Buchanan & Press, later Thursday

PRESS: All right, Terry, Howard Dean your guy, right?

JEFFREY: You know Bill, Howard Dean’s campaign reminds me of a lot of the campaign Pat ran in the Republican primaries in 1996 and I think...

PRESS: Well you were part of that...

JEFFREY: I sure was. I sure was. I think he’s running a smart campaign. And I also think if there’s any eventuality that Democrats can win (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and I think it’s slim, one of two things has to happen. There either has to be a disaster in the aftermath in Iraq, there has to be a disaster in the economy or both. And Dean is perfectly positioned to take advantage of either of those eventualities. I don’t think they’re going to happen. I think Bush is going to get reelected, but he’s positioned to take advantage of the sorts of things that could bring Bush down in the next 18 months.

PRESS: Pat.

BUCHANAN: You know, Terry, he’s doing-he’s taken radar-our playbook with the straw poll battles, everything, the early primaries, focusing on Iowa, focusing on New Hampshire. I have to say I like Howard Dean. I like what he’s doing. I think it’s a high-risk thing for the Democratic Party. I agree with you. I think Bush looks like a sure winner. Frankly, it would be good for the Democratic Party if you got somebody out there who fought for what most of the hard-core Democrats truly believed and hope for a break to win this thing rather than going with some slim-some Xerox copy or would-be Xerox copy of George Bush.

PRESS: I’ve got to tell you I used to like Howard Dean, as you compared him to Pat Buchanan, now I’m starting to wonder about him. But no, seriously, I think Howard Dean is the John McCain of this year. Straight talk, he’s willing to take on the president, he takes on the tough issues. I think he can win the nomination. I also think he could beat George Bush if he were up against him in the fall-Carl.

JEFFERS: Bill, one thing that Terry just met-made a statement that if there is a disaster in the aftermath of Iraq. Look what we heard today. Wolfowitz went to Congress that we’re going to keep 150,000 troops, which is near peak level that we have now there indefinitely and that we might need them as long as 10 years. That’s not the program they presented to us and to the American people. That’s the beginning of the kind of effort that would be necessary to show that this policy has failed from the beginning.

PRESS: Terry, that’s why you need a guy like Howard Dean to carry the flag.