MTP Transcript for Jan. 7, 2007

MR. RUSSERT:  All born after 1980.  After the death of President Ford, so many young people said to me, “Mr.  Russert”—which makes you feel old—“what is this about Watergate, presidential pardons, Richard Nixon?  Can you explain this to us?”

MS. WOODRUFF:  The Cold War is, is an ancient memory to them.  They don’t even...

MR. RUSSERT:  They—an anachronism, yeah.

MS. WOODRUFF:  ...know, you know, what it was.

MR. RUSSERT:  Michael Gordon, how much...

MR. HARWOOD:  Tim...(unintelligible).

MR. RUSSERT:  ...how much concern is there in the Pentagon about the voluntary Army and the strain on it and the recruitment and re-enlistment in the future?

MR. GORDON:  Well, you know, a good news story is, despite the stress of the war and how unpopular it is in the United States, that they are basically meeting their recruiting targets, albeit they’ve relaxed some standards.  And I think everybody’s committed to a volunteer, professional Army.  I don’t sense any support at all for a draft.

MR. RUSSERT:  John Harwood, final—finally, the presidential race of 2008, how do you see it playing out vis-a-vis the war in Iraq this year?

MR. HARWOOD:  Well, I think the most important dynamic is how John McCain is affected over the next few months.  He told me the other day that, “My presidential ambitions could be derailed by this surge if it doesn’t work.” And some of his advisers believe him.  Democrats, on the other hand, have got to manage the pressures that Judy was talking about within their base, and got to figure out whether or not, in the case of Barack Obama, he can answer the questions among the American people about his readiness to be commander in chief, and if Hillary Clinton, how she manages the fact that she supported the war initially, what does she do about it exactly now over the next few months.

MR. RUSSERT:  Someone like Joe Biden, who oversees these hearings, can clearly emerge in a leadership role.

MR. HARWOOD:  You and I are both old enough to remember when the Bork confirmation hearings were going to help the Biden presidential campaign in 1988.  It didn’t work out that way.  But this is a new chance for Joe Biden, and if he emerges as a leader who appears to be consequential making good arguments to the American people, it could help him.

MR. RUSSERT:  John Harwood, we’ll read your column in The Wall Street Journal; we’ll watch you on CNBC.  Friday night at 9 o’clock on PBS...

MS. WOODRUFF:  Thank you.

MR. RUSSERT:  ... “Generation Next.” And Michael Gordon, “Cobra II,” still one of the best books written on the Iraq war.  Thank you all.

And we’ll be right back.

(Announcements)

MR. RUSSERT:  Start your day tomorrow on “Today” with Matt and Meredith and the “NBC Nightly News” with Brian Williams.  That’s all for today.  We’ll be back next week.  If it’s Sunday, it’s MEET THE PRESS.

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