American Morning

We’ll talk about it this morning with Democratic consultant Victor Kamber, back in Miami. Vic, good morning down there.

VICTOR KAMBER, THE KAMBER GROUP: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Also Cliff May, former RNC communications director, now with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies down in D.C. Cliff, good morning to you as well.

CLIFF MAY, FMR. RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Good morning.

HEMMER: And the “Washington Post,” here is the quote when asked about accountability on Iraq. “We had an accountability moment,” the president said, “and that’s called the 2004 elections. The American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq and they looked at the two candidates and they chose me and for that I am grateful.”

Victor, is that satisfactory to you?

KAMBER: Well, it speaks once again to the arrogance of this gentleman, the president. He clearly won the election, no doubt about that. Although there is some doubt, but there is no doubt about it, he won. But people didn’t vote on the Iraqi war, per se. The country was still split 51/49. The bottom line is he won. There’s no mandate. There are still questions about his policies and frankly, he should deal with those questions.

HEMMER: Cliff, does this raise any questions, this quote here, or not?

MAY: Well, I disagree with Victor, but in a way, I disagree with the president I think a little bit, too. I think that — and I’ve said this to you and to Victor many times in this show — elections are about the future, not the past. People who voted for the president didn’t do so in order to say that every one of his decisions, every one of his policies they agreed with.

They voted for him because they thought he’d make better decisions in the future than would his opponent. Partly because he’d learned from his experience, from his mistakes, from the steep learning curve that he climbed over the past four years.

KAMBER: I didn’t know he admitted to mistakes. I thought the only thing he did was have a few words wrong. That’s the problem.

MAY: You and I would say don’t admit to your mistakes, because all that will happen is the media will crush you and people like you will crush you. But look, everything’s not been perfect, but it’s been an unprecedented period since 9/11. This was a war we didn’t plan for against an enemy we didn’t pay attention to over the past 20 years. Those were mistakes, too, made by other presidents, I might point out, Victor.

HEMMER: Cliff, you disagree with some of the statement, right?

MAY: Some of which statement, the president’s statement?

HEMMER: Do you disagree with the statement about Social Security, saying it’s on the road to bankruptcy? Democrats are stomping their feet on that one as well.

MAY: I think there’s no question about it. And we’ve known that for a long time. In 1997, at his state of the union, President Clinton said we must preserve Social Security for the future. He pointed that out as one of the things that was in danger. We’ve all known Social Security was in danger. We can kick this can down the road for a few more years, wait for another president, another Congress, to deal with it, but why not deal with it now? We know it’s in danger.

HEMMER: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid saying the president’s trying to manufacture a crisis. Is he, Victor?

KAMBER: No question.

HEMMER: Or is the truth that this program needs help?

KAMBER: Both. But no question. This man does not know how to lead by ideas. He leads by fear, he tries to scare people into action. The fact is healthcare, Medicare, Medicaid, much greater concerns, much more in danger of going bankrupt, much more in danger of having problems before Social Security. As a matter of fact, Medicare by 2019 could literally be bankrupt with cutting services. Social Security, we’re looking at 2039. Now, having said that, I’m where Cliff is. We do need to deal with it. But let’s deal with it from ideas, from the standpoint of substance, not trying to scare people into actions, which is what this president’s doing.

HEMMER: Final word, Cliff?

MAY: Look, anytime you decide on the legislative agenda, you have to say what’s most important to fix now and what can you put off for later? I think it’s high time we fix Social Security. The baby boomers, people like Victor and me, are coming within the next 10 or 20 years to retirement. If Social Security’s not fixed, it will be bad for us, bad for the country.

HEMMER: Thank you, Cliff. Thank you, Victor. Enjoy Miami, by the way. It looks great down there.

KAMBER: Thank you. Planetarium today.