'Meet the Press' transcript for March 16, 2008

MR. RUSSERT:  I want to talk about health care quickly, Senator Bradley,  because you were in the Senate back in 1993, when first lady Hillary Clinton  was in charge of health care.  In your book, you wrote that they were naive in  the way they approached it.  Carl Bernstein says that--quotes you as saying  that Hillary Clinton suggested they were going to demonize anyone who came out  against it.  In your mind, do you believe that a bipartisan health care plan  could have been achieved in 1993, and, if so, why didn't Hillary Clinton do  that?  Or do you believe that she did her very best and that there was  obstruction from the Republican Party, that no one could have gotten a  bipartisan plan?

SEN. BRADLEY:  Well, I think that she did her best, but she made some very  significant mistakes.  I think she's the first to admit that now.  Was there a  possibility of a bipartisan plan?  Absolutely.  The chairman of the Finance  Committee was someone you know, I know, or you knew and I know, Senator  Moynihan, and I was in the committee one day where Senator Dole actually wrote  a note and passed it to Senator Moynihan, and he showed it to me, and it says,  "Are you ready for the Moynihan-Dole health care bill?" And I think there was  very clearly an opportunity for a bipartisan response.  And if you think about  it, that's the only way that it's going to last, unless you have a  filibusteral-proof Senate.  You have to have an ability to bring both parties  together.  And if you look at what Senator Obama has done from the beginning,  reaching out to independents, even to some Republicans, he's saying, "I want  to be the president of all the people," and he's recognizing--he's had a  narrative from the very beginning, and the narrative was, "We can do great  things in this country again, but thing that's preventing us are--is the  culture of Washington.  And to overcome the culture of Washington, I need the  people.  And I need the people not just for their votes, but when I'm  elected." And I think that's what's carried the day.

REP. LOWEY:  Tim, with regard to health care, this is exactly the point I'm  trying to make.  With all due respect, why should we go back?  Right now,  Senator Obama has a health care plan.  Hillary Clinton has a health care, care  plan.  We know what President Bush and a McCain/Bush presidency will all  be--be all about.  It won't make improvements in health care.  So why don't we  have a constructive debate about Senator Obama's plan, Hillary Clinton's plan.  They're really not that different.  And the public will understand that there  will be a change in their life as a result of a Democratic presidency.

SEN. BRADLEY:  You know, I, I agree with Nita on that 100 percent.  I mean,  the, the difference between Republicans and Democrats is much greater than any  difference between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.  And I do think that  their plans are very similar and that, if a Democrat is president, that will  stand a much better chance because we're actually going to make an attempt to  pass health insurance for all Americans.

REP. LOWEY:  And...

MR. RUSSERT:  Congresswoman Lowey, mustn't there--Reverend Wright, Jeremiah  Wright, a pastor of Barack Obama who married Barack Obama and Michelle Obama,  baptized their children, some videos have surfaced, Senator Bradley, where  Reverend Wright has said some very inflammatory things.  Here's two of them,  one about the state of black America and then secondly after September 11th.  Let's watch.

(Videotape)

REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT:  (2003) See, government gives them the drugs, builds  bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law, and then wants us to sing "God  Bless America"?  No, no, no.  Not God bless America.  God damn America--that's  in the Bible--for killing innocent people.  God damn America for treating your  citizens as less than human.

(September 16, 2001) We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far  more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an  eye.

We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South  Africans and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is  now brought right back into our own front yards!  America's chickens are  coming home to roost!

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT:  On Friday, Senator Obama sat down with Keith Olbermann on  "Countdown" and said this, after removing Reverend Wright from his religious  leadership committee:

(Videotape)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL):  I did not hear such incendiary language myself,  personally, either in conversations with him or when I was in the pew.  He  always preached a social gospel and was sometimes controversial in the same  way that many people who speak out on social issues are controversial.  But I,  I--these particular statements that have been gathered are ones that I  strongly objected to, strongly condemned.  Had I heard them in church, I would  have expressed that concern directly to Reverend Wright.  So I didn't become  familiar with these until recently.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT:  What impact do you think Reverend Wright's going to have on  this campaign?

SEN. BRADLEY:  I think in the long run he won't have an impact.  I'll say  that, when you hear these excerpts--I don't know where they came, in speeches  that he made--when you hear these excerpts, it's easy to be angry.  It's easy  to be angry about the words that he used in a couple of these occasions.  But,  you know, he's someone who's making a speech somewhere.  The question is what  has Barack Obama done with regard to these incendiary statements?  He has  condemned them.  The first time he heard about them was when his presidential  campaign was beginning.  He condemned them, and he has condemned them again  just as long ago as two or three days, so--and the other point is, the  pastor's now retired as--on his way to retirement.  And so I think that what  more can you do, but condemn the words and condemn the person for saying them?

MR. RUSSERT:  You think this will have an impact on the campaign?

REP. LOWEY:  I think we should just accept what Barack Obama has said and  move on and consider the serious issues that we both have to deal with.  And  it's the Democrats' responsibility to present a plan to give people some sense  of optimism and hope.  So...

SEN. BRADLEY:  Yeah.

REP. LOWEY:  ...I just agree that we should move on.  He's dissociated  himself, and let's move on.

MR. RUSSERT:  Congresswoman Ferraro, Geraldine Ferraro of New York, who was  selected for vice president in 1984, said some very controversial things as  well.  Here's what she said:  "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in  this position.  And if he was a woman of any color, he would not be in this  position.  He happens to be very lucky to be who he is, and the country is  caught up in the concept."

Congresswoman Ferraro, when challenged on that, said, "I really think they're  attacking me because I'm white.  How's that?"

REP. LOWEY:  I would like to suggest that we move on from that as well.  Hillary Clinton has dissociated herself from those remarks, and now it's time  to get back to the real issues of the campaign.  These are, are specific  incidents that don't really help the Democratic Party, and you can't always be  responsible for the enthusiasm of your supporters.  And I'm satisfied that  Hillary Clinton has disassociated herself.

MR. RUSSERT:  But you don't find Congresswoman Ferraro's comments acceptable?

REP. LOWEY:  I'm not even discussing them.  I think that we should move on.  This race is not about Geraldine Ferraro.  This race is about Senator Barack  Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton.  And I think my voters want to know what  they are going to do for them and not only domestically but internationally,  where we face extraordinary challenges.

MR. RUSSERT:  But if someone said if Clinton was a black woman she wouldn't  be here now, or if she was a man of any color she wouldn't be here now, the  only reason here--she's here is a white woman, you would take offense?

REP. LOWEY:  Tim, Senator Clinton can't be responsible for everything one of  her enthusiastic supporters say, and I'm sure it'd be the same for Senator  Barack Obama.  Let's move on.  They've taken positions on both of these  comments.

MR. RUSSERT:  How does this race end?

SEN. BRADLEY:  I think this race ends with the superdelegates supporting the  individual who has the most pledged delegates, and then it's a matter of going  on and doing the business that the country wants us to do.  I think that, you  know, if you look at this--the way I look at this is, in some sense, is if you  look at the Clinton campaign, the way it's operated, it's been a campaign of  fight and divide.  If you look at the Obama campaign, it's been a campaign of  unite and fight.  And fight for the things that the American people really  want, which is health care for all Americans.  They want to know if they work  40 years they'll have a secure pension.  They want to know that their kids  have a chance to go to the best public school in America--every public school  should be great--and that they have a chance to send their children to  college.  And that we have to have a plan to deal with an economy that's  deteriorating dramatically.  I mean, we have major financial institutions in  danger, we have foreclosures taking place all across this country and we need  to be focusing on those issues.  There are things that can be done, and the  next president, whoever the next president is, is going to have a very  difficult time not only with Iraq, but with the economy.  And so let's do the  politics, let's move it forward, but then let's get down to what the American  people want us to deal with.

MR. RUSSERT:  Take your 30 seconds.  How is this going to end?

REP. LOWEY:  I would just like to say, the next few months can be really  important for the Democrats if both Senator Obama and Senator Clinton have a  constructive discussion of these issues which you've referenced today.  Hillary Clinton is the best qualified, she has the most experience, she  understands and is presenting a plan on the economy, on health care, on  housing, on the energy crisis, on gas prices, on food prices.  I do believe  that the superdelegates will look at the large states like Florida, like  Texas, like Michigan, like Ohio and make a decision based upon her  qualifications and who can win.  It's essential that the Democrats take the  White House so we can reverse the policies that President Bush and a  continuation of those through Senator McCain.

MR. RUSSERT:  Congresswoman Lowey, Senator Bradley, thanks very much.

SEN. BRADLEY:  Thank you, Tim.

MR. RUSSERT:  Coming next, the Iraq war, the economy and the race for the  White House through the eyes of David Broder of The Washington Post, David  Gregory of NBC News and Michele Norris of NPR's "All Things Considered."  Coming up next, right here only on MEET THE PRESS.

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MR. RUSSERT:  Our political roundtable--David Broder, Michele Norris, David  Gregory--they are all coming up right after this brief station break.

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