‘Meet the Press’ transcript for June 17, 2007

MR. RUSSERT: Has Mitt Romney’s conversion worked?

MR. YORK: It—no. As a matter of fact, there are people who are—Republicans who are very skeptical about it, because he says that he had run as a, as a pro-choice candidate not just for the Senate in 1994, but in—for the governorship of Massachusetts in 2002. So he was strongly pro-choice. So there’s still a lot of Republicans who are skeptical about that.

The problem in—tactically, with this feud with McCain, is that if, if, if you accept the poll that Giuliani’s in front in the first place, and Fred Thompson is next, this is the number three guy fighting it out with the number four guy, and it doesn’t look that good. And people have suggested this could be like Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt in Iowa, just—and it, and it looks a little desperate on the part of McCain.

MR. DIONNE: You know, it’s funny that Romney has pushed his way into his position right now because he’s spent a lot of money in Iowa and New Hampshire, and a Romney guy told me, “You know, he’s not like Mayor Bloomberg in New York. He can’t buy a country, but he can buy a couple of states,” and I think that’s put McCain in a very difficult position. McCain is now falling back on character. He’s trying to say, “Look, I’m always there. I am consistent. This guy, you can’t trust,” and I think character is back is McCain’s best issue.

MR. RUSSERT: Interesting you raise Mayor Bloomberg. Direction of the country. Gene, you brought this up. Look at this. Are we on—going in the right direction? Right track? Nineteen percent. One in five Americans say we’re on the right track. Sixty-eight percent say wrong track.

Here’s the cover of Time magazine coming out. Mayor Bloomberg and Arnold Schwarzenegger, “Who Needs Washington?” A suggestion that an independent-minded centrist Republican...

MR. ROBINSON: Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: ...one who could run for president, Bloomberg, because he was born here...

MR. ROBINSON: Right.

MR. RUSSERT: ...Schwarzenegger could not.

MR. ROBINSON: Schwarzenegger can’t.

MR. RUSSERT: But is there a sense that with all the anger at Washington towards both parties and the Republicans having to tack right, the Democrats tacking left, it’s going to open up an opportunity for an independent centrist candidate?

MR. ROBINSON: Who knows? You know, there certainly is the sense all through your poll, your new poll, is the sense that people don’t think things are going very well. They don’t like the president, they don’t like Congress. They’re, you know, they’re kind of—they question most of the candidates to replace the president. Mayor Mike is an, is an intriguing possibility. He, he obviously has the money to, to come in late and to do whatever he wants. And he is acting suspiciously like a candidate.

MR. RUSSERT: He was in New Hampshire the other night because his girlfriend had to go to an alumni dinner, he said.

MR. ROBINSON: Well, of course—of course. What can...

MR. RUSSERT: Where else are you going go on a...

MR. ROBINSON: It’s just a mere coincidence that there’s a primary.

MR. RUSSERT: Before we go, Kate O’Beirne bottom line, right now, who do you think the leading candidates for each nomination are?

MS. O’BEIRNE: I think Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side, and I think you got a split lead on the Republican side. You’ve got money one place, you’ve got polls in another place, and you’ve got local supporters in another. I think you’ve got a split on the Republican side.

MR. RUSSERT: What do you think?

MR. DIONNE: Right now, Clinton, Thompson.

MR. YORK: Clinton and Giuliani.

MR. ROBINSON: Way too soon to tell. Clinton, Giuliani right now. But I think in both parties, actually, I think it’s fluid.

MR. RUSSERT: And will Mayor Bloomberg run, E.J.?

MR. DIONNE: No, I don’t think so, because his problem is people like me like him too much. He’d split the vote of moderates and liberals and he’d give all the red states for free to the Republicans, and I think he knows that.

MR. RUSSERT: He also doesn’t want to be the spoiler. He knows that Ross Perot got 19 percent of the vote, popular vote, but did not win one electoral vote, and that to him is not having a good time.

MR. DIONNE: Right, and...

MR. RUSSERT: If you’re going to run, you want to win.

MR. DIONNE: He didn’t make all that money by not being a realist. He’s a realist, I think.

MR. RUSSERT: E.J. Dionne, Kate O’Beirne, Gene Robinson, Byron York. We’ll have a lot more with our roundtable during our Father’s Day edition of our MEET THE PRESS Take Two Web extra. We’re going to hear about their dads and give you a chance to talk about yours as well on our Web site this afternoon: mtp.msnbc.com. We’ll be right back.

(Announcements)

MR. RUSSERT: Find out who will be meeting the press on your cell phone. Text MTP to 46833, 46833, and receive weekly alerts on Friday afternoon with Sunday’s MEET THE PRESS guest lineup.

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

Happy Father’s Day, especially to two great guys: Big Russ up in Buffalo and Big Bill down in Texas. Hang in there, Bucky.

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