Face the Nation (CBS) - 2008-10-26
Channel: malgent
Transcript
Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)
[0:00] Today on Face the Nation, governments
[0:02] around the world take radical action,
[0:04] but the financial crisis expands. What's
[0:07] next? And how is it affecting the race
[0:09] for president? How bad will this economy
[0:12] get? Could unemployment reach 10%? And
[0:15] how many sectors can the government
[0:17] afford to bail out? These are the
[0:19] questions for former Treasury Secretary
[0:22] Robert Rubin, who advises Barack Obama,
[0:25] and former head of the Congressional
[0:26] Budget Office Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who
[0:30] advises John McCain. We'll have a
[0:32] campaign quick check on the state of the
[0:34] race less than 2 weeks out with Ed
[0:36] Rendell, the Democratic governor of the
[0:38] crucial state of Pennsylvania, and Tim
[0:41] Pawlenty, the Republican governor of
[0:43] Minnesota. I'll have a final word on the
[0:46] endurance contest we call presidential
[0:49] campaign. The economy and the race for
[0:51] president on Face the Nation.
[1:02] Face the Nation with CBS News Chief
[1:04] Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer.
[1:07] And now from CBS News in Washington, Bob
[1:11] Schieffer.
[1:12] And good morning again. Joining us from
[1:14] New York, Robert Rubin, the former
[1:16] Treasury Secretary. With us here in the
[1:18] studio, Douglas Holtz-Eakin of the
[1:20] McCain campaign. We want to begin with
[1:22] Mr. Rubin. Thanks for coming this
[1:24] morning. And let me just begin with this
[1:26] general question. Uh the government
[1:28] passed this huge bailout bill. We've
[1:30] seen governments around the world taking
[1:33] actions to ease the financial crisis.
[1:35] Yet, if we look at the stock market, uh
[1:38] none of it seems to be working or making
[1:40] much difference. Is it just too early to
[1:42] tell, Mr. Rubin, or do other things need
[1:45] to be done?
[1:47] Bob, I I I I think actually there has
[1:48] been some change. If you look at the
[1:50] credit markets, which is what really is
[1:51] going to determine what happens to our
[1:52] economy, uh not the stock market, there
[1:55] was quite a bit improvement over the
[1:56] last week. But most fundamentally,
[1:58] there has been very strong action, as
[2:00] you say,
[2:02] but I think there is a lot more that we
[2:03] need to do. First place, the special
[2:05] program that was put in place, the $700
[2:07] billion is only been partly used. Most
[2:09] of that still remains to be used.
[2:10] Secondly, I think it is imperative that
[2:13] we have a very large fiscal stimulus.
[2:15] Though I do think that stimulus needs to
[2:17] be married to a commitment to long-term
[2:18] fiscal disciplines so that we don't risk
[2:20] undermining our bond market and our
[2:22] currency market.
[2:23] And I think there's a good deal else we
[2:24] can do. We have to focus on mortgages
[2:26] and mortgage foreclosures and trying to
[2:27] help families, and that's not just a
[2:28] question of families. It has extremely
[2:30] important, but it's also a question of
[2:32] our financial system since uh
[2:34] foreclosures and falling housing prices
[2:35] are central to the problems in our
[2:37] economy and our financial system.
[2:39] So, I think there's a lot more to do,
[2:40] but enormous amount has been done, and I
[2:42] think it will take a little time for
[2:43] that to work its way through. My own
[2:45] view
[2:46] is that we're in a perfect storm. We're
[2:48] in extraordinary uncharted waters with
[2:50] respect to our financial markets. One of
[2:51] these very low probability events with
[2:53] huge consequences, but I do think the
[2:55] power of public policy in its entirety,
[2:57] that which has been done, plus a large
[2:59] fiscal stimulus and the other kinds of
[3:00] measures we can take,
[3:02] should be able to stem this within a
[3:04] reasonable period of time. Well, when
[3:06] you talk about a stimulus package, are
[3:08] you talking about some sort of massive
[3:10] public works program like President
[3:13] Roosevelt put into effect during the
[3:15] Great Depression? Are you talking about
[3:17] something like we've seen recently where
[3:19] you just give
[3:21] people a check, a government check?
[3:24] Bob, I I I would say it's neither of the
[3:26] two in quite the way that you described
[3:28] it. I think what we need to do is to
[3:30] have a very large program. And people
[3:32] have been talking Some of the numbers
[3:33] around are 150 billion, perhaps more
[3:35] than that. And it should consist of
[3:38] And and
[3:39] Senator Obama has talked a lot about
[3:40] this. In fact, he started talking about
[3:41] it a few months ago and has been
[3:42] strongly advocated, I think rightly so.
[3:44] And it could consist of help for cities
[3:46] and states that are now running into
[3:47] difficulties so they could continue with
[3:49] their programs. It could have
[3:51] infrastructure in it as long as the
[3:52] infrastructure is ready to go right now
[3:53] because these have to be
[3:55] programs
[3:56] that give you a very large return in
[3:58] terms of economic demand relative to the
[4:00] cost, and also that go into effect very
[4:03] quickly.
[4:04] But you could do all of that, and and it
[4:06] needs to be done, in a very short period
[4:08] of time in order to stimulate economic
[4:10] demand at a time of a weakened economy.
[4:12] As I said a moment ago, it's it's a it's
[4:14] a measure that Senator Obama has been
[4:15] calling for for a long time, and I think
[4:17] that you can combine that with the other
[4:19] kinds of measures I have just mentioned,
[4:22] and then an effective use of the
[4:24] remainder, which is the predominant part
[4:25] of that very large program that was put
[4:27] in place a little bit ago, $700 billion,
[4:30] and I think you have an enormous
[4:31] aggregate of public policy. In addition,
[4:33] continued cooperation around the world
[4:35] is is imperative. Are we going to be It
[4:38] seems clear that we're in a recession
[4:40] now,
[4:41] or shortly will be in one. Do you think
[4:43] this is going to continue? How long do
[4:45] you think it's going to last, Mr. Rubin?
[4:47] I think it goes into two pieces, Bob. By
[4:49] the way, I would in in the stimulus also
[4:50] probably include, as Senator Obama has
[4:52] recommended, tax rebates. He recommends
[4:55] $1,000 per working family. And I I think
[4:57] that's also a sound measure because it
[4:58] would get spent quickly. In terms of the
[5:00] time this is going to continue to go on,
[5:02] first place, nobody can predict. But I I
[5:03] do think
[5:05] that when you take the totality of
[5:06] public policy that is now in effect,
[5:09] that the crisis part of this, remember,
[5:10] we're really in something more than just
[5:12] a period of economic difficulty. We're
[5:13] in a real crisis of confidence. I think
[5:15] that crisis of confidence can be stemmed
[5:18] within a reasonable period of time if we
[5:20] do not only
[5:21] in light of what we've already done, but
[5:23] if we move on the on the fronts that
[5:24] I've just mentioned.
[5:25] >> Well, are you talking about a matter of
[5:27] months, or are you talking about years?
[5:29] When you a reasonable period of time.
[5:31] Well, who knows exactly what it'll be,
[5:33] Bob, but I don't I think it could be
[5:35] the crisis of confidence itself, I
[5:37] think, could be stemmed in less than a
[5:38] matter of months. I'm not saying it
[5:39] necessarily will be, but I think it
[5:40] could be. But policy is really really
[5:42] important. And I think the one major
[5:44] move one major action we have not taken
[5:46] yet is a major fiscal stimulus, and I
[5:49] think that fiscal stimulus, as I said a
[5:50] moment ago, should be married with a
[5:52] long-term commitment to reestablishing
[5:54] sound fiscal conditions, which, by the
[5:55] way,
[5:57] is what Senator Obama proposed some
[5:59] months ago. It's a nuance, but it's a
[6:01] very important nuance. Well, we now have
[6:03] unemployment at 6%. Some people are
[6:06] saying it might go as far as 10%.
[6:08] Is that your view?
[6:10] Well,
[6:11] once you get past the crisis of
[6:13] confidence, Bob, you're still back in
[6:14] the kinds of difficulties we've had over
[6:16] the course of the past year.
[6:18] And I think that it that'll go on well
[6:20] into next year. You've had a lot of
[6:21] damage. You've now had very large wealth
[6:22] loss.
[6:23] You've had weakened consumers, weakened
[6:25] financial institutions, problems around
[6:26] the world. There was a great deal that
[6:28] needs
[6:30] to be dealt with. And I do think in that
[6:32] context, public policy will be very very
[6:35] important. I would say almost weekly
[6:37] now,
[6:38] uh Senator Obama has met with his
[6:39] financial advisers, Paul Volcker, Warren
[6:41] Buffett, Larry Summers, Laura Tyson,
[6:43] myself, Bob Reich, and others, and he
[6:45] always he puts politics aside, and he
[6:46] spends his half an hour, an hour,
[6:48] whatever it may be, either
[6:48] telephonically or in person,
[6:51] discussing what we need to do. And it it
[6:53] is absolutely imperative that we have a
[6:56] highly active
[6:57] public policy approach, and I think he
[6:59] laid out and I think he has laid out a
[7:02] very sensible set of measures to take in
[7:04] this respect, but it is going to take
[7:05] >> One one final question here. One final
[7:08] question. Do you think it's also going
[7:10] to be necessary to bail out the auto
[7:12] industry?
[7:13] Bob, I don't know exactly what the term
[7:15] bailout means in the context of any of
[7:16] this. I do think the auto industry is
[7:18] The auto industry clearly is extremely
[7:19] important to the economy and now has
[7:21] enormous difficulties. I think we do
[7:23] need to face those difficulties and see
[7:24] if there ways the public policy can be
[7:26] helpful that makes sense. And it's like
[7:27] all of these issues, they're very
[7:28] complex, and it's very important to
[7:30] recognize their complexities and then
[7:31] find a way through them
[7:33] that gets us where we want to go without
[7:34] having a whole raft of unintended
[7:36] consequences.
[7:37] >> All right. Well, Mr. Rubin, we want to
[7:38] thank you for joining us this morning.
[7:40] We're going to turn now to Douglas
[7:41] Holtz-Eakin, the McCain campaign senior
[7:44] policy adviser. Let me just start where
[7:46] Mr. Rubin left off. Do you think it's
[7:48] going to be necessary to bail out give
[7:50] more money to the auto industry? I think
[7:53] the top priority, the one that Senator
[7:54] McCain has endorsed, is to take the $25
[7:56] billion that the Congress has already
[7:58] put out there for loans to build
[8:00] facilities for next generation
[8:01] automobiles, the kinds of autos that
[8:02] will not only keep Detroit running, but
[8:04] which will keep us from having to import
[8:06] so much oil, expose us to the dangers of
[8:08] international oil markets. That money
[8:10] needs to get out the door, and the top
[8:11] priority should be to get it out
[8:12] quickly, not take 18 months, which seems
[8:14] to be the current plan. And what about
[8:16] Mr. Rubin's idea that what we need is a
[8:19] big stimulus package, $150 billion?
[8:23] Uh
[8:24] where would McCain come down on that? I
[8:26] I think if you step back, the real big
[8:27] difference in this crisis situation is
[8:29] sort of where do you place your faith?
[8:31] Do you place it in the the institutions
[8:33] that have failed us, which quite frankly
[8:35] are in Washington and in Wall Street, or
[8:37] do you put the money in the places where
[8:39] we know we can get effective results?
[8:41] And and John McCain has not advocated
[8:44] sticking the money into Wall Street
[8:45] banks and the like. Let's put the money
[8:46] into the housing market. That's where
[8:48] this problem started. Let's get people
[8:50] in mortgages they can afford. Let's get
[8:52] the bad mortgages off the books so
[8:54] there's cash on those books and banks
[8:55] can make loans. And let's take care of
[8:57] the small businesses. A remarkable fact
[8:59] is that in this bad economy, and let us
[9:01] stipulate it's a very bad situation,
[9:03] small businesses have created 331,000
[9:05] jobs this year. Don't raise taxes on
[9:07] them. Don't make their lives harder. And
[9:10] you know, let's take care of the
[9:11] institutions, the small businesses, the
[9:13] homeowners that have been successful in
[9:15] America, and that's the McCain strategy.
[9:17] What about this idea though of a
[9:19] stimulus, giving people a government
[9:21] check, some sort of a rebate, or some
[9:23] sort of a public works project?
[9:25] >> Well, obviously, Senator McCain would
[9:26] never take off the table anything that
[9:28] would be helpful. But the idea that
[9:29] somehow tough economic times are a
[9:31] license to spend money on anything you
[9:32] can think of is something you want to
[9:33] look at very carefully. You know, if if
[9:35] you go back to what he talked about in
[9:37] getting mortgages off people's backs,
[9:39] that allows you to pay your grocery
[9:40] bills, that allows you to pay your
[9:42] gasoline bill. You can keep
[9:45] pay making your college tuition
[9:46] payments. There's no greater stimulus
[9:48] than keeping American households
[9:49] spending. They're they're 70% of the
[9:50] economy. And so, focusing on them,
[9:53] keeping them in jobs, creating new jobs,
[9:55] that's the greatest stimulus of all. You
[9:57] know, the institution that says, "Hey,
[9:58] all our problems uh can be solved in
[10:00] Washington." That's a mistake. We have
[10:02] to solve our problems out in the field
[10:04] with the American people, the American
[10:05] homeowner. Uh
[10:07] you talked about jobs. Uh unemployment
[10:09] now 6%. As I just said, some people are
[10:12] talking about going to 10%. Uh do you
[10:15] think that's uh likely? Uh there's no
[10:17] question we'll see unemployment go
[10:18] higher. Uh Senator McCain, you know, as
[10:20] as all these candidates who travels the
[10:22] country and we know that we're seeing
[10:24] real contraction out there and we'll see
[10:26] a lot more tough times. And so, the
[10:28] question will will be who can most
[10:31] quickly generate jobs in this economy to
[10:33] keep the unemployment rate from spiking
[10:35] uh so high. Uh at the heart of that is
[10:38] having comprehensive policies, not just
[10:40] uh a tax policy that promises uh great
[10:42] things, but actual policies that don't
[10:45] spend a trillion dollars. We've seen the
[10:46] mistake in the Bush administration. They
[10:48] don't burden businesses with health
[10:49] mandates. They don't cut off trade. One
[10:51] in five jobs in this uh economy are
[10:53] trade-related. Uh and then have a real
[10:55] energy policy that allow us to grow. I
[10:57] mean, you know, Senator Obama has
[10:59] promised that day one he would enforce
[11:01] the Clean Air Act uh treating carbon
[11:03] dioxide as a pollutant. That runs the
[11:05] economy from the Environmental
[11:07] Protection Agency. It's a draconian
[11:08] regulatory approach. That's not a a
[11:10] recipe for jobs. We have to do the
[11:11] things comprehensively that'll help jobs
[11:13] for America. Do you think what the
[11:15] government has done thus far has helped?
[11:18] Um
[11:18] you know, if you look at the market,
[11:19] you'd say it looks like it's still very
[11:21] unsettling. Mr. Rubin just said he
[11:23] thinks it is helped in ways we haven't
[11:26] seen yet. Basically, that's what I
[11:27] understood him to say. Well, he he did
[11:29] mention the credit markets appear to
[11:30] have loosened up a little bit and
[11:31] there's evidence of that. That would be
[11:33] uh entirely beneficial. We're we're
[11:34] seeing, you know, the the dry cleaner
[11:36] and the car dealer unable to get the
[11:37] loans they need to do normal business.
[11:39] But, uh in any of these circumstances,
[11:41] you need two things. Uh you need both
[11:43] the money and the resources and a
[11:45] strategy. And I think what's been
[11:46] missing is comprehensively enunciation
[11:49] of a strategy. Who gets money and when,
[11:51] how much and for what purpose. Uh we
[11:53] cannot simply open up the taxpayer to be
[11:55] the lender of last resort every company
[11:58] in America that's seeing tough times.
[11:59] How long do you think this is going on?
[12:01] I mean, clearly, it seems to me that
[12:03] we're in a recession now. How long
[12:05] before this sorts itself out? Uh this is
[12:07] going to take uh months and months. Uh
[12:09] hopefully, by this time next year, uh
[12:12] you and I are having a conversation that
[12:13] talks about the recovery. It can be
[12:15] done. Effective public policies will
[12:16] help it happen quickly. Uh but, those
[12:18] policies have to be really focused on
[12:21] what's good for America in the long run,
[12:23] the families and the small businesses
[12:25] that are the source of the jobs.
[12:27] Mr. Holtaiken, thank you so much for
[12:28] being with us. When we come back, we'll
[12:30] have a campaign quick check with
[12:32] Governor Tim Pawlenty and Governor Ed
[12:35] Rendell.
[12:48] And joining us now for our campaign
[12:50] quick check, Pennsylvania Governor Ed
[12:52] Rendell, Minnesota Governor Tim
[12:54] Pawlenty. They Governors in two key
[12:56] states this time around. Uh Governor
[12:58] Rendell, let me start with you. Uh the
[13:00] polls are now showing uh that Barack
[13:02] Obama has a 10-point lead uh in your
[13:04] state, but I'm told you're pretty
[13:06] nervous about this. Do you um do you
[13:09] believe these polls? No, I I I don't. I
[13:12] don't think we've got a double-digit
[13:13] lead and I think complacency is our
[13:15] biggest foe in Pennsylvania. Uh
[13:18] I've been agitating to get Senator Obama
[13:20] back. He's coming into Pittsburgh
[13:21] Tuesday, Philly on Wednesday. I think
[13:23] President Clinton's coming in. Uh
[13:25] Senator McCain and Governor Palin have
[13:27] been virtually living in Pennsylvania.
[13:29] Uh and we need to to have our candidates
[13:32] there and Senator Obama is such a great
[13:34] campaigner. Everywhere he goes, the
[13:36] enthusiasm level goes up dramatically.
[13:38] So, we're not taking anything for
[13:40] granted. Uh we don't have early voting.
[13:42] It's all on election day and we've got
[13:44] to be ready. Well, it sounds to me like
[13:46] uh Governor Palin's going to spend most
[13:48] of the arrest of this campaign in
[13:50] Pennsylvania. We're told she's starting
[13:52] on um an intensive bus tour. Is she
[13:55] making a difference there? Well, first
[13:56] of all, we're going to start charging
[13:58] her state income tax. She's been in
[13:59] Pennsylvania so long. But, yeah, she's
[14:01] making a difference. Sure. Anytime
[14:03] candidates show up, they raise the
[14:05] enthusiasm level of their base
[14:07] supporters. I don't think Governor Palin
[14:09] is persuading too many undecideds, but
[14:11] she's certainly raising the enthusiasm
[14:14] level. That isn't necessarily our
[14:17] problem. As long as we can combat
[14:18] complacency, the enthusiasm level for
[14:21] Barack Obama is off the charts. We've
[14:23] got a great field organization, the best
[14:25] I've seen in my 31 years in politics.
[14:27] So, I think we're going to be all right.
[14:29] But, every governor's got to be a little
[14:31] nervous. Every governor's got to want
[14:33] those candidates in as much as he or she
[14:35] can get them. Well, let's go to Governor
[14:36] Pawlenty cuz a lot of people thought
[14:38] that uh when uh John McCain sat down and
[14:41] decided who was going to be his running
[14:43] mate that the person who finished second
[14:45] on that list uh was Governor uh
[14:47] Pawlenty. Uh
[14:49] you know, I I let me just ask you this
[14:51] question, uh Governor uh Tom Ridge, the
[14:53] former uh Governor of Pennsylvania, said
[14:56] that he thought there would be a
[14:57] different dynamic going.
[14:59] Uh he actually said had he or someone
[15:02] else been put on the ticket other than
[15:04] Governor Palin. Uh do you think it would
[15:06] have come out differently or do you
[15:07] think these polls would have looked
[15:09] better uh had uh Governor Palin not been
[15:12] on the ticket?
[15:14] Well, I think Governor Palin, Bob, has
[15:16] brought a lot of uh strength to the
[15:17] McCain ticket. She's energized the base.
[15:19] She's had appeal to independent voters
[15:21] and to women voters in ways that uh
[15:24] Senator McCain was was hoping for when
[15:26] he selected her. And as to Governor
[15:28] Ridge's comments, you know, obviously,
[15:30] when you have a governor, a former
[15:31] governor from a state that's popular,
[15:32] that may help. But, Governor Palin's
[15:34] appeal really transcends any one state
[15:37] in terms of the Republican base, in
[15:38] terms of the voters that uh Senator
[15:40] McCain was hoping that she'd appeal to.
[15:42] Uh but, you know, you have to look at it
[15:44] as a net national perspective, not just
[15:46] any one state in terms of her appeal.
[15:48] Let me uh ask you about what uh Senator
[15:50] McCain said last week to the Washington
[15:53] Times uh in an interview. He literally
[15:56] lit into the Bush administration.
[15:59] Uh
[16:00] when asked about what happened during
[16:02] the Bush administration, he said, "We
[16:03] let things get out of hand." Then he
[16:05] just gave a litany of uh policies that
[16:09] uh he would have handled differently.
[16:10] I'm going to put these quotes up here on
[16:11] the screen. He said, "Spending, the
[16:14] conduct of the war for years, growth of
[16:16] the size of government larger than any
[16:18] time since the Great Society, laying a
[16:20] $10 trillion debt on future generations
[16:23] of Americans, owing $500 billion to
[16:27] China, failure to enforce and modernize
[16:30] the regulatory agencies, failure to
[16:32] address the issue of climate change
[16:34] seriously." How does one run against
[16:37] one's own party, Governor?
[16:40] Cuz that's clearly what he was doing.
[16:41] >> ma-
[16:43] Yeah, Bob, as a maverick, Senator
[16:44] McCain's been doing that to some extent
[16:46] for his whole career. And I think it's
[16:48] him trying to show with very specific
[16:50] examples his concerns or how he would
[16:53] have been different from the Bush
[16:54] administration, President Bush's
[16:56] administration. That poignant moment in
[16:58] the debate that you moderated when he
[16:59] said, "Senator Obama, I'm not President
[17:01] Bush. If you wanted to run against
[17:03] President Bush, you should have run 4
[17:04] years ago." Was an expression of him
[17:06] saying, "You know, my record's
[17:07] different. I'm not the same as that."
[17:09] And those examples that you pointed were
[17:11] things that he's saying, "This is a
[17:12] proof. This is evidence that I'm not
[17:14] just a continuation of a President
[17:16] Bush's term." And so, it's it's a very
[17:19] strong statement, but it's one that I
[17:20] think is born in the facts, is based in
[17:22] the facts. Do you think he shouldn't
[17:24] have said that?
[17:27] Well, I think he's been accused
[17:28] throughout this campaign of being just
[17:30] President Bush or just a continuation of
[17:32] the President Bush's term. And so, he I
[17:35] think felt the responsibility and
[17:36] obligation to differentiate and explain
[17:39] how that's not the case. So, he's a
[17:41] chan- a charge or an allegation was made
[17:43] against him. I think it's right for him,
[17:44] appropriate for him to to rebut it.
[17:47] Uh you know, Governor Rendell, one of
[17:48] the points the the McCain campaign is
[17:51] making right now is that uh you're
[17:53] coming on a situation here that he is
[17:56] the only person that stands between
[17:58] Barack Obama, who wants to raise
[18:00] everybody's taxes, and a
[18:01] Democratic-controlled
[18:03] House and Senate that are going to help
[18:04] him in that endeavor.
[18:06] Uh
[18:07] how do you respond to that? Well, first
[18:09] of all, let me say that Senator McCain's
[18:11] being very hypocritical criticizing
[18:13] President Bush. He didn't do it during
[18:15] the primaries and he said, and we've got
[18:18] him on tape saying he agreed with 90% of
[18:20] all of the decisions that President Bush
[18:22] made. So, this is Johnny-come-lately
[18:24] born out of
[18:26] desperation. In terms of a Democratic
[18:28] president and Democratic Congress, first
[18:30] of all, Senator Obama has, and let's
[18:32] make it clear once and for all, for
[18:34] working people who make less than
[18:36] $250,000,
[18:38] he's not going to cut raise your taxes.
[18:40] He's going to cut them. And according to
[18:42] bipartisan policy institutes, he's going
[18:45] to cut them three times more than John
[18:47] McCain will. That's number one. But,
[18:48] number two, we have gridlock in
[18:51] Washington. There's no question about
[18:52] that. Governor Pawlenty and I agree on
[18:54] that. The only way to break that
[18:55] gridlock right now and act quickly to
[18:58] meet our challenges is to have a uniform
[19:00] government that can move swiftly and
[19:02] smoothly. But, Barack Obama has said
[19:05] he's going to control spending. In the
[19:07] last debate, he said he's going to go
[19:08] over every line of the federal budget.
[19:11] So, I think we can move quickly if we
[19:13] have a Democratic Congress and a
[19:14] Democratic president to meet the
[19:15] challenges we face and at the same time
[19:18] impose the same type of fiscal
[19:19] responsibility that President Clinton
[19:21] did. Let me ask uh Governor Pawlenty
[19:23] this question. David Frum, who used to
[19:25] work for George Bush
[19:27] uh and was there through a good part of
[19:29] the Bush administration, suggests that
[19:32] the situation has gotten to the point
[19:34] now that Republicans should begin to
[19:36] shift money away from the presidential
[19:40] campaign and put it into some of these
[19:42] Senate races around the country because
[19:44] a lot of Republican senators have faced
[19:46] a possibility of getting beat. Do you
[19:48] think it's reached that point?
[19:51] Well, Bob, if you look at Senator
[19:53] McCain's life, it's an entire story of
[19:55] coming back from adversity and
[19:57] overcoming adversity. Does Barack Obama
[19:58] have an advantage in the presidential
[20:00] race right now? Yes, but no one should
[20:01] ever count John McCain out. He's time
[20:04] and time again he has overcome and and
[20:06] had come backs in his life that have
[20:07] been incredible and I think he'll do it
[20:08] again here with the message being you
[20:10] don't want the entire government run
[20:12] just by the Democrats or liberals. On
[20:14] January 20th, a U-Haul truck pulling up
[20:16] to the White House unloading a whole
[20:18] truckload of bad ideas. Uh not having
[20:21] the experience and the wisdom to
[20:22] confront what even Joe Biden says is
[20:24] going to be a test of Barack Obama in
[20:26] the first months of his presidency. And
[20:28] then lastly, just making sure we don't
[20:29] put burdens on the economy that will
[20:31] stifle job growth for most people their
[20:33] main ticket opportunity is their job.
[20:36] What Barack Obama is opposing is opposed
[20:38] by most job providers in this country.
[20:40] All right. Well, gentlemen, I want to
[20:41] thank both of you for coming this
[20:43] morning. I think we've still got some
[20:45] campaigning to go here in this last
[20:48] week. Thanks to both of you. Hope to see
[20:49] you again. Thanks, Bob. All right.
[20:59] And finally today, people ask me if I've
[21:01] ever seen a campaign like this one and
[21:04] the short answer is no. It has been
[21:06] historic for all the reasons we've heard
[21:09] a thousand times now and we can be proud
[21:11] of that part. But the other part is this
[21:13] has been the longest campaign ever and
[21:16] the most expensive. Remember the
[21:18] primaries? It seems like five or six
[21:20] years ago that we marveled at how
[21:23] Hillary Clinton had managed to raise a
[21:25] hundred million dollars heading into New
[21:27] Hampshire. That's chicken feed when you
[21:30] compare that to the 150 million that
[21:33] Barack Obama raised in one month,
[21:35] September. A feat that probably ended
[21:38] forever any chance at serious campaign
[21:41] finance reform. Yes, we wound up with
[21:43] two good candidates. But are they any
[21:46] better than the candidates the system
[21:48] once produced in a lot less time and for
[21:50] a lot less money? I've been on the road
[21:53] non-stop since before the Democratic
[21:55] convention back in August and I'll be
[21:57] honest, I am exhausted. The candidates
[22:01] have been at it for more than two years.
[22:03] How do they do it? Don't ask me, but
[22:05] they are still going strong and I guess
[22:07] we should be glad for that. The question
[22:10] is though, are we picking the person
[22:12] best qualified to be president or just
[22:14] holding a contest to see who can go the
[22:17] longest without sleep? I could give you
[22:19] a whole long list of things we ought to
[22:22] do to correct all this, but frankly, I'm
[22:24] not sure anyone is still listening at
[22:26] this point. And besides, what I really
[22:28] want to do right now is take a nap.
[22:31] We'll be back in a minute.
[22:41] And that's our broadcast. Next week
[22:43] we'll be reporting from election
[22:45] headquarters at CBS News in New York.
[22:48] I'm Bob Schieffer. Thanks for watching.
[23:00] This broadcast was produced by CBS News,
[23:03] which is solely responsible for the
[23:05] selection of today's guests and topics.
[23:08] It originated in Washington, D.C.