Sarah Palin Planning Presidential Run?
COOPER: Tonight, Christine O'Donnell's Democratic challenger, Chris Coons, is speaking about a controversy in his own campaign. For days, conservative blogs and commentators have been calling Coons a Marxist, pointing to Coons' own words from this article he wrote for his college newspaper back in 1985. The headline, "Chris Coons: The Making of a Bearded Marxist." He talked about the allegations against him earlier on</s>CNN . (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "JOHN KING, USA") CHRIS COONS (D), DELAWARE SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: I am not now, nor have I ever been a Marxist or an enemy of the people of the United States. And, frankly, at a time when we have got 35,000 Delawareans out of work, when we have got real economic problems to tackle, I'm just disappointed that we're spending time talking about the title of an article written in a student newspaper 25 years ago. But I think it is important to speak to it and put it to bed. I'm not a Marxist. I have never held Marxist ideas. I believe strongly in the free enterprise system and have worked hard for eight years in one of Delaware's most innovative private sector manufacturing firms.</s>COOPER: Well, if that's true, then why did he write that article with that headline? Tom Foreman tonight is "Keeping Them Honest" -- Tom.</s>TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Anderson. The attacks from the right against the Democratic nominee are taking two basic tacks: He is a left-leaning, anti-American communist, or he's a left-leaning, anti-American communist, tax-and- spend liberal. That's pretty much what they're saying here. The trouble dates back to 1985, when he was in his 20s, a student at Amherst College, an active Young Republican. He went to Africa to study, saw great poverty, and he came back changed, writing this article that you just mentioned for the student paper, "Chris Coons: The Making of a Bearded Marxist," in which he says, "I came to suspect that the ideal of America as a beacon of freedom and justice, providing hope for the world, was not exactly based on reality." And the conservative talk circuit is tearing him up over this. (</s>BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, "THE RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOW") RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: By the way, this Democrat is a Marxist. I mean, there's a joke going around he's a bearded Marxist or Marxist with a beard. He describes himself that way. This guy is a sitting duck.</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE O'REILLY FACTOR") BILL O'REILLY, HOST, "THE O'REILLY FACTOR": If she says she's a witch, this guy said he's a Marxist. Who are you going to vote for? I would rather have the witch than the Marxist.</s>FOREMAN: The Coons campaign, as you said before, and the candidate himself denies all of this. They says the term "bearded Marxist" was a joke among his staunchly Republican family members, who suggested, when he became a Democrat, it was essentially the same as becoming a communist. And the campaign says he was reacting to -- what he was reacting to was what he saw as failures in the Reagan policies, especially in Africa, not failures to the overall American system -- Anderson.</s>COOPER: Well, the natural thing to ask is what about his actual policies? He has a track record. A number of conservatives say he's repeatedly raised taxes as a county executive and presided over nearly bankrupt budget.</s>FOREMAN: Yes, he's getting pounded on that by some big-name Republicans, including Newt Gingrich, who brought it up at this past weekend's Values Voters Summit.</s>NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: In the county government, he has raised taxes dramatically, raised spending dramatically, and dramatically lowered the bond value of the county.</s>FOREMAN: So we have three things to consider here, Anderson, and we want to go over them. We went over both of them with a spokesperson for Coons' office at the Newcastle County government, and a political science professor from the University of Delaware, David Wilson. First, Coons and the county council did raise property taxes three times in the past five years. That is a fact. Second, the latest operating budget for the county where he is the chief executive is just under $236 million. That's of about $7 million from the previous year. T hat is up. And third, the bond rating, which is essentially the government equivalent of a credit score. It shows how likely it is that a government can pay back debt. Well, this county has been bragging lately that it has, in fact, had the highest possible bond rating for nine years, Anderson.</s>COOPER: So it seems what you're saying is, from what I'm hearing, is kind of a mixed bag of fact, and a little bit of fiction in what Mr. Gingrich said.</s>FOREMAN: Yes, you're absolutely right about, but it also needs some context. Coons' spokesperson and this professor confirmed that the county had embarked on some unsustainable spending programs before Coons was in charge. Then they were hit with the housing crash and the recession like everyone else, so he had to cut some programs and raise some taxes to keep from going too deeply into the red. That said, he has tended to remain popular enough with moderate voters there, who did not see his actions as too severe on either front. And Delaware still has, overall, some of the lowest taxes in the country -- Anderson.</s>COOPER: Tom Foreman, appreciate the update. Thanks very much. Let's talk about this with our panel. Back again, John Avlon, Erick Erickson and John Ridley. Erick, what do you make of this? Is Chris Coons -- do you believe he's a Marxist, once bearded?</s>ERICK ERICKSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, I was raised in a family where any Democrat is a Marxist. I don't really know about Chris Coons. I would just love to be able to have CNN do all of my defense on the charges raised by conservatives. I will tell you that he's going to go into Washington and he's going to vote for the Barack Obama agenda, that he would vote for a stimulus plan if he were there. He would vote for a health-care plan if he were there. He would vote for financial regulation plans if they were there. And that's what the Tea Party movement and I are fighting against.</s>COOPER: John Avlon, are the charges -- are the criticisms that have been made against him fair? He did raise taxes. He's...</s>AVLON: That's legitimate. People should feel free to criticize a candidate based on what they've done in an executive or elected capacity. That is all 100 percent legitimate. People need to defend and be held accountable for what they've done professionally. But, you know, we're in the political season right now, a political era where the term Marxist is getting thrown around a lot without any context. In this case it's a joke about a 25-year-old college newspaper. And the fact that, you know, some people would frame this election as a choice between a witch and a bearded Marxist says everything you need to know about the silly psychotic season we're in right now. So -- so no, get a sense of perspective, a sense of humor and be equal about the criticism and the lenses with which we judge our politics.</s>COOPER: John, do you think voters really care on either side with kind of the level of detail about, you know, whether it's O'Donnell's -- you know, whether she paid for personal expenses with campaign money or if, you know, what this guy wrote 25 years ago in a paper?</s>RIDLEY: I think to a large degree we're in the Wile E. Coyote politics. It's just throw a boulder in the middle of the road, and people have to go around it. Whether it's a witch, whether it's a bearded Marxist, whether it's being a Kenyan anti-colonialist, which is apparently the new bugaboo, everybody, left or right, has to go around these boulders and really get to the policy issues. And it's unfortunate, but these are the things that stick with a lot of folks. It is interesting, though, talking about the Hannity program earlier, they talked about, have you ever seen, in terms of Christine O'Donnell, a local politician being hammered on a national level and then turn around and we've got to deal with this with Chris Coons, all out of Delaware? So, you know, a lot of focus on a lot of things that don't really matter.</s>ERICKSON: Anderson, Halloween comes before the election season this year.</s>FOREMAN: Came early this year.</s>COOPER: Yes. That is for sure. Erick, I want to play this video that Sarah Palin has put out, a new video on her YouTube channel. Talk about really kind of what's behind it, what the thought is here. Let's take a look.</s>SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: The soul of this movement is the people, everyday Americans who grow our food and run our small businesses, teach our kids and fight our wars. They're folks in small towns and cities across this great nation who saw what was happening and they got involved. It is just so inspiring...</s>COOPER: This is a really well-made ad. This isn't a cheap YouTube ad. This is really well shot, really well done and produced. Is this a signal of running? You know, it's not the first ad like this she's done. They've all been extremely well produced, probably better than any other potential candidate or even, frankly, some of the national committees on the Republican side. I don't know yet that Sarah Palin wants to run. A lot of people say she does. I'm still not convinced she just wants to be the king maker and not necessarily the king herself. One thing that she is doing is she is moving voters. Her endorsement is probably the only Republican endorsement that matters this year. Nikki Haley in South Carolina will be, probably, the governor of South Carolina after November. She would not be on the map but for Sarah Palin, and she's not the only candidate this year. Joe Miller in Alaska and probably even Christine O'Donnell in Delaware. She doesn't have a perfect track record but her endorsement is the one that matters this year. Productions like this, these are professional quality and you don't see that coming from a lot of the Republicans these days.</s>COOPER: Well, also, John Avlon, you've got to give her props, whether you like her or not, and you know, the country is clearly divided on her. But she really took a gamble on the people that she backed. It wasn't like she was kind of waiting to see which way the wind blew. She reached out, picked up some people and -- and really elevated them. I mean, look at Mitt Romney, who suddenly endorsed O'Donnell after she won, you know, after she won the primary. Mitt Romney is like, "Oh, yes, well, I endorse her." I mean, Sarah Palin is out in front and, you know, taking real political risks on things.</s>AVLON: You can't take away from her. She is a conviction politician. I think that Jim DeMint's endorsement this cycle has been at least as influential. But look, she is a hugely polarizing figure, hugely popular among the base. Increasingly polarizing not -- in the general electorate at large.</s>CLINTON: But her supporters love her. There is an emotional connection. An inspirational factor that she has that rallies the base unlike anybody else in the Republican field right now. That gravitational pull towards running for president becomes very powerful, very seductive. Right now she's benefiting from it personally, politically, financially. But the drift is towards 2012 and there are a lot of people saying your endorsement can make all the difference, especially in a caucus state like Iowa.</s>COOPER: John Ridley, you think she'll run?</s>RIDLEY: I hope, if she does run, it's as a Tea Party candidate. I mean, I don't love the Tea Party, but I'm really excited about a third-party campaign. And this is interesting in politics. This is the titans overthrowing -- or the Olympians overthrowing the titans. And I think she's -- I like her as a person, don't love her as a politician. But when was the last time you saw someone outside of the system who can really turn every deficit into a positive? She can quit and people love that about her. So I would love to see her run as a Tea Party candidate. That really is a national...</s>ERICKSON: I'm so stealing that Olympians versus the Titans line.</s>RIDLEY: You can have it. I get 10 percent, but you can have it...</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our last hope, but at the same time it's -- we finally made it to the people that are going to find out what's wrong.