JIM Cokie, uh does Hillary Clinton have the ability to dig out of this Wall Street hole she finds herself in?
COKIE Well she's doing her best to connect it to a lot of other politicians who are popular in the Democratic party, particularly president Obama. And she is quite right that she did vote for strong measures that rained in Wall Street or at least tried to. But, look, one of the things that she hasn't said that I think is actually worth saying is that she was a senator from New York. These are her constituents. And to a certain degree, you have to pay attention to the people you represent.
JIM On the flip side, one of the things she said quite regularly now—I won't promise what I can't deliver. The implication being that Bernie Sanders, the idealist democratic socialist. We had Howard Dean on the other day, who said the guy is not a coalition builder. What does he do to demonstrate that he can get ideas, particularly those that excite young people into law?
COKIE He can’t.
JIM End of discussion?
COKIE End of discussion. He can not do it. He says we need a political revolution. Our last political revolution was in 1776. You and Boston know it well. (Jim: we do) But the fact is that there is no political revolution going on in this country and there's no appetite, nationwide, for the things he's promoting. He represents the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. And the National Population that's about 25 percent of the population. You don't win with 25 percent.
JIM So if Donald Trump were standing here and say— well actually, Cokie Roberts there is a political revolution and I am leading it. Forget Trump, what does it say about America that somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 to 40 percent of the people who plan to vote in the Republican primaries think this guy is the answer?
COKIE It says that they are fed up with Washington. Within activity in Washington. But it really goes beyond that, Jim. We're living through the equivalent of the Industrial Revolution. Here we are in Manchester, New Hampshire, the city that was completely formed by the Industrial Revolution. And we're going through the same thing now, where the entire economy is being shaken up, and people have lost their moorings, and they think somebody's to blame, and they think this guy might be able to fix it.
JIM Do you think he goes home if he has two number twos in a row?
COKIE I think it makes it hard for him to go on.
JIM You know every— I shouldn’t say this — a lot of the Republicans I've met over the last few days say our dream candidate is Marco Rubio. We lost to Obama 71-29 with Mitt Romney amongst Hispanics Latinos. He's young, he'll be standing next to a 69 or 74 year old. And what I say to most of them is— do you think somebody who is not just pro life, but doesn't support exceptions for rape and incest could get elected in the United States of America. Do you?
COKIE Yes I do, but I don't think that's the issue. Very few people vote on the issue of abortion. Usually it's about 4 percent of the voters vote and they split between pro life and pro choice.
JIM So what is the issue?
COKIE The issue is usually the economy unless we have some horrible terrorism attack. But look, even with Hispanics, yes Rubio might cut in, but I don't think he'll cut in enough. What people don't understand in the Republican Party is that immigration is a threshold issue. And if you are against legalizing people, who are here without documents, that means that you are not welcoming millions of people into the country and certainly into the party. And those people are not gonna vote for someone who doesn't welcome them.
JIM Last thing is the most stunning thing out of Iowa, at least to me, and I think a lot of people, is the age divide on the democratic side. 70 percent margin for Bernie Sanders, 17 - 29 year olds over Hillary Clinton (COKIE: 70 percent margin, right. He got in 4 percent of the vote). Why are young women turning away, at least for the time being, from Hillary Clinton?
COKIE Because they have not experienced any discrimination and don’t see that it's a big deal. And in some ways that's a great victory because those of us who have the scars to show for battling our way through the years of discrimination, wanted it to be that they didn't have to feel it. So that's great on one hand. On the other hand a little gratitude would go a long way.
JIM So how are you doing this and this? Was that pretty good?
COKIE You’re doing just great.
JIM I knew I could do it. Cokie, nice to see you. Really appreciate your time.
