MTP Transcript for Mar. 4, 2007

MR. RUSSERT: Gene:

MR. ROBINSON: There was one other interesting thing in a—in a Washington Post poll last week. When, when voters were asked what things would make you less likely to vote for X candidate, the bad news for John McCain was, if the candidate were going to be 72 at the time of being inaugurated, they would be less likely to vote for him. The bad news for Romney was if, if the candidate was a Mormon, scored quite high, people said they would be less likely to vote for him, and I wonder if that will be an issue going forward.

MR. HARWOOD: And by the way, on that vices and virtues thing, the opponents of Rudy Giuliani, who are, of course, like everybody in this race, compiling very extensive opposition research dossiers, they think that not just on social issues, but also on Giuliani’s business dealings that there’s going to be a lot of fodder for them—who paid him at this firm that he established after leaving office as mayor of New York City—and they think there’s some, some headway to be made on that.

MR. RUSSERT: And there’s opposition to Mitt Romney. He is now outspoken as opposition to abortion and gay rights, gun control. At the conservative meeting they were passing out these flip-flops, saying that Mitt Romney has evolved on these various issues. So the Republicans are mixing it up.

Back to John McCain, this flyer was distributed saying that John McCain was absent from the National Review Institution’s Conservative Summit meeting, absent from the Heritage Foundation meeting, absent from the Conservative Political Action Committee, but did make it with the “Late Show with David Letterman.” However, the cover of the National Review magazine this week, “The Case for John McCain.” So there is a mixed view in the conservative community about John McCain.

MR. ROBINSON: There is, and I kind of sympathize with McCain in terms of CPAC, because he was kind of, you know, what, what is he to do? Either go and be criticized for pandering to the conservatives or stay away and be criticized for dissing the conservatives? You know, he’s a formidable, experienced campaigner. I can’t imagine his numbers will remain as low as they are now, but they’re, they’re heading in the wrong direction. He’s got to turn it around.

MR. HARWOOD: And, Tim, I think this cover story makes this a good week for John McCain with conservatives, not a bad week because he skipped CPAC. And it’s reflective of a broader phenomenon the campaign is counting on, and that is after these other—Republican voters shop around with these other candidates, Giuliani and Romney, they’re going to come back to the guy who’s got the fewest defects, who is pro-life, has been pro-life, and is—also has a very strong profile in the national security issue, which is likely to be dominant in the election.

MR. RUSSERT: Let’s turn to the Democrats. This was the scene this morning at the Martin Luther King Jr. community breakfast, Selma, Alabama. Barack Obama has arrived. But someone else is also coming to Selma, Alabama, Hillary Clinton. And this is how The Washington Post described that: “Obama announced several weeks ago that he would deliver the keynote speech at” the “ service honoring the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. ... Reluctant to give any ground to Obama ... Clinton decided early last week that she, too, would go to Selma this weekend.” “Arranged a simultaneous appearance at a church just steps away from the one where Obama will speak Sunday morning, and she agreed to accept a civil rights award on behalf of her husband.

“Late yesterday,” on Thursday, “after organizers initially said that the former president had not committed to attend, the Clinton campaign announced” he, too, “would be making the trip after all.”

Gene Robinson, Barack Obama, not having Selma all to himself. The Clintons are coming to town.

MR. ROBINSON: They are. If—you know, if they’re having a meal at church after the speeches, it could be a reverse kind of “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.” The, you know, the, the Clintons are not going to, going to willingly cede the African-American support they’ve had. A couple of questions. I mean, does Bill Clinton’s relationship with the—with the black community, going back over many years, and his ability to speak kind of to and, at times, for black America, as he did at the Coretta Scott King funeral, gave that amazing speech, does that really translate to Hillary Clinton? Do people feel the same way about her? And, you know, in the end, I’m not sure that people won’t end up going with Obama. I think he’s—he, he has a lot of traction in black communities. I’ve seen him in Southern African-American crowds, and he does very, very well.

MR. RUSSERT: Let’s look at that polling data, John Harwood. Here’s The Washington Post: “Clinton continues to lead Obama and other rivals in the Democratic contest, according to the latest” “Post-ABC poll. But her once-sizable” majority “over [Obama] was sliced in half during the past month largely because of [his] growing support among black voters.” ... Clinton “and Obama’s support among white voters changed little” “but the shifts among” “black Democrats were dramatic.”

And here they are on the screen. In December/January, Hillary 60 to 20 over Obama amongst black voters. Now, Obama 43--44, Clinton 33. A plus or minus of eight points because it’s a small sample, but nonetheless it’s quite significant.

MR. HARWOOD: Clinton campaign believes they’re still ahead among black voters, but this is a real movement that’s going on. And there’s no doubt that the juxtaposition of the images of that march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965 and Barack Obama’s real shot at becoming president is very, very strong and works in his favor. And you’ve got to wonder whether or not increasing the, the tension to this moment is not a—an advantage to Barack Obama.

The other thing you have to wonder is how does it look for Hillary Clinton to follow him down there. First, she tried to pick a fight with him with her active participation with—over the David Geffen remarks. Then—now she’s following him down to some—she also this week, when the market was turbulent, she tried to jump on the stock market with her proposal about foreign debt and the trigger alarm for the country. The, the point is, active is good, not being complacent is good, but jumpy isn’t so good. I talked to one top Democrat in the Congress who’s neutral in the race who said he looks confident, she looks scared.

MR. RUSSERT: Here’s the Time magazine poll, which talked to Democrats all across the country: Clinton, 36; Obama, 24; Gore, 13; Edwards, 11. A very competitive race. Congressman John Lewis, well-known civil rights leader, congressman from Georgia, said he was prepared to endorse Barack Obama. Then the phone rang. It was William Jefferson Clinton saying, “Hold on a second.”

Gene Robinson, if Obama stays competitive...

MR. ROBINSON: Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: ...will black leaders make the plunge behind his candidacy or will they stay neutral?

MR. ROBINSON: I think they will make the plunge behind his candidacy. You know, people like John Lewis have personal relationships with the Clintons going, going back, have kind of fought in the trenches with them. The Clintons have, have been there for them. Bill Clinton has. And it would be difficult, at this stage of the race, to throw that away. I—I’m—right.

MR. RUSSERT: Toni Morrison said Bill Clinton, the first black president.

MR. ROBINSON: That’s right. There’s a say—of course, she didn’t say Hillary Clinton, the first black first lady, which was interesting. I was—I was talking to Vernon Jordan the other day, great friend of Bill Clinton, and he said, you know, “I’m too old at this point in my life to pick race over friendship.” Nonetheless, he’s had a fund-raiser for Barack Obama. He’s introduced Barack Obama to, to, to Democratic power brokers and, and money raisers, and so this is—it’s going to be an interesting time for the—for the John Lewises..

MR. RUSSERT: Pretty...

MR. HARWOOD: Let’s remember...

MR. ROBINSON: ...of the world. And...

MR. HARWOOD: Let’s remember this, as well, Tim, there are almost twice as many white women within the Democratic electorate as there are black voters. So she’s got a claim on another big constituency.

MR. RUSSERT: That poll I mentioned to you, in third place was Al Gore.

MR. ROBINSON: Yeah.

MR. RUSSERT: He said he’s not—excuse me, he said he has no intention of running for president. Here he was last week, last Sunday. He won the Oscar, Academy Award, widely viewed here in the country, around the world.

John Harwood, any chance he’ll get in?

MR. HARWOOD: I think there’s a chance. I don’t think it’s a very large chance. It’s certainly very flattering for any politician to be appreciated, to be wanted, especially after what he went through. It would be feasible for him to jump in late in the race. He’s got a network. He could raise the money. But it—from all appearances, he’s enjoying his life an awful lot right now, having a big impact on the debate. I don’t expect that, and the people close to him don’t expect it either.

MR. RUSSERT: And he probably wouldn’t welcome a race with Hillary Clinton, someone who he’s known a long time and, and tangled with in the White House, frankly.

MR. ROBINSON: Talk about awkward. That would—that, that would be awkward. So I don’t—I don’t see it happening. But it would be interesting, wouldn’t it?

MR. RUSSERT: Well, Gene Robinson, John Harwood, thank you. We have a race in 2008 of historic proportions.

MR. ROBINSON: Yes.

MR. RUSSERT: It’s amazing. It’s only—it’s only March.

MR. ROBINSON: Going to be fun.

MR. HARWOOD: And it’s already in full swing. It’s amazing.

MR. RUSSERT: Before we go, let’s go live to Baghdad. While most of us slept, “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams made his way in the dark of night. He is in Iraq.

Brian Williams, tell us what you plan to report on today and throughout the week.

BRIAN WILLIAMS reporting:

Well, Tim, thanks. And first of all, we thought it was a good time to take another good, hard look at the situation here. The situation on the ground, as you know, there has been a change in the tempo of the violence of late, which brings us to check in on the progress of the so-called troop surge. As you know, some elements are already here, and not far from our current location here in Camp Victory, they are clearing a lot of ground for the new home of the Third Infantry Division, doing another tour here. So we’ll look at all of this. We’ll look at safety, life on the streets. You notice, no body armor required where we’re talking to you. That’s a change from past years. So the safety issue has changed. We’ll take a good, hard look at all of it. We should quickly add we’ve taken every precaution to guarantee our own safety and that of our team while we’re here. So we’ll see you each night most of the week, live here from Baghdad.

Tim, for now, back to you.

MR. RUSSERT: Brian Williams, all week long talking to the military leadership in Iraq, both U.S. and Iraqi soldiers on the ground. We look forward to a week of reporters. Brian, please be safe.

That’s all for today. We’ll be back next week. If it’s Sunday, it’s MEET THE PRESS.

MORE FROM MEET THE PRESS

Meet the Press Section Front

Nov. 8: Casey, Barbour, Rendell, roundtable, Brokaw Nov. 1: Tim Geithner, David Plouffe, roundtable Oct. 25: Cornyn, Schumer, Burnett, Sorkin, roundtable Oct. 18: Jarrett, Dodd, Kyl, Shriver, Podesta Oct. 11: Levin, Graham, McCaffrey, Myers, roundtable Oct. 4: Ambassador Susan Rice, roundtable Sept. 27: Bill Clinton, Paterson, Kyl, Webb Sept. 20: President Obama, Sen. Graham, Rep. Boehner, roundtable Sept. 13: Durbin, Cornyn, Dean, Gingrich, roundtable Sept. 6: Axelrod, roundtable Meet the Press Section Front   Add Meet the Press headlines to your news reader: