© 2010, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. PLEASE CREDIT ANY QUOTES OR EXCERPTS FROM THIS CBS TELEVISION PROGRAM TO "CBS NEWS' FACE THE NATION." August 15, 2010 Transcript GUESTS: Tim Kaine Chairman, Democratic National Committee Gov. Ed Rendell D-Pennsylvania Ed Gillespie Former Chairman, Republican National Committee Resurgent Republic Ed Rollins Republican Strategist TRANSCRIPT SCHIEFFER: Today on "Face the Nation," let's talk politics, and there's plenty to talk about. The president made good on his pledge to demonstrate the Gulf Coast is still a great vacation destination. But in a year of political irony, he's also up to his neck in political trouble with his liberal base, while the Republican establishment tries to figure out what to do about its conservative wing and the Tea Party. And now a whole new controversy over building that mosque near Ground Zero. We'll bring in four of the best from the two sides, Democratic Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, Democratic Party Chair Tim Kaine, former Republican Party Chair Ed Gillespie, and legendary Republican strategist Ed Rollins. We'll get analysis from John Harris of Politico and Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post. Then I'll have some final thoughts on Melvin Laird, the long-ago secretary of defense who's worried about the all-volunteer army he created and where we are in Afghanistan. But first, American politics on "Face the Nation." ANNOUNCER: "Face the Nation," with CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer. And now from Washington, Bob Schieffer. SCHIEFFER: And good morning again. Well, it is not often that a president pleases people on both sides of the political spectrum, but it is fair to say, when President Obama said Muslims have a right to build a mosque near Ground Zero where the Twin Towers fell, it pleased many on the liberal left. And it is also fair to say that it just delighted many on the Republican right, because they feel it is an issue that they can use against him, not only in the coming elections, but all the way into 2012. So I want to start there, and I'm just going to poll the delegation this morning. Governor Rendell, did the president say the right thing? And was it good politics? RENDELL: Well, I don't know if it's good or bad politics, but I can't imagine that any American -- given the challenges facing this country -- is going to vote based on what he said about the mosque. The mosque is an unfortunate situation, but we do have a right to practice our religion freely wherever we choose. Rights are not subject to the popular vote or majority vote. SCHIEFFER: Ed Gillespie? GILLESPIE: Bob, it was an incredibly revealing comment by the president. You know, he basically said that the 70 percent of Americans who are opposed to this controversial imam building this controversial mosque at Ground Zero are seeking to deny the religious freedom of Muslims in this country. That's how he cast it. And it was said in the -- in the reporting this morning that he made a conscious decision to weigh in on it in that regard. I think it -- it tells you that he has a very disdainful view of the American people, and I think that's one of the reasons his favorability ratings have come down, not just his job approval ratings. People see that in him. There's kind of a condescension toward Americans that they don't like. SCHIEFFER: Tim Kaine? KAINE: Well, I'm going to go with my Virginians, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, on this one, Bob. They put the religious freedom to worship in the religion of your choosing as the First Amendment to the Constitution for a reason. This wouldn't be a controversy if it was a proposal to build a synagogue or a church. We don't prefer people and we don't punish people based on their religion. I'm not the New York zoning commissioner, don't know the reason for the siting decision, but we can't stop people from doing something that others could do because of the religion they practice. SCHIEFFER: But what about the politics of it? KAINE: Well, look, you know, again, as Ed said, the Constitution is the Constitution. You know, we see an awful lot of Republicans going out and saying we've got to respect the Constitution, and that means we have to respect it. We can't tarnish people's First Amendment rights. We shouldn't be going around raising wacky ideas, like redrafting or withdrawing the 14th Amendment. We've got to honor the Constitution, and the president is reminding us of that, and that's very important. SCHIEFFER: Ed Rollins, you're up there in New York. You know a lot about New York politics. What's your view? ROLLINS: First, it was, Bob, probably the dumbest thing that any president has said or candidate has said since Michael Dukakis said it was OK to burn the flag. And it was very similar. This is an emotional issue. Intellectually, the president may be right, but this is an emotional issue, and people who lost kids, brothers, sisters, fathers, what have you, do not want that mosque in New York, and it's going to be a big, big issue for Democrats across this country. SCHIEFFER: So you see it as an issue that's going to continue? ROLLINS: Absolutely. No question about it. Every candidate -- every candidate who's in the challenge districts are going to be asked, how do you feel about building the mosque on the Ground Zero sites? SCHIEFFER: All right. You know, we're going into this election in a year that is really, really fraught with irony. You have Democrats on the one hand saddled with a very bad economy, high unemployment among many on the Democratic base, the -- the core of this president's base, unemployment among African-Americans is now 12.5 percent, to the -- to the point that some people are even saying unemployed -- the unemployed may be the swing vote in this coming election. Republicans, on the other hand, have -- find themselves suddenly with some very, well, how would I say it, unusual candidates, people who have taken very extreme views on things. And one thing that comes to mind is the Senate race up there in Connecticut, where you have Linda McMahon, who is formally -- or maybe she still is part of the World Wrestling Federation, formerly an executive to that. She winds up as the Republican candidate up there. And I have to say one thing, she really packs a lot of kick. I mean, just -- just watch this video here. Ed Gillespie, I expect Republicans are going to be seeing that video a lot this year, and they're going to have to defend it. Is this somebody who's going to be good for the Republican Party? Is this a good image for Republicans to have? I mean, if the president's going to -- every candidate is going to have to defend what the president did on the mosque down there, isn't this going to be kind of a tough one for you guys? GILLESPIE: Well, a couple of things, Bob. You could also show the footage of President Obama when he was running for president appearing on WWE, calling out to voters there, watching and saying, "Can you smell what Barack is cooking?" A takeoff of the Rock. So, clearly, not so long ago, President Obama and the Democrats thought the WWE was a great place to go to talk to voters. Linda McMahon, like a lot of other Republicans around the country, is not an establishment politician, not someone who's a career Washington figure, not someone who is a conventional candidate. And this is a good year, by the way, for that, you know, to run against -- and her race has tightened since she got the nomination -- to run against a career politician in -- in Connecticut with a problematic record. On the issues of spending and taxes and deficit and debt and the fact that we need to put a check on President Obama and the Democratic Congress, not hand them a blank check, those are the issues that are going to matter in this election. SCHIEFFER: So you're comfortable with her? And you think on balance she helps or hurts Republicans overall? GILLESPIE: Oh, I think she's got a great chance to win in -- in the Connecticut Senate race because the voters are making a decision based on which of these two candidates is going to go to Washington to try to change what's going on, in terms of record deficits, $1.5 trillion deficit this year. President Obama and this White House have created more debt in 20 months than President Bush in eight years. Unemployment at 9.5 percent, with 1.4 million Americans already out of the workforce, not even calculated into that, when they said it was -- was not going to go above 8 percent as a result of a $1 trillion stimulus package. So, yes, I feel very good about it. SCHIEFFER: Well, I mean, she does have a good kick. I mean, there's no question. Governor Kaine, you're head of the DNC. What -- what -- what do you think about some of these candidates? KAINE: Two things, Bob. You know, it's not just Linda McMahon. It's Rand Paul, who says the Civil Rights Act shouldn't have been passed.