CQ Transcriptswire

SPEAKERS: TOM BROKAW, HOST

GOV. TIM PAWLENTY, R-MINN.

[*] BROKAW: Joining us live from here in St. Paul, the site of the Republican National Convention which is scheduled to begin tomorrow, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty . Mr. Governor, welcome. Some good news in all of that, if it is weakening, here’s the Pioneer Press this morning: “It’s On...For Now.” What are the contingency plans?

PAWLENTY: Well, Tom, first of all, our thoughts and prayers, of course, are with the people of the Gulf Coast. And the folks who are organizing the convention are thinking of contingencies ranging from mildly altering the schedule, all the way to fundamentally changing the convention and everything in between. So they’re going to monitor this very closely and make changes as appropriate.

Of course, we’re not going to have a big party or festival here if there’s problems or concerns facing the Gulf Coast.

BROKAW: President Bush was scheduled to be here tomorrow night to address the convention in person. We’re hearing that he is likely to stay at the White House, which seems to make a lot of sense.

PAWLENTY: Of course. It wouldn’t be appropriate to have the president here if his time or attention is needed responding to or preparing to deal with the crisis in the Gulf Coast, so we understand that.

BROKAW: But there’s no chance of calling off the convention because you’ve got to proceed to get his name on the ballot, among other things, John McCain .

PAWLENTY: The convention has to go forward in these four days. It’s really a question of what does it look like, and it may have to be converted into something that’s more focused on the hurricane, on Gustav. We’ll just have to wait and see as the terms and conditions on the ground dictate them.

BROKAW: I don’t want to stretch the weather metaphor too far, but we had a thunderstorm of epic proportions last Friday when John McCain unexpectedly announced that Sarah Palin , the governor of Alaska, would be his running mate. We want to begin with that here this morning, if we can.

To borrow a phrase from your profession, the legal profession, let’s you and I agree that we can stipulate certain things, OK? She is a conservative and pragmatic politician. She’s been tough on corruption in Alaska. She’s popular, with a winning style and personality. But the fact is that she has been governor less than two years, and before that she was a mayor of a town with a population of less than 7,000.

Her candidate at the top of the ticket has the bull of a constitution -- has the constitution of a bull elephant, but he is a 72-year-old man and a cancer survivor. She will be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

This country is engaged in two wars, it’s facing a resurgent Russia, a rogue Iran, a financial crisis that may be the greatest since the Great Depression. I think our viewers want to know what’s in her background that prepares her for dealing with all that and the possibility that she would have to step up into the Oval Office?

PAWLENTY: Well, first of all, I think Senator McCain, of course, one of his main attractions and assets and strengths, that he’s a maverick with a record of reform. She’s a maverick with a record of reform. And if you look at her background -- and I know her a bit as a fellow governor -- she’s an individual who is smart, she’s strong, she’s capable, she’s dedicated, she’s diligent and she has executive experience. She’s functioned as a governor. She’s the commander in chief of a National Guard. She’s a former mayor. She’s the former chair of an energy commission in Alaska, which is one of the more high-profile issues and operations in Alaska.

She’s deeply involved in the energy issues, which is really one of the foremost national security issues we have in our country in terms of its connection to transference of wealth to places like the Middle East and Russia and Venezuela. So she is somebody who I think is very capable to be in the executive position.

And one last thing, Tom -- she’s running for vice president. She has as much or more experience as Barack Obama , who’s running for president.

BROKAW: But Barack Obama has been before the American people for more than 20 months now. He has debated 20-some times against some very tough opponents. He’s participated in one-on-one interviews around the world. He’s been vetted, in effect, by the American people, and in most national polls he continues to lead your candidate by a small margin. But people have made some judgments about him, and they’ve not had that same kind of exposure to Sarah Palin .

Let me just ask you, quickly, do you think that she would be better on the economy than Mitt Romney, who was a successful entrepreneur and governor of Massachusetts, or better on terrorism than Tom Ridge, the former governor of Pennsylvania, who also ran Homeland Security? Or better, in a lot of matters at the national level, than Joe Lieberman, who is John McCain ’s close friend from the Democratic Party who’s been supporting your party?

PAWLENTY: Well, one of the objectives here is to be able to relate to and understand and meet and address the needs of average Americans, blue-collar Americans, people who are struggling economically, people who have had a tough time in life. That’s a big part of the concern in this election, our economy. It helps to actually have lived that life or walked that walk.

And so, in addition to her role as governor, being somebody who is dealing with the economy successfully, by the way, in Alaska, she’s also somebody who has -- has a background, that’s, you know, lived the life that we talked about. We talk about people sitting around the kitchen table and balancing a budget with a family and having to worry about meeting -- making ends meet economically. She and her family have actually done that. I would say that’s pretty good preparation for understanding and relating to the economic needs of average Americans.

BROKAW: Let’s share with our viewers and with you as well an editorial in the Fairbanks Alaska Daily News-Miner. “[Palin] has never publicly demonstrated the kind of interest, much less expertise, in federal issues and foreign affairs that should mark a candidate for the second-highest office in the land. Republicans rightfully have criticized the Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama , for his lack of experience, but Palin is a neophyte in comparison; how will Republicans reconcile the criticism of Obama with the obligatory cheering for Palin?

Most people would acknowledge that, regardless of her charm and good intentions, Palin is not ready for the top job. McCain seems to have put his political interests ahead of the nation’s when he created the possibility that she might fill it. It’s clear that McCain picked Palin for reasons of image, not substance.”

Same questions were raised by your hometown newspaper, the Minneapolis Tribune. “McCain surprises, but is Palin ready?”

Faye Palin, her mother-in-law, in Alaska, said, “She enjoys hearing Barack Obama speak. She still has not decided which way she’ll vote.” Then she went on to say, “I’m not sure what she brings to the ticket, other than that she’s a woman and a conservative.”

So there are substantial questions that remain out there.

PAWLENTY: Well, in fairness to Governor Palin, let’s do the same analysis as to Senator Obama. He’s basically graduated from law school, went on to be a community organizer and a law professor, went to the U.S. Senate and began running for president, essentially, the day he arrived.

PAWLENTY: So he didn’t even stick around in the Senate very long before he began running for governor (sic).

So what it is in his background, Tom, that would give him that same type of requisite wisdom and judgment and insight on national security matters or foreign affairs matter or anything else?

But importantly, Senator -- or Governor Palin is an executive. She has, during that time that he’s been running for president, she’s been running a large enterprise, the state of Alaska, successfully as an executive, as commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard, and by all accounts, somebody who’s formidable on policy, who’s smart, and basically has guts and grit because of her background, and can relate to people.

BROKAW: And people who have looked Alaska -- at Alaska and her executive experience have pointed out, it’s a small state and gets most of its money from oil revenue.

PAWLENTY: Well, it’s...

BROKAW: It doesn’t have the same kind of tough choices that you have to make here in Minnesota, even.

PAWLENTY: It’s bigger than the enterprise that Barack Obama worked for as a staffer in Chicago.

BROKAW: The conventional wisdom within the Republican Party that I’ve been reading is that by choosing Sarah Palin , John McCain is going directly after those Hillary voters who are not happy with the way she was treated by Barack Obama .

PAWLENTY: Well, I think Senator McCain has picked a candidate here who complements and amplifies his strength. A maverick with a record of reform, somebody who’s willing to take on the establishment, even if that means the Republican establishment, and she’s done that.

And if you look at the Hillary supporters, people who are -- men and women who are concerned about the economy, places like Ohio, Pennsylvania, the Midwest and other places, you know, what kind of candidate are they going to relate to? Somebody who has walked their walk, have lived a life like them, understands their needs and concerns and their family? I think they’re going to look at Governor Palin and say, “You know what? She’s somebody that I think can relate to my challenges, my concerns, because she’s lived a life like that.” BROKAW: This is only anecdotal, Governor, but a number of them have said to me already, “Hey, listen, this is not just about gender. This is a woman, for example, who is against abortion, she’s pro-life, she is a member of the NRA. That’s not my kind of candidate.”

PAWLENTY: I think it’s wonderful that she is a woman, but that isn’t why Senator McCain picked her, and that isn’t why she’s on this ticket. She’s on this ticket because he believes she’s the right person in light of her experience, her judgment, her background, to be vice president. The fact that she happens to be a woman is somebody -- is an instance where she can bring some credibility, perhaps, in speaking to that segment of the population, to the electorate.

BROKAW: It was also important that she not be in favor of abortion or choice.

PAWLENTY: Well, I think Senator McCain said from day one he wants somebody that is with him on the ticket that reflects his priorities and values for the country, and he has spent an entire career being pro-life, so I don’t think that comes as a surprise.

BROKAW: We’re still learning a good deal about her, and I know we will continue to.

PAWLENTY: I would also say on that, Tom, if I could, you never hear Barack Obama getting asked whether he would pick a pro-life candidate for his ticket or whether it was important to have a pro- choice candidate on the Democratic side. You notice that question never gets asked of the Democrats.

BROKAW: In the governors race -- as a matter of fact, Nancy Pelosi and I talked about this just last week, and she got into a lot of trouble with the Catholic Church because he refused to say when life begins. And when I asked her about it, she then had her own explanation based on what she thought was church doctrine, and the church came after her. So we have put that on the table, I just want to get that on the record if I can.

PAWLENTY: Understood.

BROKAW: OK.

In the governor’s race, she refused to be specific about her views on creationism vs. evolution, but as I understand it, she did say that she thought that the two subjects should be taught side by side in public schools.

Do you think that’s a good idea?

PAWLENTY: I saw her comments on it yesterday, and I thought they were appropriate, which is, you know, let’s -- if there are competing theories, and they are credible, her view of it was, according to comments in the newspaper, allow them all to be presented, or allow them both to be presented so students could be exposed to both, and -- or more, and have a chance to be exposed to the -- to the various theories and make up their own minds. BROKAW: In the vast scientific community, do you think that creationism has the same weight as evolution? And at a time in American education when we are in a crisis when it comes to science, that there ought to be parallel tracks for creationism vs. evolution in the teaching?

PAWLENTY: In the scientific community, it seems like intelligent design is dismissed. Not entirely, there are a lot of scientists who would make the case that it is appropriate to be taught and appropriate to be demonstrated. But in terms of the curriculum in the schools, in Minnesota we’ve taken the approach that that’s a local decision. But I know Senator Palin -- or Governor Palin has said intelligent design is something she thinks should be taught along with evolution in the schools, and I think that’s appropriate from my standpoint.

BROKAW: Given, given...

PAWLENTY: But I believe -- my personal view is that’s a local decision...

BROKAW: Given equal weight.

PAWLENTY: ... at the local school board.

BROKAW: And you would recommend it be given equal weight.

PAWLENTY: We’ve said in Minnesota, in my view this is a local decision. Intelligent design is something that, in my view, is a plausible and credible and something that I personally believe in. But more importantly, from an educational and scientific standpoint, it should be decided by local school boards, by -- at the local school district level.

BROKAW: Governor, this is The Economist, which is not exactly a house organ for the Democratic Party, as you know. They say “Bring back the real John McCain .” Among other things, they talk about his evolution as a candidate. They conclude -- “Hawkish foreign policy, irresponsible tax cuts, more talk about religion and abortion. All this sounds too much like Bush III, the label the Democrats are trying to hang around the Republican neck. We preferred McCain I.”

Isn’t that a fundamental issue for your party going into this campaign, about whether John McCain will be seen simply as an extension of George Bush, who’s running at record low approval ratings?

PAWLENTY: The problem with that argument, Tom, first of all, is that Senator McCain has spent an entire lifetime developing and establishing a brand as a maverick and as an independent, even relative to President Bush as it relates to climate change, as it relates to campaign finance reform, as it relates to surge, as it relates to importing prescription drugs from Canada, as it relates to spending, as it relates to nuclear arms proliferation, as it relates to torture. The list goes on and on and on. On most of -- on many of the big issues of the day -- not the average statistics, but the big issues of the day, Senator McCain has parted from President Bush. And people recognize him as a maverick and as an independent. So that argument doesn’t stick.

The other thing I would add is as people talk about President Bush’s approval rating, as low as it is, it’s twice as good, nearly so, as the Congress, which is run by the Democrats. So if you want to hook Senator McCain to President Bush, then we’ll hook Senator Obama to a Congress that is half as popular as the president and say that he’s going to be a rubber stamp for a Congress that is even less popular.

BROKAW: Good debating point, but Congress is not running for president.

PAWLENTY: Well, when you put a president and a Congress together, it’s a pretty unstoppable package as to what will happen to the country.

BROKAW: Governor Pawlenty, thanks very much for being with us this morning.

PAWLENTY: You’re welcome.

BROKAW: We know this is going to be a busy week and some tough decisions are ahead for you as well, and we wish you all the best. And I know I speak for all of us, we’re -- we’re happy to be here in the great state of Minnesota.

PAWLENTY: We’re glad you’re here, Tom. Thank you very much.

BROKAW: Great. Thank you.

END

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Aug 31, 2008 13:32 ET .EOF

Source: CQ Transcriptions

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