Howard Wolfson on Democratic Party Divisions

COLMES: As the Democrat National Convention approaches, there are still some division among some Democrats, even though Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are showing a united front. Now some of their supporters may still not be backing the Illinois senator.

Joining us now is FOX News contributor and former Clinton communications director, Howard Wolfson.

Howard, welcome back. How -- is it your view that there's some division?

HOWARD WOLFSON, FMR. CLINTON COMM. DIR.: Well, I think there is a challenge. There are some of Senator Clinton's supporters who are not yet supporting Senator Obama, and the goal is to make sure that everyone who voted for Senator Clinton ends up enthusiastically voting for Senator Obama.

COLMES: Yes.

WOLFSON: . in November, and the question is, how do we do that?

COLMES: I want to talk to you about something you said the other day that you think that had it not been for the dishonesty of John Edwards, Hillary Clinton would have won Iowa. It seems to me that most of the poll show that Obama supporters second charged for Edwards and the other way around that there was more symmetry there than with Hillary Clinton.

WOLFSON: Well, actually, our internal data suggested that we were going to be the second choice of a lot of the Edwards' voters. My gut tells me that the outcome would have been different had that information become available to people prior to the Iowa caucus. We'll never know. I don't necessarily think it's relevant today, but that's what my gut tells me.

COLMES: Did the Clinton campaign know about this affair and keep quiet about it? And if so, why?

WOLFSON: No, we did not. There was some initial reporting about it in the "Huffington Post" last fall, but it was not really clear. It was pretty sketchy. I don't think anybody knew about this.

COLMES: There's an article out in the "Atlantic," you're probably familiar with it, and it talks about how Mark Penn and Bill Clinton were pressing for aggressive confrontation, it says, to tear Obama down, and senior advisers, among them yourself, were on the other side.

Were -- these kinds of conflicts real during the campaign?

WOLFSON: Well, we did have some disagreements in the campaign about how to approach Senator Obama. He's a great candidate, they ran a great campaign, and we were constantly figuring out or trying to figure out how to address him and what to do about the strength of his candidacy, and there were some disagreements, and there were some debates. There's no question about it.

COLMES: It's also -- it's the article that Mark Penn wanted to have a friendly TV face out there which they took as a slap at you. I think you were a friendly TV face. Look at that smile.

Is this the kind of stuff that was going on?

WOLFSON: Well, at one point we were hoping to get you on board and.

COLMES: Yes.

WOLFSON: . in the hopes that you would be a friendly TV face.

COLMES: No, I thought friendly face would be the idea. You know, you want a friendly face.

WOLFSON: I was on Sean's radio show today, and I suggested that he would have been a good face for the Clinton campaign.

HANNITY: I think that was.

COLMES: He was at one point.

HANNITY: Hey, listen, I'll be honest, I feel like I did more work in terms of vetting Barack Obama than your campaign did with all due respect. I mean we interviewed Reverend Wright in March of 2007, we looked in the black liberation theology, William Ayers was out there for months before you guys ever mentioned it, and as far as I know, you only really mentioned it once.

Do you regret not vetting, you know, Senator Obama the way he should have been?

WOLFSON: No. I mean the media is tasked with the responsibility of vetting candidates. You know our job was to project Senator Clinton's vision for the country, and, you know, there were times where I think we could have done a better job of that.

HANNITY: But both Bill and Hillary Clinton -- both of them, and if I remember a time or two, even you -- complained about the fawning media coverage. That's valid. The fact that -- let me give you one example. If they're going to follow Senator Obama to Afghanistan and Iraq and John McCain's been there, you know, 10 times, and Obama hasn't been in Iraq in 900 days and never to Afghanistan, isn't that unfair coverage?

WOLFSON: You know, look, I think Senator Obama gets good press coverage. I think he deserves.

HANNITY: That's not my question, though.

WOLFSON: I think -- well, I think he deserves a lot of good press coverage. I think it's ironic that John McCain is the one complaining about this given the fact that he's gotten better coverage than anyone in the history of American politics.

HANNITY: Yes.

WOLFSON: And the fact is, you know what, as a Democrat, if he gets good press coverage, that's a good thing. I don't think it's a bad thing that our nominee gets good press coverage.

HANNITY: All right. Did Phil Singer really curse you out? I'm making you laugh. I don't think you've ever laughed this much in any TV interview, Howard.

WOLFSON: Phil Singer is a good friend of mine. He's.

HANNITY: That's a yes.

WOLFSON: He's extraordinary -- he's extraordinary at what he does. Let me tell you, campaigns are hard, and.

HANNITY: All right.

WOLFSON: . sometimes people get tense.

HANNITY: Let me ask you this. I'm hearing rumors today, John Kerry is being vetted to be the VP for Barack Obama.

Would that be a good choice, and have you heard the same thing?

WOLFSON: I have heard some rumors to that effect. Look, John Kerry has been vetted. He ran for president. I think he would be a strong choice. He'd be a good choice, especially in the context of foreign policy.

HANNITY: Last question, "San Francisco Chronicle" ground work being laid to place Hillary's name in the nomination. Will that happen?

WOLFSON: Well, we started with the conversation of what we'd do about making sure that all of our supporters are enthusiastically supporting Senator Obama at the conclusion of this process. One way of doing that is to make sure that everybody has an opportunity to give voice to the historic candidacy.

HANNITY: Is that a yes?

WOLFSON: . Senator Clinton at the convention. It's a maybe. Senator Obama's campaign and Senator Clinton's campaign.

HANNITY: All right.

WOLFSON: . are talking this through, working it through. We'll come up with a solution together.

HANNITY: All right. Howard, I'm telling you, we're bringing that comedic side out of you, good job. Thanks for being with us.

WOLFSON: Thank you. All right.