'Meet the Press' transcript for April 27, 2008

MR. RUSSERT:  Former Governor Jim Blanchard of Michigan, who's a Clinton supporter, said the Democratic National Committee has handled the situation badly.  "They have put their rules ahead of common sense, of electing a Democratic president, of voters in two major states.  ...  They're treating the rules like they're the U.S. Constitution or the Ten Commandments. They've lost their way."

DR. DEAN:  Well, they were one of the two states out of the 50 that violated the rules.  I'd kind of expect that from them.

MR. RUSSERT:  But Michigan and Florida are swing states.

DR. DEAN:  They're both very important states.  That doesn't mean they're any more important than anybody else.

MR. RUSSERT:  In fact, there were some meetings of delegates in Michigan, various conventions where Hillary Clinton is now lining up delegates, and, according to Congressman Blanchard, "We want to pick people who'll be loyal to Hillary, who would commit to her through multiple ballots." So Governor Blanchard of Michigan, former governor, is planning for, in effect, a multiple ballot convention.

DR. DEAN:  Sure.  I mean, I--look, everybody has a right to plan anything they want.  My plan, as the chair of the DNC, is to try to get this resolved before we get to the convention.  Because if you go into the convention divided, it's pretty likely you'll come out of the convention divided.

MR. RUSSERT:  Without Michigan and Florida counting, as of now, people are saying, "Howard Dean should have handled this differently.  He should have interceded and fixed this problem and not allowed us to come to a point where these two states feel dissed and it could hurt us in November."

DR. DEAN:  Well, I mean, that--it wasn't my decision to make these changes. Florida and Michigan both voted for a set of rules, then they tried to push ahead of everybody else, and that makes it more difficult for everybody.  We want to resolve this.  This is not the voters' fault in Florida and Michigan. But the fact of the matter is that you have to--you cannot change the rules towards the end of the game just to advantage or disadvantage of a particular candidate.  You can't do that.

MR. RUSSERT:  But you decided not to seat the delegations, not count the primaries.

DR. DEAN:  That's correct.  Because they stepped on the minority groups and the small states in the South and the West that needed that time to have their primaries and have their early input.

Look, it's, it's--this is like having a, a line full of people waiting for something.  If two of them jump the line and go to the front, it's not going to be long before you're going to have a riot.  Don't forget, at the time these sanctions were passed by the Rules Committee, New Hampshire and Iowa were threatening to move into 2007.  You've got to keep order, and that's part of my job is to keep order.  It's understandable that the folks you call out because they think they're more important than everybody else are going to be upset about that.  We did keep order, we do have an orderly process.  I'll defend the process.

MR. RUSSERT:  Will Michigan and Florida be seated?

DR. DEAN:  Yes.

MR. RUSSERT:  In some way, shape or form.

DR. DEAN:  In some way.  I'm determined to make that happen.  I can't--again, I can't, I can't speak for what the rules committee will do.  They're 30 very independent-minded people.  I can't speak for what the credentials committee at the convention will do.  I believe Michigan and Florida should be seated in some way because it was their--their voters did not cause this problem.  This was caused by a political problem, not the voters' problem.

MR. RUSSERT:  Seated and their delegates will vote for the presidential nominee?

DR. DEAN:  I, that's what I hope will happen.

MR. RUSSERT:  The Democratic National Committee has been taking some television advertising out about John McCain, one out on the economy.  You are now also going forward with an ad on Iraq.  Let's watch that ad and come back and talk about it.

(Videotape)

Offscreen Voice:  President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN:  Maybe a hundred.  That'd be fine with me.

Voice:  President Bush has talked about our staying for 50 years.

SEN. McCAIN:  Maybe a hundred.

Ad Announcer:  If all he offers is more of the same, is John McCain the right choice for America's future?

The Democratic National Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.

(End videotape)

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