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Saturday Morning News

Iowa Caucuses: Candidates Fail to Energize Electorate

Aired January 22, 2000 - 9:45 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Iowa caucuses loom on Monday, and if you're interested in politics in general, this is the place to stay from now through the duration of the election 2000. We are focusing, of course, this weekend on Iowa.

Let's turn now to CNN's Leon Harris, who's the point person of our coverage there at our Des Moines outpost.

Leon, are they letting you out of the building much? Have you had a chance to talk to voters?

LEON HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I've had a few chances to get out and talk to people, Miles, and I got to tell you, one of the things that strikes me the most in talking to the people here is, it's hard to find somebody who's really excited about the whole process. They all see this as just an inevitability.

And one lady I was talking with last night was just telling me that she and all of her friends feel like all the candidates are almost all the same. There's a sameness to them. And they're talking about things that don't really matter to them, like, for instance, the tax issue, which is one of the things that G.W. Bush and John McCain have been trying to draw differences about. It just doesn't resonate with a lot of people here.

So I think it's going to be really interesting to see how many people really do brave this cold and get out and go to the polls on Monday night.

O'BRIEN: You know, the point is well taken. I think the candidates are having a terrible time coming up with any issue that resonates, with times as good as they are. However, in Iowa you have a lot of farm families, and things down on the farm aren't as rosy as they are, perhaps, on the coasts of the United States.

But in general, do people out there feel like things are going well in this country?

HARRIS: You know, and that is true, and that's another reason why there's -- it's hard to find someone who's really, really energized about issues and about the election right now.

But one of the things that I did notice here in Iowa, and it's something you can pick up on, is that here in Iowa, you have sort of -- I guess you could call it the bookends of the political spectrum. You've got really, really strong labor presence here, you know. A lot of people are -- really are strong backers of labor. And you also have a really dominant Christian Coalition faction here. They really have a big influence on what's happening here politically.

And even with those two strongly energized groups generally -- strongly energized groups, there still really isn't that furor that you want to see right about this time, or that the candidates want to see right about this time.

So we're going to wait and see and watch and see how things develop between now and Monday night.

O'BRIEN: Now, the conventional wisdom, Leon, as you well know, is that Iowa voters are a thoughtful group, a group that doesn't like to see politicians kind of rolling around there in the mud. I'm curious how much that conventional wisdom matches the reality there. I know this is your first trip out there to cover these caucuses.

HARRIS: Well, you know, I haven't heard a lot of talk about that. But I've been reading the "Des Moines Register" regularly here since I've gotten here, and that's something that's a recurring theme in the papers here, is that there -- people want to see a clean fight. They want to see a fight, but they want to see a clean one, and they're actually -- are rather -- they've been happy with the way things have played out thus far.

Coming into it, we were looking to see whether or not there was any response to the -- some of the charges being made against the Forbes campaign. Some people have been saying the Forbes campaign was really trying to tear down other Republicans, fellow Republicans. Haven't seen or felt that folks here in Iowa are critical of that particular point.

So folks here really are just like everybody else around the country, I guess, are pretty much happy with the way things are working out so far.

O'BRIEN: Lastly and most importantly, Leon, how are the steak houses out there?

HARRIS: Hey, listen, we haven't found out yet. Tonight's the night that we've got a -- we got a couple of dates lined up. We've got one at the 801 Place. Everybody I've talked to so far here, both on camera and off, has told me we got to go to the 801. So we're going to do that one tonight. I'll get back to you about that one tomorrow.

O'BRIEN: I can attest to the fine beef you get out there in the heartland of America. Leon Harris, thanks so much for joining us this morning.

And, of course, stay with CNN all throughout the campaign for the most accurate and up to date coverage.

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