'Meet the Press' transcript for May 11, 2008

MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: After a landslide loss in North Carolina and a razor-thin win in Indiana, Hillary Clinton's campaign goes on. For how long and at what price to Democratic Party unity? With us, he supports Barack Obama, a former Democratic Party chairman, Chris Dodd, Democratic Senator from Connecticut. And he supports Hillary Clinton, also a former Democratic Party chairman, Terry McAuliffe, chair of the Clinton campaign.

Then, insights and analysis from Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post, Michele Norris of NPR's "All Things Considered"; and the co-authors of "Pennsylvania Avenue: Profiles In Backroom Power," John Harwood of CNBC and The New York Times and Gerry Seib of The Wall Street Journal.

But first, he ran for president himself this year but now supports Barack Obama. Senator Chris Dodd, welcome back to MEET THE PRESS.

MR. RUSSERT: Senator, let me begin by showing you the very latest delegate count: Obama, 1590; Clinton, 1426. These are pledged delegates. Among superdelegates, the NBC total is Clinton, 276.5; Obama, 274; uncommitted 244.5. Contests won so far: Obama, 31; Clinton, 17. The popular vote: 16 million for Obama, 15.3 for Clinton; advantage Obama 722,000.

Senator Dodd, looking at those numbers, is Barack Obama going to be the Democratic nominee?

SEN. DODD: Yes, he will be, Tim. I think that's, that's very clear today. And, and it's been a long two years, as you point out. I was a part of it for about a year and a half. And these candidates have done a remarkable job. I commend both of them. And while there's a lot of questions about whether or not Hillary Clinton will stay in the race over the next few weeks or so, my point I want to make to you and others is, is that I have every bit of confidence--I know Hillary Clinton well, I know her husband well. These are great Democrats, they care about the country very much, and I'm, I'm entirely confident as I speak to you this morning that we're going to be a very united party behind Barack Obama very, very quickly and to face the challenges that John McCain and the Republicans pose in the election in November.

MR. RUSSERT: Tuesday is West Virginia. Senator Clinton is favored significantly. On Wednesday, you made these comments: "You're going to be asking a bunch of people [in West Virginia] to vote against somebody who's likely to be your nominee a few weeks later? And turn around and ask the very same people a few weeks later to reverse themselves and now vote for [Obama] on Election Day?" Are you distressed by that?

SEN. DODD: I, I'll only be distressed about how the campaign is waged. I'm not distressed about the fact that Hillary Clinton's still in the race in West Virginia. But to what extent, what kind of rhetoric is used, how are we describing Barack Obama? I think we've been through a lot of this over the last number of weeks. It's now, I think the unity is really the critical question, and so how the campaign is waged is more important than whether or not it's being waged. And that's really the concern I was expressing last Wednesday. And I'm confident, again, that Hillary Clinton understands how important it is that Democrats win this election, that we get back on track again both at home and abroad, that we have a candidate that the Democrats are united behind. And I know she wants to be a part of that, ultimately.

MR. RUSSERT: But Senator Clinton's concern is that she has a broader coalition that would resonate in a November election, particularly with the states you need to win the Electoral College. The campaign manager for John McCain sent this memo out on Wednesday: "If and when Senator Barack Obama becomes the official nominee, Democratic primary voters may not form a tight coalition immediately. Data to date suggests Democratic primary voters will not blindly support Senator Obama. ... Among North Carolina Democratic primary voters interviewed in exit polls, 18 percent of the Democrats surveyed said they would vote for John McCain in a race against" "Obama. ... Among Indiana Democratic primary voters ... 18 percent" said "they'd vote for John McCain against Senator Obama. Among Pennsylvania Democratic Primary voters, 15 percent said they would vote for John McCain."

Those data, those statistics are ominous, aren't they?

SEN. DODD: Well, I find it interesting coming from the McCain campaign. Frank Rich wrote a great piece a couple of weeks ago, pointing out that now that John McCain is the presumptive nominee with really no challenge at all, there's still about 20 to 25 percent of Republicans showing up to vote for another candidate other than John McCain.

Tim, I have no doubt whatsoever that Democrats are going to rally behind Barack Obama. This is not 1968 when we were highly divided, racial tensions in the country, the anti-war movement, Democrats split over those issues. The difference between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on substantive issues is rather narrow. I have no doubt whatsoever--no doubt whatsoever that Democrats, independents, Republicans who want as much change as Democrats and independents do, are going to rally behind the Barack Obama candidacy. And so all of this talk in the heat of a campaign about people who obviously put a lot of time, a lot of effort into these efforts on behalf of the candidate of their choice, are going to, I think, reunite, or unite again very, very quickly. I don't think we have to wait until November. I'm very confident that come the next few weeks you're going to see a very united party, including Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton, standing with Barack Obama, endorsing his campaign and pulling for him in the, in the November elections.

MR. RUSSERT: Should the entire primary season be played out through the first week of June?

SEN. DODD: It can be. I understand that. You know, having been a candidate, it's awfully difficult when you're going 180 miles an hour in on direction and you have a rough night, as Mrs. Clinton did, my colleague Senator Clinton did last Tuesday night, to expect to within 48 hours or 72 hours to reverse field, to stop everything and go in a different direction is asking way too much in my view. Give her a chance to breathe, to settle down, to recognize what's going on here. She'll make the right choice.

I know her pretty well. She loves this party, as I said, and she loves this country. And she's not about to allow another term of George Bush in the name of John McCain, who's embraced basically the Bush policies on economics, on foreign policy. The country wants a very different direction and I have every confidence that she's going to be as strong a supporter of Barack Obama as anyone would be when it comes to this November election. And her good friends. You've got my good friend Terry McAuliffe coming on after I'm here today, I know they're sitting down and talking with her. These are difficult moments for them. But I'm confident they'll make the right decision.

MR. RUSSERT: Early on in the campaign, you seemed to be concerned about Senator Obama and his qualifications. Back in August of '07 this is Chris Dodd. "Over the past several days, Senator Obama's assertions about foreign and military affairs have been, frankly, confusing and confused." And a few weeks later, "You're not going to have time in January of '09 to get ready for this job, said" "Chris Dodd ... when asked whether Obama had the background to be president." Have your concerns, fears, been set aside?

SEN. DODD: No, I thought that guy in the summer of '07 was a great candidate. Unfortunately, he's no longer a candidate, and I'm not concerned about that. I've sat on the Foreign Relations Committee with Barack Obama now for the last number of years; he was sought out by Dick Lugar, the chairman of the--former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, to travel to Russia with him to talk about reducing the threat of nuclear weapons. This is a person who's very ready to be president. And certainly in a campaign, the rhetoric of candidates can be a little over the top. Probably in that case I was. But nonetheless, I believe he's the right candidate with the right credentials to lead our country.

MR. RUSSERT: Your colleague, Ted Kennedy, said he did not think that an Obama-Clinton ticket would happen. What's your view?

SEN. DODD: I, I think that's probably correct. I think Senator Kennedy's got a pretty good ear to the ground. These are two great candidates who fought very hard, but my sense is today that that probably won't be the ticket. I can't tell you which one it's going to be, but I doubt that's going to be the ticket.

MR. RUSSERT: Senator Chris Dodd, as always, we thank you for joining us and sharing your views.

SEN. DODD: Thank you, Tim, very much.

MR. RUSSERT: And joining us here in Washington, the chair of the Clinton campaign, former Democratic Party chairman, Terry McAuliffe.

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