CBS The Early Show Transcript

January 20, 2004 Tuesday

HEADLINE: Senator John Edwards discusses his second place finish in the Iowa caucuses

ANCHORS: JULIE CHEN; HARRY SMITH

BODY:
JULIE CHEN, co-host:

Welcome back to THE EARLY SHOW. I'm Julie Chen.

Still ahead on HealthWatch, a potential Alzheimer's breakthrough; why some very common vitamins may reduce the risk. But first, here's Harry.

HARRY SMITH, co-host:

Senator John Edwards has dubbed his presidential campaign 'the little engine that could.' Last night, his train picked up a lot of steam with a strong second place showing in Iowa. He's already in New Hampshire looking ahead to the primary here next Tuesday. Senator Edwards, good morning and congratulations.

Senator JOHN EDWARDS (Democratic Presidential Candidate): Thank you, Harry. Appreciate-appreciate you having me.

SMITH: What do you think it was about the last couple of weeks that made your campaign breakthrough?

Sen. EDWARDS: I think what happened early on, Harry, was there was a lot of negative attacking and sniping among the other candidates, and that always gets a lot of attention. It's very hard to get through that wha-when that's ge-that's the focus, but what happened over the last two to three weeks is my message, which is based on optimism and hope and-and the politics of what's possible in America, finally got through. And when it did get through, and I was talking about bringing real change to the country, along with the American people, it-the response was overwhelming, and I think what we saw in the caucuses last night was an affirmation that people are looking for a president who can actually lift them up and make them hopeful.

SMITH: Thirty-two percent of the vote. Did you surprise even yourself?

Sen. EDWARDS: Oh, yes, I did. I-I mean, as-three weeks ago, I was at 5 percent, Harry. I mean, it's an amazing thing that we've seen in the last three weeks. But I-I really do. I think it's such-it's so important to recognize what this means, not in terms of me but in terms of the voters. It-it-what it-what it says to us and what it should say to anybody running for president is they want politicians not to talk about themselves. They want us to talk about the problems that people face in their lives and how it is we're going to improve their lives. Because that-when-when they hear these candidates sniping at each other and attacking, they know they're not hearing their voices, and for l-me at least, that's the most important lesson from this for at least-for some of the candidates.

SMITH: But I need you to talk about yourself for a second, because one of the lingering doubts, as I was in Iowa, people sometimes said about you-they said, 'Well, does he have the experience? He's only been in the Senate a short time. Does he have the experience to run against the president of the United States?'

Sen. EDWARDS: Yeah, and it's a fair question. I-the answer to that question is that I do. First of all, I have two decades of real world experience fighting and winning the kind of battles that we'll have to win against George Bush. Second, I can compete with and beat George Bush in every part of America, in the North, West, the Midwest, where we were last night, and in the South, where I'm from and have proven I can win there. And-but-but most important, above all that, I have a message of change that America is hungry for, and that's what we saw with the Iowa caucus-goers last night.

And specifically, as to the experience issue, Harry, you know, what I learned here in my time in Iowa is when I would tell people that I investigated September 11th as a member of the Intelligence Committee and the Senate, I've been to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Middle East, Europe, met with leaders in that part of the world, dav-have met with our own security operations there, and most importantly, they had a chance personally to judge whether I had the qualities of leadership to be commander in chief, you know, strength of conviction, character, good judgment, and I think we saw the results last night.

SMITH: Right. Senator Edwards, congratulations. We'll see you down the road.

Sen. EDWARDS: Thanks, Harry. Thanks for having me.

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