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Saturday Morning News

Coming Campaign Likely To Emphasize the Negatives

Aired March 11, 2000 - 8:16 a.m. ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, back on the presidential race, it's likely to be a tough battle for both Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush in their fight for the White House. Polls show them in a head to head match-up.

Joining us with some insights into the campaign is Thomas Edsall, a staff writer for "The Washington Post."

Good morning, Tom.

THOMAS EDSALL, "WASHINGTON POST": How are you?

PHILLIPS: Good.

EDSALL: Good to see you.

PHILLIPS: Good to see you. Well, we can't ignore what's been happening in the past 24 hours intensively, Al Gore and his role in political fund raising. How do you think this is going to affect the head to head match-up we're seeing?

EDSALL: Well, the real burden's going to go onto the Republican Congress, can they push this into an issue that -- can they revive it? It's been an issue that's been before them in the past and they have not been able to really push it with great effect. Now, can they do it in a campaign? We'll see.

PHILLIPS: Could this mean hostile campaigns?

EDSALL: Oh, yeah, it's going to be a very hostile campaign. Both candidates are very high on negatives and they're going to be pushing those negatives like crazy.

PHILLIPS: Now, McCain still has not endorsed Bush. Why? What do you think is going on here?

EDSALL: I think he wants to make sure that the issue of campaign finance reform stays alive, that he gets some credit for it, that there is a, that he wants to keep the leverage going here.

PHILLIPS: Speaking of leverage, do you think he wants to use that leverage in turn to become vice president?

EDSALL: I, right now he says no, but at the end, a lot of times people change their mind when things get much closer to the convention time.

PHILLIPS: Tom, what do you think about the next question for "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" Could it be who will get the McCain votes in November?

EDSALL: No question. That's the big fight and it's a tough one for both of them because the McCain voters are split. They don't really like either candidate and the two of them are going to have a really nasty, tough time fighting through this, trying to win this thing.

PHILLIPS: Now, Bradley voters seem to be going towards supporting Gore. What is it that George W. Bush is going to need to do to compete, because he's got quite a tough fight ahead, correct?

EDSALL: George Bush's problem really is that he beat the guy who had the real excitement in this whole campaign. John McCain was the one person who sort of stood out as a new candidate, a guy who was sort of alive, vigorous and Bush now looks like sort of a second choice and not an attractive choice to many of these voters who were drawn to McCain.

Gore has a somewhat similar problem. He's an old shoe in Washington. He's been around. The two of them have very high negatives. It's striking. I don't think there's ever been a campaign where two candidates start with their negatives in the 40s, which is extraordinary for politics.

PHILLIPS: Absolutely. I think another thing, too, and you have written a lot about this, trust. Both candidates are having a problem with this. Voters are talking about it, critics are talking about it. People don't really believe that Bush and Gore mean what they say or say what they believe.

EDSALL: It's really striking, the two of them -- and again, this is a problem that McCain caused for both of them in a sense by raising this issue, by saying I say what I believe and I'm going to say the truth. People in the case of Bush and Gore, both, they have very large percentages, majorities, really, in both cases who say neither of these guys says what they believe, speaks from conviction. Again, that's, for picking a president, this is not a very attractive process.

PHILLIPS: Thomas Edsall, writer for "The Washington Post," always a pleasure.

EDSALL: My pleasure.

PHILLIPS: Thank you.

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