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Morning News

Election 2000 Presidential Debate: 'No Clear Winner' Emerges From Boston Face-Off

Aired October 4, 2000 - 10:15 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: Certainly what the candidates say may not be as important as what the voters hear. And it is amazing sometimes how two people can interpret the same words in two very different ways.

Our political analyst Bill Schneider now with a look at how the nominees' messages registered with voters.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): What did viewers think? We asked 435 debate watchers which candidate they thought did the better job? Forty-eight percent said Al Gore, 41 percent said George W. Bush. That's within the poll's margin of error. Bottom line: no clear winner.

In fact, strong majorities gave both candidates positive reviews. That may have helped Bush, who faces a stature gap with the vice president. Twenty-seven percent of viewers said the debate made them feel more favorable toward Gore, but a slightly larger number, 34 percent, said the debate gave them a better opinion of Bush.

Bush seemed to hold his own against the vice president, so he may have gotten a bigger boost. But was it enough to turn the campaign around? Only 3 percent of viewers said the debate caused them to change their vote. Net impact? Not much change.

Viewers may feel more comfortable with Bush, but the Texas governor still faces the same problem: He has to give people a compelling reason to vote for change at a time of peace and prosperity.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Bill Schneider with us now live this morning in Atlanta.

Good morning to you. An early wake-up call. You saw the polls. Pretty much indicates a draw last evening. Is that the same way you read these snapshots that we took last night after the debate?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, there was no real clear winner. I mean, there was no knockout punch, there was no sense that this has dramatically changed the dynamic of the race. People got a good picture of who the candidates are and what they're trying to do.

HEMMER: One thing that struck me, these are two men who came out with a difference in height physically, but wearing the same jacket, the same shirt and the same tie, much like this right here.

SCHNEIDER: This is my debate costume.

(LAUGHTER)

HEMMER: But if we look at that, then we take that and compare it to the polls and how close the election is, there's a lot of people who may be sitting here saying, this is the same guy.

SCHNEIDER: Yes, well, to a lot of voters, this looks like a choice between Prince Albert and Prince George, two ivy-league educated guys, both sons of politicians who were to the manner born and who are part of the Washington establishment. Even though Bush has never really worked in Washington, his father was president.

HEMMER: Yes, there has been some criticism this morning in different talk shows on different networks, criticizing the vice president for the sighing or the breathing that was audible off camera. We're going to listen quickly to that, come back and talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need to explore at home, and the vice president doesn't believe in exploration, for example, in Alaska.

I just told you the criterion of which I will appoint judges. I've had a record of appointing judges in the state of Texas. That's what a governor gets to do.

VICE PRES. AL GORE (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (SIGHING)

BUSH: Man's practicing fuzzy math again. There's differences.

GORE: (SIGHING)

BUSH: Under this tax code, for every additional dollar you make, you pay a higher marginal rate on that dollar than someone making $200,000 a year, and that is not right.

There is no new accountability measures in Vice President Gore's plan.

GORE: (SIGHING)

BUSH: He says he's for voluntary testing. You can't have voluntary testing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Big deal or not? What's the reflection? SCHNEIDER: Well, I think he was making a statement there, don't you? I mean, he was communicating...

HEMMER: He was communicating.

SCHNEIDER: ... effectively with a sigh, like, can you believe this guy? That's one way of doing it.

HEMMER: Last night, again, we heard some typical comments, George Bush telling folks that Al Gore is a big government liberal, Al Gore telling folks that George Bush is a friend of the rich. These are typical classifications of liberal versus conservative, is it not?

SCHNEIDER: That's right. That was the main theme of their messages. I mean, look, the issue between them, really, is the tax cut. Gore was saying, this is not only risky, but it's just going to help wealthy people. And Bush never quite got to the point of saying that the wealthy pay most of the taxes, and that's why, when you give a tax cut, they're going to get most of the -- they're going to get more money back than the poor will. He never quite made that defense of his program.

HEMMER: And, also, last night a lot of people were saying it was relatively calm. What can we expect for debate No. 2 in St. Louis next Wednesday?

SCHNEIDER: Debate No. 2 is going to be a different format. They're going to be sitting around a table and interacting directly with each other. This debate was very good for allowing candidates to put out detailed positions to the audience. They're facing the audience, not each other. So instead of sighing, you're going to get sniping between the two of them.

HEMMER: That's it. We shall watch it. Bill Schneider, thank you. See you next week, all right?

SCHNEIDER: OK.

HEMMER: OK.

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