FRIDAY
E-mail a friendKaren Tumulty
original airdate March 9, 2006
Time magazine's national political correspondent Karen Tumulty has written cover articles on President Bush, Howard Dean and Gov. Schwarzenegger. The award-winning journalist has also profiled Sen. Hillary Clinton and Newt Gingrich and was the primary correspondent for the Gore presidential campaign. She was previously with the Los Angeles Times where she covered Congress and other issues, including energy, health care and the budget. Tumulty began her career with a local paper in her native San Antonio.
Karen Tumulty
Tavis: Karen Tumulty is "Time' magazine's national political correspondent who earlier in her career spent 15 years at the 'Los Angeles Times.' Her most recent piece for 'Time' is called "The Breakaway Republicans, A White House Misstep on Port Security Has The GOP Running Away From Its President." She joins us from Washington. Karen, nice to have you on the program.
Karen Tumulty: Hi, Tavis.
Tavis: So, how bad is it for Republicans inside his own party?
Tumulty: Well right now, the drama that we've seen unfolding over the last couple of weeks over this Dubai Ports deal is such a dramatic break from anything that we have seen in the relationship between the President and his own party. There have been little breaches before over domestic spying, over Harriet Miers' nomination, but nothing like this full-scale revolt that we've seen over the last couple of weeks.
Tavis: So is it this issue that's causing the revolt, is a culmination of issues? Is this just something that was coming all along? Or is the President a lame duck already?
Tumulty: I think the answer to those questions is yes.
Tavis: Yeah. (laugh)
Tumulty: Tensions have, in fact, been building over the last six months or so. And really probably starting with the Harriet Miers nomination. And we have seen little breaks here and there between the President and his party. But what has happened with the Dubai Ports deal is really sort of a recognition, I think, on the part of Republicans in Congress that hey, this guy never has to be on the ballot with them again.
And so a lot of them were really shaken that whatever the merits of this deal on the substance, that he could do something so politically tone deaf, and then when they objected, he not only raised the threat of a veto, something that he has not done, he has not actually vetoed a bill in his entire presidency. But he even went so far to suggest that people who were raising concerns about this deal might be racist. And that, I think, really set them off.
Tavis: All right, so when you say tone deaf, that's a perfect phrase, I think, since when or how did the President and Mr. Rove lose their hearing? If Mr. Rove has been nothing else, they've been very, very good strategists. So am I to believe that something all of a sudden just happened, and they just lost their hearing?
Tumulty: Well, there are a lot of theories about this these days in Washington. What has happened to this White House? But I do think that one thing that has become clear is that the political operation that Karl Rove built is one that was very much geared to the next election. It was all about mobilizing the base, picking polarizing issues.
And these guys just are not quite as much on their game when it comes to governing, as compared to when it comes to campaigning. And, again, this is also another thing that we're seeing reflected here in this outright revolt, which is being led not by the Democrats, but by the Republicans.
Tavis: When the President throws that R word out there, racist, which is incendiary in certain circles, obviously inside of the GOP, on the other hand he raises a legitimate issue in that there are a lot of people who think that this issue is color coded. Your thoughts?
Tumulty: Well, absolutely. And certainly on the merits of the argument, the President has a lot of them on his side. The fact is that much of the management of the ports in this country is already being done by foreign companies. The fact is that Dubai, while it was one of the few governments in the world to, the U.A.E. was one of the, which is what Dubai is part of, was one of the few governments in the world to support the Taliban.
Some of the 9/11 hijackers were from there and laundered their money through Dubai banks. The fact is they have been a fairly strong ally in the war on terror, and, in fact, have provided a lot of logistical support to our forces. So the President is worried on a number of fronts, one of which is the whole free trade issue. And the other one is can he really afford to offend this country that has been an ally in his policies in the Mideast east since 9/11?
Tavis: So what do Republicans outside of the White House say when the President looks them in the eye and says hey, if nothing else, understand that we have to reward our friends in this war on terror. And no matter you what think of what this country may be, who this country may be, they have been our ally, we've gotta reward them, and I'm supposed to do what now? How do they respond?
Tumulty: Well, I think what you are hearing them say is, hey, that's your problem.
Tavis: (laugh) Okay. No, go ahead. I'm sorry, go ahead, yeah.
Tumulty: Well, they've tried to do a few things to sort of smooth this over. The company itself has agreed to an additional 45 day review of the deal. This was basically to give the President some time to calm down his own allies on Capitol Hill. But the fact is, by the time all of this happens, this thing had already taken off on talk radio.
These Republicans had pretty much dug themselves in. And I think if you predict right now, I don't see how this deal survives. At least anything in that resembles its current form.
Tavis: All right, so if the deal doesn't survive, back to the President's point about calling folk racist, what does this say to the world about the United States Congress, certainly about the Republicans, that even when we have people who have stood by us, the spin, I'm sure, will be even when you stand by the United States, the Congress doesn't reward you for it.
Tumulty: And I think that this could have, there are any number of deals currently, at the moment, underway involving big foreign governments, and big foreign corporations. And I think that a lot of people who are involved in these deals are very, very nervous right now. And interestingly enough, you have seen, for instance, the Dubai Ports company go out and hire people like Bob Dole as their lobbyist.
They understand that the political forces in this town are really starting to array themselves against not just this company, but all sorts of foreign investments, particularly when they are involved with something as crucial to our own security as our ports.
Tavis: So, since we're talking politics here, how concerned are the Republicans about the impact this might have on these midterm elections?
Tumulty: Well, I think that they think that this is an issue that is working for them. Their opposition to this deal. And they are ready to run with it all the way. And that is why I don't think that the President, there's now talk of legislation. They are going to put language into a bill which would have the appropriations to continue the war in Iraq.
They're going to put language that would block this deal. The President cannot afford to veto that bill. They know it, he knows it. And they also know that if he does, they've got the votes to override it.
Tavis: All right, so you and I both know that sat some point in this process, I suspect sooner than later, Karl Rove, somebody's gotta cut a deal. The President's gotta save face on here. You cannot embarrass your president this way when he's a member of your party. So what's the deal that gets cut?
Tumulty: Well, I think that what happens is the President finds a way to back out of this deal. That the company find a way to back out of at least the U.S. management of ports in the United States. Again, they are just, I think finding a middle ground is long past us here.
Tavis: Yeah. So the extra question is this, I guess. What is the lesson here for the White House? They got until '08 to steer this country in one direction or the other. So what's the lesson out of this debacle?
Tumulty: Well, I think the lesson is that this strategy the President has, that has worked for him so many times before, which is to turn to his own party and say trust me, is not going to work for him as a lame duck.
Tavis: Yeah, well, trust me, Karen, I've enjoyed having you on the program, and I mean that.
Tumulty: Thanks, Tavis.
Tavis: National political correspondent for 'Time' magazine, Karen Tumulty from Washington. We'll do it again. Take care of yourself.
Tumulty: Thanks a lot.
Tavis: Up next on this program, actor James Caan. Stay with us.
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