E-mail a friendBill Bradley
airdate January 9, 2008
Bill Bradley is one of the first pro athletes to become a politician. He's a three-time basketball All-American and Olympic gold medalist who played 10 years with the NBA's New York Knicks. He's also a Rhodes Scholar and served three terms in the U.S. Senate. In '00, he made a run at becoming the Democratic Party's nominee for president. He's also author of several best-selling books, including The New American Story. Bradley is managing director at Allen & Company and hosts the American Voices radio show.
Former Senator explains why Barack Obama would transform our sense of what is possible as president. (1:01)
Bill Bradley
Tavis: Bill Bradley served three terms as a U.S. senator from New Jersey before mounting his own bid for the White House. Back in 2000, the former Rhodes Scholar and NBA great is now the host of "American Voices with Bill Bradley" on Sirius satellite radio. His most recent book is called "The New American Story," which is out now in paperback. He joins us tonight from New York. Senator, nice to have you back on the program.
Bill Bradley: Tavis, it's great to be with you again.
Tavis: Let me jump right into it and throw some names at you. When I say New Hampshire and Hillary Clinton, you think what?
Bradley: I think Barack Obama, that's what I think. (Laughter) I was up there the day before and the turn-around was just astonishing.
Tavis: What did you make of the turn-around?
Bradley: I think that if you compare Iowa and New Hampshire, she did better with women over 40, and they turned out in record numbers. And the young people, who are Barack's strong supporters, did not turn out as much. And then the third thing was that John Edwards didn't do as well as I thought he would do in the working class wards of Manchester.
Tavis: There is some who thought or who think that once Edwards is out of the way, that Barack Obama can make easy, quick business of Hillary Clinton. One could argue today the exact opposite. That Clinton could do that to Obama, yes?
Bradley: Well, no, we're in this for a longer race, and I think that's probably good. I think it's probably good for Barack, that he will be tested over the next couple of weeks. I think February 5th is still a decisive date. A big win in South Carolina, a win in Nevada would erase this New Hampshire loss. And let's face it; a week ago, he was at a dead heat with Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire. After Iowa he got a little bump, and then, of course, the women came out, particularly those over 40.
Tavis: There are some - I want to just move through a few of these issues I've been hearing today and get your take on them. There are some who think - as a matter of fact I got in trouble once for saying on national television that I wasn't sure that Hillary Clinton had a soul. I was reminded earlier today that indeed, she has a soul, and it came out the other night in that emotional expression.
I don't want to call it a - I didn't see her shedding tears, per se, but she certainly showed that she has a sensitive inner side. There are some who believe that it was that that allowed her to resonate with those women you spoke of in New Hampshire, and that made the difference.
Bradley: I think that was one of the factors, no question about that. I think the question she was asked is as relevant as her response. The question that the woman in the audience posed was "How do you get through every day as a working parent and as somebody who's got a career and trying to manage family?" And I think that struck a deep chord in her and that's why she responded the way she did.
Not withstanding that moment, we're still in a race for president and the real question is who do we want to have? The debate has been between change and experience, and I really think it's soon going to be about leadership. And there, I think Barack Obama gives a vision for the country that a leader does. Words are very important. He handles himself extremely well. He makes people understand and believe that we can control and shape our democracy to build a better life.
And unless people believe that we can control our democracy, we won't be able to deal with the things that we need to deal with in health, education, the economy and jobs, breaking oil addiction, as well as making sure that if you work 40 years at a job, you keep your pension.
Tavis: Why should we not believe, now that Hillary Clinton has found a way to connect with those important women voters in New Hampshire, that she won't take that lesson - she is a quick study - that she won't take that lesson and apply it in every other primary in this contest?
Bradley: Well, I think that was a unique moment. You can't manufacture those on call. That'll last for a while. But I think that the key thing people are going to say is who's speaking to the things that are important to me? And Barack comes out very strongly and tells them about healthcare and about what he'd do in public schools, which he's capable of doing and which he already has a program.
What he's going to do to combat the recession that's going to hit the poorest the hardest. I think he's got a very strong chance of moving forward. I still think that he's the new thing in this whole season. And in that sense, he's a very American story. As he stands up there and talks, he embodies the best of what America's all about and he challenges us to believe that we can have a better life for ourselves and our children and a very American thing.
People say things are impossible. That's what most Americans who meant anything in our whole society say. And then we do the impossible. And I think that's the inspiration that he conveys.
Tavis: I talked to a mutual friend of ours earlier today who is also, as you are, an Obama supporter, and his take was the same as yours. That he was not particularly disturbed about this small, minor setback for Obama last night. He thinks it's a good thing because it does mean, to your earlier point, that he's going to be tested and he might not feel today like last night was a good thing, but our mutual friend suggested that in a few days from now, he might be happy that New Hampshire turned out the way it did.
Bradley: Well, there's no question about that. What are primaries for? They are for testing someone, particularly someone who's running the first time. We know that the nominee is going to get everything thrown at them by the Republicans, and so if you can test yourself in the primary, you're better off in the general election. I think Barack will be a better nominee of the party because he's had this experience.
Tavis: Let me offer you a couple things, and again get your take on where I am right or wrong about my assessment of this. To your earlier point, every poll, study, survey indicated that Barack Obama was going to beat Hillary Clinton. Indeed, the Clinton polls, I'm told from people inside, they had themselves losing to Barack Obama in New Hampshire by 11 points.
So I can take that in one of a couple of ways, Senator Bradley. One, that polls are just not reliable. Or number two, that many of the White voters in New Hampshire told the pollsters one thing about their potential support of this Black man, Barack Obama, went inside the booth, and did something different.
Bradley: Well, I don't really think the latter is true. And if you look at the numbers, you find that male voters in New Hampshire supported Barack Obama at the same level as the Iowa voters did. And it was only female New Hampshire voters over 40. And so I think it'd be a much more generalized phenomena if that was the case.
I think that it was rather that she touched a chord and connected with a generation of women of which she is obviously a part. I think that was very clear, and I think New Hampshire is notoriously a late-breaking state. A lot of people make up their mind in the last 24 hours. And I think that the last 24 hours were decisive. Certainly the last 48 hours, from the debate on.
And so I think it was in that period of time, from, like, Sunday night until Tuesday or from Saturday night until Tuesday that she got more women over 40. I think that was the issue, certainly more than the issue of race.
Tavis: To your earlier point about the fact that so many voters in New Hampshire for whatever reason or reasons make up their mind at the last minute in races like these, and if I didn't understand that before this election, I certainly get it this time on the Democrat or Republican side.
There's so many choices in both parties this time around, but I raise that only because, Senator, in this book, "The New American Story," out in paperback now, you offer us ways, questions to ask that might help us make that decision before the last 24 hours. Let's walk through some of the questions that you think we ought to wrestle with to help us decide who to vote for.
Bradley: Sure. I think that there's no question that one of the issues that people ought to think about is who, by the very election of the candidate, would transform our sense of what is possible in America. And I think on that score, there's no question Obama is that person. For example, a lot of politicians make good speeches.
But when they're in the spotlight, they tend to swell. But what Barack Obama does is he reflects that light that the people have shined on him back on the people. And in that sense, he empowers the people. And if we're ever going to deal with making sure people in America have healthcare or making sure people have pensions or making sure that all public schools are world class, people have to feel that they're in control of their own destiny.
He returns that power to them in a very fundamental way, and his very election, I think, would transform our sense of what is possible. Other criteria that you might use is actually who really knows the country? Who knows the country based upon having been and moved around the country at many levels? There I'd have to say Edwards pretty much has spent the last three years doing that.
In terms of who actually could put the best team together, well, on the one hand you say Hillary Clinton has done that before; maybe she should do that again. But then you look at Barack Obama and you say, wait a minute, the pool of talent, if Barack is present, would be greater because a lot more talented people would like to come work to build a new America if he were the president. These are some of the questions. There are about eight or nine in the book.
Tavis: How do you rate this issue - we talked earlier about experience versus change; change would be the Obama message, experience the Clinton message. How do you rate the notion of experience, particularly at a troubling time with tricky and difficult issues like the ones we face in the world we live in?
Bradley: Well, I'd rather have somebody with good judgment and less experience than someone with bad judgment and more experience. And I would offer as a case in point the Iraq war. Barack Obama was wise enough to oppose the war before it began, and from the very beginning. And of course Hillary and John, to the extent, they supported the war and then later began to have second thoughts about it.
And I think that that kind of ability and judgment is really critical here, and I believe that it represents one of the real differences.
Tavis: He has been where Hillary, John, and Barack are right now, in the Senate and on the presidential campaign trail. His name, of course, Bill Bradley. His book is out in paperback now. It's called the "The New American Story," a "New York Times" bestseller. Senator Bradley, as always, an honor to have you on, sir.
Bradley: Thank you, Tavis, great to be with you.
Tavis: Thank you, sir.
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