SPEAKERS: DON IMUS, HOST
U.S. SENATOR JOHN F. KERRY (MA), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE
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IMUS: From Detroit, Michigan, Senator John Kerry.
Good morning, Senator Kerry.
KERRY: Good morning, Don Imus. How are you?
IMUS: I'm fine, sir. How are you?
KERRY: I'm doing terrific. Thank you.
IMUS: Where's Edwards?
KERRY: Edwards is in -- well, he was in Oregon last night, and he's in West Virginia today. He's campaigning hard.
IMUS: I wondered if he was still on the ticket. We haven't heard from him.
KERRY: No, he's doing great. He's doing great.
He's got -- God, he had about 8,000 people, 10,000 people in Missouri the other day. He's doing wonderfully.
IMUS: I had James Carville and -- both James Carville and Paul Begala on the program here in the past week or so, and there were these rumors that they were advising your campaign, and I said to Carville I didn't think he really wanted you to win, you know, and he called me an idiot.
But who is running your campaign?
(LAUGHTER)
KERRY: Mary Beth Cahill is running my campaign and she's doing a spectacular job.
James Carville and Paul Begala are good friends and good advisers. They've given us a lot of good advice. And they're very savvy people, and they do want us to win, and we are going to win.
IMUS: Why would they want you to win when they want to run her in '08?
KERRY: I don't agree with that. I think that's...
IMUS: Well, they don't either, but...
KERRY: You know, that's everybody's game and speculation. I just don't believe that.
I think James Carville cares enormously about how Bush is leading our country in the wrong direction and -- I mean, look, the choice, Don, is really pretty simple. Everybody's making it complicated, but it really is simple.
We've lost 1.6 million jobs. He's the first president in 72 years to have lost jobs. We have a tax burden -- the share of the tax burden has gone up for the middle class, down for the wealthiest folks. Five million people have lost their health care. We have the largest budget deficits in American history.
If people think we're moving in the right direction, go out and jump up and down and support George Bush. But if you believe that we can put people back to work and stop losing all our jobs overseas and create better jobs here, be fiscally responsible, and do a better job in terms of our relationships in the world and start fighting terror in a smart or effective way, I think there's a new direction. That's the simple choice in this race.
Every time George Bush has had a choice, he has really chosen, I think, the wrong thing. I mean, he chose tax cuts over investing. He chose to go into Iraq alone over waiting for our allies and building a stronger alliance. He's chosen bad trade policy. We have the largest trade deficit in the history of the country.
We're going to China and Japan and people to have them buy our debt today.
KERRY: I mean, we have a very, very serious economic situation, very serious international situation, and the president just doesn't seem to get it.
IMUS: You know what would've been funny -- I mean, I don't know whether you'd think it would've been funny or not -- but if he'd've -- what's the matter with your throat?
KERRY: I'm doing great, actually.
IMUS: Well, why are you coughing and hacking then?
KERRY: Well, because I'm imitating you in the morning.
(LAUGHTER)
IMUS: Wouldn't it have been funny if he'd've showed up for that speech yesterday, that National Guard speech -- the president went up there and gave that dopey salute like you did and said, "Reporting for duty, finally"?
(LAUGHTER)
KERRY: Yes, actually it would have been funny.
IMUS: Or just not shown up at all, that would actually have been more amusing. But those guys don't have a sense of humor.
You know, in this interview you did in Time magazine and then the survey they did, other organizations, they suggest that terrorism has replaced some of the issues you were talking about as the single most important issue, like the economy and so on, and you've said you'll fight a more effective war on terror.
KERRY: Yes, I will.
IMUS: Well, what does that mean?
KERRY: It means I'll do a better job of making America safe.
George Bush has talked a game, but he hasn't done it. Let me give you an example.
Homeland security -- 95 percent of the containers that come into America are not inspected. The president's been told again and again by security folks and others that that's a danger to America.
