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Hello and welcome. I'm Mike Nikitas from NECN. New England Cable News, guest hosting tonight on NH Outlook. |
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In this edition we're talking presidential politics. The deadline to file a declaration of candidacy has come and gone. We'll see who is on the January primary ballot. |
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Is the new Republican campaign ad going to far? We'll take a look at the message behind the ad. |
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And later, a first hand account of the highs and lows of campaigns past with Former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. |
| Intro RNC Ad War Return to index of stories... |
But first. The Republicans have fired their first aggressive shot of the Presidential campaign. The Republican National Committee began airing a TV commercial in Iowa over the weekend in support of the President. It takes direct aim at those who question the President's handling of the war on terror. C-N-N's Howie Kurtz has more. |
| RNC Ad War Return to index of stories... |
--REPORTER PKG-AS FOLLOWS--
V/O: THE WAR IS REALLY HEATING UP -- NOT THE WAR ON TERRORISM, BUT THE WAR OVER THE ADS ABOUT TERRORISM. HOWARD DEAN WAS MAKING THE MOST OF THE MESS IN IRAQ -- HIS LATEST TARGET WAS DICK GEPHARDT FOR SUPPORTING THE WAR -- WHEN PRESIDENT BUSH DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO LAUNCH A COUNTERATTACK. THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE LOBBED THIS 30-SECOND GRENADE INTO IOWA, TRYING TO PAINT THE PRESIDENT'S CRITICS AS SOFT ON TERRORISM. CHYRON: SOME ARE NOW ATTACKING THE PRESIDENT FOR ATTACKING THE TERRORISTS. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: "Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike?" CHYRON: Some call for us to retreat, putting our national security in the hands of others. V/O: THIS IS POLITICAL OVERSTATEMENT--NO ONE IS ATTACKING BUSH FOR ATTACKING THE TERRORISTS. SOME DEMOCRATS, LED BY DEAN, SAY THE WAR TO TOPPLE SADDAM HUSSEIN WAS A MISTAKE; OTHERS SAY BUSH ISN'T DOING ENOUGH TO FIND OSAMA BIN LADEN OR SAFEGUARD THE COUNTRY AGAINST FUTURE ATTACKS. BUT THE PRESIDENT'S ATTEMPT TO MARGINALIZE HIS CRITICS INFURIATED THE OPPOSITION, ESPECIALLY THE SENATE MINORITY LEADER. TOM DASCHLE: It's really a repulsive and outrageous attack, once again, on those who question the direction that much of the administration has taken with regard to Iraq. It's wrong. It's erroneous, and I think that they ought to pull the ad. V/O: TWO DEMOCRATS CANDIDATES DECIDED TO FIGHT FIRE WITH MORE ADVERTISING FIRE. FIRST, VIETNAM VETERAN JOHN KERRY. KERRY AD: George Bush's ad says he's being attacked for attacking the terrorists. No Mr. President, America's united against terror. The problem is you declared "mission accomplished" but you had no plan to win the peace, and handed out billions in contracts to contributors like Halliburton. V/O: BUSH DIDN'T HAVE "NO PLAN" FOR POSTWAR IRAQ, BUT THE PENTAGON HAS CLEARLY FAILED TO STOP THE RISING TIDE OF AMERICAN CASUALTIES. AND HALLIBURTON, THE CONGLOMERATE PREVIOUSLY RUN BY VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY, HAS SCORED MAJOR CONTRACTS TO REBUILD IRAQ. BUT KERRY, OF COURSE, SUPPORTED THE WAR. AND HOWARD DEAN, AS HIS LATEST ATTACK ON BUSH REMINDS US, DID NOT. DEAN AD: He misled the nation about weapons of mass destruction. And we went to war when we shouldn't have. Howard Dean is committed to fighting terrorism and protecting our national security. But Howard Dean opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning. O/C:THE PRESIDENT CERTAINLY SAID THINGS ABOUT SADDAM'S WEAPONS PROGRAM THAT TURNED OUT NOT TO BE TRUE. BUT DEAN'S USE OF THE WORD "MISLED" SUGGESTS THE WHITE HOUSE INTENTIONALLY DECEIVED THE PUBLIC, AND SO FAR THERE'S NO EVIDENCE OF THAT. WHAT IS CLEAR IS THAT BUSH IS NO LONGER GOING TO LEAVE THE ADVERTISING BATTLEFIELD TO THE DEMOCRATS--ESPECIALLY ON WHAT IS SHAPING UP AS THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE OF THE 2004 CAMPAIGN. |
| Intro RNC Ad Return to index of stories... |
That was CNN's Howie Kurz. We'll be discussing the war of words in a moment. But first, let's take a closer look at the Republican National Committee Ad. |
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Joining us now to discuss the impact of the R-N-C ad, James Pindell of Politics-N-H-dot-com and Mark Wrighton a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire. Thanks for being here. |
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It's official. 37 candidates have filed to be on the ballot in the January first-in-the-nation presidential primary. New hampshire's Deputy Secretary of State tells us more. |
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Mark is teaching a UNH political science class this semester about the New Hampshire Primary. He's had guests with first-hand campaign experience speak to his students. This past week, a man with intimate knowledge of the exhilaration and pain of a presidential campaign -- former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, who won the N.H. Primary and the Democratic nomination in 1988, but lost the White House to the first President Bush. Dukakis. who turned 70 this month. talked to the students. and answered their questions. about the primary and the candidates. |
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MD - Let me tell you a little bit about how one decides to run for president. Because running for the presidency is not something one does everyday. You gotta think hard about it - there's a lot of considerations that go into this. And anybody who doesn't think hard about it is kid of a fool. Because A - you want to make sure you want to do it and B you gotta decide whether or not you could be a good president if you were elected. I met with a group of reporters once early in the campaign and they were asking me about this and I said "one of the things I had to ask myself was if I got elected could I do the job". They said "you're the only person in 25 years that's ever came in here and said that you asked yourself that question". Well, I don't know if you don't ask yourself that - there's something missing. Either that or you've got a supreme ego or something. This is kind of a difficult job being president of the united states. And an important job, agreed? One of the things I asked myself personally was "if I happen to get elected would I be able to do the job". Did I have what it takes? I was in my 3 term as governor of my state. I had a reputation I think of being a pretyt good governor. Being governor of massachusetts is a great job, it's a good job, it's the best job in the world - but it's not being president of the united states. And remember in 1987 we were still in the middle of the cold war all of sudden there's this guy named Gorbachov who's saying things which no other leader of te soviet union had said in my lifetime and my own view was that this guy was really quite different. One of the questions you had to ask yourself was could you put your finger on the button and launch a nuclear weapon which could conceivably destroy the planet. That's still a question for presidents. Not an insignificant responsibility, can we agree? MD - I did broad based fundraising - it was a grassroots campaign, like Dean. I had 100,000 contributors who contributed 75 dollars. So I went onto win the primary and I did poorly in the final. Why? Because I wasn't ready for the Bush attack campaign. I had no strategy. And I guess that's why I'm so sensitive to this. Whoever wins the nomination for my party better be prepared for that. And, by the way, it's not just republicans who do that. Bill Clinton launched a horrible attack campaign on Dole from which he never recovered. MD - If you like president Bush, you can thank me for losing to his father. If you don't like him, you can blame me. Because if I beat his father in 88, you would have never heard from this guy. And that's the way the cookie crumbles. And I'm not - I mean like all of you I've been watching this campaign carefully I'm perfectly happy to tell you where I am - John Kerry was my lieutenant governor and I'm with Kerry. I think he'd make a great president. He's obviously going through a very rough patch here. So, we'll see what happens. I hope if we have a next a democratic administration in 2005 which I earnestly hope that we do - This is the worst administration I have ever lived under. And I just celebrated my 70th birthday - I've been around. And this is the worst administration - bar none. I've lived under Nixon, Regan - I mean, I want this guy outta there. Student - How would you deal with Iraq? MD - I wouldn't have gone in. It was a fraud, ladies and gentlemen. There were no weapons of mass destruction. Were they? So what did we go in for. This is a president who said he wasn't into nation building. I mean, does this mean we invade every dictator - I don't know, what's it all about? Cheney keeps trying to tie Iraq to 911. Even after the president has said there's no connection. He's still at it. Now if it was all about WOMAD we would have gone to the UN and said we want weapons inspectors for ten years in Iraq - would the security council have voted for that? Sure. But that's not what this was all about. Student - Chip Gardener Which democratic candidate do you think is the most effective in choosing which issues to emphasize? MD - They're all talking about the same issues. Frankly, there isn't a dmies worth of difference on domestic issues. There are some shadings. I think the reason Dean is doing so well is because Dean got out in the war and basically said this is a mistake - don't go in. And that attracted many people who feel very strongly about that. MD - I hope there are a lot of you that are interested in getting involved in the politics of your community. I have had the great good fortune to do that. There's nothing like it, folks. Don't ever let anyone tell you that people working together can't make a difference in the lives of their fellow citizens. This is - hey , this country may have it's problems but it's a hell of a lot better than it was when I was your age. |
| Web Pointer Return to index of stories... |
That's it for this edition of New Hampshire Outlook. For more information on our program and links to our guests and interviews, connect with us on-line at nhptv.org. Join our online discussion and tell us what's on your mind. You can also find streaming video of all our broadcasts. |
| Tomorrow Return to index of stories... |
On the next New Hampshire Outlook - Not in my backyard, some of Hopkinton's voters are up in arms over a plan to allow a local incinerator to burn toxic waste. We'll take a look at the controversy. |
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We'll see you next time. Thanks for watching. |
| Founders Return to index of stories... |
Thanks to our founding sponsors who have provided major funding for the production of New Hampshire Outlook: New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Public Service of New Hampshire Stratford Foundation |
| Tonight 10:00 Return to index of stories... |
Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. Not in my backyard, some of Hopkinton's voters are up in arms over a plan to allow a local incinerator to burn toxic waste. Join us tonight at 10:00. |
| key: National Politics Return to index of stories... |
NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 11/24/03 22:00 HOST: Mike Nikitas Length: 26:46 minutes In this edition of New Hampshire Outlook, NHPTV's nightly news magazine, the deadline to file a declaration of candidacy has come and gone. We'll see who is on the January primary ballot. Is the new Republican campaign ad going to far? We'll take a look at the message behind the ad. And later, a first hand account of the highs and lows of campaigns past with Former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. Joining us now to discuss presidential politics, James Pindell of Politics-N-H-dot-com and Mark Wrighton a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire. PRODUCER/REPORTER: CNN, Chip Neal, Celene Ramadan NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: James Pindell\PoliticsNH.com, Mark Wrighton\UNH Political Science, David Scanlan\Deputy Secretary of State, Michael Dukakis\1988 Democratic Nominee |
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Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. . Tonight at 10pm on New Hampshire Public Television. |
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For information on our program, and links to our guests and interviews, visit our web site at nhptv.org. You can see and hear streaming video of our broadcasts. We want to know what's on your mind. Join our discussion forum and tell us what you're thinking. If you have a story idea or comment on our program, click the feedback button. Or, call us at 800-639-2721. |