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Morning News

Republican National Convention: Round-Table Looks Ahead to Final Night

Aired August 3, 2000 - 11:25 a.m. ET

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

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Once again, as we look ahead to the last day of the Republican convention, time now for a bit of a round- table discussion, that is what we call it anyway. Joining me now, Susan Page, Washington bureau chief for "USA Today"; Rich Lowry, editor for the "National Review"; and CNN convention analyst out of Atlanta, Cynthia Tucker here live once again. Four big mouths coming at you right now.

Susie, you got the front page, just below the fold this morning on the cover of your newspaper. The title is "GOP's new face, 'W' as in Win," get a quick shot of that right there.

Looking quickly at that article, part of what you say is that Bush may be taking steps to redefining the entire Republican Party, first time since 1980. Legit or a surface show?

SUSAN PAGE, "USA TODAY": I think we will find out later. I don't think we know yet. First of all, he's got to win the election. But if he wins the election with this more moderate, inclusive message that we've seen here over this week, there is going to be an expectation that he will deliver on it. At that point, it is possibility that we will see a different kind of GOP.

HEMMER: What do you think, Cynthia?

CYNTHIA TUCKER, CNN CONVENTION ANALYST: Yesterday, I had an interview with Condoleezza Rice, and I asked her some of these very same questions. I told her that I didn't think George W. Bush was racist, but I know some southern Republicans that I think are. And the question is, who is going to convert whom?

And she was very honest about it. She said that's the struggle that's going on in the party at the very moment.

HEMMER: There has never been the suggestion that the Texas governor has been a racist.

TUCKER: No, no, no, and I think the fact that he has confidence in an African-American woman to be his foreign policy adviser speaks volumes, that is not a token position, that's a very important job.

HEMMER: Rich. RICH LOWRY, "NATIONAL REVIEW": I think this is all extremely superficial, and it exactly the same thing we saw in 1996, when the Republicans put on a convention, they trot out minorities on to the stage to try to soften their image some. As far as the party being transformed, if you look at the substance of what Bush is proposing, it is a rock bottom sort of limited government conservatism. He defended it in the primaries, that's why he beat John McCain. And his policies on tax cuts, on Social Security, on missile defense are things that conservatives can support.

And that's why they are perfectly content to cheer almost anything that's thrown up in front of them on the stage.

PAGE: There is a difference because '96 also had a convention that tried to convey a different kind of Republican Party, but the candidate didn't. Bob Dole did not follow through. George Bush has followed this kind of line from the primaries, and while he has conservative message it is different from Ronald Reagan's agenda.

You know, Ronald Reagan, still, it is still Ronald Reagan's Republican Party, but he had cold war agenda, he had an agenda when we were worrying about budget deficits, not budget surplus. This is a different age, and so I do think we are seeing the emergence of some changes in the party.

LOWRY: It is a different way to sell essentially the same thing, I think.

HEMMER: Let's look forward to tonight quickly here, just to move this on just a bit. How is he going to do on the biggest speech of his entire life? Rich?

LOWRY: Well, I think the way to look at tonight is the first two nights were subliminally anti-Gingrich nights in a way, they are a way to demonstrate we are not quote, unquote "extremists." Last night, obviously, was the anti-Clinton night. And tonight has to be the pro- Bush night. And George Bush has to make the case himself, he has to rise to the occasion of the biggest, most important speech of his life. He has to tie together all the themes, with his policy agenda, and put a nice bow on it. And if he does that, this convention is going to be a home run.

TUCKER: What I'm still waiting for is some issues. Last night, they unraveled what seemed to be the biggest issue so far, and that is we don't like Bill Clinton. Well, George Bush has to give us more reasons than that to support him, I'm assuming he's going to outline some of the things that Cheney did last night: his tax cuts, his Social Security agenda. He is going to try to convince us that he has the gravitas to be president, he is not just the frat boy anymore. But he needs to give the independents who are watching a reason to vote for George Bush, because, after all, a lot of those independents like Bill Clinton. So it is not enough to say: We don't like Bill Clinton.

HEMMER: Susan jump in here quickly. PAGE: I do think it is an important moment for George W. Bush. Those of us here at this table have been have been watching politics for a year, and feel like we know George W. Bush pretty well that's not true for most voters. This is his introductory handshake for a lot of voters.

HEMMER: It is the coming out party, no question.

Hey, Rich, you wrote earlier this week, you said relative to Dick Cheney, you said "Dick Cheney is aggressively expressionless, he's in your face expressionless." I thought he cracked a smile last night once or twice.

LOWRY: You are looking closely. But that was the key thing about that speech, you know, it had some harsh rip roaring rhetoric, but it was delivered in a subdued way. It remind me a little bit of William Shatner singing a song, where he says all the words, but the cadences and rhythm aren't quite there, and that is the way Cheney was.

HEMMER: Certainly, in his previous life here, as a CEO, he did display that.

TUCKER: But it made the convention hall very happy nevertheless. Lets face it, the past two nights have been sugary sweet, talking about education, educating minority children. But this hall is vastly composed of middle class, middle-aged white men. Their issue is not educating black and brown children, and so they needed to hear some anti-Clinton rhetoric.

HEMMER: Confectionery sugar, I guess.

Susan, you've been working on this Al Gore story today about a possible vice president, news out of North Carolina today, slightly anyway. What do you find?

PAGE: Well, the Gore campaign has a short list, six names. But I think most insiders think there's definitely a name at the top of the list, John Kerry of Massachusetts. For one thing, look at where Gore is going to announce his pick, next Tuesday in Nashville, it is going to be at the War Memorial Auditorium. John Kerry is a decorated Vietnam War veteran, and I think that site might be a hint.

HEMMER: Enjoy tonight all right? Rich Lowry, Susan Page, Cynthia Tucker, really appreciate it.

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