- Orignally published on JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS September 7, 2004
Copyright 2004 Cable News Network
Bush Vs. Kerry; Interviews with Marc Racicot, Donna Brazile, Jesse Jackson; Voting and the Evangelical Right
WOODRUFF: When it comes to campaign strategy, some of Kerry's fellow
Democrats have been questioning his choices. Joining me now former
Democratic presidential candidate, the Reverend Jesse Jackson.
Good
to see you, Reverend Jackson. I know you are supporting John Kerry and
yet the bump up in the polls for President Bush, is this because
President Bush is doing things right in his campaign or because John
Kerry is doing some things wrong?
REV. JESSE JACKSON,
RAINBOW PUSH COALITION: President Bush's staff, Karl Rove and his staff
operate with more sophistication, more wit, more toughness and a game
plan. So far Mr. Kerry has not been served as well by his top
leadership in terms of lack of sophistication. Karl Rove's plan is to
solidify his base first and move outward. Mr. Kerry's campaign has him
distancing himself from his base.
In New
York -- in Baltimore, for example, the energy of that convention was in
fact putting on a straitjacket, distancing from that energy. In New
York, more than a half million people marched in their quest for peace
and a new deal relative to Iraq, distancing. Yesterday in Appalachia,
we had 50,000 to 80,000 people. They chose rather 3,000 people 30 miles
away and so this idea of distancing from the base is not smart.
WOODRUFF:
You were talking to me about this event. You were involved in that
rally in Charleston yesterday. You said tens of thousands of people
showed up. But you said the John Kerry campaign didn't want to be part
of that or what happened?
JACKSON: Did not
-- distanced himself from it. For example, we had the -- Rainbow Push
had Willie Nelson and Judy Collins, Asleep At The Wheel, Indigo Girls.
This huge array of audience from Nashville and from Austin, Texas,
around throughout the Appalachias they came. The common theme,
"Reinvest in America." There's a net loss of jobs intrastate because,
Judy, with all of the mudslinging, what's clear is a net loss of jobs.
What's clear is people are working without health care.
So
these issues of jobs and health care matter and that's fair. Mr. Bush
is vulnerable and somehow they've gotten sidetracked away from that
base.
WOODRUFF: Did you talk to the Kerry campaign about participating in this event yesterday?
JACKSON: We did talk to them about it. As a matter of fact, every
office in the area allowed us to put in the Jesse Jackson-Willie Nelson
campaign posters except the campaign. They didn't want to get too close
to that rally and they...
WOODRUFF: Why not?
JACKSON: It's irrational. In the end, Mr. Kerry was 3,000 miles down the road in Racine...
WOODRUFF: You said 25, 30 miles.
JACKSON:
Thirty miles in West Virginia in Racine. Now, the point is Mr. Kerry is
reaching out, but he needs more than a shake-up. A shake-up cannot just
be a vanilla shake. It has to be a bonding of the
base. And that shake-up must be some renowned leaders of labor and
blacks and Latinos and peace activists because that's where the base is.
And
what Karl Rove is doing is quite smart, frankly, is that in a race that
is so polarized you must first tie down your base and spread outward.
And there's too much distance between the head and the base of energy.
WOODRUFF:
I just talked to Donna Brazile on this program a few minutes ago. She
talked to the Kerry campaign. She says they are starting to reach out
to the Democratic votes.
JACKSON: I just
left Appalachia. I see it differently. I know that we can reach out
because, first, Mr. Kerry has a compelling message. After all, there
has been in the last -- Mr. Schwarzenegger came and he gave a speech
about how he represents the ideal immigrant. Schwarzenegger was a lotto
immigrant. He hit the lotto ticket.
Most
immigrants come out of the coal mines, they come out of the steel
workers. They are farm workers. They're hospital workers. These are
people struggling to get their green card. He does not symbolize the
immigrant. So there he was.
They say,
well, Zell Miller is kind of mean tonight. Well, he was the former
chief of staff of Lester Maddox. Of course he has that mean spirit in
him. We saw all of this coming and there was no preparation. I would
think they would have think they have had people like Gephardt and
Daschle and Cisneros and Maxine Waters.
Democrats
who have credibility are not following. They were not present, they're
neither in the campaign, at this point they ought to be. And I think
they will be, not the DNC. There must be a shake-up that includes
expansion, sophistication, toughness and timing.
WOODRUFF: Are you saying they're taking the base for granted, including African-American voters?
JACKSON:
Well, it's not just African-Americans. Now think about the convention
itself. There was a straitjacket on speeches. I mean, we hit Bush with
velvet gloves, they hit us with brass knuckles. So it is not just about
blacks. The black dimension is real. There is not -- the sharpness
should be in the black community given how we've suffered.
For
four years, we've not had one meeting, neither blacks nor labor, with
Mr. Bush, with Ashcroft. A classic case, Mr. Bush puts a picture of Dr.
King in the White House one day, against affirmative action the next
day. He puts a wreath at Dr. King's gravesite one day, and the next day
he puts on the right wing, Georgia for the federal court.
So there are these huge spots there. We have a good candidate. He needs a stronger, tougher, smarter line blocking for him.
WOODRUFF: And you're talking about missed opportunities here.
JACKSON:
Missed opportunities. If he seized -- there's still time because in
fact, when all of the dust settles, we've lost a thousand troops in
Iraq. We have found no weapons of mass destruction, no al Qaeda
connection, no imminent threat. Instead there, we've lost lives, we've
lost money and we're now losing our credibility.
So
these are opportunities, but I don't see anyone jamming in those holes.
We'll meet Mr. Kerry real soon. I want to work with him, but so do many
others, leaders from labor and Hispanics and peace activists. They must
have a real place in the campaign, both in the DNC and in the Kerry
campaign itself.
WOODRUFF: Reverend Jesse Jackson with a clear message for the Kerry campaign. Thank you very much for coming by.
JACKSON: Thank you very much.
WOODRUFF: We appreciate it. We'll stay in touch. Thank you.