CNN "State of the Union with Candy Crowley" - Transcript

Interview

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CROWLEY: Joining me from Jackson, Mississippi, Republican Governor Haley Barbour, who's not just a governor but a pretty darn good political analyst. So put that hat on for us today as we take a look at the Republican field.

Do you buy into the theory that all of the hubbub surrounding, oh, let's get Chris Christie into the race is a reflection of Republican dissatisfaction with the current field?

GOV. HALEY BARBOUR (R), MISSISSIPPI: Well, I really don't. I think it's a token of the -- the regard that people have for Chris Christie. He's a great governor. If he were to get into the race, he'd have an immediate following. I have no idea as to whether or not he's going to get into the race. But, no, I think this is more an effect of people liking Christie.

CROWLEY: Have you spoken to him at all about this?

BARBOUR: Not in weeks. And I don't have any information, Candy, that you don't have. There's certainly a huge amount of speculation, but I have no -- I have no idea what he's going to do.

CROWLEY: You know, when you do poll Republicans, we do tend to turn up a lot of dissatisfaction, which is not unusual before a party actually selects somebody. But we saw Rick Perry come in, and it was -- you know, almost immediately became the front-runner in the polls. And then along came the debate over immigration and his feeling that in-state tuition breaks should be given to the children of undocumented workers.

Do you think that that has affected him to the extent that it has really lessened his chances to become the Republican nominee in a party that is very much against that sort of thing?

BARBOUR: You know, the news media wants the primaries to be decided this week. There's too many people in the news media who think whatever happened in the last 24 hours tells us what's going to happen the next 24 weeks.

The fact of the matter is 90 percent of what matters for winning the nomination is still in front of us. And, you know, when I grew up in politics, we used to say today's headlines are tomorrow's fish wrappers. Well, they don't sell enough newspapers anymore for people to understand what that means. But, you know, people should not get up on the news of the day or the news of the hour is necessarily going to have some big impact down the road. And a nomination contest is a ways from now.

CROWLEY: I agree with you...

BARBOUR: You know, Candy, I would remind you, in September four years ago, Rudy Giuliani led in our polls, and Fred Thompson was second. So...

CROWLEY: It is...

BARBOUR: ... we have to be careful...

CROWLEY: ... completely -- the calendar is certainly a cautionary note. I give you that. But you and I know that sometimes candidates get in, and you can spot a fatal flaw from a mile away, saying this is never going to work this year, wrong person, wrong time.

And so I guess what I'm asking you is whether you think that Rick Perry's, certainly among conservatives in his party, that he has a fatal flaw in his position on in-state tuition for the children of undocumented workers?

BARBOUR: Well, I really don't. I am reminded about looking for fatal flaws. You could name three fatal flaws that Jimmy Carter had in 1975 or that Bill Clinton had in 1991.

The fact of the matter is the Democrats were dying to run against Ronald Reagan in 1980 because they saw all these fatal flaws. The public -- Republicans or Democrats in the general election -- the public's going to look at our candidates in the totality. They're going to look at their judgment, at their record, and they're going to compare it to Barack Obama.

At the end of the day, the election next year will be a referendum on the presidency of Barack Obama, on his record, his policies, and the results they have achieved or not achieved. I don't think any of our candidates have a, quote, "fatal flaw." But certainly none of them is perfect.

CROWLEY: Let me -- let me, sort of, pick up on that. And as you know, the Obama re-election campaign will very much want to make this an election not a referendum on him or on his policies but on a choice between a Republican candidate and the president, and they're banking that the president will win on that, looking at the current field.

Why? Because they believe that the American public will see the Republican that comes out of this field as too conservative for their taste.

And along those lines, I want to ask you, when you saw the candidates asked the question, if you were offered a 10-1 deal, that is that there would be $10 of spending cut for every $1 in tax increases, and no candidate would accept that deal, does that suggest to you that there is no room for compromise in the Republican Party?

And would you have raised your hand on that question?

BARBOUR: Well, first of all, Candy, one thing you and I both agree on is President Obama can't run on his record, that he's got to try to make this election about the Republican, and they will try to do anything they can do to disqualify him or her or make them unacceptable. You're right about that. Obama's people know they can't run on their record.

On that question, you know, I have a little different view. I was a political director for Ronald Reagan. We had to compromise on everything. We had a Democratic House of Representatives every minute that Ronald Reagan was president. But we did the Reagan economic plan, had to compromise, didn't get everything we wanted. We did 1986 tax reform...

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CROWLEY: Does it worry you that you've got a Republican field that doesn't look like they want to compromise on anything?

I mean, $10 in spending decreases as opposed to $1 in tax increases is a pretty darn good deal. And none of them, you know, went for it.

BARBOUR: Well, Candy, I don't feel bad about having a Republican field that knows better than to negotiate against yourself with the news media.

Now I suspect, if you got down into a room where you were actually negotiating how that you're going to try to get this country's economy out of the terrible shape it's in right now and get some Americans back to work because unemployment is so high, in the reality of that, yeah, I think there would be a lot more compromise than you see when the news media says, well, stake out your position so the Democrats can, or your opponents can throw rocks at it.

You know, I am somebody that -- I had a Democratic legislature for seven years. And so I never got everything I wanted, and I don't think these guys think they'll get everything they wanted. But you shouldn't bid against yourself for the -- for the benefit of the news media.

CROWLEY: I spoke with Senator Lindsey Graham not too long ago on this program. And one of the things he said was he believes that the presidency -- speaking of Republicans -- the presidency, he said, is "ours to lose."

Do you agree with that assessment?

BARBOUR: Well, I actually think that the incumbent is always the favorite. President Obama has some terrible weaknesses you were just talking about, 43 percent re-elect in Ohio, a state that he must win in order to get re-elected. The economy is terrible, and the American people understand that the -- the weak economy and the failure to create jobs is because of Obama's policies. It's not in spite of his policies.

They know that his calling for huge tax increases on employers makes it harder for people to get hired. When you don't know what you're going to have to pay or what your obligation's going to be for your employees' health insurance, how do you hire more people?

So I don't agree that we are the favorite. I think the president's the favorite, but he can't run on his record. If this is a referendum on Obama's policies, results...

CROWLEY: Sorry...

BARBOUR: ... he'll lose.

CROWLEY: Sorry to cut you off here, but, Governor, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.

BARBOUR: Thank you.

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