'Meet the Press' transcript for May 11, 2008

MR. RUSSERT: So if Senator Obama has enough elected delegates, plus superdelegates, to add up to 2,025, will Senator Clinton then say "all right, he's the nominee"?

MR. McAULIFFE: Let's let the Rules and Bylaws meet on the 31st. Whatever determination they make--because it's up to the Rules and Bylaws to determine if we include Florida and Michigan--after that's done I've always said this, Tim, is someone has the magic number to be the nominee of the Democratic Party, then they're the nominee of the Democratic Party. But until we get to that number, anyone can fight. As I say, you know, you come from a fight in Buffalo, your father was a fighter, I read your book. I mean you got to keep fighting. You can't win unless you're on the playing field. And this is politics, Tim. Anything can happen in the next three to four weeks.

MR. RUSSERT: You always thought this would be over on Super Tuesday.

MR. McAULIFFE: I did.

MR. RUSSERT: Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, formidable machine.

MR. McAULIFFE: I did, yeah.

MR. RUSSERT: Formidable machine, and yet Barack Obama, a one-term senator from Illinois, may have beaten her for the Democratic nomination. How did that happen?

MR. McAULIFFE: It shows how smart I am. I hope no one's paying attention to me. I did think it would probably be over after February 5th. I think once we had Iowa, I think Iowa's a key determinant and he got a lot of energy and excitement coming out of Iowa. And then he went on from there and she stayed in. I think if you asked me one simple reason today I'd say that, you know, he won Iowa. And then as has happened in the past, he got a huge springboard off of that.

MR. RUSSERT: Should you have avoided Iowa?

MR. McAULIFFE: I think you have to compete everywhere. Listen, we have played hard and we didn't want to game the system. You got to--Hillary has played everywhere, she's playing today, that's why she's in West Virginia. I wish we had more of a debate going on in West Virginia and Kentucky. These are two important states. Senator Obama's, he's going, I believe, to West Virginia tomorrow. But he hasn't been down there. He hasn't been to Kentucky. It's important that we as Democrats, play everywhere. Hillary Clinton has played everywhere. She's a vigorous debate, 16.6 million supporters. She's led the debate on healthcare, on home foreclosure, on getting our troops out fast and safe in Iraq. And that's what the voters have liked about it. So it's a close race and on we go.

MR. RUSSERT: And you're a very loyal advocate. Terry McAuliffe, we thank you for...

MR. McAULIFFE: Thank you.

MR. RUSSERT: ..sharing your views.

MR. McAULIFFE: Happy Mother's Day to Millie McAuliffe and to my wife, Dorothy, mother of five children. Happy Mother's Day.

MR. RUSSERT: Well done.

MR. McAULIFFE: Thank you.

MR. RUSSERT: Thank you for your views.

Coming next, the race for the White House 2008 through the eyes of Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post; Michele Norris of NPR's "All Things Considered"; John Harwood of CNBC and The New York Times: Gerry Seib of The Wall Street Journal. They are all coming up next right here only on MEET THE PRESS.

(Announcements)

MR. RUSSERT: Our political roundtable: Chris Cillizza, Michele Norris, John Harwood, Gerry Seib, all after this brief station break.

(Announcements)

MR. RUSSERT: And we are back.

John Harwood, let me start with you. Is Obama going to be the nominee?

MR. JOHN HARWOOD: Yes. It's pretty obvious at this point.

MR. RUSSERT: Gerry?

MR. GERALD SEIB: It's hard to see how he's not the nominee.

MR. RUSSERT: Chris Cillizza?

MR. CHRIS CILLIZZA: Yes, he is.

MR. RUSSERT: Michele?

MS. MICHELE NORRIS: The math doesn't work in her favor.

MR. HARWOOD: Tim, let me qualify that this way. There's nothing Hillary Clinton can do to change it. Stuff could happen to Barack Obama. If we found out that there was a secret poker game when Tony Rezko was paying Barack Obama to write Jeremiah Wright's sermons and to organize Muslim English professors for a new Weather Underground chapter, maybe Barack Obama could be stopped. But that's a fantasy, and it's--you just simply can't see it happening.

MR. SEIB: But you just, you just heard Terry McAuliffe say, this is, this is politics. Anything can happen. That's the name of the game right now, and, you know, I have to give him their due. They're, they're entitled to play this game out, and he's right, this is politics, anything can happen. The question is, a static shot today? It's hard to see anything happening, but you never do know.

MR. CILLIZZA: Listen, John touched on this. I think it's important, is the anything could happen. If you look back at the Clintons, and I include Bill Clinton in this, their political life, anything has happened. And I think that's why so many people in the aftermath of Tuesday's results said, "Why would she stay in? Why is she staying in?" Endurance and perseverance define these people. This is a man who was counted out before the '92 primary. He should resign in impeachment. She's counted out before this New Hampshire primary. She's counted out before Ohio and Texas. Their belief is that politics, at least in their life, has proven that things happen, that if you stick around beyond when people think you should stick around, things can develop, things can change rapidly. And I think that's why you probably see her stay in just to push it out, not under the expectation that something will happen, but if it does, she wants to be in position to strike.

MS. NORRIS: And also to frame their circumstances. I mean, they, they, they have come back, the Clintons have come back from the ashes several times.

MR. CILLIZZA: Mm-hmm.

MS. NORRIS: And in doing that they've often defined themselves--Bill Clinton came in second in, in New Hampshire and declared himself the comeback kid, basically declared it a victory. And so what she's doing in staying in is also rewriting the next chapter of her life, deciding, you know, how she does move forward. Does she fight for a place on the ticket, does she define her place within the party? I mean, she--it's like the ads that you see during the NBA playoffs right now. She has to decide if she wants to press on and try to make history or be history. And it's a tough decision for her.

MR. RUSSERT: The money is an interesting issue. They've put in $11 million of their own money, you just heard Terry McAuliffe suggest they may put more in, and the rules are the rules. Unless you raise that money and repay yourself before the convention, you lose it, other than $250,000. That's a big decision, John.

MR. HARWOOD: Well, yes, it's a big decision, but maybe a smaller decision for the Clintons than a lot of other people. Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton have made $100 million over the last several years, so they're out $11 million right now. What is the consequence to them? How many speeches by Bill Clinton would it take to make up that lost income if they lose it? Not all that many. There are some people who have a stake in it. Mark Penn, the strategist, still has some outstanding debts that have not been paid. The money that Hillary Clinton has loaned to her campaign has gone straight on to television advertising. So there's some people who have a rooting interest in this, but I don't think too many people, either the Clintons themselves or Barack Obama's campaign, is going to lose too much sleep over the financial circumstances of...

MR. RUSSERT: Isn't there a perverse irony that if part of the arrangement to come together as a party is that if Barack Obama will host fundraisers for the Clintons to retire the debt, and that money will go to Mark Penn, who had, who had, who had led the campaign against Barack Obama.

MR. HARWOOD: That's why they're not losing sleep over it.

MR. SEIB: Well, this is politics. Anything can happen, as you said. But that--this is in an issue that's lurking. It's not there yet, but the question of whether the Obama forces, if this plays out that we, the way we've all predicted, would this evolve to a point where Barack Obama would be willing to invest time to raise money for Hillary Clinton? That's a, that's a lurking question just in the background right now.

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