'Meet the Press' transcript for Feb. 17, 2008

MR. RUSSERT: "The Cap Gang" weighs in on Decision 2008 after this brief station break.

(Announcements)

MR. RUSSERT: And we're back. Washington will never be the same. "The Capital Gang" is back. Let's watch this from Friday. Clinton in Ohio, Obama in Wisconsin.

(Videotape, Friday):

SEN. CLINTON: There's a big difference between speeches and solutions, between talk and action. I have the highest regard for my opponent. I just believe that if you were hiring a president, I would be the one you would hire for this job.

SEN. OBAMA: I've got 10-point plans all over my Web site. We have made specific proposals on everything. But what Senator Clinton doesn't understand is, none of that means anything if all we're doing is bickering and engaging in the same old partisan politics.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: Bob Novak, is that the race in a nutshell?

MR. BOB NOVAK: That is it, and that is just about the most unattractive appeal that I think she could have made to try to save her failing candidacy. The people I talk to and the, who are close to her say that we've got to show that he's a left-winger, a government person, get the blue-collar voters out of Ohio in. She's not going to--she's not going to--she can't do that. It will backfire on her. So they have a terrific dilemma with this important Ohio primary coming up.

MR. RUSSERT: Kate O'Beirne, how do you see the race?

MS. KATE O'BEIRNE: Well, you can appreciate Hillary Clinton's enormous frustration. She is so deeply rooted in policy, has these well-thought-out positions, loves nothing better, and along comes a smooth-talking, aspirational, you know, it's all about hope and change, and she's enormously frustrated. But it's--he fits the public mood, you know? Hillary Clinton has always stood for sort of the bitter partisanship of the '90s, and I--his change election--people aren't demanding from him those details. They're not very far apart on policy. So the likeable, aspirational, hopeful candidate, I think trumps her policy prescriptions.

MR. RUSSERT: Margaret Carlson.

MS. MARGARET CARLSON: She has the daunting task of convincing the country that the guy they've fallen in love with is bad for them. She's like a scolding parent. And that's not an appealing road to have to take. She's tried everything, though. She's tried Hillary the fighter, Hillary the comeback kid who's found her voice, Hillary the vetted; "Vote for me because all the bad stuff is already out." These are not, you know, lift you up kinds of reasons for voting. And I think going forward she's going to have to get only more negative, and that makes it even harder going against a person who has hope and inspiration on his side.

MR. RUSSERT: Mark Shields.

MR. MARK SHIELDS: I think if there's one message, Tim, from this election and the voters, it's "Don't get ahead of ourselves. Hold on." I mean, after eight days, the first part of the year in New Hampshire, they said, "Hold on," when it looked like Obama was going to rush to the nomination. Nobody has gotten momentum yet out of victories, really, up till now. So I don't think this race--I think the race is far from over. I think she has certain things she has to do, Senator Clinton, and one is that he--his campaign, I think, has been accused, and legitimately so, of being long on theme and short on specifics. Not on Web site, but on the platform. Hers lacks theme. She has to make the case for her, rather than the case against him. She attempted, spent a lot of time, energy and effort trying to disqualify him earlier in the race; didn't have enough experience. It didn't work, obviously. She has to make the case. But she has to give people, in this year, as Kate said, when they're looking for hope and they're looking for inspiration, she has to give them some.

MR. RUSSERT: Al Hunt.

MR. AL HUNT: Tim, we did this show for 17 years. This is the first time we've all agreed on something. So we, we must be wrong.

Look, I, I do agree that she's not out yet. She's got maybe a 30 percent chance to win, that's not as good as 70. But she has to run the table, Tim. She has to win Ohio, she has to win Texas, she has to win Pennsylvania. There has to be some kind of a makeover caucus, primary in Michigan and Florida, she has to win those. And if she does all that, then it's a very competitive race. That's a tall order.

Now, let me say that if you're Barack Obama and you look at Ohio and Texas and you want to have a knockout, you have a very important and tough strategic decision. Where do you punch? Which place do you go? And there's great division within the--in the Obama camp on that right now.

MR. RUSSERT: What about Wisconsin? Does she have a chance for an upset in Wisconsin?

MR. HUNT: That would really begin a Hillary comeback if she were to upset Obama in Wisconsin.

MR. RUSSERT: Mark Shields.

MR. SHIELDS: I believe Wisconsin will be a lot closer than people--it's not going to be a Virginia, a Maryland, a blowout by any means. I think it's going to be close. Everything I know and have heard about that state, have learned, it is a, it is a close, competitive race. And let's be honest, I mean, the narrative of the race will change. If she narrows it and then wins Ohio and Texas, she is the comeback kid.

MR. RUSSERT: Bob Novak.

MR. NOVAK: One thing I think is clear, though, that she--that this will not be--go into the convention in Denver. Every Democrat I talk to says that is a disaster. You'd probably have credentials fights, you'd have fights over superdelegates. It'd be a good old-fashioned kind of convention that, that I would love.

MR. HUNT: You'd love.

MR. NOVAK: I'd love it. But, but it wouldn't be good for the Democrats. They--there will be some kind of a settlement made, who has the momentum. Right now, he has the momentum. But it could--it can change very easily because these people really don't, don't disagree, disagree on policies. This is the, the hero of the week.

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