Morning Show Wrap
NEW YORK, Oct. 26, 2004 — --
A product of Noted Now and The Note
In his interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson, President Bush said he disagreed with the Republican Party platform which includes language hostile to civil unions for same-sex couples.
Bush has long maintained that he thinks states should be free to pursue same-sex unions. But as Elisabeth Bumiller writes in today's New York Times, "Bush has never before made a point of so publicly disagreeing with his party's official position on the issue."
Bush told Gibson: "I don't think we should deny people rights to a civil union, a legal arrangement, if that's what a state chooses to do so." When Gibson pointed out that the Republican Party platform opposed civil unions, Bush said: "Well, I don't."
Sen. John Kerry was asked by NBC's Katie Couric if he ever feels tempted to tell his wife, as Archie Bunker used to say, "to stifle it."
Kerry: "No. I honesty never do. I love her. I think she is outspoken and speaks the truth. She misspoke—as many of us do in life. And I've misspoken. How many times have I misspoken or the President or anybody else? She had both the sense of decency and appropriateness to make a call and say this was misinterpreted. I love her for her outspokenness. I think Americans love her because she is authentic, speaks her mind and she tells the truth and Americans want the truth." (NBC played the PBS video of THK making the comment and did not rely solely on USA Today's print account).
Kerry was asked about his hunting photo-op and said: "I have hunted all of my life. I have only done things in this campaign that have been authentic. That's why I suffered in that advertisement about windsurfing."
In the second part of Diane Sawyer's interview with Clinton he talked about his health. He said the main lesson for other Americans if you have a family history of heart disease you must get tested over and over.
NBC's Jim Miklaszewski: The first US troops to pass through "failed to find them. But the bigger concern today is who has those explosives now." Miklaszewski said "no one knows with any certainty where these explosives are today." (The Bush's camp has been circulating Miklaszewski's Monday report for the Nightly News as a pushback on Monday's New York Times story. Miklaszewski avoided making any political references in his report for "Today").
ABC's George Stephanopoulos said that a candidate's most precious resource is his time. He then looked at a map of where Bush and Kerry are spending their time. He reviewed key constituent groups for each candidate, saying that conservative Christians, gun owners, and married voters are key for Bush and that African-Americans and people under 30 are key for Kerry. Stephanopoulos explained how Bush would win if he ties with Kerry in the Electoral College: the Republicans control 30 state delegations in the House compared to 20 for the Democrats.
NBC's Tim Russert said that of the 80,000 people who showed up in Philadelphia yesterday, "probably all of them" had come to see Clinton. Asked if surrogates like Clinton on the Democratic side and Rudy Giuliani on the Republican side can work, Russert said, "This race is so tight that if it can affect one half of one percent, it works." Russert said Clinton still thinks Kerry can steal Arkansas. Russert called Hawaii "nip and tuck" and noted that the Bush people "think they can steal it." Lauer said Bush thinks he can steal Michigan. Russert: said Kerry thinks he can steal Colorado. But putting aside those possible steals, NBC had an Electoral Map that showed Bush with 222 Electoral Votes to Kerry's 207. Russert then ran through a series of permutations for how Bush and Kerry can get to 270. Russert agreed with Lauer that it worries Bush's campaign that first time voters prefer Kerry by a 59 to 40 margin. But he noted that Republicans are hoping that undecided voters, which usually break for the challenger, will go for the incumbent this time because of concerns about terrorism. Russert said there are 300,000 newly registered voters in Ohio. Russert is expecting a huge turnout. Asked if the missing weapons story was an explosive story, Russert said, "It sure is." He said someone in the Bush Administration told him "we're running against the clock." Russert said yesterday's report was "not good" because it controlled the news cycle and allowed Kerry to talk about the mismanagement of the war in Iraq.
ABC's Claire Shipman took a substantive look at what impact a Bush or Kerry win would have on future Supreme Court decisions on things like affirmative action and abortion. As for the politics, Shipman said conservatives and Republicans tend to be more animated by judicial choices than Democrats.
NBC's Pete Williams says it will be hard to get more than a moderate on the Supreme Court.
On CBS' Early Show, Amy Walters of the Cook Political Report said she thinks Rehnquist's illness will help generate their bases.
CBS' Jim Axelrod: "The biggest crowd of John Kerry's fall campaign turned out for a two-fer in Philadelphia—Kerry and former President Bill Clinton, seven weeks from bypass surgery…. He wasn't in full Elvis. His face was pale. His voice a little soft. He seemed to be keeping something in check as he expressed support for Kerry…. He still is the best thing the Democrats have in rallying two groups Kerry needs a week from today: women and minorities… Kerry spent the day hitting the President hard for the loss of 380 tons of explosives missing from a site in Iraq the US military was supposed to be guarding."
NBC's Campbell Brown: Recapped Clinton, Giuliani and Kerry's weapons charge. She then said: "With the race so close in the most crucial states, like Ohio, voter turnout is a top priority. Republicans plan to put more than 3,000 monitors at polling places on election day claiming Democrats have illegally registered new voters here. Democrats counter the Republicans' real intent is to create long lines and discourage people from voting, especially minorities. There are a lot of concerns here on the ground in Ohio that there might be efforts underway by the two sides to steal the election."
ABC's Dan Harris reports that some senior Kerry advisors think campaigning with former President Clinton "may come with risks" for swing voters. On Monday night, Clinton defended Kerry against flip-flop charges and earlier that day he rallied with Kerry in Philadelphia. The campaign is deploying Clinton selectively. He will make solo appearances in Miami, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arkansas, "a Republican state that Clinton thinks could be the source of an election day surprise."
ABC's Kate Snow says "Bush advisors are saying the Clinton face time is a sign of desperation." Rove said "they had to roll Clinton out of his hospital room and onto the campaign trail because Kerry's constituencies are so weak." Bush brought his own star power to the campaign trail yesterday as he campaigned with Rudy Giuliani in attempt to appeal to moderates. Snow notes in the final week, the Bush campaign "is emphasizing unflattering comparisons between Bush and Kerry."
ABC had sound from Schwarzenegger talking about Democratic pumpkins – the orange color of Kerry's tan and the roundness of Teddy Kennedy.
On NBC's "Today", Brad Pitt and a Pediatric Endocrinologist discussed the benefits of stem cell research and advocate California proposition 71. The President of the California Nurses Association discussed why she was against the proposition.
On NBC's "Today", Brad Pitt and a Pediatric Endocrinologist discussed the benefits of stem cell research and advocate California proposition 71. The President of the California Nurses Association discussed why she was against the proposition.
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