GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST:
Well, you knew it would happen, and tonight, it is. Two Democrats going rogue, really rogue! Doug Schoen and Pat Caddell both worked for Democratic presidents and they just co-wrote an op-ed titled "One and Done." It is advice for President Obama. They say to him, Do not to run for second term in 2012. Why? Doug Schoen joins us live. Doug, why your advice to the president?
DOUG SCHOEN, DEMOCRATIC POLLSTER:
Well, we really think he needs to return, Greta, to the promise of the 2008 campaign, which is to unite red and blue states, liberals, moderates and conservatives, and to focus on the problems of the country, not focus on partisanship, fighting your enemies, slash and burn, scorched earth. Bring the country together. That's why Pat and I wrote the article we did.
VAN SUSTEREN:
Do you blame him for the sort of rancor the -- you know, the Democrats versus the Republicans in Washington? I mean, when he ran as president, he ran, as they often do, as uniters and that, I'm going to bring the country together, and all that jazz. But do you blame him for what's happened?
SCHOEN:
Well, I think the best point that I've heard recently is the one you made to Senator Thune. You said, Has the White House reached out to you on taxes to forge a compromise? And he said, Gee, they haven't reached out. And you said that that angered you as a citizen, and most Americans I know feel exactly the same way, Greta.
And you know, he's the one who referred to his opponents as enemies. He said he was going to engage in hand-to-hand combat. And that's not the way I think he should govern. And I think if he passes on reelection and tries to fulfill the promise and the mandate of 2008, we'll be a lot better off as a country and as a people.
VAN SUSTEREN:
Well, what makes the tax issue, though, so profoundly different, I think, than any other issue is the fact that we knew that it was going to expire, the tax -- the tax rates of 2001. It had an expiration date of this January. But secondly is that the Democrats did control the agenda when the tax issue would be brought to the floor to be discussed. So I think that -- that's pretty much the -- Democrats can take responsibility for the fact that we haven't moved forward on that. But as -- but in terms of other issues, is there anything the president could have done? And why does he -- why do you hold him accountable for the fact that the two parties don't talk?
SCHOEN:
I hold both parties accountable. I think Mitch McConnell made a big mistake saying his highest priority is to make President Obama a one-term president. I think that issue will go away if President Obama does what we think makes sense, which is to try to put issues and principle first. Our economic problems, our problems internationally, put them first and try to forge a genuine consensus on taxes, and something we've talked about before, creating private sector jobs, and revitalizing our stalled economy. If he focused on that, we'd be better as a country. And that's where I think he needs to go.
VAN SUSTEREN:
Do you agree this isn't going to happen, that he -- I mean, do you agree that he is going to run?
SCHOEN:
Well, I think two years is a long time, Greta. I don't think anything in politics is locked in sand. We didn't know two years ago there'd be a Tea Party movement. We didn't know four years ago that Barack Obama would be the next president of the United States. So you never say "never." But we're speaking to a philosophy of governance, an approach to politics and what he needs to do to unite the country. And if he follows that approach, whether he runs or not, we'll be better off.
VAN SUSTEREN:
What kind of -- what -- let's -- let's assume that he did take your advice, he made it a one-term presidency and he made a statement about it. You know, what could any next president do that's any different in terms of, you know, stopping this sort of -- this grossly divided atmosphere?
SCHOEN:
You have to govern with the perspective that it's not who wins and who loses, it's how we benefit the greater good. So if he had forged a compromise on health care, if he'd focused on private sector job creation, if he'd done, as you suggested, a deal on taxes much earlier, we'd be better off. But you know, we've really had a hyperpartisan culture. I blame Democrats and Republicans, and I think Pat Caddell does, too. But fundamentally, we need a president who stands above politics for us to really achieve what we need to as a society.
VAN SUSTEREN:
Doug, thank you.
SCHOEN:
Thank you so much, Greta.
No comments:
Post a Comment