|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
| NEWSMAKER: MONDALE | |
 December 14, 2000  |
|
|
Former Vice President Walter Mondale reflects on the dramatic conclusion to Election 2000.
|
|
|
WALTER MONDALE: Thank you. RAY SUAREZ: Let's talk first about last night. Given that you've been on both ends, victory and defeat in national campaigns, it's fair to say you've been there, how did the two principals handle themselves last night, first Governor Bush? WALTER MONDALE: I thought he did very well. It was a good appeal for public support for reconciliation. It was generous toward Vice President Gore. It reached out to the American people. I think he got off to a very good start. RAY SUAREZ: And Vice President Gore? WALTER MONDALE: I thought he did very well last night. As a matter of fact, I've never seen him do better. And there was some nice humor in there and a wonderful tone, and I think he helped set the stage for progress in our government. And I was glad to see President-elect Bush commend him for those words. |
|||||||||||||||||||
| What should Bush expect? | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
RAY SUAREZ: Let's talk about what's waiting out there for the new President-elect. He comes from the state capital in Austin to Washington to find a very divided Senate, a very close House after a very tough campaign. What should he know about what's waiting for him?
After all, a Governor has never dealt with national security issues, with foreign policy questions, with national economic and Federal Reserve issues. He's never dealt with the Congress, and the Congress is a much different animal than these state legislatures. And he will find that his own party is often a much tougher thing to deal with than it was in his home state. And so we've had a habit in America of electing Governors, often running against the federal government, to take over and reform it. And once they get in office, there's a very painful year or a year and a half while they discover how different and how tough this job is. And while they're learning, their adversaries around the world are trying to test them. There are many, many powerful members of the Congress in both parties that are testing. He has to assemble an administration. You know, I don't know if you've noticed, but take a picture of a new president when he takes office, particularly if they're a Governor, and then you take a picture of that same person four years later at the end of the first term, they always look like they're ten years older. In other words, I remember Clark Clifford telling me when I was elected Vice President, he said, "you have no idea what's about to happen to you." And I was only the Vice President. RAY SUAREZ: Well, will George W. Bush be under a peculiar kind of pressure to deliver, given the circumstances under which he's taking the office? WALTER MONDALE: I think in two ways it's tougher, and by the way, I support Gore's plea for public support for President Bush. We all have to stand behind him at this time and wish him well. But I think it's tougher in two ways: One, the nature of the mandate, where he runs even or, depending on how you want to calculate it, slightly behind Vice President Gore, where he was elected in part because of a Supreme Court decision, and secondly, because of this unbelievable down-the-middle split in America. The Senate 50-50 -- I've never seen anything like that. The House is almost 50-50. The national election results show that the nation nationwide split 50-50, in the Senate popular vote, the House popular vote and for the state legislature. This country and the American people are dead even. And he's got to somehow reach across that and pull us together as a country and gain the confidence of a lot of people that have yet to be persuaded and some substantial part of the American people that feel that they've been cheated. RAY SUAREZ: Well, during the last couple of days, the President-elect has been getting a lot of free and unsolicited advice about bipartisanship, about working with the Democrats, even about bringing Democrats into the cabinet. Are these just pretty words, high-minded thoughts, or do they have some practical application? |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
| Governing from the middle | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
But the other thing is substance. In other words, where does he want to take the country? What are the essential guidelines of where he wants to take us? And I believe there is a tendency, if I'm hearing it correctly, to come up with the traditional proposals. Education is very important. I don't want to be misunderstood, but I think this new President has to do something that's unexpected. RAY SUAREZ: Like what? WALTER MONDALE: I would say be the leader of election reform or stand with John McCain for election... finance reform, something that's unexpected that will help pull us together and heal a nation that's gone through this unbelievable 36-day count -- I think something of that kind. They're not going to listen to me, but I don't think just politics as usual, just meeting, just what you might call the adornments of an effort to build consensus will do it alone. There needs to be a central theme of substance that the President uses to pull us together. RAY SUAREZ: Well, you've heard Senator Daschle suggest that President-elect Bush is going to have to govern from the middle; Speaker Hastert wasn't so sure. Do you think he can do... the new President can do the big things that he campaigned on over the last several months?
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
| Gore's future | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
WALTER MONDALE: Well, there must be a sense of great disappointment. He ran a campaign, got more votes than almost anybody else who's ever run for President. He came out ahead. He had a great campaign with a lot of his family and everybody working with him. He came this close. It took so long. The fight for the recount was so tough. And then he loses and he leaves high public office just within the reach of the presidency. So it must be a very disappointing letdown. On the other hand, he's got a long life ahead of him. He's young; he's strong; he's smart. He's got a lot of experience. He left on a very strong note yesterday. People are very grateful to him for the generous way in which he made his plea and his departure to the American people. So I think he's got a good future ahead of him, and I'll bet he's thinking about that, and I'll bet he's thinking about one other thing. I know I was. After all those years... remember, he mentioned he's going to spend the holidays with his family -- this time he can really do it. RAY SUAREZ: Vice President Walter Mondale, good to talk to you, sir. WALTER MONDALE: Thank you. |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
        |
|
| Support the kind of journalism done by the NewsHour...Become a member of your local PBS station. | ||
| ||
| PBS Online Privacy Policy Copyright ©1996- MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. All Rights Reserved. | ||
| ||
RAY
SUAREZ: We get those words from the former Vice President of the United
States, Walter Mondale. Welcome back to the program. 
WALTER
MONDALE: Well, that's a very good question. I think the first thing
he ought to think about is what a challenge this is going to be. And
it's hard to explain to somebody who's been a Governor, who's just won
an election as president, about to become president, how different and
how much more demanding the presidency is than the governorship, as
tough as those jobs are. 
WALTER
MONDALE: No. I think they do have some practical application. I think
who he picks for the cabinet, for example, he's going to pick Colin
Powell as secretary of state, everyone says. Well, that will be very
well received by everyone, Democrats and Republicans. If he follows
on with that kind of strong person, with bipartisan support, that will
make a difference. If he goes up on the Hill and comes to know and tries
to find common ground with the leaders of both parties on the Hill and
can find that common ground, that will help. 
WALTER
MONDALE: I think he can do some of them. I noticed last night when he
said, "we need a fiscally responsible tax cut," those are
his words, that could mean something. In other words, it was the outsized
$1.3 trillion tax cut that bothered a lot of us. If he came up with
a much more limited proposal that had some fairness in it, all sides
might get together on that. There's many things, like if he really wants
to make some progress on prescription drugs and Social Security, move
toward further support of Social Security, I think there's ways of bringing
people together on that, yes. And education, if he really wants to move
in that area and help our kids get a better education, yes, he'll be
able to get support in that across the board.