They don’t know very much about my background and my record as governor or why I got into this race or what I want to do. I’ve been amazed by the people who have said, " You know, I thought you were just some rich guy who’s hanging around lately and running for president. I didn’t know you came from an ordinary family and had to way through school."
In this campaign, I’ve been more forthright, more detailed, more clear and more passionate about what I’d do as president than the other two. It is a bum rap. It is a bogus, bum rap.
Well, let them come. I have been more trustworthy as a political leader than [Bush] has. I kept more of my commitments than he has. If I were George Bush, I wouldn’t be out here running on trust, not after “Read my lips” and “I promise you 15 million new jobs.” [The Republicans] can’t reelect him, so they want to defeat me. You’re dealing with people who basically have no soul, no passion for this country, no concern, whose only desire is to stay in power and the only way they know how to do it is to destroy other people. These are very cynical, manipulative people.
He is responsible for every independent expenditure. He’s responsible for whatever the Republican National Committee does. He’s always had his junkyard dog. He had Lee Atwater, he had all these other people. He knows exactly what they’re doing … The way the Republicans used the character issue is nothing but an attempt to divert the American people from their abysmal failures in Washington. It is a gutless, narrow, mean-spirited strategy that’s worked in the past because the American people were really seared. I think the American people are likely to tell them to stuff it this year.
On their side? They’ll have the president saying “Morning in America,” they’ll try to push him for a 1 and everybody else for a 10 and hope the American people won’t be smart enough to figure it out. If the American people want to vote one more time to get sucker-punched, that is their decision. Because basically the Republicans believe that the lowest common denominator always works. They have a very base view of the electorate. They just bring out fear and loathing but they always put their front guy out there and let him sing a happy song.
Bush’s strengths are that he’s president. Most people still respect the presidency, like him, know that he has his moments-in the gulf war, for example. They find him a genuinely likable and decent guy, and he has that Republican attack-dog machinery under him, and so far he’s gotten away with divorcing himself from it and letting it go about its business. And Bush’s strength is there is still a lot of skepticism about the Democrats.
Perot’s great strength is that he’s made a lot of money in a business that’s now important, mass communications. He’s a good promoter, good sound-bite politician and he has legitimately tapped into the serious anger and frustration people have. His weaknesses are that he hasn’t come up with what he would do. And the things which have been brought out-the blatant contradictions in [his] statements and allegations of snooping-that’ll trouble people, I think.
Absolutely. But I don’t think it’s worth talking about because I think basically they’re in that business and we’re not, and maybe we Democrats should be. We’re just not as good at it as they are.
The only point I have made about this whole issue is that I want to appoint somebody who has an expansive view of the Bill of Rights and believes in the right to privacy. I don’t believe in getting into the Pennsylvania law or the specifies or anything like that, but I think that there ought to be some balance on the court. I don’t want to appoint some. body who has far-out liberal views or left-wing views or to do any kind of litmus test like that. I just believe that the personal liberties of the American people have been subject to some severe politicization as a result of this Supreme Court, and I think that we ought to have somebody on the court who respects past decisions and traditions.
Well, I don’t think it matters if she’s fair game. The Republicans don’t care about that. She’s going to be game, and they’ve already started their old attack machine. It’s just part of their attempt to sort of do what they did to me, to her–to try to twist everything she’s ever written, everything she ever said. This is a woman who was on the board of WalMart Corp., was on the board of other major American companies, who knows a lot about the business community. She’s been a successful corporate lawyer, trial lawyer.
What’s really amazing is that if she weren’t my wife, people would be throwing garlands at her feet, probably, for all the stuff she’s accomplished. But if you’re somebody’s wife, you’re still not supposed to have a mind. I think it’s really crazy. She is a very serious mother, a very serious wife, very good at her life. She very much has mainstream values. To portray her as some sort of left-wing figure based on her activities over the last 10 or 15 years is patently absurd.
Well, there have been moments when I’ve worried about her, but she’s a very tough kid. When Hillary and I did that “60 Minutes” program, we asked her if she wanted to watch it. She said, " I want to watch it." And we did the program. And after it was over I said, " What do you think?" She said, " I think I’m glad you’re my parents."
Never… I was blue from Connecticut to New York, just because the campaign went flat and there was nothing I could do. Nobody voted, and the people that did vote were mad. And then after New York, it was very tough because Perot was coming up. No matter what I did, it wouldn’t break through. That’s why I decided to go on “Larry King” and all the morning shows, just anything to let people focus on their lives and what this election was about.
I’ve been far more sweeping in what I’ve advocated than Perot has. I’ve been for more change than he has. I think the reason is that I am a person who will pay the price of change. Change is very painful. That in itself is a sacrifice. I keep telling people, you know, I’m 45 years old, and I lost 15 pounds and it wasn’t easy, and I need to lose 20 more. Change is not easy, and the reason people should believe me is that I’ve got a 10-year record of being about change. It’s to make things work, to help people live up to their capacity, to make people competitive-you know, to solve problems, to lift people up. That’s what I do, that’s my work. And that’s why I hired on to be governor, that’s why I ran five times-because I had the patience and the determination and the drive to make change. That’s what my life is about And that’s why I think I’ll be elected.
