American Morning

To talk about this and more, Democratic consultant Victor Kamber is in Miami.

Vic, good morning there.

VICTOR KAMBER, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: Good morning, Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also in D.C., former RNC communications director Cliff May back with us. We call it Kamber and May. Appropriately so.

Good morning, gentlemen.

Cliff, you get the first one.

The Syrian ambassador says it’s a done deal, it’s just weeks away. End of discussion?

CLIFF MAY, FMR. RNC COMM. DIR.: No, not at all. I mean, I hope that’s true, but I don’t believe it for a minute. I think they’re going to keep the troops within Lebanon. Beirut is crawling with Syrian intelligence agents and secret servicemen. There are a million Syrian settlers in the country. They run the casinos. They run the airport. They squeeze the economy. I think it’s time the Syrians really left Lebanon alone, let it pursue a free and Democratic future.

HEMMER: You don’t believe the ambassador then, is what you’re saying. He says the intelligence agents are gone, too, they’re all part of this package deal.

MAY: As Reagan would says, trust but verify, and I’d emphasize the verification.

HEMMER: Victor, how about you? Where do you weigh in on this?

KAMBER: Well, one, I want to believe it, and two, I want to see what happens. This is where I’ll give President Bush some credit, and I’d like to see his agenda work. He’s put pressure, diplomacy seems to have worked. The Syrian government says they’re pulling out. We’ll know in two or three weeks. We don’t need to escalate anything more. We just need to wait and see.

In terms of the business community of Syria, the Syrian immigrants who’s moved to Lebanon, I’m sure Cliff’s not suggesting they should leave. We’re talking about military intelligence people leaving.

HEMMER: Vic, you’re also suggesting without the White House’s pressure this would not happen? Is that what you’re saying?

MAY: I’m saying to you, I’m giving credit. The White House has made a difference here, there’s no doubt.

HEMMER: Let me fry try and rephrase the argument here, and, Cliff, you can start us off here. If Syria were to withdraw from Lebanon, how does that change the Middle East picture?

MAY: First of all, it means that Lebanon becomes a free and Democratic country, along with the other emerging democracies of the region, from Afghanistan, to Iraq to the Palestinian Authority. It keeps freedom and democracy on the march, as President Bush would say.

Secondly, if there are changes like this Lebanon, if this can happen, I expect to see changes in Syria not long after.

HEMMER: Victor, how do you think it would reshape it?

KAMBER: We don’t know what it means for Lebanon yet. The fact is Hezbollah, which is the largest political party in Lebanon, still has a major foothold, still has a foothold in the government, in parliament. Elections will have to tell us what goes on there. But it does mean there is a move towards democracy, but not democracy as we know it in the United States, which people have to understand there’s a difference.

MAY: I just got to say this, when you say Hezbollah is a political party, it’s a terrorist organization, it’s suicide-bombed Americans, it’s tortured Americans to death. Let’s not legitimize Hezbollah.

KAMBER: I’m not trying to legitimize it, but we know in the last 15 years, it’s has had a major foothold in Lebanon, and is considered a serious political party in Lebanon.

MAY: Topic number two back in this country. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid had some very strong words for Alan Greenspan. He says in the past, he always talks this way. Listen to how he parsed it at the end of last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: I’m not a big Alan Greenspan fan. I voted against him the last two times. I think he’s one of the biggest political hacks we have in Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: That was the quote. The quote is, i think he’s one of the biggest political hacks we have in Washington.

Victor, fair critique?

KAMBER: Well, I think it’s fair for Harry Reid. I mean, the bottom line is, he’s not talking about a politician. He’s talking about the chairman of the Federal Reserve. He said these kinds of things when it was Bill Clinton’s appointee, whether it’s George Bush’s appointee. This is not political action. This is a politician who is being honest with the American public about his views and his feelings.

HEMMER: Is it honest…

KAMBER: I don’t know what’s wrong with that.

HEMMER: Victor, or Cliff rather, honesty or politics? MAY: It may be what he thinks, but if Victor were, right now, advising the Democrats, I guarantee you two things. One, he’d charge a lot of money. Two, he’d be saying to Harry Reid, don’t be calling Alan Greenspan, a public servant for 30 years, a political hack. You sound mean, you sound resentful, you sound angry. Either the Democrats have a very bad strategy or they have no strategy, and they need to get one.

HEMMER: We’ll leave it there. Thank you, gentlemen. Kamber and May. Enjoy Miami, by the way, Victor.

KAMBER: Thank you.