opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement as a candidate in 1998. Kerry, of course, voted for it.

It's a tough argument to sell too far, though, because Kerry now has the endorsement of organized labor, the AFL-CIO. And with people like John Sweeney and James Hoffa of the Teamsters out there saying look, he's good enough for us on trade, it's not clear that's going to be enough to turn the tide by itself for John Edwards.

SAVIDGE: Well, as much talk as we may put into Iraq, it still seems to be that old quote, "it's the economy, stupid," and specifically this time around jobs and concerns of jobs going overseas.

Does either candidate, Kerry or Edwards, really carry the day on this particular issue?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, Edwards, you know, it's interesting, as we've been looking at the exit polls, there have been 10 states now that have had exit polls in them. And John Edwards has consistently done well with people who say their principal concern is the economy. The differences between the candidates on their economic views really aren't that great, except, to some extent, on trade.

But I think Edwards has had a clearer focus on the economy in his message. As I said, he's established more of a sense among people that he understands what's going on in their lives.

In some ways the concerns about Kerry that are raised by the comparison with Edwards are the problems that Kerry had originally way back in the race, when people worried whether he would be able to connect with average voters, whether he had that kind of blue blood background and was able to make those kind of personal connections.

To some extent, that's coming up again. But, again, it's rising at a point where John Kerry is pretty far along the line toward the nomination.

SAVIDGE: Super Tuesday, which of the states to watch? Are they the obvious ones or are there some others we might not necessarily consider?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, here's one way to look at this. John Edwards, a little like John McCain in 2000, has been keeping himself in the race largely on the votes of people who aren't Democrats -- independents and some Republicans. In almost every state, John Kerry has beaten him by at least 17 points among Democratic partisans.

So one of the questions on Super Tuesday is which states allow non-Democrats to vote? Those are California, Georgia and three states in New England. Those may be more fertile territory for John Edwards than some of the other states, like Maryland, Connecticut and New York, that are open only to Democrats. So really you have to see a reversal in fortune for him to compete in those places, a real change in the pattern we've seen so far.

SAVIDGE: Ron Brownstein with the "L.A. Times," thank you very much.

We appreciate it.

It's going to be a big day, Super Tuesday.

Well, the remaining four Democratic presidential candidates will participate in a CNN/"Los Angeles Times" debate. That'll be next Thursday, February 26. The debate will be moderated by CNN's "Larry King Live" and you can watch it at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time.

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