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POLITICS
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Q&A: CNN's Candy Crowley talks GOP Primary
CODY KUIPER
ckuiper@kansan.com
CNN anchor and chief political correspondent Candy Crowley accepted the William Allen White Citation on Friday from the School of Journalism.
Crowley anchors the Sunday morning talk show, "State of the Union with Candy Crowley"
Crowley's accomplishments include interviewing important political figures such as President George Bush and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton on her show, and she has covered every Presidential race since the election of Jimmy Carter.
Q: In 2008, Barack Obama was able to mobilize the young
vote. Do you see him doing that again, or is there a Republican candidate that can do so?
A: They are certainly hoping that they can recreate for a generation that was not able to vote for him: an entire group of folks, freshman through senior, that were not able to vote for him. They have certainly activated all their tricks and ways they were able to reach them in 2008: text message, email, and chatting across the vine, or the internet as the say. They're trying to get back into that consciousness, and they are certainly counting on that.
Q: Obviously student-loans and tuition are big issues for college students. What other issues
do you see coming to the forefront for this election?
A: It's not just college tuition, but its questions like, should you go to college? That's now more and more of a question. Is community college a better choice for some people? Is it worth it? Do you get enough bang for your buck? It all gets back to tuition, student-loans, who gets student loans, and will they be available? Presidential campaigns are a lot about dreams; what do you dream about and who can best help you get there? It is a yet-to-be-articulated dream by either side because we don't have a Republican candidate yet and the President hasn't fully engaged. They mostly talk about student loans, but you guys are also interested in social security. I think there are plenty of issues, and unless some unforeseen thing happens, this campaign is going to come down to an economic question.
Q: How does this election year compare to others?
A: You do not have, in the Republican primary, the kind of rock-star attention that both Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton got in 2008, but it clearly is showing that it has its own rhythm. Every election has its own rhythm; it's like a different child. They're each exciting in their own way, but they're not like the one before them, and I think that's true with this election. It doesn't have the same historic importance of a first woman or a first African-American. Republicans will say this is historic because we are going down the wrong path, etcetera, but I think in terms of that first blush of history that you knew was going to be written by Barack Obama or Hilary Clinton, that's obviously absent.
Q: Would you like to make a
prediction about the Republican Primary?
Let me analyze it as opposed to predict. Mitt Romney still has the most money. Money goes a long way, it's not everything, but it sure helps when you get to super-Tuesday when there are so many states involved. Mitt Romney still has the best on-the-ground organization: people who can go and get people to get out and vote. On the other hand, what we've seen up to this point, at least, is that it isn't always enough. There's passion behind the Santorum voters; there's some anger and passion behind the Gingrich supporters; there's certainly passion behind the Ron Paul supporters, and that's been able to give Romney a run for his money. He has kind of been the cool 'Mr.Fix it' and the question is: will that give him to the finish line? If you are betting at this moment, it still looks like Mitt Romney will probably come
out. The question is, how battered will he be? How bruised will he be?
Q: Even though it's a long way away, how do you see the general election playing out?
A: I think the incumbent always has the advantage unless there's a horrible war raging. I think President Obama's biggest competitor is the economy. It's not even questions like will the economy be well? We know it's not going to get well by November. The question is: do people believe? Do people see the job coming? Do they see themselves getting into a house or keeping their house? If the Obama campaign can convince people that it's getting better, he's going to be tough to beat, as incumbents always are.
— Edited by Caroline Kraft
ELECTION
ASSOCIATED PRESS
GOP candidates prepare for Michigan
PORTLAND, Maine — A day after Mitt Romney regained some momentum in the Republican presidential contest, his rival Rick Santorum went on the attack, calling the front-runner "desperate" while promising to compete aggressively to win the state where Romney grew up.
Santorum said Sunday he could do "exceptionally well" in Michigan, where Romney's father served
as governor. The Midwestern state and Arizona host Republican presidential nominating contests on Feb. 28.
"We're going to spend a lot of time in Michigan and Arizona, and those are up next. And that's where we've really been focusing on," Santorum told ABC's "This Week." He suggested that a strong showing in those contests would make the presidential contest "a two-man race," dismissing current rivals Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.
Santorum shrugged off his third-place finish Saturday in caucases in Maine, where he didn't actively compete, as well as his second-place finish in a straw poll of conservative activists.
Romney has been painting Santorum as a long-time Washington insider who pursued home-state projects. Santorum on Sunday described Romney's recent criticism as "desperate."
"You reach a point where desperate people do desperate things," said Santorum, who represented Pennsylvania during his 16 years in Congress, first in the House and then in the Senate.
Maine GOP officials declared Romney the winner of Saturday's caucuses. The results ended a three-state losing streak to Santorum, who swept contests in Colorado. Minnesota and Missouri on Tuesday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
With the next primaries more than two weeks away, the break seems unusually long in the rapid-fire race that's featured six contests in the last 14 days. Romney and his rivals now have 17 days to raise cash and bolster their organizations for what's shaping up to be a slog to the Republican nomination
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at a caucus, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012, in Portland, Maine.
and the right to face President Barrack Obama in November.
As Santorum eyes Michigan, Romney turns his attention to extending his huge cash advantage over his rivals.
Romney won a plurality of the Maine vote just hours after winning the presidential straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Committee conference in Washington.
But questions about Romney's durability as his party's presumed front-runner persist. Fully 61 percent of Maine voters selected a candidate other than Massachusetts' former governor in a state practically in his backyard. And Romney's showing was down considerably from 2008, when he won 51 percent of the vote.
In Maine, Romney captured 39 percent of the vote, narrowly defeating Paul's 36 percent, state Republican chairman Charlie Webster said. Santorum and Gingrich, who didn't actively campaign in Maine, won 18 percent and 6 percent respectively.
The Maine vote totals reflected about 84 percent of the state's precincts, with nearly 5,600 Republicans voting out of 258,000 registered. The contests scheduled for the coming days will not be counted, including an entire county that postponed its caucuses because of a snow storm.
"We were a little bit disappointed last night," Paul said, because he's done well in that county in the past and expected to do well Saturday.
Coming off last week's success, Santorum saw a surge in donations. His campaign reports gathering $3 million in the three days immediately following after last week's hat trick, but he's unlikely to catch Romney on the money race.
Santorum reported just $279,000 in the bank at the end of December, compared with Romney's $19.9 million. Gingrich had $2.1 million, but is still carrying substantial debt, while Paul reported $1.9 million.
Romney won 11 delegates and Paul 10, according to an analysis of the Maine results by The Associated Press. Santorum and Gingrich were shut out. That brings the delegate count to 123 for Romney, 72 for Santorum, 32 for Gingrich and 19 for Paul, with 1,144 delegates needed for the nomination.