Transcript: Howard Wolfson (02/14/2008)

Q&A: HOWARD WOLFSON
Transcript: Howard Wolfson On Transparency And The Clinton Campaign

National Journal's Linda Douglass sat down with Howard Wolfson for the February 15 edition of "National Journal On Air." This is a transcript of their conversation. Audio of the full show is also available.

Q: I want to welcome Howard Wolfson. He is the communications director for the Hillary Clinton campaign. Welcome.

Wolfson: Thanks. Pleasure to be with you.

Q: Thanks for joining us. Well, let's talk about what your candidate is now saying more and more about Barack Obama on the campaign trail. She's talking about words versus actions. Your campaign often uses the word "substance" in connection with Barack Obama. Do you think he is lacking in substance?

Wolfson: Well, I think the people of America have a choice between two candidates, one who has a long track record of delivering change, and the other who has a track record of talking about change. And in Hillary Clinton, you have somebody who has spent her whole life making change at every level, at every age. Someone who has, in the White House, helped ensure that 6 million children around the country have health care. Someone who after 9-11 worked hard to secure resources for New York City and helped rebuild it. Someone who has reached across the aisle to ensure that all of our National Guards and Reservists have health care. Someone who is not just talking about change but has actually delivered it and has the plans going forward to deliver the change we need.

Q: So I gather, though, that you are also saying that he's more talk than action.

Wolfson: Well, I do think that voters have a choice between rhetoric and results, between talk and action -- absolutely.

Q: Why do you think that he would not be, necessarily, the best general election candidate?

Wolfson: Well, I think a couple of things. I think, one, we need a candidate who has been vetted, someone who has been through the process, someone who has been examined, and that is certainly Hillary Clinton and not Barack Obama.
I think we need somebody who can stand up to John McCain and say, I've got a health care plan that covers every American. Barack Obama would not be able to say that -- that's an important distinction that we will be able to make with John McCain. We need a candidate who will be able to stand up next to John McCain and say, I've got a real plan to deal with the housing crisis in this country by freezing home foreclosures, by freezing interest rates for subprime loans. That's not something that Barack Obama will be able to say. And then I think we need someone who will be able to stand next to John McCain and say, not only am I going to end this war, but I'm going to keep this country safe, and be able to say it with credibility, and that is certainly Hillary Clinton. So I think for those reasons and others Hillary Clinton would be the strongest candidate that we could field in November.

Q: Your campaign often brings up this issue of whether or not Obama has been vetted, and I'm sure you saw Roger Simon's column in Politico where he makes the argument that there will be new issues raised about Hillary Clinton as well if she is the nominee, and he brings up the issue of why she's not releasing her tax returns. Why isn't she releasing her tax returns?

Wolfson: Well, I understand that the Obama campaign is trying to push this issue. There is an awful lot known about Hillary Clinton's finances. She files an annual report with the clerk of the Senate that reveals all the sources of her income, all the sources of her husband's income. And so people know where she is getting her money, and this was raised initially when she gave the campaign a $5 million loan and questions were raised about where she got the money. Well, this is a woman who is a best-selling author. She's made roughly $9 million from the sale of her book, so she has more than enough money to have given the campaign $5 million.
Much is known about her finances. There's an awful lot of information disclosed by her, and if Senator Obama is actually, really interested in transparency, there are many questions -- for instance, about his relationship with indicted political fixer Tony Rezko that he could answer, that he has not. What was the exact nature of his relationship with Mr. Rezko? How many fundraisers did Mr. Rezko throw for him? How much money did Mr. Rezko bundle for him? How many business meetings did Senator Obama attend that Mr. Rezko was at? What was he doing at those business meetings? What favors did Senator Obama perform for Mr. Rezko? So there's an awful lot of information that, if Senator Obama is interested in transparency, that he could come forward and offer the American people.

Q: Just one final question: You've obviously seen all of the analysis in various newspapers now about failure to organize in certain states and decisions that were made along the way by your campaign. What do you think, perhaps, was the biggest mistake, or were the biggest mistakes that your campaign might have made?

Wolfson: You know, I'm going to leave that to the pundits and others. I think it is true that Senator Clinton fares better in states where more voters vote. Senator Obama has tended to fare better in states where fewer people vote, that are caucuses. We fare better, relative to caucuses, in primaries, where larger numbers of people vote, and we're going to have two very important primaries on the fourth of March when Texas and Ohio weigh in. We are very much looking forward to those contests. We are ahead in the polls there. I think the races will be close; Senator Obama is hotly contesting those states, but we are very much looking forward to competing there.

Q: Well, thank you so much, Howard Wolfson, the communications director for Hillary Clinton.

Wolfson: Thank you.