Interview with Colorado Governor Bill Owens
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Bill Owens of Colorado was among the Republican governors who heard the president's speech last night. Governor Owens is with us today from Washington. Good morning to you. Nice to have you here on</s>AMERICAN MORNING. GOV. BILL OWENS (R), COLORADO: Good morning, Bill. It's good to be with you.</s>HEMMER: A number of Republicans, leading Republicans, felt the White House was too slow to get off the stump and start this election campaign. Were you one of them?</s>OWENS: No, I wasn't. I actually believed the White House -- the president's main role is to be president of the United States, not to have to be a candidate. But presidential campaigns run in cycles. We've been in the Democratic cycle, where the Democrats are picking their nominee. It's now time for us to come back and respond and talk about the president's agenda and also raise some questions about the Democratic front-runner.</s>HEMMER: Governor, I want to put up "Newsweek" poll numbers here, showing your man, the president, now at 48 percent for the approval rating. A bit earlier in the week, we saw a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup Poll up just a bit higher than that, about 51 percent. Were you concerned the White House was not reactive enough, knowing that with the primaries and caucuses on the Democratic side you were not getting the message out to Americans?</s>OWENS: You know, Bill, I really wasn't, because, again, these campaigns run in cycles. There was a time when Mike Dukakis was ahead of the first President Bush, a time when Walter Mondale was ahead of Ronald Reagan, a time even when Bob Dole was ahead of Bill Clinton. We've been in the Democratic cycle. We've had months and months of essentially a one-sided debate. Now, the American people are going to start to hear the debate joined from our side. We think the economy is on the right track. The war on terrorism is, in fact, a major issue that we're confident that the American people are behind us on. So, we're ready for the campaign to begin.</s>HEMMER: You mentioned one key thing in there: the economy. The number Americans are going to hear between now and next November, anywhere from 2 million to 3 million jobs lost on the watch of President Bush. How does the White House defend itself on that charge?</s>OWENS: Well, I think it's real easy to defend ourselves on that. First of all, the recession started under President Clinton. We've been dealings with a national challenge, September 11, a worldwide recession. But here are some other numbers: Productivity at a 50-year high. Gross national product the last six months, highest in 20 years. Unemployment today is lower than the average of unemployment in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Jobs are coming back strongly. So, we're real confident. If they want to run this election based on the economy, you know, in John Kerry's words, "Bring it on."</s>HEMMER: Well, Governor, about a week ago, David Gergen, who has advised both Republican and Democratic presidents in the White House -- you know him well. He was on our program, and he said there will be a brawl in the fall. How tough will this fight be?</s>OWENS: You know, I hope that my good friend David Gergen is wrong. I hope that both parties are able to present what they stand for. I think that's why last night President Bush said, anger is not an agenda for this election. We're very positive about what we've done as Republicans. We're very positive with the job that President Bush has done. I think the American people deserve better than we've seen so far on the Democratic side in this election.</s>HEMMER: Governor Bill Owens, thank you for your time this morning, live in</s>D.C. OWENS: Thank you. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.