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Morning News

Election 2000: Braceras and Novak Review Gore-Bush Debate

Aired October 19, 2000 - 11:39 a.m. ET

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

ANDRIA HALL, CNN ANCHOR: The race for the White House is about to enter the homestretch. Election day less than three weeks from now. And joining us to talk more about the race, where it stands now, and what lies ahead are "Boston Globe" columnist Jennifer Braceras and Viveca Novak, a Washington correspondent for "Time" magazine.

Thank you for joining us.

JENNIFER BRACERAS, "BOSTON GLOBE" COLUMNIST: Thank you.

VIVECA NOVAK, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Nice to be with you.

HALL: What was your basic reaction, given the format and given the fact that this is the very last debate, the last time that these two candidates will be together to try to win the American vote?

BRACERAS: I thought that this -- I thought that this debate was basically a draw. I think that Bush had an opportunity to really close the deal here. And he didn't. But that said, Al Gore I think, once again, showed what a bully he can be and how obnoxious he can be and so, in that respect, I think it was sort of a draw.

HALL: And Miss Braceras, do you agree? I am sorry, was that Viveca speaking?

NOVAK: No.

HALL: OK, go ahead, ma'am?

NOVAK: That is OK. No, I think that the format was probably the best one yet for seeing these candidates, getting a really good look at them. And Gore clearly feels that he did well enough, even though a little bit of the bully persona that was there in the first debate was there in this debate, though not as strongly. He feels that he did well enough that he wants to rebroadcast this debate on cable now.

HALL: This is one of those situations where you didn't see either man jump in the polls, like we did with the other debates. With this particular one, it is still very much neck-and-neck.

This particular format interested me in that I thought it perhaps lended itself to some personal space issues, it seemed like, do you think that they were comfortable with it? NOVAK: There was some interesting body language going on. And when Al Gore crossed over to clearly stand in George W. Bush's space, to sort of claim it as his, that was pretty aggressive and he also got much closer to the audience.

He clearly was trying to make a statement there and be much more commanding.

HALL: In light of the latest crisis in the Middle East, and the sensitivity about military issues, how do you think both men did, in terms of answering the question about the readiness, the preparedness of the U.S. military? Let's start with you, Miss Braceras.

BRACERAS: I thought that they both did well. I think what the crisis in the Middle East does is it shows the wisdom on George Bush's part of selecting Dick Cheney as his running mate. A lot of people sort of questioned that choice at first, and wondered if he wasn't just picking daddy's defense secretary. And now I think a lot of people are valuing the choice, and realizing that if Dick Cheney were vice president during this time he would be a very valuable asset to the team.

HALL: Ms. Novak, do you agree?

NOVAK: Well, I think, on the one hand, it allows Gore to show that he personally knows a lot more about world affairs and about these kinds of issues. And I think that did come out, although not as strongly as it might have in the debates. But I do agree that picking Dick Cheney, at this point, looks smarter than it did originally.

HALL: How do you think that both men did, when it came to the conversation about Affirmative Action? That was one that seemed to get a little bit heated. Let's start with you, Miss Braceras.

BRACERAS: I was a little disappointed with Governor Bush's answer, actually, and I thought that the question was sort of a softball question, and it gave him an opportunity to really shine and show his commitment to compassionate conservatism, which has been the hallmark of this campaign. And this is a Republican candidate who is actually sort of poised to take a larger segment of the minority vote, at least in certain communities, like the Hispanic community, than previous other presidential contenders from the Republican Party.

And so I think that he should have really played to his strengths and emphasized more of the things he did in Texas to build coalitions with minorities, and even spoken personally about his friendships and relationships with, you know, his Latino family, and his closest advisers, who happen to be African-American. And he could have done a lot more with the question and I think he sort of fumbled it.

HALL: And Miss Novak, Al Gore seemed to want a direct answer from him on that. Did he get it?

NOVAK: No, he didn't, and that was clearly a missed opportunity for Bush. And Bush was appealing to the moderator to try to get him out of a couple of situations, and this seemed to sort of be one of them. I do think that Bush could have answered the question much better and brought up some specific examples of minorities and how he has worked with minorities.

And Al Gore hit a home run on that one.

HALL: All right, Jennifer Braceras and Viveca Novak, we thank you for joining us on MORNING NEWS.

BRACERAS: Thank you.

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