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March 27, 2008

Mary Matalin Discusses the Latest Developments

Hannity & Colmes

HANNITY: And welcome to "Hannity and Colmes." We get right to our top story, the war between democrats has taken yet another turn. Tonight, Nancy Pelosi is now squaring off with Hillary Clinton. Now, yesterday, high profile Clinton donors sent the Speaker of the House a letter urging her to stop saying things like "superdelegates should respect the will of the voters." Clearly that would be bad news for Senator Clinton. A spokesman for Pelosi says that the speaker still believes that it would be damaging to the party if the will of the voters was somehow trumped by super delegates. Translation to the Clintons, back off.

Now, this is just the latest example of the Clinton machine waging war against their own party because of her election shortcomings. First, it was her flip flop on Michigan and Florida after she initially agreed that their votes shouldn't be counted. And despite Pelosi's concerns about superdelegates, is it really the Clinton's scorched earth campaign against other liberals that will sink the democratic party?

Joining us now former advisor to President Bush, Mary Matalin. You know, Mary, maybe I just sit back and what do you think of all the infighting?

MARY MATALIN, FORMER BUSH ADVISOR: Well, it's a consequence of there's no policy differences, and there's no coherent practical guiding principles for governance. It's sort of , stale redistribution and centralization and victimization and all of that business. So, they're having this kind of fight but it's also incoherent in a common sense way. What is the definition of "will of the people?" What are Floridians and Michiganders, aliens? Will of the people means all the people does it and why shouldn't we got to the end of the process. And in this case of super delegates are to follow the will of the people as has been often argued here, then Kennedy, and Kerry, and those states that went for Hillary, are going to have to disabuse themselves for their support for Obama. It's just incoherent.

HANNITY: But if it comes down, we've discussed this at length in the program. If Barack Obama, and it appears he's on his way, to winning the popular vote and winning the delegate battle, if he wins that, and then Hillary Clinton gets the insiders, the politicians, the superdelegates to go against the will of the people, there is going to be a battle, a political war, within the democratic party the likes of which we haven't seen that Doug Wilder said since 1968. What does that mean for republicans?

MATALIN: That's right. They're on the horns of a dilemma, that's for sure, but they're equally at risk with an Obama candidacy. You know, what's being overlooked here in the midst of all this right controversy is the impact that it's ultimately going to have in the general elections on Catholics, for instance, a critical element of either side's coalition to go together in critical states, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Michigan, these sort of swing states, and Catholics, Sean, as you know, we don't get to pick our priest. When Catholics figure out that you pastor shop in the Obama church and this is what he chose, it's not a race issue, it's an American issue.

HANNITY: Well, let me ask you this because I think character now is becoming a very big issue in the campaign. We've got Hillary Clinton and this sniper fib, exaggeration, whatever you want to call it, Barack Obama saying he didn't really know where his pastor was coming from for the past 20 years. Character now seems to be emerging, honesty, trustworthiness, judgment. Will this hold through November?

MATALIN: Not this level of minutia, but something, some other topic that is relevant when there is a general election match up. Not everybody is watching this with the obsessive nature that you and I and Alan are. You know watching it.

ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: This may shock you but I actually disagree with a few things you said. First of all, democrats really do have a plan.

MATALIN: Really. Alan, you're kidding.

COLMES: Get out of the war, have national health care, and end the tax cuts for the rich. A whole bunch of things democrats actually do stand for, and Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton aren't that far apart. You're right, which is part of the issue, but John McCain doesn't have an economic policy. He doesn't have plans on lots of things. He hasn't articulated a vision for America.

MATALIN: What? Have you not been watching Fox News TV fair and balanced? Alan, where have you been from?

COLMES: I do. I do all the time. I consume it continually.

MATALIN: He's laid out an economic policy, laid out a foreign policy just yesterday, and he's, you know, I don't know what.

COLMES: He doesn't want to help people with mortgages, doesn't want to get involved, he doesn't want to prop up the people.

MATALIN: Oh, stop.

COLMES: I mean, you know, it's a very -- look, once we get involved in the issues and John McCain is doing very well nationally in the polls, once we can focus on the issues, there will be a real horse race and democrats will win.

MATALIN: Right. No, when we focus on the issues as evidenced in these early polls, if you go internally into the independents, for instance, who will make the difference here, John McCain beats either Senator Obama or Clinton on every single issue with the exception of health care, and he hasn't laid out his health care plan lately. If you want to run on raising taxes, on precipitously pulling out of Iraq, on not having a robust foreign policy going forward, a centralized health care. You want to run..

COLMES: That's how you're phrasing it.

MATALIN: . if you want to run on that, redistribution and victimization and centralization, that is as coherent as a democratic policy.

COLMES: Mary, that's how you're phrasing it. That's not how most of the American people see it. They want out of Iraq. And you're not raising taxes on most of many percent of Americans. Let me ask you this. You brought up the Christian vote. Why is it that John McCain loses the Christian vote to a democrat? If election went on today.

MATALIN: Surprisingly, you weren't listening to me, Alan. Although I love you still. I didn't say Christian vote, I said Catholic vote, a very specific.

COLMES: No, no, I know you said that. I'm asking you the question. Whether or not -- why John McCain in a poll out yesterday by McLaughlin, he loses the Christian vote to a democrat?

MATALIN: Loses the Christian vote. The Christian vote. I don't know what that a monolithic Christian vote is.

COLMES: 36 to 45%.

MATALIN: I'm not asking you about the numbers. I'm saying do you think every Christian thinks like every other Christian? See, this is what happens.

COLMES: Of course, I have.

MATALIN: The democratic identity politics if they are put together.

COLMES: No. no. Mary, you know very well that they look at certain segments of the voting populist. Republicans do it. Democrats do it. And a study out yesterday shows that he loses the Christian vote. I'm just curious to know your reaction to that, why that might be the case?

MATALIN: My -- they're talking about some sort of conservative, really conservative Christian vote. Look, Rudy Giuliani was winning 45% of the Christian vote with a liberal social agenda in the primaries. At one point, you have to, you can't look at these as monolithic groups ideologically. You have to look at the issues that are going to predominate which will be a security that can be compare as much about that as they do in the economic situation. So, bring on your issues, Alan. We're ready.

COLMES: Can't wait. Thank you, Mary.

HANNITY: Thank you, Mary. Thank you very much.

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