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‘Meet the Press’ transcript for Sept. 30, 2007
MR. CLINTON: No, I told her I thought she was terrific. And I told her, you know, how the whole thing came up. And I, and I told her, number one, I thought that the moment was great. I thought it was the defining moment of the debate. And number two, that I had decided what I just told you, that on the policy she was right, that you didn’t—once you start constructing exceptions you—you’re opening floodgates for trucks to drive through. It’s far better if you happen to the be the agent that has to deal with that, just suck it up and decide what you think is right and be prepared to live with the consequences. I think that—I think the generals were right, I think that she’s right, and I know that Senator Biden and others said the same thing. But the main thing is, she had a chance, because of this moment, to demonstrate what I know to be the truth, which is she’s perfectly comfortable making these national security calls and others even if she has to disagree with me and other people with whom she has broad agreement and for whom she has great respect. That’s what you want a president to do. You want them to listen to everybody then decide, and you want to have confidence that they will execute their decision with conviction. And I just loved it. Plus, it was funny, you know, that you, you showed that. But I, I was really proud of her. It was good.
MR. RUSSERT: What would your role be? What would you be called? You’re not first lady. Would you be first man? How does that work?
MR. CLINTON: I have no idea. You know the Scots say I should be first laddy. But I don’t know. I’m more interested in what I’d be called upon to do. And it’s been illegal for 40 years, since Robert Kennedy served as attorney general, and then the Democratic Congress with President Johnson in office made it illegal for the members of families of the president to be in the Cabinet. I actually agree with that. I think it would be a mistake for Hillary to give me a line policy-making job. I think I should be available to help her with specific foreign problems, that she said, and maybe to help to promote the domestic agenda, go around the country and help promote it. I think that it would probably be good for America if I could continue to do this, the Global Initiative, and all my foundation work around the world. I think that helps America. I think the Gates Foundation work. I think all these religious groups. I think all of us that work around the world, I think we help America. But I will do whatever I am asked to do. I don’t care what I’m called, I don’t care where my office is. I just want to do whatever helps her most. I think that’s what—that’s what you do if you’ve been president and you get a president. Is the fact that, you know, we’re—our situation’s unique. It doesn’t change that. I think I’ll let any president, but particularly to her, I just want her to—whatever she wants me to do I’ll do.
MR. RUSSERT: Do you ever think of the historical significance, a husband and a wife both being president of the United States?
MR. CLINTON: Sometimes. I think about it just like some people say maybe—I think you asked her last time. You said, you know, now for 28 years...
MR. RUSSERT: From 1980 to 2008 there will be a Bush or a Clinton on the national ticket.
MR. CLINTON: Ticket as president or vice president.
MR. RUSSERT: Two families, political dynasty.
MR. CLINTON: Yeah.
MR. RUSSERT: And people around the world say, “I see. The president’s father was president, and President Clinton’s wife, the new president. What’s going on over there?’
MR. CLINTON: And she—and what did she say? She said, “Well, I think Bill was a pretty good president,” which is a way of saying, “I’m not responsible for 20 of those 28 years.”
I think a dynasty, though, to be fair—when we think of dynasties in historical circumstances, it’s King Louis I through 25, and you get it because of who your family is, not because of what your merits are. In her case, she clearly has established, after leaving the White House, a totally different career path than I do—did, from operating from a different political base, with a set of expertise areas in—that I didn’t bring to the White House, and for a very different time where the security issues are much more important. And I think the real question here is not whether she’s establishing a dynasty, but where—almost whether we should eliminate her because she happens to be my wife if she is otherwise the person who would be the best president. I don’t like, I don’t like it whenever anybody gets something they’re not entitled to just because of their families. But in this case I honestly believe—I’ll be a voter 40 years next year, and I think she’s the best suited, best qualified nonincumbent I’ve had a chance to vote for for president for this moment in time. So I don’t want to see her eliminated because, because we’ve been together for so long, and we’ve had a life we enjoyed immensely and—because I always thought, when we were going together in law school, I thought—I literally told her she shouldn’t marry me because she was more gifted than me at politics. She was the best person in our generation, and she should go home and do it. And she laughed and said she’d never run for office. She said, “I’m too hard-headed. Nobody’ll ever vote for me. I’ll find another way to serve.” That’s how our life began. We—we began this conversation. I knew in 1971 that she had the ability to do this. I knew that. And she did not decide for sure to run until New Year’s Day this year because she’s always felt ambivalent about running for office. It’s very interesting. So I just don’t want to see her eliminated because she’s my wife. As she said, she’s going to have to stand or fall on her own merits.
MR. RUSSERT: You told The Economist that people had raised questions about winning favor with Hillary Clinton if she’s elected president in terms of money to your foundation or money to the library, and I asked her about that.
MR. CLINTON: Yeah.
MR. RUSSERT: What’s your view of that? Shouldn’t—and to avoid any perception problem—donors to your library or to your foundation be made public?
MR. CLINTON: What I said to The Economist, I said if she gets elected, people could raise questions about that. So, there is a law on the books—I mean, excuse me, an act being debated in Congress which would require not only future presidents, but current, former presidents to disclose all their contributors from the effective date of the act. And it’s fine with me. If it passes, I’ll fully comply. If she gets elected president, whether or not it passes, I will disclose the contributions that people make from there going forward because I think it’s very important for people to know that. Because I, I just don’t want there to ever be a question in anybody’s mind that someone helped me—even though I don’t touch any of that money personally—that somebody helped me to do my public work in hopes of currying favor with her. I don’t think it would happen, and I know it wouldn’t work, but people are entitled to know. You’re entitled to know it, ask questions about it and evaluate it. So that’s what my policy’s going to be.
MR. RUSSERT: But not until she’s elected.
MR. CLINTON: No. But, I mean, the bill might pass, and that—the only thing I—the reason I say that is I, I really don’t have any problem with any of it, but, for example, a lot of Republicans have supported me, and I don’t want it to cause them embarrassment or the candidates they are supporting embarrassment in a Republican primary. And that’s the sort of thing I—there are lots of other things where people thought they would be anonymous. As far as I know, none of them are inappropriate in any way, and if, if anything like that comes up, I, I would feel a duty to disclose or disgorge the contribution. But whether or not the law passes, if she’s president, you’re entitled to know that I’m not in any way, shape or form doing anything with this foundation that could be compromising to the first mission, which is her job.
MR. RUSSERT: Last week I had Alan Greenspan on this program, and he said, “I think Bill Clinton was the best Republican president we’ve had in a while,” talking about the deficit...
MR. CLINTON: Fiscal responsibility, yeah. Well, you know—see, it’s funny. I guess maybe it’s because I was a Depression-era baby, but I’ve always been a Democrat. I just never thought that being a Democrat meant being fiscally irresponsible. After all, Lyndon Johnson was the last president to balance the budget before I did. And we did it—we submitted four balanced budgets with surpluses. And I think it’s good economics. It’s interesting. My strongest ally on that point in the House when I, when I first got there was the son of Robert Kennedy, when, when Joe Kennedy was a Congressman from Boston. He was always for the same thing. He even, he was even for the balanced budget amendment.
MR. RUSSERT: Yeah.
MR. CLINTON: And our position was, this is good social policy because it keeps interest rates down, investments up, creates jobs and lowers the tax burden on middle class people to pay, in effect, for the bonds for rich, rich people. So I loved working with Greenspan. We had big differences about how we should balance the budget, but we all thought it was good policy. And I still do.
MR. RUSSERT: Before we go, can you handicap the Republican race?
MR. CLINTON: Yes, but I can’t tell you who I thinks going to win. I think in an amorphous way, they’d all—they’d like for Thompson to be their nominee because it’s like Reagan in 1980 and President Bush in 2000--real conservative but enough pizzazz that independents can read whatever they want into it. It’s like a Rorschach test. But they can’t do that yet because, like he said, he didn’t think al-Qaeda was a serious threat and didn’t know where he stood on Schiavo and all that.
I think that Giuliani proved quite durable, and we don’t know whether this will endure when they start to advertise. But he’s been quite durable. I think Romney is a very appealing candidate in a lot of ways and has a lead in Iowa and New Hampshire. So the real—there are two questions here that will determine the outcome of this, in my opinion, unless Thompson catches fire. One is, can Romney win in Iowa and New Hampshire if he gets right up to the last week with a lead there but he’s still running third or fourth in the national polls? The second is, can Giuliani hold his lead if there’s national advertising about his positions on all the social issues?
And then there’s, there’s the sort of unknown, which is, can there be a surprise? And there’s only two potential surprises, I think. One is, John McCain, I think, has a second breath. And if the independents in New Hampshire decide to vote in the Republican Party instead of the Democratic Party, he could surprise. He’s a very fine man. He’s given a lot to this country. And, and I disagree with him strongly about Iraq, but I admire him. And any person would. And you just—a guy with—that’s got that kind of meat about him, even though he was poorly served by the people who spent all his money, you can’t count him out.
And there’s the only dark horse with a chance to score, I think, is my former governor down in Arkansas, Huckabee, who’s a—we were born in the same little town, he’s a little younger than I am, but he’s the best speaker and, as he said, he’s extremely conservative but he’s not mad at anybody about it. And he’s, you know, he’s sort of the sleeper candidate.
I, I have no idea how this is all going to shake out, but the two principal determinants, I’d say today, are, can Romney hold the lead in Iowa and New Hampshire he now has if he doesn’t move up in the national polls? Can Giuliani hold the lead in the national polls if he doesn’t move up in Iowa and New Hampshire and when they start to advertise?
MR. RUSSERT: Were you surprised, from a political standpoint, that the major Republican candidates didn’t show up for the debate hosted by Tavis Smiley on...
MR. CLINTON: Stunned. Particularly McCain. I mean, here’s McCain takes on climate change, takes on the tobacco lobby, comes out for campaign finance reform, travels with Hillary to take recalcitrant Republicans around the world to prove that climate change is real. I was surprised by that. But I think the others are making a big mistake. I mean, you know, as, as African-Americans get more and more prosperous, you just have to assume more and more of them are at least open to vote Republican. A lot of them are cultural conservatives. I, I just didn’t get it. Of course, you know, and I think they got a position on immigration, too. I know where their base was, but if you just look at where America’s going, we barely have replacement rate and population growth. If you want to keep growing the economy, and most all these people have jobs, and you want to identify everybody who’s in this country so you make sure we don’t have any terrorists out there wandering around we don’t know, you’ve got to have some normalization procedure here for them. So I, I don’t know what they’re doing, but I think it was a mistake.
MR. RUSSERT: President Clinton, as always, thanks for sharing your views.
MR. CLINTON: Thank you.
MR. RUSSERT: Coming next, Dan Balz, David Gregory, Pat Buchanan, Tavis Smiley—the candidates’ debate and the Iowa caucuses, just 13 weeks to go, all coming up next right here on MEET THE PRESS.
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