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CNN Live Sunday

What Will Democratic Hopefuls Discuss In Tonight's Debate

Aired October 26, 2003 - 16:41   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.


ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: Will nine candidates, 90 minutes, the Democratic Presidential candidates debate again tonight and CNN's Candy Crowley is there. Candy, last debate we saw Wesley Clark, who was in the candidate's crosshairs, what do you think we can expect from tonight's debate?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN: I would think probably the same thing for two reasons. First of all, Wesley Clark is the newcomer. And second of all, he's done very well, at least in the national polls. So you can expect there can be a lot of criticism.

Some of the things he said out there appear contradictory and you expect that Dean will also be under continued scrutiny by his colleagues because he too is the front runner particularly in all important New Hampshire, and he is up there near the top in Iowa, as well. Those will be the two focal points of the criticism.

But this sort of cuts both ways for Democrats because national Democrats would prefer that these nine candidates all spend their time talking about how bad George Bush is, instead of attacking each other. They see this is nothing more than bother for the Bush campaign if they attack one another. On the other hand, the candidates need to stand out and sometimes the only way to do that in a forum when you have so little time is to go on the offensive.

KOPPEL: So, who is going to be in the crosshairs, but what about what? What issues? More Iraq?

CROWLEY: I'm sure there'll be some Iraq, it is always difficult to tell. Because the question, this is one of the sponsors of this debate is the Congressional Black Caucus and the entity of it. So I'm sure you'll get domestic questions, as well. So there will be another Iraq question because that has been such a focal point particularly for Howard Dean's campaign. So, yes, you'll get some Iraq, but I expect that you will hear a lot domestic issues, as well.

KOPPEL: Candy, have we seen any impact in the polling for these candidates, in terms of we saw just a couple weeks ago, most Americans had no idea who the Democratic candidates were. Is this raising any of their profiles are we seeing that reflected in the polls?

CROWLEY: No, the short answer is we haven't seen it reflected in the polls. I think when you have -- this is still pretty early on for most voters, after all, we have maybe a year until the actual election. So, only the really, you know, rabbit are at this point, the real political paying attention and the party faithful. What they're trying to do in these debates is not make a really big mistake, that's what, you know, most want to do is get through them. But that we do get complaints, particularly from the frontrunners, there's so many of them, but it's very hard to stand out. So they're complaining about how they get so little time.

KOPPEL: And yet they keep showing up and it seems like each debate there's a new candidate that joins the action. Candy Crowley for us there in Detroit, she'll be following tonight's Democratic candidates' debate for us. 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 October 26, 2003 - 16:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: Will nine candidates, 90 minutes, the Democratic Presidential candidates debate again tonight and CNN's Candy Crowley is there. Candy, last debate we saw Wesley Clark, who was in the candidate's crosshairs, what do you think we can expect from tonight's debate?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN: I would think probably the same thing for two reasons. First of all, Wesley Clark is the newcomer. And second of all, he's done very well, at least in the national polls. So you can expect there can be a lot of criticism.

Some of the things he said out there appear contradictory and you expect that Dean will also be under continued scrutiny by his colleagues because he too is the front runner particularly in all important New Hampshire, and he is up there near the top in Iowa, as well. Those will be the two focal points of the criticism.

But this sort of cuts both ways for Democrats because national Democrats would prefer that these nine candidates all spend their time talking about how bad George Bush is, instead of attacking each other. They see this is nothing more than bother for the Bush campaign if they attack one another. On the other hand, the candidates need to stand out and sometimes the only way to do that in a forum when you have so little time is to go on the offensive.

KOPPEL: So, who is going to be in the crosshairs, but what about what? What issues? More Iraq?

CROWLEY: I'm sure there'll be some Iraq, it is always difficult to tell. Because the question, this is one of the sponsors of this debate is the Congressional Black Caucus and the entity of it. So I'm sure you'll get domestic questions, as well. So there will be another Iraq question because that has been such a focal point particularly for Howard Dean's campaign. So, yes, you'll get some Iraq, but I expect that you will hear a lot domestic issues, as well.

KOPPEL: Candy, have we seen any impact in the polling for these candidates, in terms of we saw just a couple weeks ago, most Americans had no idea who the Democratic candidates were. Is this raising any of their profiles are we seeing that reflected in the polls?

CROWLEY: No, the short answer is we haven't seen it reflected in the polls. I think when you have -- this is still pretty early on for most voters, after all, we have maybe a year until the actual election. So, only the really, you know, rabbit are at this point, the real political paying attention and the party faithful. What they're trying to do in these debates is not make a really big mistake, that's what, you know, most want to do is get through them. But that we do get complaints, particularly from the frontrunners, there's so many of them, but it's very hard to stand out. So they're complaining about how they get so little time.

KOPPEL: And yet they keep showing up and it seems like each debate there's a new candidate that joins the action. Candy Crowley for us there in Detroit, she'll be following tonight's Democratic candidates' debate for us. 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