Summary

[VOTE 2008: JOHN EDWARDS TAPPER INTERVIEW] [IA USA] JOHN EDWARDS TAPPER INTERVIEW JT: so closing arguments, this is not unfamiliar territory for a trial lawyer i would think 16 40 52 je: no i've been through this before in 2004-- it's time to close JT: and your fundamental message--one sentance 16:41:04 we have to stop the corporate greed that's killing the middle class in america 16 41 05 jt: and how do you think people are taking it 16:41:13 i think they're taking it to heart, i think they believe it i believe actually taht it's not just a dem message that independents, republicans, i think it goes all teh way across party lines 16 41 19 jt: i've notice and you have too that sen obama has been mentioning you on the campaign trail--obvi you guys might be competing for some of the same voters -- what do you think it's going to come down to between the two fo you 16:41:36 i think what's happening is he's seeing what i'm seeing which is a surge in energy and momentum in my campaign it's palpapble and a real change that's happened over the last couple of weeks and i think that's what's driving this and i think the diff between us is i believe yuko hve to fight the entrenched interests to bring aobut the change that we need you gotta have somebody that's willing to stand up and fight insurance comps, drug comps, oil comps-- something i've been dcoing for 54 year and that i can do and people know i can do it 16 42 05 jt:when you were in the senate, did you do it? je: yeah, oh yeah for example, number one 16:42:12 i never took a dime from wash lobbyists or special interest pacs, i didn't do it by myself but i sen mccain and sen kennedy the three of us led on teh patient's bill of right which went right at the health care industry jt: but it didn't pass je: it did pass--it passed the us senate and george bush killed it that's why when i'm pres it'll become law 16 42 34 jt: my grandmotehr was one of your constituents in burlington, nc--what did you do for her? 16:42:45 what did i do for her? i did a lot for her i dealt with the problems nc faced everything from agriculture to business when we got hit by the flood in nc i worked tirelessly and endlessly to get help to the flood victimsand the hurricane victims that were hurt in nc i did a great deal of work for our militiary we have huge military bases in nc taht are integral to the economy of nc--ft bragg camp lajeune, hope af base i did a great deal of work to help rural areas--the smaller towns and communities which the area around burlington would be especiaslly where mills were lost and jobs were lost which certainly happened around burlington 16 43 28 jt: what did you do to fight corporate america in the senate that helped her specifically--i know you did the patient's bill of rights but it didnt' become law 16:43:38 what i did is i consistently stood up for--when i rean for the senate--let's go through the whole thing--when i ran for hte senate the basis for my campaign was to be the people's senator and i talked specifically in my campaign to stand against to drug companies, insurance companies, etc i did that over and over and over i did that on the the people's bill of rights which was--remember we were in teh minority most of the time when i was in the seante so a lot of the times it was voting against majoritythat was driven by a lot of those inetrests but i consistently stood up for the things that she would care about 16 44 14 jt: the chief campaign strategist for sen obama yesterday was asked to comment on whether bhutto's assassination would hurt obama and help clinton as the more establishment candidate he said, quote, she was a strong supporter of the war in iraq which i would submit is one of hte reasons why we have diverted from afghanistan, pakistan, and al qaeda who may still have been players in this event the implication seemingto be taht voting for the war in iraq helpedi n some way--led in some way to the assassination of benazair bhutto--what do you think of that comment on bhutto: 16:44:52 that's ridiculous it's a ridiculous stretch in times of int'l crisis which this clear is what america needs to be doing and serious pres candidates need to be doing is providing an atmosphere of strength and calm we need to be a calming influence not stoking the fire and certainly not talking about the politics of this 16 45 11 jt: how did you come to be talking on the phone with musharraf yesterday 16:45:18 i met him af ew years ago wheni was in islamabad--talked to him at some length about hte problems pakistan was faced with what role america could play constructively in those problems and we -talked specifically about problems with education system among other things and yesterday morning i called the ambassador the pakistani ambassador spoke to him about what had happened and said to him in taht conversation i know pres musharraf got a lot happening but htere are some things i'd like to talk to him about if you'd have him call me and a couple hours later he called me jt: and what did you tell him? 16:45:50 i told him several things one is urged him to continue demcoratization process how imp taht was to the stability of his country and the way the rest of the world viewed pakistan 16:46:02 second to allow int'l investigators--independent int'l investigators into pakistan to determine the facts around her assassination bc it's the only way--that kind of transparent process--is the only way there would be any credability attached to that determination and we also talked for a short time about the umpcoming election 16 46 25 jt: bill richardson today renewed his call to have a pres musharraf step down he said he thought he shouldn't be president and that democrats such as you had misplaced faith in him--what do you think of that? 16:46:38 i disagree-- first of all i havent' misplaced faith in musharraf he has lots of problems as we all know and he has to--we have to keep the pressure on him-but i also think that a serious pres canddiate in a moment of crisis like this needs to show a calm and aresolve stablilizing and not thinking about the politics of it jt: sometimes big int'l events intrude on a presidential campaign in 2004 osama bin laden released a video tape right before the election--do you think that hurt your chances? 16:47:17 i don't know--thre were so many dynamics in place in 2004 that it would be a pure guess for me to say jt: how would you be a different dem candidate than john kerry? 16:47:28 i think kerry woudl have been a great president--he's a good main, he would have made a fine president jt: was he a good candidate? 16:47:34 kerry was very good candidate he was running in a difficult environment there were some things going on beyond his control there's never been a campagin--including the ones that i've been participating in where everybody did everything perfectly and when it doesn't turn out the way you want it, it's easy to go back and criticize i have a very high opinion of john kerry--both as a candidate and as a man 16 47 56 jt: this is a flyer that's being distributed by asfme against sen obama that makes it look like it's from you je: i havent' seen it but i've hard about it jt: this is by a unionthat supports hillary clinton--do you worry at all that and they've set up a website and they're going to be running tv ads i understand with the same basic idea criticizing obama making it look like you're the one doing the criticism--it's kind of crafty when you think about it 16 48 28 je: it's kind of deceiving when you think about it jt: yeah-- although they are quoting you--you said that obama's plan would leave as many as 15 million americans without coverage 16:48:38 i have said that and i believe it's ture jt: should there not be a place for 3rd party groups to do that sort of thing? 16:48:46 well in the system we have now it's legal so they can do it i myslef would like to see 527s baned, outlawed so that we don't see this type of thing again but what bothers me more about this than the fact that they're doing it--if they were talking about clinton in a positive way they're a union, a good strong union, and then if promoting their candidate--sen cliniton in this case-- there's nothing wrong with taht but criticizing obama and using me as a vehicle for the criticism without saying that they are supporting sen clinton and not me i think is misleading jt: do you think she at all bears any responsibility or is it the same with you and the 527s are 16:49:29 i don't know the facts behind this if it is in fact a 527 operating under 527 law, legal authority, then they can't coordinate but i don't know if it's a true or not jt: but if it's asfme operating as asfme then you think she should tell them to stop? 16:49:44 i think we have a responsibility to say to people if you don't beleive in 527s and i don't know what sen clinton has said about 527s--i don't believe in 527s and i think and i have said what i can say publically which is that i'd like to see them outlawed can i just add one other thing to that? 16:50:07 the problem is looking at these things in isolation instead of over the long term i mentioned earlier in our intvw i've never taken any money from a wash lobbyist, never taken any money from a pac and i've been a strong proponent for doing what we need to do to clean up the money in politics and i think all those things go together--it's not jsut 527s in isolation it's what are you willing to do stand against corporate power and the corporate money influence in washington and what are you willing to do about special interest pacs and lobbyists and i've taken a step out and i've been nowin pbulic life for 10 eyars-- a little less than 10 years-- and all my entire public career iv'e done that 16:50:44 JT You talk about how the corruption and power of corporate america and washington has been around for decades That its gotten worse under president bush you say But its been around for decades You are saying it was around and not enough was done during president clinton's -- bill clintons - presidency ED - during republican and democratic administrations Yes JT -- what should bill clinton have done? ED -- here's the problem The problem was not bill clinton Bill clinton was a fine president The problem is that we have a system that doesn't work They have entirely too much influence They influence everything that's happened I've mentioned this earlier We have been trying to get universal health care for decades Not just when hilary clinton was the first lady We've been trying to do it for 40 or 50 years now And these entrenched interests have consistantly blocked it And until we have a president who can take these people on and beat them, then we are not going to see the significant change that needs to occur in this country We need to -- to answer your question, we need to publically finance campaigns We need to stop the revolving door from government into lobbying and back We need ethics reform But the most important thing is to have a president who has some backbone and fight and will stand up to these people 16:51:48 JT -- If you were a caucus goer obviously you would vote for yourself, but as you know in the iowa caucuses who somebody's second choice might be important Who would your second choice be? 51:59 ED -- I am not touching that one That's a good try though JT -- You like how I made it about iowa ED -- that was very skillful 52:09 JT -- IF somebody comes in third here -- the democrat who comes in third here, should that democrat step out because this is a very intense three way race ED-- I think there is no way to say that in advance There's just too many factors I mean it depends on how close it is Theres no way to say that in advance 52:26 JT --If it came down to ultimately Barack Obama vs Hillary Clinton, do you think one of them obviuosly you are not endorsing either one of them, but do you think one of them -- ED-- is this any different than your other question? JT-- The other one I included all the other presidential candidates This one is just about obama vs clinton In the other one you could have said kucinich You worked out a deal with him in '04 Do you think obama vs clinton -- you must have an opinion which one of them could effect change more Obviously you think you are the one who can do it the best 52:55 ED -- I think I am the one who can bring about the change and I am going to let them duke it out amongst themselves 53:00 JT -- Do you have an opinion? You don't have to tell me what it is 53:05 ED -- well its obvious that one of them believes that change is necessary and the system doesn't work and the other defends the system So I am in the camp of believing the system doesn't work but I also believe very strongly that you can't just negotiate your way through change you actually have to fight for it 53:20 JT -- when senator clinton says she can have all of the troops out within a year as she has recently started to say -- out of iraq-- is she being straight with the american people Is that really what she is proposing? ED -- I don't know I don't know the answer to that Its different than what I've heard her say in the past and the voters will have to judge whether she means it JT -- Have you been to iraq? ED -- I have not Why not? Can't get in We've actually tried and tried vigorously to get into iraq -- and still trying Not finished trying and I intend to go to iraq as the democratic nominee I've been all around it 16:53:57 JT -- I was there last year Obviously there is more protection for you then for me ED-- you think so? I think likely I think not Its very very difficult to get in unless you are member of a public body As a US senator I'd have no trouble getting in But its very difficult to get in right now 16:54:17 JT -- I don't hear you talking as much about iraq on the stump these days as you have in the past Why not? ED -- Because I think for a lot -- first I think there are differences I would get all the troops out of iraq the first year All of the combat troops out of iraq End combat missions No permanent military bases That's a very strong position ive taken from the very outset But I think for a lot of caucus goers and early primary voters they don't see huge differences between the candidates on iraq I think the differences are important but in a limited amount of time you have to focus on the things people are focused on as voters 16:54:50 JT you have said that everything that makes america america is being threatened Yes What do you mean I mean the promise of this country Giving our children a better life than we had which is at the heart of the promise of america is being threatened by corporate greed And its infiltrated every part of what we need to do Health care, the environment trade tax policy even the war and unless we have a president that is willing to change that we wont see big change in this country 16:55:20 JT -- are you following the republican race at all? A little not very closely Is there anything that you see there that has been interesting to you Its been a very interesting race on both sides and I am sure that you are consumed with the democratic race ED -- only that at least from a distance it appears that huckabees' sort of running away with iowa So that race is a little less interesting I guess than it has been in the past And beyond that I don't see much 16:55:47 JT -- is hillary clinton electable I don't know You said in NH -- a voter said -- that he didn't think that clinton was and he said, it sounded like you agreed with that voter 16:55:57 ED-- well I don't know that she's electable If you look at all the public polling the most recent poll I saw a week or so ago showed that I was the one democrat that beat every republican in a general election match up so I am convinced because I won in a red state, I grew up in small town rural america that I can compete in places that other democrats have trouble competing And so I know that I am the strongest general election candidate Whether she can win or not I think is an unknown 16:56:23 JT arguably you are more liberal than clinton and obama Why would you be more electable just because you are culturally from the south? 56:34 ED-- No Because the way I grew up, the things that I fought for my entire life, because I grew up in small town rural america -- which I think gives you are a naturally connection to those voters in those parts of the country, and those are the places that the democrats have the hardest time competing And I would ad to that and I don't think -- you guys like to skip past it but I think its really important -- this message of stopping corporate greed and making the country work for everybody is one that goes across party lines I don't think that its an accident that I am the democrat that beats all the republicans 16:57:08 JT - you said that anybody who thinks you can negotiate with the insurance companies is living in never never land Yes So do you think that barak obama is living in never never land because he has If he believes that yes But it's a little hard for me to tell sometimes based on the way he talks, but have heard him say he would give the stake holders a seat at the table and I assume he means oil companies, insurance companies, drug companies and I just don't think you are ever going to see serious change if you do that You have to be willing to fight for it 16:57:35 your campaign is taking on a much more sunny demenour in the past few weeks I'm a sunny guy You are now You are now You were a little bit more aggressive earlier in the campaign In the last month as you've built up to the closing arguments you've mellowed the rhetoric That's intentional? ED-- the language hasn't mellowed My fight is not with other candidates or with other politicians My battle is with the entrenched interests that are keeping america from being what its capable of being And on that front I am as aggressive and strong and passionate and speaking from inside as I can ever be and you can see it out here 16:58:28 He said that it bothered him that you continued with your campaign eventhough elizabeth is sick and fighting cancer Do you encounter a lot of that? And how is she doing? ED-- She and all three of my children just landed in iowa I just talked to her literally two minutes before we started this interview I was worried about them and wanted to be sure they got in in this weather She's doing great She's out doing her own townhalls today in iowa She feels completely healthy symptom free All the test results are extremely encouraging I think her health is in a good place And do you encounter a lot of people who say they think you shouldn't be campaiging? 16:59:07 Almost never And I think the reason is they either see elizabeth with me or they know she is in the state at the same time and just to cut to the chase and get to the point you are trying to ask about, I told elizabeth when she was first rediagnosed in march that I would do anything That I loved her Been married to her for 30 years I would do anything for her And she is completely committed to this cause This is the cause of our lives