Did anyone else see this? I was shocked at his repeated attacks on the Democratic Party.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/31/ltm.01.html MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It is State of the Union morning. What will the president say and how will he say it tonight? And how will Democrats respond? For a prequel, if you will, we are joined by Senator Minority Leader Harry Reid.
Good morning, Senator. Good to have you with us.
SEN. HARRY REID (D), NEVADA: Good morning, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: I want to share some numbers with you. You've seen these numbers, but just so our viewers have seen them. This is an "L.A. Times" poll which shows the president is at just nearly Nixonian levels on favorability. Low numbers, 30s and 40s, 40 percent. Why is it, in spite of all this, Democrats can't get any traction?
REID: Well, I think if you look at those polls, Miles, you'll find we've gotten a lot of traction. Even though people are down on Congress generally because of the culture of corruption we have here in Washington, led by Abramoff and his Republican pals, the People believe that Democrats can handle the situation by a 12 to 13 percent margin over the Republicans. So I think our message is getting through, basically one of credibility versus noncredibility.
I hope the president, in his State of the Union, will really try to do what he said he's going to do for five years. That is be a uniter, not a divider. It's almost Orwellian. Everything that he's done is just the opposite of what he's said.
M. O'BRIEN: What are you going to do about uniting the Democratic Party, though? When people look at Democrats, they see them all over the map on the war. They see them all over the map on Alito, and whether they should filibuster. You know, it's the classic Democratic scenario, it's not a very well-organized outfit. What can you do to bring them together?
REID: Well, Miles, I think it may be in your mind a classic Democratic scenario, but it's not in the minds the American people. We've done a great job. We've stopped the privatization of Social Security. We've got drilling in ANWAR. We've stopped a nuclear option. We've been able to stop all these mischievous programs of the president, and we've been together more than in the history of this country.
The Democrats in the House and Senate, we have the same message, along with the DNC, the mayors, the governor. Tonight, you're going to hear a tremendous message from Governor King. He's going to do the rebuttal. He's part of the program with the national governors who have been working hand in hand with us. So we believe we're more together than we've ever been, and we believe the American people will recognize that come this next November.
M. O'BRIEN: But here's the rub, as you well know, when you're in a position, as you are, as the minority party, and you're stopping things, which is, in a sense, how the Democratic process works, you're not known for putting things forward. You're known as not Bush. And it's difficult to resonate with particular issues and ideas with voters. (Side note: He did not say "Democratic process", he said, "Democrat process".)
REID: Miles, I would agree with you, miles. We've put a lot of things forward. We put things forward dealing with the war in Iraq, dealing with homeland security, dealing with health care, dealing with the environment, dealing with education and the deficit. And on party-line votes, we're defeated every time.
We bring issues forward; it's just that the Republicans are a unitary government. Bush has refused to veto a single bill, but there is no reason he should, because the separation of powers has not worked because Congress does whatever the president wants as a Republican-controlled Congress.
M. O'BRIEN: Have you seen Paul Begala and Jim Carville's book?
REID: I have talked to both of them.
M. O'BRIEN: What do you think of that? He says Democrats need to get a spine. What do you think about that?
REID: Well, I think that I like both of them very much. But I think both of them should learn to read and see what's going on, and they would find that we do have a spine. I think, you care, I care for them both greatly, but they're out trying to sell books; we're trying to convince the American people that what's going on here in Washington is wrong. It's two different agendas.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, but what they're saying is that it was very difficult in the course of the last presidential campaign for Americans to really pinpoint what the Democrats really felt, and they really had a sense, a very visceral sense, of what Bush was all about.
REID: Well, let me just say this, you're going back to the presidential election; I'm talking about elections this coming November. They're two different things. We have different leaders. And I think that I'm not looking backwards; I'm going to looking forward. I think the Democratic Party is the party of the future.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, one final thought. I want to throw some more numbers up here. There's one thing that the Democrats have to deal with, and that is the issue of terror. And of all the low numbers we've been telling you about, this is the one number where the president is able to stay above the 50 percent range, and that is handling of terrorism, whether it's the wiretapping issue, whatever the case.
The Democrats, it seems to me, have to come up with an answer to this one. What is it?
REID: Well, I hope this is an issue we can be on the same page as the president. There is no question the war on terror is something we all want to defeat. We're going to continue to do that. And that's why I hope in the State of the Union tonight, the president says, meet with me, we'll work together on this, because we care about it just as much as he does.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, but do Americans trust Democrats as much when it comes to this, the war on terror, do you think?
REID: Of course, they do. They know that Democrats are just a patriotic as Republicans. It's not a question of patriotism; it's a question of how we're going to get the job done.
M. O'BRIEN: Senator Harry Reid, who will be watching, along with us all tonight, thank you for your time.
REID: Your sure welcome, Miles.
Edit to add emphasis to side note above regarding transcription error
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