Transcript for Aug. 27

(Videotape, August 21, 2006):

PRES. BUSH: Any sign that says we’re going to leave before the job is done simply emboldens terrorists and creates a certain amount of doubt for people so they won’t take the risk necessary to help a civil society evolve in the country. And this is the campaign; I’m sure they’re watching the campaign carefully. There are a lot of good, decent people saying, “Get out now! Vote for me, I will do everything I can” to, I guess cut off money, is how, is what they’ll try to do to get our troops out. It’s a big mistake.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: Albert, “embolden the terrorists” and “the terrorists are watching this election”?

MR. AL HUNT: I really don’t think the terrorists are watching MEET THE PRESS today, Tim, as, as, as much as other people are. And I—and Gene’s paper, The Washington Post, reported this morning that actually most Democratic challengers in really contested races are not for immediate withdrawal. I don’t think the issue of Iraq can do anything but hurt the Republicans in the, in the fall election. Terrorism, on the other hand, which is, which I think the people—the American people draw a distinction, is the one issue that still slightly helps them. But it’s a terribly tough environment for Republicans.

MR. RUSSERT: Bob Novak, the president then talked about “imagine.” And he created that scenario. Let’s listen to that and come back and talk about it.

(Videotape, Monday):

PRES. BUSH: Imagine what Iraq would look like if the United States leaves before this government can defend itself and sustain itself. A, you know, chaos in Iraq would be—it would be very unsettling in the region. Leaving before the job would be done would send a message that America really is no longer engaged nor cares about the form of governments in the Middle East.  Leaving before the job was done would send a signal to our troops that the sacrifices they made were not worth it. Leaving before the job is done would be a disaster, and that’s what we’re saying.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: Does that resonate?

MR. ROBERT NOVAK: Tim, the people that that would have an effect on are already decided. They’re going to vote Republican. They like the president’s program. I don’t think that wins any new votes and I don’t think it brings back the disaffected conservatives who may stay home on Election Day. That’s the real problem. Not that they’re going to vote for the Democrats, but they may stay home because all my, my reports indicate that there’s two, two issues. They’re still very unhappy with the president about immigration and government spending, and they see no improvement on, on those scores. And so, consequently, Tim, there’s enormous pessimism in Republican ranks about losing—definitely losing the House of Representatives and possibly losing the Senate.

MR. RUSSERT: Gene Robinson, you’ve been listening to the president and others. It’s clear that the Republican message is going to be, “If you cut and run, you create a haven for terrorists, another Afghanistan, and from that could be, perhaps, another September 11.” Democrats are saying, “Wait a minute, Iraq’s a distraction.” In fact, you wrote it in an interesting way.  Let me share it with our viewers and come back and talk about it.

“President Bush said that the uncovered [United Kingdom bomb plot] conspiracy is ‘a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation.’ If only the president would fight that war. If only he hadn’t turned away from the hunt for bin Laden to chase his neocon advisers’ delusions of spreading pro-American democracy at the point of a gun.” Is that the debate?

MR. EUGENE ROBINSON: Well, I think that’s becoming the debate. I think the American public is beginning to make the separation between terrorism, 9/11, Osama bin Laden on the one hand and Iraq on the other hand. Which, you know, the administration really tried to conflate for several years, but I think the division has been made. I think that it’s bad politically for Republicans.  And, and when the president talks about leaving before the job is done, not cutting and running, it, it’s unclear to a lot of people, I think, what the job is. How do you define the job? How do you define the end point? Given that there’s going to be a withdrawal at some point from Iraq, what’s the difference between leaving Iraq the kind of mess it is now or leaving Iraq the kind of mess it’s going to be when the job is declared finished? Because nobody thinks it’s going to become an Athenian democracy anytime soon.

MR. RUSSERT: Kate O’Beirne, hearing Bob Novak and looking at the cover of your magazine National Review, “Last Chance for Iraq,” and looking at the comments that the founder of your magazine, William F. Buckley Jr., who said, “One can’t doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed.” And then listening to George Will, conservative commentator, who said, “It is not perverse to wonder whether the spectacle of America, currently learning a lesson - one that conservatives should not have to learn on the job - about the limits of power to subdue an unruly world, has emboldened many enemies.” This is remarkable. Conservatives saying that Iraq has failed and that perhaps it may be emboldening our enemies.

MS. KATE O’BEIRNE: Tim, it’s, it’s actually not so that there have been all these uncritical cheerleaders who support the war for years. We had at—National Review had an Iraq—a cover on Iraq before the November ‘04 elections called “What Went Wrong?” And most recently, of course, we have a collection of, of people, very sympathetic with the aims and goals in Iraq, answering the question of whether or not it’s lost. The administration hasn’t done a very good job of addressing those concerns on the part of conservative supporters of the war. The symposium we have in this, in this issue, the first thing they reject, unanimously, is the administration line that things are better than they look. They’re not buying that argument, and yet the administration keeps making it.

They all recognize and agree things are deteriorating. Some conclude we’re losing, some say we will without doing some significant things differently—maybe more troops, certainly address Iran’s role. Even this Monday when the president talked about Iraq, he talked about the fact that—he expressed his resolve. His resolve’s not in question. He talked about the fact that we won’t pull out of Iraq as long as he’s president. I think that’s the wrong way to state it. That sounds more stubborn than strategic. I think there’s a certain percentage of people who are now disenchanted with progress in Iraq who are persuadable, but they fear we’re losing this war and they don’t see a clear plan on the part of the administration to win it.

MR. RUSSERT: Do you see Iraq as the major issue for the midterm elections?

MS. O’BEIRNE: Absolutely. Absolutely. Not, not only in and of itself—it’s an unpopular war—but I think it sours the public’s overall mood.

MR. RUSSERT: Albert Hunt, you mentioned The Washington Post, how Democrats in close races are not calling for an immediate pullout. It’s interesting what’s going on within the Republican Party. Chris Shays, who called me from London, he just finished his 14^th visit to Iraq. AP characterized it this way: One of the—he’s locked in a tough race, it says here. “The U.S.  should consider setting a time line for troop withdrawals from Iraq. ‘Our troops cannot be there indefinitely,’” he said “after visiting Iraq for the 14^th time.” “‘We need to have a sense of when our troops can withdraw.’” He’s in favor of the war. But he now believes you need a timeline to put pressure on the Iraqis to get their act together.

MORE FROM MEET THE PRESS

Meet the Press Section Front

Oct. 5: Paul Begala, Mike Murphy, Chuck Todd, David Gregory, Gwen Ifill, Peggy Noonan and David Yepsen Sept. 28: Fmr. President Bill Clinton, Steve Schmidt, David Axelrod, Rep. Mark Udall (D), Fmr. Rep. Bob Schaffer (R) Sept. 21: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, N.Y.C. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Steve Pearlstein, Steve Liesman, Erin Burnett Sept. 14: Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Bob Woodward, Chuck Todd Sept. 7: Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), Tom Friedman Aug. 31: Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), political roundtable Aug. 24: Caroline Kennedy, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), political roundtable Aug. 17: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA), political roundtable Remembering Tim Russert   Images: The life of the political journalist Meet the Press Section Front   Add Meet the Press headlines to your news reader: