Good Morning America (ABC) / CBS This Morning snippets - 1992-07-17

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Language: English (YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] first president of the 21st century,

[0:02] President Bill Clinton.

[0:05] >> Both men talked about their past and

[0:07] their families. Gore recounted his young

[0:10] son's near fatal auto accident and how

[0:13] it changed his outlook on life and

[0:15] politics. Bill Clinton talked about his

[0:17] father, who died before he was born, and

[0:20] how his mother struggled to make ends

[0:22] meet.

[0:23] >> You want to know where I get my fighting

[0:26] spirit? It all started with my mother.

[0:30] Thank you, mother. I love you.

[0:33] >> Clinton stressed that unlike the

[0:35] president, he's not from a privileged

[0:36] background. He called George Bush a man

[0:39] without vision and compared himself to

[0:41] Ross Perau in seeking change. I am well

[0:45] aware

[0:46] that all those millions of people who

[0:49] rallied to Ross Perau's cause wanted to

[0:52] be in an army of patriots for change.

[0:58] Tonight I say to them, join us and

[1:01] together we will revitalize America.

[1:06] And last night Clinton gave his plan to

[1:08] revitalize America a name. I called this

[1:12] approach

[1:13] a new covenant, a solemn agreement

[1:19] between the people and their government

[1:22] based not simply on what each of us can

[1:24] take, but what all of us must give to

[1:27] our nation.

[1:30] On the convention floor, the speech was

[1:32] wellreceived, and the Democrats are

[1:34] thrilled with the lead they now have in

[1:35] the polls. But the Clinton campaign is

[1:38] mindful of what happened to Michael

[1:39] Dukus four years ago when he sat on his

[1:42] lead and watched his 17-point lead

[1:44] disappear. They don't want a repeat

[1:46] performance. So, they're going to hit

[1:47] the campaign trail hard starting today,

[1:49] Mike.

[1:50] >> And why starting where they're starting?

[1:52] Well, they have a regional philosophy

[1:53] here, regional approach.

[1:55] >> They think they're going to do well with

[1:56] some of the people who supported Ross

[1:58] Pro in the Rust Belt. are going to be

[1:59] going on a bus trip, stopping at many

[2:02] small towns, hoping to pick up some uh

[2:04] people that previously supported Ross

[2:06] Pro. As far as the speech went, I think

[2:08] Bill Clinton went on long again.

[2:10] Probably a little disappointed, some

[2:11] people out there, that it it took him so

[2:13] long to say what he wanted, but there's

[2:14] so many people he's trying to appeal to,

[2:16] it had a little bit of the flavor of the

[2:18] kitchen sink.

[2:19] >> All right, Mike, thanks very much. ABC's

[2:20] Mike von Fran for us this morning once

[2:22] again from Madison Square Garden. All

[2:24] the convention coverage has given Bill

[2:25] Clinton a rather stunning lead in the

[2:27] latest ABC News poll. was taken

[2:29] yesterday after Ross Perau bailed out of

[2:31] the race and it puts Clinton ahead of

[2:33] President Bush by a 2 to1 margin. But

[2:36] none of this matters too much to one

[2:38] group of Americans who were basically

[2:39] stunned by something else yesterday.

[2:41] That being Mr. Perau's pull out. ABC's

[2:43] Linda Patillo has reaction now from

[2:45] Perau's volunteers.

[2:48] >> We want

[2:49] >> outside Perau headquarters last night. A

[2:52] lastditch effort to get their candidate

[2:54] to reconsider.

[2:55] >> Don't give up. Don't quit. It's not

[2:58] over.

[3:00] >> But the man who said he would run if his

[3:02] supporters got him on the ballot in 50

[3:04] states had changed his mind.

[3:06] >> Now that the Democratic party has

[3:07] revitalized itself,

[3:10] I have concluded that we cannot win in

[3:12] November and that the election will be

[3:15] decided in the House of Representatives.

[3:17] >> He would not run, he said, because he

[3:19] did not want to disrupt the system and

[3:21] because it was what was best for his

[3:23] country. Can you sort of tell us how you

[3:25] came to this decision in your own?

[3:26] >> I'm an engineer. I just rationally

[3:28] looked at the facts. I just analyze

[3:30] facts and you know try to keep You don't

[3:32] make good decisions with emotions. You

[3:34] make good decisions just looking at the

[3:35] facts

[3:36] >> committee. This is Shirley

[3:37] >> at Perau headquarters. Volunteers

[3:39] scrambled to keep their grassroots

[3:41] movement together.

[3:42] >> Trying to get him to change his mind

[3:44] right now. Sir,

[3:47] >> tell me you're going to pull his leg off

[3:49] if he don't change his mind.

[3:50] >> He really was going to make a change.

[3:53] in politics for all of us and for our

[3:55] kids.

[3:58] And I guess I'm just devastated at this

[3:59] point.

[4:01] >> They're hurt. They feel betrayed, but

[4:03] they still love him and they want him to

[4:04] reconsider. And I do, too.

[4:07] >> Are Perau's supporters wasting his time?

[4:09] Campaign manager Hamilton Jordan says,

[4:11] "I'm taking him for his word, and they

[4:13] should, too." But what about this force

[4:16] that Perau has unleashed on American

[4:18] politics? His name will still appear on

[4:20] the ballot in nearly 30 states and that

[4:23] could prove to be an attractive choice

[4:24] for those who want to vote for none of

[4:26] the above. Ross Perau without even

[4:29] running may continue to exert a

[4:30] tremendous impact on this election year.

[4:33] Mike,

[4:33] >> he could have another kind of impact

[4:34] obviously, Lyn, and some people wondered

[4:36] too whether he was getting awfully close

[4:38] to that yesterday when he talked

[4:39] glowingly about changes in the

[4:41] Democratic party. I I take it that that

[4:43] was not intended to be some sort of

[4:44] subtle endorsement.

[4:45] >> He was asked whether he was offering

[4:47] some sort of endorsement. and he said

[4:48] absolutely not. He urged his supporters

[4:51] to look at the other two candidates and

[4:53] pick one. But Mikey held open the door.

[4:55] He said if his supporters wanted to get

[4:57] together and decide what direction their

[4:59] grassroots movement would take, he'd

[5:00] certainly be willing to meet with them.

[5:02] >> All right, Linda, thank you very much.

[5:03] ABC's Linda Patillo live for us this

[5:05] morning covering the Perau story as it

[5:07] develops in Dallas, Texas. The Perau

[5:10] announcement caught a number of people

[5:11] by surprise at the highest levels of

[5:13] government. The highest level of course

[5:14] being the president and he certainly was

[5:16] surprised. Mr. Bush was out of position.

[5:18] He was actually on vacation at Secretary

[5:20] of State Baker's ranch up in Wyoming

[5:22] when he called a news conference to try

[5:24] to react to the uh Perau announcement.

[5:26] Mr. Bush said that he had telephoned

[5:29] Perau to offer his congratulations, as

[5:31] the president put it, for Perau's

[5:33] energizing of this political machine and

[5:36] also obviously seeking to try to

[5:38] capitalize on some support from the

[5:41] Perau supporters themselves, hoping to

[5:42] attract some of them. There's also been

[5:44] some speculation about whether or not

[5:46] Mr. Baker will jump back to help the

[5:48] president's uh what some would call

[5:50] floundering political campaign and Anne

[5:52] Compton reported to us earlier this

[5:53] morning that the door certainly seemed

[5:55] to be left at least a bit a jar. On that

[5:57] note, finally a program note for you

[5:59] right now. Tonight on 2020, Ross Perau

[6:01] will talk with ABC's Barbara Walters

[6:03] about his decision to get out of this

[6:04] presidential campaign. And that is

[6:06] tonight on 2020 beginning at 10:00

[6:08] Eastern time. That is the news till now.

[6:10] More on this coming up in just a couple

[6:11] of moments. Here's Charlie and Spencer.

[6:13] >> All right, thanks very much, Michael.

[6:14] Appreciate that. It is 8 minutes after

[6:16] the hour. Spencer has the national

[6:17] weather forecast. We'll get to it

[6:19] because we got a lot. Very much Spencer.

[6:20] It's coming up on 11 minutes after the

[6:22] hour. We have standing by in Dallas the

[6:24] man who ran the petition drive for Ross

[6:26] Perau, Tom Loose. And Joan's going to be

[6:28] talking to him. Joan, are you are you

[6:29] there? No, I'm I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

[6:32] She's not standing by. As you heard in

[6:34] the news, Ross Perau ended the

[6:35] speculation over when he would declare

[6:38] his candidacy when he told his

[6:39] supporters yesterday that he would not

[6:41] run for president. And joining us now

[6:42] from Dallas, Texas, is Ross Perau's

[6:44] chief of staff, Tom Loose, the chairman

[6:46] of the Perau Petition Committee. Mr.

[6:48] Loose, good to have you with us.

[6:49] >> Good morning.

[6:51] >> There is a lot of confusion really as to

[6:54] why Ross Perau did this. I know what his

[6:57] stated reasons were, but it came so

[6:59] quickly. It caught everybody by

[7:01] surprise. Most of all, his volunteers.

[7:04] He cut and ran. Why?

[7:07] >> Well, I I think his stated reasons are

[7:09] very clear, Charlie. I think he he made

[7:11] a difficult decision. He did what he

[7:14] sincerely thought was best for the

[7:15] country. I know there are people that

[7:17] are disappointed. Uh I met with the

[7:20] staff here and the volunteers here

[7:22] yesterday, but you know, I think uh they

[7:25] also are very clear in feeling that Ross

[7:27] did what he thought was right. But Mr.

[7:30] Loose, didn't he? You ran the petition

[7:31] drive. You knew those people, those

[7:33] volunteers. He made a compact with them.

[7:35] He said, "Look, I will, if you will do

[7:37] for me, if you will get me on the ballot

[7:39] in 50 states, I will do for you. I will

[7:41] represent your disaection. I will speak

[7:44] for those that are not spoken for." And

[7:46] then all of a sudden, he's gone. Well,

[7:49] Charlie, part of that compact from the

[7:51] very beginning, and if you look back,

[7:52] it's been very clear, and he said it

[7:54] over and over, he would never do

[7:55] anything that was destructive uh to the

[7:58] country or not constructive. I remember

[8:01] uh people from your network asking me

[8:03] what that meant two or three months ago

[8:05] and I told them it meant exactly what it

[8:07] said uh that he would always he's a

[8:09] patriot and he's always going to do what

[8:11] he thinks is in the best interest of the

[8:13] country. I think that's what many

[8:14] individuals uh do every day is decide

[8:17] what's best.

[8:18] >> But Mr. Loose, what was different

[8:19] yesterday than was the situation a month

[8:23] ago or 6 weeks ago? people knew that

[8:25] there was a strong likelihood this would

[8:27] go into the House of Representatives and

[8:29] all of a sudden that seemed to be a

[8:30] determining influence with Ross Perez.

[8:32] >> Well, I don't think it was all of a

[8:34] sudden. Uh, as you've heard Ross himself

[8:37] say, he's an engineer. He made an

[8:40] analytical decision. It wasn't one based

[8:42] upon an event at 8:07 or 809 or on a

[8:46] particular day. Ross is a guy that's uh

[8:49] very observant. had studied this uh

[8:51] situation for a good while and then made

[8:53] a decision and announced his decision.

[8:56] >> Were there regrets uh among the people

[8:58] down there? The feeling that we were we

[9:01] were okay as long as this was a sort of

[9:04] naent grassroots movement when we had to

[9:06] make the transition to an organized

[9:08] campaign we couldn't do it. Was there a

[9:10] feeling that we should have done

[9:11] something? I say we meaning you should

[9:14] have done something differently.

[9:16] >> No. Well, I tell you what I felt in

[9:18] talking to people across the country. Uh

[9:20] I saw a real sense of uh empowerment.

[9:22] People uh felt like that they had come

[9:25] together. They had come together and put

[9:27] Ross on the petition. They had forced

[9:29] onto the table onto the nation's agenda,

[9:32] if you will, certain economic issues.

[9:34] There was a sense they were going to

[9:35] remain united and push forward. You

[9:37] know, Charlie, one thing Ross always

[9:39] said, uh the problems that this country

[9:42] faces are not going to be corrected by

[9:44] one person. It's going to require all of

[9:47] us to get more involved, more engaged,

[9:49] and I think there was a sense of

[9:50] empowerment that I felt in talking to

[9:52] people yesterday.

[9:53] >> Just quick final question. There are a

[9:54] lot of volunteers who want to keep this

[9:56] going. Is Ross Perau in any way

[9:59] encouraging them to do that on his

[10:02] behalf?

[10:03] >> No, I I think he's been clear that he's

[10:06] made a decision that he thinks is in the

[10:08] best interest of the country.

[10:10] >> Tom Loose, what do you do now?

[10:12] >> Well, uh, I'm going to go back to work.

[10:15] as does he. I appreciate you being with

[10:17] us this morning. Thank you for being

[10:19] here. It's coming up now on 15 minutes

[10:22] after the hour. How to make political

[10:23] hay from the demise of the Perau

[10:26] campaign. How do the Democrats and

[10:27] Republicans think

[10:33] >> Dallas, Texas, headquarters for Ross

[10:35] Perau's grassroots campaign.

[10:37] >> I'm not alone in feeling the way that we

[10:38] don't want to vote for Bush. We don't

[10:40] want to vote for Clinton. We wanted to

[10:42] vote for Ross. He really wanted to make

[10:44] a difference and and and work for

[10:46] America. I don't you know I really he

[10:48] really meant that. I mean that was the

[10:49] truth.

[10:49] >> People want to know what they can do to

[10:51] get him to persuade him to come back

[10:52] again.

[10:54] >> With Ross Perau out of the race,

[10:56] Governor Clinton and President Bush both

[10:58] made plays for his supporters yesterday.

[11:00] But what do they have to do to turn his

[11:02] departure into a windfall for them? With

[11:04] us now, representatives of each

[11:06] campaign. Mary Matlin is deputy campaign

[11:08] manager for the Bush Quail ticket. She's

[11:10] joining us in Washington. Senator John

[11:12] Bro of Louisiana is chairman of the

[11:13] Democratic Leadership Council which has

[11:15] been steering the party on its current

[11:17] course and he's with me here in our

[11:18] studio. I thank both of you for being

[11:20] with us. Senator, let me start with you.

[11:22] This changes the political equation. How

[11:24] does it change it for Bill Clinton?

[11:26] >> I think it's an opportunity for Bill

[11:28] Clinton, Charlie. We now have a whole

[11:29] group of voters who have already made

[11:31] one very important decision and that

[11:33] decision is that they were not for

[11:34] President Bush for re-election. That's

[11:36] why they were involved in the parole

[11:37] campaign in the first place.

[11:38] >> Well, they were not for Bill Clinton

[11:39] either. Yeah, but they knew George Bush.

[11:41] They don't know Bill Clinton. That's a

[11:42] big difference. George Bush has been

[11:43] there for 12 years as vice president and

[11:45] president. These people were unhappy

[11:47] with the status quo. And who better

[11:49] represents the status quo of the last 12

[11:51] years than President George Bush. Bill

[11:53] Clinton now has an opportunity to tell

[11:55] these people that he also is opposed to

[11:58] the status quo and wants to make some

[11:59] change. The pro voters stood for change

[12:02] and I think it's going to be very

[12:03] difficult for George Bush to say, "I'm

[12:05] the change candidate." He can't do that.

[12:07] >> All right. I'll come back to that point

[12:08] in a minute. Mary, let me ask you, how

[12:09] does the equation change for the

[12:11] president, George Bush?

[12:13] >> Well, we're the uh electoral map comes

[12:15] back into play for us. Certainly, a

[12:17] three-way race made it very complicated

[12:19] for both candidacies, but in a two-way

[12:21] race, we uh go back to our electoral

[12:23] advantage, our strength in the South,

[12:24] our strength in the West, and um our

[12:26] competitiveness in the in the

[12:28] battleground states of the Midwest.

[12:30] >> Yeah, let me come back to that because

[12:32] Mary makes a very important point. There

[12:34] was a strategy a lot of people felt and

[12:35] indeed even Clinton people talked about

[12:38] choosing Al Gore cementing perhaps a 40%

[12:41] base in the south which would be enough

[12:42] to win there puts a lot of states in the

[12:44] west in play perhaps since you don't

[12:46] need more than 50% anymore. All that

[12:48] strategy is out the window. Strategy on

[12:50] which Clinton may have based his

[12:51] campaign.

[12:51] >> Oh no, the strategy was not based on a

[12:53] three-way race at all. It was based on a

[12:55] uh a new party, a new way of thinking.

[12:57] Uh we're not only the comeback kid and

[12:59] candidate, we are also the comeback

[13:01] party. It's a new emphasis. It's a

[13:03] different platform. Uh you heard last

[13:05] night things that Democrats had not

[13:06] normally talked about, responsibility

[13:08] and opportunity and community, giving

[13:11] something back to government. I think it

[13:12] was a strong emphasis on family values.

[13:14] That message is going to sell throughout

[13:16] this country and particularly in the

[13:18] south whether Ross Barau is on the

[13:20] ticket or not.

[13:20] >> Mary, let me take the senator's point to

[13:22] you, which is that Bill Clinton has

[13:25] talked about change over and over again

[13:26] if I hear the word one more time. Uh and

[13:29] those were words coming from Ross Perau

[13:32] as well. So why isn't that the natural

[13:34] place for the Perau supporters to land?

[13:37] >> Because Bill Clinton talks about change,

[13:39] but Bill Clinton is not proposing

[13:41] change. The centerpiece of this uh

[13:44] so-called change candidacy is the 22page

[13:46] economic term paper, which calls for tax

[13:50] increases twice as high as Manddale

[13:52] Cox's combined, and spending increases

[13:55] three times as high as Manddale's

[13:58] combined. That has not changed. That is

[14:00] the same old compulsive spending that

[14:02] the Democrats cannot get away from. His

[14:05] choice of vice presidents, Al Gore, was

[14:07] named by the National Taxpayers Union,

[14:09] not our group, nonpartisan group, as the

[14:11] Senate's biggest spender. His choice of

[14:13] vice president has been uh given the

[14:16] National Journal rating of 000

[14:19] conservative compared to the good

[14:20] Senator uh Bro here whose rating is 64%.

[14:24] These guys are liberals. They're the

[14:25] same old ticket and they are not for

[14:27] change. They can talk about it, but

[14:29] they're not. Talking doesn't make it so.

[14:31] >> All right. Wobbititus Mary has

[14:32] introduced positions into this, so I

[14:34] should give you a chance to respond.

[14:36] >> They weren't saying that about Al Gore

[14:37] when he helped him on the Persian Gulf.

[14:38] They thought he was a fine United States

[14:40] senator. I think the other thing is that

[14:42] let me let's face facts. I mean, the

[14:44] Republican party was going after Perau

[14:46] with knives in the front and in the

[14:47] back. I mean, how can they say now that

[14:49] this is a guy that we want on our team?

[14:51] They were stabbing him every day.

[14:52] >> All right, let me turn to that.

[14:53] >> Let's the record. Let me get on the

[14:54] record here. It was on April 24th that

[14:57] Bill Clinton took the first swipe at

[14:59] Perau. I remember because I remember

[15:00] being stunned. I thought it was very

[15:02] early. The reason no one paid attention

[15:03] to that was because no one was paying

[15:05] attention to Bill Clinton then. It was

[15:07] only a month later that the Democratic

[15:08] National Chairman Ron Brown called him a

[15:10] little dictator. This is way before we

[15:13] said anything about Ross Perau. We would

[15:15] did not engage in this thing till it was

[15:17] uh ostensibly evident that this was a

[15:19] three-way race and he was into it to

[15:21] stay. So, let's not talk about who had

[15:22] the long knives on. I will still say the

[15:24] best line of this whole convention was

[15:26] Zel Miller and it was a surgical strike

[15:28] right at Ross Burrell. So let's let's

[15:30] not

[15:30] >> Well, their words may have been little

[15:32] dictator. The vice president's words

[15:33] were temperamental tycoon. I mean

[15:35] neither one of you had very nice things

[15:36] to say about now all of a sudden you're

[15:38] falling all over yourselves uh to say

[15:40] nice things about Ross Perau. But why

[15:42] I'm just curious about that. Why not say

[15:44] look you volunteers of Perau he cut you

[15:47] off at the pass. He put you out on a

[15:48] limb and he saw the limb off. I don't

[15:50] know what terrible analogy you want to

[15:51] use but why aren't you saying that? And

[15:53] as you appeal for his supporters,

[15:55] >> I think the pro uh supporters must

[15:57] Charlie really be frustrated this

[15:58] morning because they feel they have been

[15:59] left hanging and I think basically these

[16:01] people are against the status quo. They

[16:03] frustrated with politics and George Bush

[16:05] has been there for 12 years and need

[16:07] somebody new.

[16:08] >> Quick word, Mary. You want them. I know.

[16:09] >> Last word. This ticket is not new. It's

[16:11] a younger version of the same old stuff.

[16:13] >> All right. Thanks very much, Mary

[16:14] Madlin. Senator John Brook. Appreciate

[16:16] you both.

[16:19] >> House. Last night, Clinton accepted the

[16:21] Democratic nomination with a call for a

[16:23] new covenant between Americans and their

[16:25] government. The key to the Clinton

[16:27] message is that things cannot stay the

[16:30] same.

[16:32] >> I have news for the forces of greed and

[16:34] the defenders of the status quo. Your

[16:36] time has come and gone. It's time for a

[16:40] change in America.

[16:42] >> Clinton and running mate Al Gore hope

[16:43] their message will appeal to middle

[16:45] America. And this morning, Vice

[16:47] President Quail reacted to the speech.

[16:51] >> I was impressed about how they attempted

[16:55] to use the Republican philosophy to

[16:58] change their image. Uh they actually

[17:00] spoke about values, empowering people,

[17:04] the middle class, and a strong America.

[17:08] Well, on a personal note, I'm delighted

[17:11] to see that they recognize that we have

[17:14] been right and they have been wrong.

[17:17] >> Regina Blakeley now has a sampling of

[17:19] how that message plays with a new

[17:21] generation of voters. North side.

[17:24] >> As Clinton and Gore officially began

[17:26] their quest for the White House, the

[17:27] baby boomer ticket was being cheered on

[17:29] by a group of youthful supporters.

[17:36] >> On the opposite coast, just blocks away

[17:38] from Madison Square Garden, students

[17:40] from New York University watched

[17:42] intently.

[17:43] >> I'm from a middle class area and there's

[17:45] like a lot of things that I related to

[17:48] and what he said. I thought that uh

[17:50] Clinton brought up all the right issues

[17:52] and he said all the right things, but um

[17:55] I had a hard time being convinced that

[17:58] uh he was going to follow through with

[17:59] everything he said.

[18:00] >> But an Arkansas supporter felt Clinton's

[18:02] effort to define himself was successful

[18:05] >> tonight. I think he came across and uh

[18:07] let people know who Bill Clinton really

[18:08] is. If if you didn't know before

[18:10] tonight, I think the people know now. At

[18:13] Linda Goldstein's home in Boston, a

[18:15] group of friends, both Republican and

[18:17] Democrat, listened for the words that

[18:19] would convince them to support the

[18:20] ticket.

[18:21] >> And I believe still he is the consmate

[18:24] politician. Slick Willie, I think, fits.

[18:26] >> Jen C is a Republican who, like

[18:28] Clinton's strong pro-choice stance. For

[18:31] me as a woman, um the choice, the the

[18:34] pro-choice issue is obviously very

[18:37] important and for me it will be uh very

[18:40] possibly a swing issue.

[18:41] >> In his attempt to bring in the Perau

[18:43] supporters, it appears Clinton has more

[18:45] work ahead of him.

[18:47] >> After hearing Clinton's speech, I'm

[18:48] still not swayed 100%. I'm a little

[18:51] worried about Clinton um on

[18:54] international affairs. Bush hasn't

[18:56] brought those people together. Um

[18:58] whether Clinton can do it or not, we'll

[19:00] see. They all talk.

[19:02] >> Regina Blakeley, CBS News, New York.

[19:05] >> Ross Perau did some talking yesterday

[19:06] and many of his hard-working supporters

[19:08] are still in shock this morning over

[19:10] what they heard. The Texas billionaire

[19:13] announced he was convinced he could not

[19:15] win in November. So, he was quitting the

[19:17] campaign. For staffers and volunteers

[19:19] around the country were stunned, some

[19:21] saying they feel betrayed.

[19:24] In other news, controversy over the

[19:25] album Body Count by rap artist Ice Tea

[19:28] disrupted the harmony at Time Warner's

[19:30] annual meeting yesterday. Police

[19:32] officers and police widows picketed the

[19:34] meeting and after Charlton H blasted the

[19:36] company for defending the album on First

[19:38] Amendment grounds.

[19:41] >> Body Count does an awful lot more than

[19:44] yell fire. It celebrates the murder of a

[19:47] police officers. That's a a specific and

[19:52] more harshly punishable crime in several

[19:54] states.

[19:55] >> H made his comments at a news conference

[19:57] called by the conservative watchdog

[19:59] group Accuracy in Media. That's the news

[20:02] of 25 minutes before the hour. Time to

[20:03] check in with Mark Mchuan right now.

[20:05] Good morning again.

[20:06] >> Good morning Paula. This weather segment

[20:07] is sponsored by Foldier Coffee.

[20:09] >> This morning, Democratic strategist Bob

[20:11] Beckl and Fred Barnes of the New

[20:12] Republic. Good morning.

[20:13] >> Good morning.

[20:14] >> Governor Clinton had to deliver the

[20:16] speech of his life last night. Did he do

[20:17] that in 52 minutes? Fred Barnes.

[20:19] >> Uh, it seemed longer uh than 52 minutes.

[20:22] He brevity is not his strength. I think

[20:24] I think we can be clear on that. It was

[20:26] a pretty good speech. Not an astonishing

[20:27] speech. If this hadn't other if this had

[20:29] been an otherwise uh rockus convention

[20:32] uh with a lot of disscent, people would

[20:34] have said, "Gee, we're in trouble." But

[20:36] since it was such a successful

[20:37] convention and the speech was okay, then

[20:39] I think he's fine.

[20:40] >> Does he get any pop out of it last

[20:41] night?

[20:41] >> Oh, yeah. He gets a lot of pop out of

[20:43] it. You're very kind this morning. Guy

[20:45] gave a nice speech. I'll tell you one

[20:47] thing about that speech though, Paula.

[20:48] He could not have given that speech at a

[20:50] Democratic convention eight years ago,

[20:51] maybe even four years ago. That was an

[20:53] awfully moderate speech for a Democratic

[20:55] convention. And what Bill Clinton has

[20:57] done, if nothing else, is set a new tone

[20:58] for the Democratic party. And you've got

[21:00] to give him credit. I thought the

[21:01] rhetoric was quite soaring myself. Move

[21:03] me.

[21:03] >> Without Mr. Perau in the race, does

[21:05] choosing Mr. Gore look dumb?

[21:09] >> Well, I wouldn't call it dumb, but there

[21:10] was a southern strategy. I mean, it was

[21:12] predicated partly on the fact that Ross

[21:13] Perau is running. means southern and

[21:15] border states that Democrats usually

[21:17] don't win are now winnable. Uh well,

[21:19] >> does Clinton have a viable southern

[21:21] strategy?

[21:21] >> He doesn't really have one now. I don't

[21:23] think he has one now. Florida and Texas

[21:25] are states where Bush goes into it with

[21:27] a huge edge and so do all the states

[21:29] across the deep south and all the way up

[21:30] to Virginia. So the Gore selection

[21:33] doesn't look quite as good. I think

[21:34] you'll agree with that.

[21:34] >> Yeah, I I do. But see, I never really

[21:36] believed that they believe they could

[21:37] carry the Deep South. I think part of

[21:39] this Gore equation was they actually do

[21:41] get along together. They both got ideas

[21:42] and the generational thing. They need to

[21:44] win four or five states and they've all

[21:45] got to be border states. They're not

[21:46] going to win the deep south. They they

[21:48] talk about Florida, forget it. Texas

[21:50] maybe, maybe outside possibility, but

[21:52] four or five states, that's about all

[21:53] they can expect to get out of there. So,

[21:54] think about it more as a tone and

[21:56] generational ticket as a as a southern

[21:58] strategy because as a southern strategy,

[21:59] it's not really there,

[22:00] >> but that was part of their thinking.

[22:02] >> Well, let's talk about the revitalized

[22:03] Democratic party. Could you believe your

[22:05] ears yesterday when you heard the

[22:06] president say some nice things about Mr.

[22:08] Perau?

[22:09] >> Yeah. First of all, the thing that

[22:10] struck me about the president sort of

[22:12] coming off his fishing trip and grling

[22:14] for parole voters. He's he praised his

[22:16] wisdom when for four weeks they've been

[22:18] questioning this guy's judgment and

[22:19] wisdom on everything, including up at

[22:21] Barbara Bush, this carpet bombing of

[22:23] this guy, right? And all of a sudden now

[22:24] he's a man of great wisdom and stature.

[22:27] I thought it was just about as as I

[22:29] don't know disingenuous as I've ever

[22:31] seen this guy be. And I've seen him be

[22:32] disingenous in a lot of things.

[22:33] >> Does that remark play at all?

[22:35] >> Once again, overnight's a lifetime in

[22:37] politics. But look, he wants to win

[22:38] these pro voters back. Remember, this

[22:40] was a guy, the temperamental tycoon with

[22:42] contempt for the Constitution, as Dan

[22:43] Quayle called it. Now, he's a dynamic

[22:45] leader who's energizing the process. But

[22:48] Bob, the Democrats did the same thing.

[22:49] You know, they had Zel Miller pounded

[22:51] pro in his speech in in his keynote

[22:53] speech. And last night, both Al Gore and

[22:55] Bill Clinton were saying nice things

[22:57] about

[22:57] >> You're the guy when I said Zel Miller

[22:59] said that there was a big deal. You said

[23:00] it wasn't a big deal. Come on.

[23:02] >> I'm on your side now. Give you the

[23:03] benefit of the doubt.

[23:04] >> At the end of the week, I got you. Let's

[23:05] talk about what happens to Perau

[23:07] supporters. Will you see a Perau

[23:09] endorsement of the Clinton Gore ticket?

[23:10] >> I think you could see it u and I think

[23:13] what Perau said yesterday about the

[23:14] Democratic party, he did not talk about

[23:15] a revitalized Republican party. But

[23:18] Perau himself is not going to be very

[23:19] important within a month or two or maybe

[23:21] even less than that, but his voters are

[23:22] out there because they want change. And

[23:23] I think Clinton does have an advantage

[23:25] on that. The other question, of course,

[23:26] is are they going to turn out? My guess

[23:28] is a lot of them are just going to be so

[23:29] disappointed they they're not.

[23:30] >> Does Mr. Bush need Mr. Baker to make

[23:32] that happen? To make them turn out for

[23:34] the Bush

[23:35] He needs a lot more than Mr. Baker for

[23:37] that to happen. He needs to get

[23:38] personally energized. And I mean,

[23:40] somebody needs to light a fire under

[23:41] President Bush. Maybe Jim Baker can do

[23:43] that. But but just think how the pro

[23:45] voters have to feel here. This guy,

[23:46] they've not been involved in politics.

[23:48] Uh because they don't trust the

[23:50] establishment and the political class.

[23:51] They're drawn in by this guy who says,

[23:52] "Just get me on the ballot and I'll give

[23:54] you this worldass campaign." And then

[23:56] the rug's pulled right out from under

[23:59] thin screen quitter is a good line. But,

[24:01] you know, he's also going to be on the

[24:02] ballot. Now, if you want in a lot of

[24:04] these states, if he doesn't take himself

[24:05] off, you can still vote for the guy four

[24:07] or 5%. One other thing, though, I do

[24:09] want to say about the Bush strategy. If

[24:10] the Clinton campaign will let the

[24:12] rhetoric of last night quiet down, the

[24:13] sound they will hear is of incoming

[24:16] mortar fire. They're going to wait about

[24:17] one day and the Republicans are going to

[24:19] do try to do to Clinton what they did to

[24:21] Perau. Clinton was smart last night

[24:23] though. They he knows they're going to

[24:24] attack they're going to attack him on

[24:25] Arkansas and his record down there. And

[24:27] so, he sort of built a little wall

[24:28] around Arkansas saying it's a nice small

[24:30] state. Come on down and see it. You

[24:31] going to go down and see it for?

[24:32] >> It won't work. I will go down. 10

[24:33] seconds left. Look, Arkansas, he's going

[24:35] to be attacked on that. But again, his

[24:37] character and whether you trust him or

[24:39] not is going to be the big issue.

[24:40] Republicans are going to talk about it,

[24:41] but so are voters.

[24:42] >> All I'm going to say is you're a pretty

[24:43] good character and it's been a pleasure

[24:45] working with you this week.

[24:46] >> Oh my goodness. You guys are actually

[24:47] talking at the end,

[24:49] >> right? And Bob, thanks so much. Perry

[24:51] 18.