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Saturday Morning News

Reporter's Notebook: McCain Campaign Generates Interest Heading Into Super Tuesday

Aired March 4, 2000 - 9:36 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: And now we turn to the astute political insight of CNN's Bob Franken, who joins us not from Washington today but from New York, where he's traveling with the Bill Bradley campaign.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of those cities, one of those two.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, exactly.

Call us with your questions, not just regarding the Bradley campaign but any political questions you might have. Bob's ready for you. He always is. Dial us, 404-221-1855.

Hi, Bob.

FRANKEN: Hello.

O'BRIEN: Good to see you, Mr. Franken.

Let's go right to the e-mail, shall we? And, boy, folks are fascinated by John McCain. Let's go to this one, which comes from Lisa Rogers at aol.com.

"I know that some Republicans were actually happy that someone, John McCain, finally stood up to the religious right. Will Mr. McCain's comments on Robertson and Falwell do him any appreciable good in the remaining primaries?"

FRANKEN: Well, he's hoping so. But on the other side, there are many people who feel that he might have done himself some harm by antagonizing a key Republican constituency. McCain has been trying to make the point that he is, in fact, a Reagan Republican , not somebody who is pandering to Democrats and those who are not Republicans. He has to win the nomination, of course.

And now, as I have said, he has really antagonized one of the fundamental parts of the Reagan Republican coalition. So he is taking quite a gamble. But he was really left with little choice, because Governor Bush had really sort of co-opted him on the right, the religious right in particular, and so McCain feels as if his only chance is to come at them from another direction. It's a very risky gamble, and thus far it doesn't look like it's paid off. PHILLIPS: All right, Bob, we're going to take a switch to the phones. Bill from California is on the line.

Go ahead, Bill.

FRANKEN: Bill the bus driver.

Good morning, Bill.

BILL: Good morning, Bob. Old Bill here. I've got a question. I've heard a lot about the Republicans and the Democrats, but what's happening with the Reform Party?

FRANKEN: Well, the...

BILL: Are they going to have a nominee? What's going on with them?

FRANKEN: Well, the Reform Party has been doing its best to implode, but they're considering whether or not Pat Buchanan is the one who would carry the banner. There are a lot of people who believe that Pat Buchanan is not entirely consistent with Reform Party principles, particularly on social issues like abortion, so there's a little bit of a fight going on. And, of course, the major question mark is the one who always is when it comes to that party: Ross Perot. Is he going to get involved?

O'BRIEN: Ah, the plot will thicken, won't it, Bob?

FRANKEN: It always does,

O'BRIEN: All right, back to the e-mail we go. Barry -- Bernie Chapnick in Arlington, Virginia has this query:

"If John McCain were to be the GOP nominee, what kind of support could he expect from Senator Lott and the rest of his 'buddies' in the congressional leadership?"

FRANKEN: Well, you know, it's a funny thing about politics. When the going gets tough, people get in line. If John McCain suddenly -- and I don't think that a lot of people believe it really is going to happen -- but if John McCain became the Republican nominee, you'd hear a lot of Republican politicians who would say, you know, I always liked him anyway. I just really thought that he was the man, I just didn't really have the chance to say so. In other words, they'll get in line. I don't think that that would be a problem.

But it's beginning to look darker and darker for John McCain. The only thing I'll say about that is he's pulled off one surprise after another. Again, if he succeeds, I think a lot of people will be surprised.

PHILLIPS: All right, Bob, turning to Colorado, Mariah's on the line.

Go ahead, Mariah.

MARIAH: Hi, Bob.

FRANKEN: Good morning.

MARIAH: Question for you on the media covering John McCain. It seems like they've kind of taken a turn. They used to be so positive toward him. And I've noticed that within the past week and a half to two weeks, the Bush camp was, you know, crying, oh, we've gotten unfair treatment by the media. And there's been a switch, and I've noticed just a lot of negative about McCain. And is there a reason for that?

FRANKEN: Well, I'm not sure I would agree it's a simple straight line as that as somebody who's covered the McCain campaign. What happens is is that he makes himself so accessible to reporters that you really run out of tough questions to ask. Over the period of a day, a week, he sits with us incessantly and talks with us. And then when he says something and stumbles, we ask the question, he answers it, tries to get out of the mess he might have created and then moves on. And that's the last of it.

When you have a candidate, however, who's a little more protected, any answer that he gives is going to be one that's looked at more closely. Now the media have decided we really must take that extra step and take a good close look at the McCain record. I don't know of it will be considered negative reporting, but because he's being taken more seriously as a candidate, he is now getting closer scrutiny perhaps than he did at the beginning.

O'BRIEN: Sort of wearing the reporters down there on the bus, huh, Bob?

FRANKEN: Yes, it's like, leave us alone.

O'BRIEN: Is that possible? Is that possible?

FRANKEN: Oh, reporters worn down, it's very possible.

O'BRIEN: Enough with the answers already. All right, let's go back to Jack -- the e-mail, Jack Stoddard.

"Why do you think the conservatives seem to favor Bush. Isn't it obvious that McCain would get the Republican and a large Democrat vote, as well, in the general election? Is it because McCain wants campaign reform?"

FRANKEN: Well, that's a very big issue, as a matter of fact. Many of the conservative advocacy groups believe that if McCain were successful in denying soft money contributions, that would really quiet down the people who have special interests, the ant-abortion groups for instance, that type of thing. So that's where some of it comes from.

But I think the real reason is that in South Carolina there was a campaign where George W. Bush would seek, because he wanted to win that election, he would seek the strong, very conservative base in that state. And John McCain decided that he would go the other way. And so now they have lined up. The conservatives are supporting George W. Bush, which many people consider ironic, because when the campaign began he was an alternative to people he viewed as harsh conservatives. Remember, he called himself the compassionate conservative.

O'BRIEN: All right, Bob Franken, our compassionate journalist on the campaign trail, always good to see you. And don't be a stranger, OK?

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