MTP Transcript for Oct. 29

MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: Only nine days until the midterm elections. The Democrats must gain six seats to take control of the U.S. Senate. This morning, our Senate Debate Series 2006 concludes with another one of the most closely watched races of the year: Maryland, where Democratic Representative Ben Cardin faces off against Republican Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele for this open seat. A new Washington Post poll out this morning shows Cardin with the lead. Democrat Ben Cardin vs. Republican Michael Steele, only on “Meet the Press.”

But first, it’s usually all eyes on Florida or Ohio, but this morning, it is Maryland. Democratic Congressman Ben Cardin, Republican Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, welcome both.

LT. GOV. MICHAEL STEELE (R-MD): Good to be here, Tim.

REP. BEN CARDIN (D-MD): Thank you. Thank you.

MR. RUSSERT: Voters in Maryland, all across the country, say the big issue for them this year is Iraq.

LT. GOV. STEELE: Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: Mr. Steele, let me start with you. I’ve been reading everything you’ve been saying about the issue. Back in July you said, “So for me, staying the course, yes.”

LT. GOV. STEELE: Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: Two weeks later you said to a group of reporters, “It didn’t work. ... We didn’t prepare for the peace. ... Let’s call it what it is. We thought this was going to be a different kind of engagement.”

And then two weeks after that: “Asked if [he] agreed with the Bush administration’s management of the war in Iraq ... Mr. Steele replied ... ‘By and large, absolutely, yeah.’ Has the Iraq war been successful?

Mr. Steele argues it has.” And then, now this, just about 10 days ago. “The situation is not going well on the ground. ... We are getting deeper and deeper into a mess.”

LT. GOV. STEELE: Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: Where are you on Iraq? Do you believe the war in Iraq has been worth the cost in lives and money?

LT. GOV. STEELE: I think the war in Iraq right now stands with a mess that we need to fix, absolutely. We are at a point right now where there is no clear strategy or clear direction on the ground. You hear it — you hear it from the generals, you hear it from the personnel on the ground, and I think that the focus has to be, going forward, is what, what is the strategy? And for me, it’s very straightforward: Put in place the benchmarks, put the pressure on the Iraqi government to lay out very clearly and very forcefully that they’re committed to the, the democracy and, and the pursuit of, of, of that democracy that they voted for three times.

So this has been an evolutionary process. I mean — and you can see it in the polls, you can see it in the way this, this war has tracked itself. But here we are at this moment, we’re looking at a situation where there’s not a great deal of confidence on the ground that we can get this done. The administration has to step up with the pressure where I believe it belongs — that’s on the Iraqi government — to decide once and for all whether they’re going to go forward with this and pursue it themselves so our footprint can lessen, or, like Senator Warner says, we have to get to the point where we say, “Look, this is not — if this is not what you want to do, we’re not going to commit one more soldier to a cause you don’t believe in.”

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