Transcript: Gary Bauer On His Decision To Support John McCain
© National Journal Group Inc.
Friday, February 15, 2008
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National Journal's Linda Douglass sat down with Gary Bauer for the February 15 edition of "National Journal On Air." This is a transcript of their conversation.
Audio of the full show is also available.
Q: I want to welcome Gary Bauer. He is a former presidential candidate and a leading voice among social conservatives. Welcome, Gary.
Bauer: Thank you. Great to be with you.Q: Thanks for joining us. Well, you've endorsed John McCain this week, and that is certainly an important endorsement for him because he is having still some problems with social conservatives and voters who call themselves very conservative. What is the problem there? Why can't he seem to win those voters over?
Bauer: Well, there is a little bit of a history there that I think makes it challenging for him. There is the now infamous speech in Virginia Beach in 2000, in which he was very critical of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. Fortunately, Senator McCain and Reverend Falwell reconciled about a year before Falwell passed away, so some of these bridges have been rebuilt. But I think it's that sort of thing and a couple of other controversies -- the so-called Gang of 14, which many perceived as hindering the confirmation of conservative judges, although I think you could actually argue it did the exact opposite, ultimately.Q: Is Governor Huckabee hurting McCain by staying in the race and drawing attention to his problems on the right of the party?But I think those things can be overcome. I'm urging Senator McCain to reach out, but I'm also urging conservatives and social conservatives to reach out. He does have a good strong pro-life voting record and is also good on many other issues.
Bauer: Well, that's a tough call. Governor Huckabee has every right to stay in the race. I remember what it was like in 2000, when I was being much less successful than Governor Huckabee was, but nonetheless, I resented it when people asked me to leave or drop out. And it may be that Governor Huckabee, by staying in, will sharpen Senator McCain's message, make the senator work more effectively at trying to bridge some of these gaps.Q: You know, the media like to speculate that he'd be a good running mate for John McCain because of his appeal, especially, to evangelical voters. But a lot of economic conservatives don't like Mike Huckabee. Would you like to see him on the ticket as the number 2?But at the end of the day, I do think it's pretty clear that Senator McCain is going to be the nominee of the Republican Party, and hopefully Governor Huckabee at that point will close ranks and help us go on to win the election in November.
Bauer: I do want a strong conservative on the ticket, but I guess I would add the caveat that I want it to be somebody that can bring together the three legs of the proverbial stool here -- that is economic conservatives, social conservatives and foreign policy conservatives. If Senator McCain has problems with social conservatives, Governor Huckabee does have some problems with economic conservatives and also with some foreign policy conservatives. Of course, this has been the challenge for the Republican Party all year -- that is, finding people that can appeal to all of those elements of the movement so we can then be united and go on to appeal to the independent voters that you also need to win an election.Q: What are you telling John McCain specifically that he has to do or say to win these conservative voters over?
Bauer: I don't want to get into the specifics, but I am willing to say what I've just generally said publicly, which is that people, when they lose, the emotions get very high, and Senator McCain has experienced that himself. So I think even though there is some real unpleasant criticism right now he should let it, the best he can, roll off of him. I have said to him that the running mate -- it needs to be a strong conservative and, of course, it also needs to be somebody that could become president on a moment's notice if, God forbid, something happened.Q: Final question here. You know, a lot of conservatives really like President Bush; certainly a lot of other kinds of voters -- Democrats, independents and more moderate conservatives -- don't. Should John McCain put distance between himself and the president or not?
Bauer: No, I think where Senator McCain has different views than the president, he should continue to promote those views. I don't believe Senator McCain should intentionally distance himself from the president, and I don't think he will, and that's one of the things that is very admirable about Senator McCain. He doesn't try to benefit himself by taking cheap shots at somebody else who may not be doing as well politically right now.Q: Well, thank you so much for your views, Gary Bauer, again a leading voice among social conservatives and former presidential candidate.
Bauer: Thank you, Linda.