MTP Transcript for Nov. 5

SEN. DOLE: I think that, at this point, there’s a lot of, a lot of negativity out there, but nevertheless, it does carry messages. It’s based on research. And I think that—you know, I think of one particular situation where—and this was a Harold Ford ad, and it was, it, it has run its course, but basically, what that ad did was to point out his views on certain issues, and that’s the last thing he wanted to do was to talk about his record.

MR. RUSSERT: There was also an ad paid for by the Republican National Committee...

SEN. DOLE: Because it was an absolute...

MR. RUSSERT: ...which had a blonde, white woman winking in the camera saying “Call me, Harold,” and many African-Americans, including former Republican Senator Bill Cohen, said that ad was racist.

SEN. DOLE: I did not see it as racist. I respect those who saw it otherwise. But let me tell you what that ad did: It pointed out his views on, on his record, that he is, he’s on the wrong side of the abortion issues, that he’s protected gay marriage, that he has an F from...

SEN. SCHUMER: He’s voted against gay marriage every time.

SEN. DOLE: ...an F for the—from the National Rifle Association...

MR. RUSSERT: OK.

SEN. DOLE: ...that he’s a tax increaser. This is one of the biggest political frauds in history, his trying to, to, re—redefine himself. And that ad pointed out particular matters that he didn’t want to, to step up to, in terms of...

MR. RUSSERT: So that’s not a negative ad?

SEN. DOLE: ...in terms of the—it, it pointed out facts there, in terms of...

MR. RUSSERT: OK, we...

SEN. DOLE: ...Harold Ford’s true record. So...

MR. RUSSERT: We have to take a break.

REP. EMANUEL: Is this a filibuster body?

MR. RUSSERT: We have to take a break.

SEN. DOLE: Well, you guys have had a good shot at it, both of you.

MR. RUSSERT: We’re going to take a quick break and come back. Equal time for everyone, I promise. Right after this.

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MR. RUSSERT: The election, two days away, we’ll be right back with more from our four campaign committee chairs, after this station break.

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MR. RUSSERT: And we are back.

All week long, John Kerry’s comments—an attempted joke about President Bush, he says, but it came out as an insult against the troops—played out. Did that hurt the Democrats?

SEN. SCHUMER: I don’t think so. John Kerry did the right thing. He apologized, and then he said he’s not going to talk about it anymore, and I don’t think it’s going to affect the election at all.

MR. RUSSERT: But it was the wrong thing to say.

SEN. SCHUMER: He admitted that. And he was a total gentleman, totally on his own, he said, “I’m not going to go out there and keep arguing this,” even though he wanted to, and I give him a lot of credit for that.

MR. RUSSERT: Two Republicans have now put comments in Vanity Fair magazine, Senator Dole, which have caused a little bit of stir. “Ken Adelman, a lifelong neocon activist and Pentagon insider who served on the Defense Policy Board until 2005, wrote a famous op-ed article in The Washington Post in February 2002 saying, ‘I believe demolishing Hussein’s military power and liberating Iraq would be a cakewalk.’ Now he says, ‘I just presumed that what I considered to be the most competent national-security team since Truman was indeed going to be competent. They turned out to be among the most incompetent teams in the post-war era. Not only did each of them individually have enormous flaws, but together they were deadly, dysfunctional.’” Richard Perle, chairman of the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Advisory Board, in the past said “if he had his time over, he would not have advocated an invasion of Iraq: ‘I think if I had been Delphic, and had seen where we are today and people had said, ‘Should we go into Iraq?’ I think now I probably would have said, ‘No, let’s consider other strategies.’”

Two leading proponents of the war are now saying, forget about it.

“Incompetence” and “We shouldn’t have done it.”

SEN. DOLE: Let me, let me talk about David Fromme, who is one of the people in the article, and his concern about the way it was publicized, the press release. David Fromme’s bottom line is, the war, just as the same—the same as in 203--2003, the war was right, we need to win the war and it would be disastrous to lose. That’s his bottom line. That’s, that’s what he’s concerned about. And you know, it’s almost as if the Democrats, you know, it’s like they’re content with losing because to pull out, to withdraw from this war is losing. No question about it. You look at...

MR. RUSSERT: The Democrats are content with losing.

SEN. DOLE: The Democrats appear to be content with losing because they’re to...

REP. EMANUEL: I really...

SEN. DOLE: No, no, I, I want to finish what I’m saying here because...

REP. EMANUEL: I, I, I, no, no, you made yourself—Senator, wait a little sec, Senator...

SEN. DOLE: No, I, I’m going to finish this.

MR. RUSSERT: That’s a very strong statement.

SEN. DOLE: It is a strong statement.

REP. EMANUEL: Yeah, senator, senator, you, you...

MR. RUSSERT: Senator, that’s a very strong statement. I think he, he deserves a right to respond, no, no, no.

REP. EMANUEL: Senator, that is not fair.

SEN. DOLE: Yeah, it is, but I would like to finish why...

MR. RUSSERT: You—I’ll let you back, but I’ll tell you, when you make a statement like that...

REP. EMANUEL: Senator, senator, senator.

SEN. DOLE: ...why, why they appear to be content to lose.

MR. RUSSERT: Excuse me. When you make a comment like that, I got to give the other side a chance to respond.

SEN. DOLE: But I do need to explain what I mean by that.

REP. EMANUEL: Senator. Senator, you, you, you said something that’s wrong.

SEN. DOLE: Osama bin Laden and, and, and they...

REP. EMANUEL: Democrats, Democrats have provided—wait a second, Senator.

I’ve—I understand some. I will not sit si...

SEN. DOLE: No. Rahm, I want to finish what I said.

REP. EMANUEL: ...I will not sit idly by with an accusation that Democrats are content with losing.

SEN. DOLE: They appear to be content to lose...

REP. EMANUEL: We want to win and we want a new direction to Iraq because after three, three years—I’m—Tim...

SEN. DOLE: ...because when you pull out, this is losing. That we know that it becomes a breeding ground...

MR. RUSSERT: All right, hold on. Hold on. Time out, time out, time out.

REP. EMANUEL: Forget about it.

MR. RUSSERT: Time out. Time—time out. Time out, please.

SEN. DOLE: ...a breeding ground for terrorists. We’ve got Iran and Syria sitting there on each side of Iraq...

REP. EMANUEL: That, that’s wrong. You should take that back, Senator.

We’ll have differences, but we do not disparage you like that, Senator.

MR. RUSSERT: You’ve made your point. You’ve made your point, Senator.

SEN. DOLE: ...taking, taking over a vacuum.

MR. RUSSERT: All right, let me, let me, let me, let me...

SEN. SCHUMER: If I...

MR. RUSSERT: I’ll get to everybody. Let me introduce Vice President Cheney’s comments. He said, “The president’s made clear what his objective is. It’s victory in Iraq. And it’s full speed ahead on that basis. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do. ... It may not be popular with the public. It doesn’t matter in the sense that we have to continue the mission or do what we think is right, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re not running for office. We’re doing what we think is right.”

Congressman Reynolds, is the vice president saying, “It’s full speed ahead.  The public may have their views, and now over 60 percent say the war’s not worth it. And in effect, no matter what happens in this midterm election, the Bush policy in Iraq is going to go forward unchanged”?

REP. REYNOLDS: Well, first of all, I think when you look at the war on terror, which is part of what this is all about...

MR. RUSSERT: No, but I’m asking you about Iraq. Is, is that what the vice president is saying, that no matter what happens in this election, it’s full speed ahead with the Bush policy in Iraq?

REP. REYNOLDS: I don’t know if that’s what he’s saying. I’ve just seen what you’ve outlined. I think that there’s no question that the Bush administration and the commander in chief wants to finish the job. And while we certainly know the Democrats don’t have unanimity on the war, either, as Senator Schumer talked about other areas that there’s disagreement, there’s part of the Democratic Party that wants to cut and run. There’s others that follow the Bush agenda, there’s others that want to redirect the war. But the reality is, we are either going to finish the job or we’re going to cut and run.

SEN. SCHUMER: Let me say, Tim, that is not...

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