? 2004 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved PLEASE CREDIT ANY QUOTES OR EXCERPTS FROM THIS CBS TELEVISION PROGRAM TO "CBS NEWS' FACE THE NATION. " CBS News FACE THE NATION Sunday, July 4, 2004 GUESTS: MARC RACICOT Chairman, Bush-Cheney '04 Campaign TERRY McAULIFFE Chairman, Democratic National Committee MODERATOR: BOB SCHIEFFER - CBS News This is a rush transcript provided for the information and convenience of the press. Accuracy is not guaranteed. In case of doubt, please check with FACE THE NATION - CBS NEWS 202-457-4481 BURRELLE'S INFORMATION SERVICES / 202-419-1859 / 800-456-2877 Face the Nation (CBS News) - Sunday, July 4, 2004 1 BOB SCHIEFFER, host: Today on FACE THE NATION, campaign on wheels. The candidates hit the road. As the campaign shifts into high gear, the candidates are touring the heartland by bus. Vice President Cheney has rolled up his sleeves to mingle with the voters. John Kerry is out there, too. Polls show Senator Kerry and President Bush in a virtual tie. Will Ralph Nader tip the balance? Who will be Kerry's running mate and what about the economy and Iraq? We'll get both sides from our correspondents on the road and from the party's top strategists here in Washington, Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot and Democratic Party chief Terry McAuliffe. Today's Flashback remembers the O.J. Simpson trial, and I'll have a final word on the Fourth of July. But first, Campaign 2004 on FACE THE NATION. Announcer: FACE THE NATION with CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer. And now from CBS News in Washington, Bob Schieffer. SCHIEFFER: And good morning again. Well, they are off and running or should we say off and riding? Vice President Cheney and Senator Kerry touring the heartland on buses. The vice president is on a three- state tour. He's in Pittsburgh today. Kerry is in Iowa. We'll hear from his campaign later, but we'll start with the Republicans. Joie Chen is with the vice president. Joie, this is an unusual setting for the vice president, isn't it? JOIE CHEN reporting: Well, Bob, you know, the--the wags have been calling this the disclosed locations tour. That's a reference to the amount of time the vice president has spent during the course of his term at those undisclosed secure locations. And location is really what it's all about in the course of this bus tour. In fact, the vice president hasn't been in many--many Republican strongholds, but he's only met with the most hand-picked loyal Republican supporters. The most impromptu stop they made was at a local Republican headquarters in Columbiana, Ohio. That was set up by the party as well locally there. But, you know, on the other hand, there were protesters right outside of Cleveland in Parma, Ohio. There were protesters there. They were kept at a safe distance away. And the media which is supposedly out to cover the bus tour, so far has not been allowed to see the vice president on his bus. The only way we're even able to get a picture of the vice president near his bus is to send our camera crew on a little cat-and-mouse with the Ohio state troopers to get in front of the vice president to get a picture on him. The bottom line on this and the message we're getting from the campaign is they want to put him in front of very loyal supporters, the party faithful, as it were, but in no situations where he might come into any conflict. That's the message about the locations out here, Bob. SCHIEFFER: OK. Thank you very much, Joie. Joie Chen, who is with the vice president in Pittsburgh this morning. We're now joined here in Washington by the chairman of the Bush campaign, former Montana Governor Marc Racicot. Governor, thank s--you for coming. Let me ask you this first question: Why a Bush--why a--why a bus tour if the vice president is only speaking to the party faithful? BURRELLE'S INFORMATION SERVICES / (202)419-1859 / (800)456-2877 Face the Nation (CBS News) - Sunday, July 4, 2004 2 Mr. MARC RACICOT (Chairman, Bush-Cheney '04 Campaign): Well, it allows for him the o--the opportunity to visit the people in a variety of different places. You get to engage more personally. You get to listen more carefully. It allows for the opportunity for those that he serves to have the chance to meet him and- -and to become a part of the political process in a more intimate way. SCHIEFFER: Well, you know, he was booed yesterday in Ohio. He has been identified as the architect of the Iraq policy. We've had the questions about Halliburton. It does kind of raise the question, is this a road test for the vice president? Mr. RACICOT: No, no. This is--this is an effort to get fully engaged in the campaign as we approach closer to the fall and to our convention. It's just an opportunity for the vice president, and there'll be a number of other opportunities throughout the course of the campaign. SCHIEFFER: There's a new poll out today, a new CBS News/New York Times poll that says about half the people now believe that George Bush has caused the country to become more polarized. Now I remember George Bush running in 2000 when he ran as a candidate who would bring people together, who could unify the country. What's happened here? Mr. RACICOT: Well, I don't believe that anything other than the pursuit of his agenda of a optimistic future for America is precisely what he set about to do and has done. He's worked in a bipartisan way with Congress to achieve historic tax reform, to achieve education reform, Medicare reform. Trade policies are the result of bipartisan efforts. SCHIEFFER: Well, but why do you think it's become a more polarized country? Mr. RACICOT: Well, the--the issue matrix out there is difficult. There's no question about it. We're facing extraordinary moments in the history of humankind, not just the history of this nation. Clearly, people have concerns about security. They have strong views. They're able to be informed more easily by 24-hour news cycles. I think there are a lot of reasons why the American people now retain their independent judgment for a long period of time until they make a final decision about who they want to lead them. SCHIEFFER: Let me ask you about another finding of this poll that I found very interesting this morning. It shows overwhelmingly 82 percent of the people now believe that it matters who is elected president. Now that may seem obvious to you and it might seem obvious to most people out there watching the broadcast this morning, but those of us who follow politics closely find that very unusual. And our pollsters say this is the highest number of people who believe that it matters in 30 years of polling. If you go back just as recently as 1992, only 60 percent thought it mattered who the president was. Some might take that to mean that the country's looking for a change. How do you interpret that? Mr. RACICOT: I look at it as something that's good for a functioning democracy, to have so many people engaged in the political life of their nation. And we would welcome that news and encourage it at every opportunity. SCHIEFFER: You know, Democrats have been po--poking fun at your agenda since you announced the list of prime-time speakers that you're going to have at the Republican National Convention. They point out that you're feaching--featuring Republicans who oppose the administration in a big way on many issues; for example, John McCain. He was one of the main opponents of the president's tax cuts. He's been a strong critic of the war policy. Then you're going to have Rudy Giuliani, who opposes the Bush policy on gun control and abortion rights; Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is an out--outspoken advocate of gay rights. Even Mayor Bloomberg, who is going to open the convention for you, supports gay rights and is for stem-cell research. Why this particular group of Republicans? BURRELLE'S INFORMATION SERVICES / (202)419-1859 / (800)456-2877 Face the Nation (CBS News) - Sunday, July 4, 2004 3 Mr. RACICOT: Well, we have a very large family, obviously refl--reflected with a wi--wide variety of opinion. And these are people who are strong supporters of the president. They have been there from day one. Virtually every single one that you talked about has been there campaigning with the president, and obviously understanding his policies, been there at his side from the very beginning. SCHIEFFER: Well, are you going to have anybody there, for example, that's going to be strongly for tax cuts, which has been the core of the president's agenda? Mr. RACICOT: Oh, unquestionably. Unquestionably. There will--there will be a variety. Thi--this is just a partial listing of the program that we've put together. SCHIEFFER: But these are the prime-time people. Mr. RACICOT: These are people that will be featured throughout the course of those hours that--and we hope to share them with the American people. But the--there are a variety of different opinions all throughout the Republican Party.