ad info

 
CNN.comTranscripts
 
Editions | myCNN | Video | Audio | Headline News Brief | Feedback  

 

  Search
 
 

 

TOP STORIES

Bush signs order opening 'faith-based' charity office for business

Rescues continue 4 days after devastating India earthquake

DaimlerChrysler employees join rapidly swelling ranks of laid-off U.S. workers

Disney's GO.com is a goner

(MORE)

MARKETS
4:30pm ET, 4/16
144.70
8257.60
3.71
1394.72
10.90
879.91
 


WORLD

U.S.

POLITICS

LAW

TECHNOLOGY

ENTERTAINMENT

 
TRAVEL

ARTS & STYLE



(MORE HEADLINES)
 
CNN Websites
Networks image


TalkBack Live

What Does Dick Cheney Bring to the GOP Ticket?

Aired July 25, 2000 - 4:00 p.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe you are looking at the next vice president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOBBIE BATTISTA, HOST: Taking a chance on Dick Cheney: What will the former defense secretary bring to the battle for the White House?

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to this special later edition of TALKBACK LIVE.

As you know, it's now official: Former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney will join George W. Bush in the Republican race for the presidency. Is he the right man at the right time?

Here to talk with us first about it today is CNN senior political analyst, Bill Schneider.

Bill, good to see you.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Bobbie.

BATTISTA: And by all reviews and accounts, this would appear to be a pretty solid choice for the governor to pick for his running mate, although I'm sure he does have some drawbacks. What's your assessment?

SCHNEIDER: Well, it is a solid choice in the sense that it is reassuring. It's mostly a choice saying that governing -- that if he's president of the United States, he'll have people around him who know what they are doing, who have been around, because there have been questions raised about George Bush's experience and his knowledge about world affairs.

The words that you hear today used about Dick Cheney are -- I call them the "s" words -- solid, safe, seasoned, sound -- also experienced and knowledgeable. Those are not words that you usually hear about George W. Bush. So, that's one reason why the pick was a good one. BATTISTA: Why did Governor Bush, do you suppose, take the safe route in making his selection?

SCHNEIDER: Well, he wants to get elected and he thinks that's the first thing he has to do.

BATTISTA: But why not a woman, let's say, for example? Why not a Republican governor? They seem to be, you know, part of the more elective wing of the Republican Party.

SCHNEIDER: Bobbie, this is a ticket that gladdens of heart of middle-aged white men everywhere. Those are my people. There are a lot of them. This is not an exciting choice. You know, the governor said, some time ago, he said: We're going to have an exciting choice. We polled people last night and they said: Well, we don't think this is an exciting choice -- even Bush voters didn't say it was exciting -- but it does, in a way, send a message.

You know, there was a lot of pressure on Bush to reach out to moderates and independents and Democrats. Look, Dick Cheney is none of those things. He is a very hard-line conservative in terms of his voting record. And the Democrats are going to go after that. It's really his style that Bush is pointing to. He didn't look like a typical vice presidential nominee today. He wasn't an attack dog. He didn't go after the Democrats.

He didn't show a lot of fight. Well, that's the style that Bush wants. Bush wants to appeal to independent voters and some Democrats by saying: I'm not going to be a harsh, shrill partisan. He wants to go to back to an earlier image of the Republican Party before Newt Gingrich, a positive image of conservatism, more or less associated with Ronald Reagan.

BATTISTA: Reportedly, Dick Cheney didn't want this job before Governor Bush assigned him to the task of trying to find someone for this job. That is a little irony there, but I mean, what do you suppose changed his mind?

SCHNEIDER: George Bush changed his mind. He was working for George Bush. And he told me personally -- Cheney did, one month ago -- that he had taken himself out of consideration. So clearly, Governor Bush prevailed upon him. We have no evidence that former President Bush had anything to do with it directly, in terms of speak to Cheney. It would be interesting to follow that up, because he worked for former President Bush as his defense secretary.

But it's -- we do know that former President Bush holds Dick Cheney in very high regard and probably pushed for his son to make a serious offer to his former defense secretary.

BATTISTA: And now one of the big questions -- more to do with who it is not, rather than who it is -- why was it not John McCain?

SCHNEIDER: Yes. John McCain is trouble. I mean, he's shown his independence. Even in the past week, he was playing some sort of head-game about whether he was available or not available, interested or not interested. I think the only way George Bush would have chosen John McCain is if he were convinced that McCain was the only way he could have gotten elected. Now, he might have been a stronger running mate in terms of electoral appeal to Democrats, to independents -- and I think he is a stronger running mate in terms of electoral appeal to Democrats, to independents, and I think he is a stronger nominee than Dick Cheney is. He has more appeal to Democrats and independents. I can prove that. But the fact is Bush believes that he can win with Cheney, that he can win in other ways, that he doesn't have to have McCain on the ticket to win.

BATTISTA: And one thing we should mention, and I don't know whether this will be a factor, Bill, what do you think? The fact Dick Cheney has had a history of heart problems? And, you know, the health of our political candidates, we try to say that that's not important in our decision, but I think that sometimes, you know, it is.

SCHNEIDER: Well, it's unknown at this point. Although I can tell that you 70 percent of Americans say they're not concerned about it. It was some time ago; it was back in the 1980s. He had a bypass operation, which a lot of older Americans have had.

And in fact, it's interesting that older Americans are less concerned about this than younger Americans, who are less familiar with the survivability of heart problems. And he was given a thorough examination just this past week, and given a clean bill of health by the doctors.

So, unless problems resurface as they did, for instance, with Bill Bradley during the primaries, unless any problems resurface, I'm not sure this is going to be a significant factor in the campaign.

BATTISTA: And we were looking at poll -- a graphic there just a few seconds ago, was not the one on the heart problems that you were speaking of, but it was -- we asked Americans what they thought of Dick Cheney and 51 percent had a favorable opinion of him; 38 percent no opinion at all, which is sort of significant, that's almost 40 percent; and 11 percent unfavorable.

SCHNEIDER: Yes, there are very few negatives here. Americans have a pretty high, favorable opinion of him. It's about the same as their opinion of John McCain. But McCain, as I say, among Democrats and independents. He appeals across party lines.

The Democrats are going to try to portray Dick Cheney as a right- wing zealot because of his voting record: anti-abortion, anti-gun control, anti-environment. It's just going to be hard to do because his style is not that -- well, I will put it this way: he's an un- Gingrich conservative.

What Bush wants to do is put aside the image of the Republican Party from the 1990s, formed by three crucial events: the Houston convention, where Pat Robertson and Pat Buchanan spoke; Newt Gingrich as speaker of the House; and the impeachment episode which, of course, Dick Cheney and George Bush had nothing to do with. They want to go back to a more positive version of conservatism. And that style, no bickering, no harsh partisanship, should appeal to independent voters.

BATTISTA: Let me take a quick question from the audience -- David.

DAVID: Hi, we're from Columbus, Ohio. I'd like to ask Bill: Why Dick Cheney over John Kasich?

SCHNEIDER: Oh, well. John Kasich happens to be from Columbus, Ohio. I know where your question is coming from. John Kasich, of course, does come from a crucial swing state. But I think the problem with John Kasich is he's young, he's energetic, he's exuberant, but he doesn't add enough gravitas, enough stature to the ticket.

He was been, he was the House budget committee chairman. He has a long record of accomplishment in Washington. But look, with Dick Cheney, you're going all the way back to the 1970s when he was chief of staff to Gerald Ford, he was defense secretary during the Persian Gulf War. While Kasich's record is impressive, Cheney adds a lot more stature and weight to the ticket.

BATTISTA: And I should say ditto for Governor Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania. Some folks from Pennsylvania back here wondered why not Governor Tom Ridge.

SCHNEIDER: Well, Tom Ridge has a -- had, I think, different problem, an important state. Now, he does have stature and he has -- you know, if you weren't looking for someone who looks like a grown- up, he really has that appeal. The problem was he is a supporter of abortion rights who has had conflicts with the Catholic Church on that issue because he is Catholic.

So, to put him on the ticket, I think Bush calculated, might provoke controversy within the party. A lot of anti-abortion Republicans might have objected. Some of them might have walked out. You would have had three weeks of furor.

It might have been worth it in terms of brings new voters into the party, but you don't want a convention where you take those kinds of risks. And, more importantly, it would have risked tension with the Catholic Church that Bush doesn't need any more of.

BATTISTA: And real quickly, Bill, because I'm out of time here, but the women in the audience want to know: Why not Elizabeth Dole? Why not a woman?

SCHNEIDER: Elizabeth Dole would have been an excellent choice and I think he probably gave her very serious consideration. And she would have been a new face of the Republican Party. But I think he went with a guy that he thought would add something a little bit different: some more experience, more knowledge, more experience in Washington. And I think that was the message he wanted to send.

BATTISTA: All right, Bill Schneider, thanks very much for joining us. We've got to take a break here on TALKBACK. We'll be back with a Republican and a Democratic strategist when we get back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BATTISTA: We're back and the e-mails are coming in hot off the press here. Kathy says: "As a woman from Texas, I truly fear what this Republican ticket will do to women's rights."

And Gary in Wisconsin says: "It seems strange for Governor Bush to select a Washington insider after he prided himself in the primary on not being one."

Joining us now are Torie Clarke, former campaign press secretary for the Bush-Quayle campaign. And David Corn is also with us, Washington editor of "The Nation" and a columnist with "The New York Press." He's also the author of a novel entitled, "Deep Background."

Welcome to both of you.

TORIE CLARKE, GOP STRATEGIST: Hi.

DAVID CORN, "THE NATION": Hi, Bobbie.

BATTISTA: Torie, let me start with you. I'm just curious, how much involvement do you think the senior Bush had in this decision?

CLARKE: I actually think very little. I think the governor knew Dick Cheney. Obviously friend of the family, had met him on many occasions. I think knew of him and then got enormous respect and appreciation for him during this search process. So, I actually think very little.

BATTISTA: And your assessment of this choice?

CLARKE: I think it's a great choice on two fronts: one in the conventional sense of a good choice, but in a more tactical sense, I think this is going to make the Gore campaign more reactive. Look at depth and breadth of Dick Cheney. He came from the Ford administration, absolutely squeaky clean and he got really high marks as a great chief of staff, which is a good credential to have.

Then he's in Congress and yes, a conservative member of Congress, but one that was known for working well with others, achieving consensus, etcetera. And then he's been out of office for a while and he's been in the private sector. He knows what the real world is like.

You look at current crop that Vice President Gore is looking at, obviously, and it's sitting members of Congress. I think, in several ways, this is going to make the Gore camp take a hard look at their own choice and say, boy, do we need to rethink the situation.

BATTISTA: On the other hand, David, does George W. Bush need that much propping up? I mean, it's not Dick Cheney running for president, it's George Bush.

CORN: Well, we're talking about Dick Cheney today, naturally. But by and large, vice presidential picks don't make much of a difference in the way elections turn out. If Dan Quayle didn't make a difference in '92, I don't know who will in terms of bringing a candidate down.

I mean, the way I look at this is that George Bush, who had promised us that he was going to pick someone exciting, eye-popping, went to the prom and came back home with a chaperone. I mean, I think -- everyone talks about how reassuring this choice is. The question you have to ask is: Why do you need to be reassured about George W. Bush?

And then we talk about the moderate style of Dick Cheney. Well, this is a fellow who is actually more NRA than the NRA. He voted against banning cop-killer bullets and banning -- and against bans on plastic guns that can get through airport security devices. And he's more anti-abortion than anybody else. He voted against AIDS funding in 1988. I mean, he has a real record that's very far right.

So if George W. Bush wants to talk about compassionate conservatism, he has to show why Dick Cheney's substantive positions, not style -- he can be a perfectly nice guy -- but what the man believes, how that is in sync with being compassionate.

BATTISTA: And how does -- how do you think this affects Gore's decision now for a running mate?

CORN: Well, I disagree with Torie. I think it has absolutely no -- not no -- very little bearing on Al Gore's decision. It's not a choice that I think Al Gore has to match. If he had picked Liddy Dole, a woman, if he had picked someone who had a particular claim on a constituency block or electoral region he might have to combat that. I think Al Gore now can basically choose from his field whatever he thinks advances his campaign the most and not worry about matching Dick Cheney.

CLARKE: Oh, Bobbie, I disagree. I think this puts George Mitchell much higher in the standings. I think he'll now -- he'll feel as though he needs to go for the more senior statesmanlike person, somebody with foreign policy, defense credentials, a little bit of gray hair, squeaky clean image, been out of public office for a while. I think this moves George Mitchell way up.

BATTISTA: Let me take some comments and questions from the audience.

Susan (ph), go ahead.

SUSAN: Well, I'm concerned about the women's vote, the women's issues. How does he expect to get the majority of the female vote?

BATTISTA: Torie?

CLARKE: Well, as a female and as somebody who's been watching politics for a long time, I think if you single-issue women, if you say it's just about abortion, you really lose. Women care about a lot of different issues, and they care about decisions like this.

If you take this oath of office seriously, you're supposed to pick somebody as your nominee who feel really could serve as president. Bar none, Dick Cheney could do that.

CORN: Well, the interesting thing, too, about the abortion matter is that Dick Cheney is even more extreme than George W. Bush. George W. Bush says he's against abortion, but he does allow for some exceptions. Dick Cheney when he was in Congress voted against allowing for exceptions in the case of life and incest and rape.

So we got -- I mean, I think he doesn't really help if he's trying to show he can reach out to independents or swing voters, who may care about abortion among other issues.

BATTISTA: Let me do a couple of e-mails from folks in Texas: "George Bush's selection of Dick Cheney is just the start of a class team. They will take out the current trash." That from Mike.

From Mary in Texas: "Bush has demonstrated that his administration would be another case of good old boys doing Republican business as usual, pretty much like it is in Texas."

Let me go to a question, good question here from Scott. Go ahead.

SCOTT: What -- do you think Bush's choice of Dick Cheney is going to have any impact on the swing states during the major election in November .

CORN: I don't think so, because I don't think he has a claim on some of these swing states, where Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, not geographically I don't think on any issues. He's an oil man. He doesn't have, I think, much connection to the industrial bases of those swing states.

So I mean, I don't think this is going to be a decision that's going to give George W. Bush a lot of political advantage in the campaign ahead.

CLARKE: But that's in the context in which vice presidential candidates don't deliver the states anymore, necessarily regions in the country. I think people learned that a long time ago. You don't pick them anymore because they can deliver California or Ohio. You can pick them on a wider selection of criteria, because again it's the top of the ticket that really moves people one direction or the other.

CORN: Oil prices are very high in those swing states at the moment, and we have two big oil men on the Republican ticket. Voters might look at that askance.

CLARKE: You know, I think people are looking pretty closely at the current administration, including Vice President Gore, and seeing what their role in those prices has been.

BATTISTA: Got to take a quick break here. We'll be back in just a moment with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BATTISTA: Let me -- OK. Let me go back to the audience here quickly. Amos (ph) had a good question. AMOS: My question is, what does the choice of Cheney remind people about Bush Sr. I remember during the primaries Bush Sr. was saying that people should vote for his boy, and I don't think that image sits well with the public. We don't want a boy to be in the White House.

BATTISTA: Torie...

CORN: Well....

BATTISTA: David, go ahead.

CORN: Well, Jeff Greenfield earlier on the network said that this brought to mind the notion of adult supervision in Washington for George W. Bush. I mean, if it does do that, it certainly doesn't help George W. Bush, the governor of Texas, that he has a fellow who is equated more with his father's generation. Even though there's not a lot of age difference between George W. and Dick Cheney, it does look like he's picked a father figure to guide him on the rest of this campaign.

CLARKE: Again, I go back to the fact that people look at the top of the ticket, and with all due respect to people like us who love talking about these things, the race really starts after the conventions that are coming up in the next few weeks. And I think people will really begin to see George W. in a new and different light, and they'll see what people in Texas saw, which is a real strong ability to attract independents and moderates, and to attract women and minorities. I think that will come to shine through a lot more.

Again, with all respect to Dick Cheney, the focus is going to be on George W.

BATTISTA: Mike from Minnesota, where their governor was elected by young people, has a good observation.

MIKE: Well, Jesse Ventura won on the fact that he was able to get the youth out to vote, and this selection doesn't indicate that he's out for that vote.

CORN: Well, I don't think there's anything about Dick Cheney that's going to appeal necessarily to 20- to 30-year-olds. It's a backward-looking pick, not a forward-looking pick. But you know, we keep coming back to the same point over and over again -- this is something that Torie and I and Bill Schneider earlier all agree on -- that these decisions don't have a big impact, I think, on the campaign in and of themselves, although they can perhaps validate other -- you know, other events that happen and cause people to, you know, give them more evidence to have whatever opinions they have.

BATTISTA: Torie, any thoughts on the youth vote real quickly?

CLARKE: No, I agree completely. And again, if you look at Governor Bush's track record in Texas, he does pretty well in that regard, and he has some terrific surrogates out there for him: for example, George P., his nephew, who's doing a great job not only with the youth vote but the Hispanic vote, two strong target audiences going forward.

CORN: I have to laugh at this. This is -- it's all about style. Can anyone tell me why we should listen to what George P. Bush has to say about his uncle other than "I like my uncle, he's a good guy"?

I mean, again and again -- I mean, I would hope that my nephews and nieces...

CLARKE: Are you making fun...

CORN: ... say the same thing about me when I run for the presidency.

But over and over again, we keep going back to stylistic questions about George W. Bush and about his campaign, and I hope that at some point that most of the people sit down and look at these substantive issues driving this campaign, and look at the other candidates, too, like Pat Buchanan and Ralph Nader.

BATTISTA: And Harry Browne, who we're having on the show, by the way, on Thursday.

Torie Clarke and David Corn, thank you both very much for joining us today. Appreciate your time.

CLARKE: Thank you.

CORN: Thank you.

BATTISTA: Joining us now is Allan Lichtman, professor of political history and chairman of the history department at American University. He is the author of "Keys to the White House." Also, on the phone with us, Steve Tally, author of "Bland Ambition: From Adams to Quayle -- The Cranks, Criminals, Tax Cheats, and Golfers Who Made It to Vice President."

Allan, let me start with you quickly. Historically speaking, how important is the choice for vice president to the candidate?

ALLAN LICHTMAN, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: Oh, about as important as a John Nance Garner, vice president of Franklin Roosevelt -- said of the vice presidency itself: "It ain't worth a warm bucket of spit." We vote for the top of the ticket. We don't vote for the second choice.

Remember Dan Quayle: George Bush Sr. picked Dan Quayle when he was 17 points down in the polls. Everybody said, "God, Bush is now doomed." He went on to win by about seven or eight points.

That said, though, in this particular election, which is very choice, where you have some major third-party picks, on the margins, the vice presidential pick could make a difference. And here's my assessment of Cheney in a few words. A first-string pick in terms of the substance, a fourth-string pick in terms of the appeal to the American electorate. Look, certainly he fills holes in the George W. Bush resume in foreign policy and defense policy. He could step into the White House, and he knows how to be a good No. 2 guy.

But look, unlike Liddy Dole he doesn't appeal across the gender line. Unlike John McCain he can't electrify the American people. He's not going to bring in the moderate Democrats and the independents in droves.

He has a hard-right voting record, which isn't going to help with the kind of folks that Bush needs to win. He's associated with the oil industry. He's a CEO.

We're already hearing the Democrats saying, "Aha! This just shows that George Bush is in the pockets of big business."

BATTISTA: Steve, I'm reading from the back of your book now, "Bland Ambition," "Who wants a job that seems the embodiment of second fiddle, the essence of insignificant influence, a political punishment?"

Why would Dick Cheney want this job?

STEVE TALLY, AUTHOR, "BLAND AMBITION": Well, you're right. A lot of people don't want the job. In fact, Daniel Webster over a century ago said, "I do not propose to be buried until I'm dead."

I think Dick Cheney is a prototypical vice president: If you look at the history of vice presidents, very often they're longtime party loyalists, they're well-respected, they have significant experience and know the mechanics of government. I think Bill Schneider earlier called him affable, and I think you could describe a lot of vice presidents that way.

On the other hand, you can also describe a lot of vice presidents as dull. There's not a lot of vision with the vice presidents. So...

BATTISTA: It seems to me that the main reason that most would take the job of vice president is because they eventually would like to run for the presidency.

I don't know if that's true for Dick Cheney or not.

TALLY: I don't know if that's true either, but starting with World War II, if Gore is elected this time, if it works out that way, half of the vice presidents will have become president. So since World War II, it's been a good path to the presidency.

BATTISTA: Allan, do vice presidents and presidents always get along and is that necessary?

LICHTMAN: It is certainly not necessary, and they certainly do not always get along. You know, Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy certainly did not particularly get along. And Lyndon Johnson chafed in that vice presidential position. He thought it was beneath him. He thought he was more important -- and he was probably right -- as Senate majority leader.

And then, of course, with a sad twist of fate, he became president of the United States.

But in recent years, the vice presidency has become a more substantive position unto its own right, and we should consider that in evaluating Dick Cheney and Al Gore's pick.

Al Gore really has become the prototypical modern vice president. He was an important adviser to Bill Clinton lo these many years. He did have substantive roles in the administration. And he was absolutely the logical person to become the Democratic nominee in the year 2000.

So you've got to set aside kind of some of the old ideas about the vice presidency in earlier in the 20th century or the 19th century. It's a much more important job than ever before, and unlike earlier years it really has become a stepping stone to the presidency.

BATTISTA: And Steve...

LICHTMAN: If you're vice president, you're almost sure to be your party's nominee if you want it.

BATTISTA: And Steve, do you -- do you -- I mean, with the choice of Dick Cheney as your running mate and as your vice president, do you think that it's possible he could -- he could expand that role even more?

TALLY: Oh, I think it's quite possible and I would hope he would. As you can tell from the subtitle of my book, I've been critical of the office. I think as our grandfather's truism goes that "Idle hands are the devil's workshop."

And I think that it is good for a vice president to be active in the administration, and I would hope that if George W. Bush were elected president, that he would expand that role.

BATTISTA: Let me take a quick break, Chris, and then I'll get to your question when come back. OK? We'll back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BATTISTA: Aaron Burr was vice president under Thomas Jefferson. In 1804, while still in office, Burr challenged and mortally wounded Alexander Hamilton in a duel. He was indicted for murder, but never tried.

A couple more e-mails here. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in Indiana says: "As a Republican I am thrilled to have a man on the ticket who represents the values and morals that made our country great."

Richard in California says: "This lifelong Republican is appalled at Bush's choice. I thought the Republican Party respected the freedoms of women and those who wished to walk the street safe from guns. As much as I dislike Gore, he has my vote. I wish him well." Question from Chris, over here.

CHRIS: Yes. Recently the Supreme Court decision of Roe versus Wade has come under scrutiny, and as I understand it, Governor Bush (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Cheney has opposed federal funding of abortions. I wonder how that will play in with the upcoming election.

LICHTMAN: Yes, it's a very good question. Abortion always plays into an election. There's a superb study of the 1992 election that Bush's father lost, which showed that more than any single issue, bar none, abortion had the effect of swinging more voters, and it was a net negative for George W. Bush.

I think you're going to see the Democrats pounding away on the abortion issue, particularly because they need a large women's vote to win this election.

You know, it's kind of sad as we go into the 21st century, folks, that we still can't see our way past middle-aged white men at the top of the ticket. I'm sure Dick Cheney is a fine man, he's eminently qualified to be president. But there were qualified women and minorities that George W. Bush could have picked, and I'm kind of sad that we really have not put women into this kind of position at the top levels of government in this day and age.

BATTISTA: Steve -- go ahead.

(APPLAUSE)

All the women in the audience are clapping.

(APPLAUSE)

Steve, is it just -- have we just not -- is it not the right time or the right place yet, or are we still feeling the sting of Geraldine Ferraro that badly?

TALLY: Well, I think you're right. I think obviously picking Geraldine Ferraro didn't work for Mondale, but I don't know that that's it. I think this is a very cautious and careful pick, and I have to admit I was a little surprised by it.

BATTISTA: What's going on in the chat room, Kim?

KIM: A couple are: "No matter who is picked for vice president, people will say that the ticket is upside down."

Another one: "Both candidates will have running mates that are more qualified than themselves."

BATTISTA: OK.

LICHTMAN: You know, let me say something about qualifications historically. You know, Abraham Lincoln was eminently unqualified to be president. He had no administrative experience. He had no military experience, a few weeks as a volunteer with no combat. He had served one term in the Congress.

You've really got to look at the individual. It's not a resume that we're voting for. Frankly, on resumes, Al Gore would probably have it hands down, but that's not the way you make your choice. You pick the character, the values, what these candidates represent. And I think there is a clear choice. There's certainly a clear choice on the Supreme Court, like your audience person said.

You're going to get, as George W. Bush said, his model justice is Antonin Scalia. Obviously, the model for Gore will be more like a Ruth Bader Ginsburg. There's a pretty stark choice there no matter what your values might be.

BATTISTA: Speaking of Gore, we had disagreement between are two Republican and Democratic strategists in the first half about whether or not this will put more or less pressure on Al Gore to come up with a glamour candidate or someone -- you know, is the heat off of him? What do you think?

LICHTMAN: Oh, I think the heat's off. Absolutely. This is not a pick that puts any pressure on Al Gore whatever. An Elizabeth Dole pick would have put great pressure on Al Gore to pick a woman. A John McCain pick would have put great pressure on Al Gore to pick someone who can appeal to independents and moderate Democrats. A Colin Powell pick probably would have caused Al Gore to throw in the towel, but we know that's never in the cards.

He's now got a free pick: Look, 51 percent approval, 38 percent people don't even know him. If I remember correctly, Al Gore had something like 60 and upwards back in 1992. This is not a pick that's going to have resounding appeal and popularity among the American people.

It will be appealing to the talking heads, but it's the American people that count. Al Gore can now pick someone who's qualified to be president, who's younger, dynamic, and can bring a new dimension to the ticket.

BATTISTA: Steve...

LICHTMAN: I don't think he's going to pick George Mitchell.

BATTISTA: Steve, do you agree?

TALLY: Well, I do agree with -- with one note of caution. If Al Gore's numbers and if somebody on his campaign is believing the polls, which is kind of foolhardy at this point, but if they think they're behind, then he might try something a little bit riskier.

But in general, I agree. I think that such a cautious pick by Governor Bush will allow Gore to basically pick whoever he wants.

BATTISTA: Faye (ph) in the audience, question or comment?

FAYE: Yes. I'd just like a thought-provoking question for all of us, who may be opposed to abortions: Have we considered adopting or have we adopted children ourselves? And it's something that we each need to look more thoroughly into our own lives and how we conduct our lives, what we expect to go in the world.

BATTISTA: And a couple of more e-mails here. Ann (ph) from Illinois says: "The women's vote is not only about abortion but about education, public safety, the environment. Cheney's record is disastrous. George W. Bush showed his true colors with this choice."

Betty in Virginia says: "George W. Bush made an excellent choice. He and Dick Cheney should be pushovers for the Democrats."

And that will have to be our -- our last word on that. Allan Lichtman, thank you so much for joining us. Steve Tally, appreciate your insight into this as well. Thank you to all of you out there and here for joining us. And we'll see you again tomorrow at our regular time, 3 o'clock Eastern. "INSIDE POLITICS" is next and stay with CNN for the very latest.

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

 Search   


Back to the top  © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.