The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

JIM LEHRER: Good evening, I'm Jim Lehrer. On the NewsHour tonight, a Kwame Holman report on the first official day of the Bush Presidential transition, newsmaker interviews with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and former Vice President Mondale, the perspectives of Tom Oliphant, David Broder and David Brooks, and an appropriate poem from former poet laureate Robert Pinsky. The other news of this Thursday will be at the end of the program tonight.

FIRST DAY

JIM LEHRER: George W. Bush spent his first day as President-elect of the United States. He attended a prayer service in Austin, and spoke by phone with President Clinton, to discuss the transition. He is to meet with Vice President Gore next Tuesday in Washington. Gore conceded the election last night and urged national unity. In his acceptance speech, Bush called for bipartisan cooperation. We'll have excerpts from the speeches in a few minutes. But first, Kwame Holman reports on this day of change.

KWAME HOLMAN: Wrapping up his tour of Great Britain, the current U.S. President pledged this morning to help President- elect Bush get off to a good start.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: The essential unity of our nation was reflected in the words and values of those who fought this great contest. I was proud of both men. I pledged to President-elect Bush my efforts and the best efforts of every member of our administration for a smooth and successful transition. I wish President-elect Bush well. Like him, I came to Washington as a Governor, eager to work with both Republicans and Democrats. And when we reached across party lines to forge a vital center, America was stronger at home and abroad. The American people, however divided they were in this election, overwhelmingly want us to build on that vital center, without rancor or personal attack.

KWAME HOLMAN: Governor Bush started his first full day as President-elect at a morning church service in Austin. A spokeswoman said Bush wanted to begin with "a message of prayer and healing." In Washington, Democratic congressional leaders promised they would work with a Bush- Cheney administration and the Republican-led Congress, but said that calls for a new spirit of cooperation.

SEN. TOM DASCHLE: Bipartisanship isn't an option anymore; it is a requirement. The American people have divided responsibility for leadership right down the middle. We must govern from the middle, or we will not be able to govern at all.

REP. RICHARD GEPHARDT: The true test for all of us is, will we engage in a constructive, ongoing dialogue on a partisan agenda that can achieve the goals that we all share, or will it be a "take it or leave it" approach to passing legislation? Genuine compromise means having a true give and take. We're going to disagree, we know that, but let those disputes be open and honest, and let us have honest compromise-- not dictation-- as our guiding principle over the coming years.

KWAME HOLMAN: A short time later, the former Democratic Vice Presidential nominee returned to his seat in the U.S. Senate and addressed his colleagues.

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Governor Bush and Secretary Cheney are in my prayers, as I know they are in the prayers of all Americans as they begin now to assume to awesome responsibilities that go with leadership of this great country. In the strong words and soft voices they both used last night, Vice President Gore and Governor Bush raised us all up and pointed us toward the reconciliation that our history expects and that our national interest now requires. As they both noted last night, this is the closest election we've ever experienced, with the vote for President essentially ending in a tie, the Senate split 50-50, and the House nearly even as well. That puts a special burden not just on Governor Bush, but on all of us here in congress to work on a bipartisan basis and in a cooperative spirit.

KWAME HOLMAN: As Vice President, Dick Cheney will break tie votes in the evenly-divided Senate.

SPOKESMAN: I have here the official key to the transition space, which I would like to give to you now. ( Laughter )

KWAME HOLMAN: This afternoon, he received an electronic key card to open the doors to the transition office he will direct. The General Services Administration also said it will release five million dollars to fund the Presidential transition.

DICK CHENEY: We're delighted to have this opportunity to begin to receive the official support from the government for the Bush-Cheney transition. This has been a-- as many folks have said-- a unique time in American political history. The transition is well underway. We've been able to do that, in part, through the foresight of the Congress that had authorized the use of private funds, as well as public funds, for the transition. And the process, in terms of the transition being shortened, as I mentioned earlier, in our earlier press briefs, it has an impact because of our ability to go out and begin to actively and aggressively interview people, be able to source various folks in terms of what kinds of individuals we ought to look for for certain jobs, or to be able to check out the references on certain individuals. All of that has really been pretty limited by virtue of the fact that there was still a lot of uncertainty about going forward. The area, for example, of talking with those in the Democratic Party, then awkward while there was still a contest underway. So we're now-- those constraints are now off and we're able to begin to be much more aggressive in that regard. I might also point out-- and I think you know President-elect Bush will be in Washington the first part of next week, most of the day Monday and Tuesday. He will be meeting with President Clinton at that time, as well as Vice President Gore, and also with the bipartisan congressional leadership. But probably those meetings will take place Monday and Tuesday. We will have a number of other things that we're doing here at that time. One of those, obviously, is the further work with respect to selecting prospective cabinet members. So there'll be a fairly intense period of time at the beginning of the week when he's here, Monday and Tuesday. With respect to the meetings next week, my experience from prior transitions has been this begins the exchange, if you will, between the outgoing administration and the incoming administration. One of the things that we have not really been able to do yet in connection with the transition is any interface at all with officials in the government administrations and agencies that are already there. We haven't talked with folks in the Defense Department or at state or HUD or any of the other departments. And so this meeting at the top, if you will, sort of sets all of those kinds of contacts in motion to begin to talk about common problems and make certain that our people get up to speed so that by January 20 we're in a position to actually take the reins of government beginning right after the inauguration. When the history books are written on this period of time, you'll find that that meeting next week between the two of them will be very important to healing the wounds, to moving on, and to getting the new administration in place, ready to go. So it's a very important meeting. Symbols are important in this business, and this certainly has great symbolic significance.

JIM LEHRER: Vice President Gore made no public appearances today. Now, back to last night's speeches. In his, Gore promised to work with Bush in healing the divisions created by the long campaign.

VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE: Almost a century and a half ago, Senator Stephen Douglas told Abraham Lincoln, who had just defeated him for the Presidency, "partisan feeling must yield to patriotism. I'm with you, Mr. President, and God bless you." Well, in that same spirit, I say to President-elect Bush that what remains of partisan rancor must now be put aside, and may God bless his stewardship of this country. Neither he nor I anticipated this long and difficult road. Certainly neither of us wanted it to happen, yet it came, and now it has ended -- resolved as it must be resolved through the honored institutions of our democracy. Now the U.S. Supreme Court has spoken. Let there be no doubt: While I strongly disagree with the Court's decision, I accept it. I accept the finality of this outcome, which will be ratified next Monday in the electoral college. And tonight, for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession. This has been an extraordinary election. But in one of God's unforeseen paths, this belatedly broken impasse can point us all to a new common ground, for its very closeness can serve to remind us that we are one people with a shared history and a shared destiny. Indeed, that history gives us many examples of contests as hotly debated, as fiercely fought, with their own challenges to the popular will. Other disputes have dragged on for weeks before reaching resolution. And each time, both the victor and the vanquished have accepted the result peacefully and in the spirit of reconciliation. So let it be with us. As for what I'll do next, I don't know the answer to that one yet. Like many of you, I'm looking forward to spending the holidays with family and old friends. I know I'll spend time in Tennessee and mend some fences, literally and figuratively. Some have asked whether I have any regrets, and I do have one regret: That I didn't get the chance to stay and fight for the American people over the next four years -- especially for those who need burdens lifted and barriers removed, especially for those who feel their voices have not been heard. I heard you and I will not forget. I've seen America in this campaign and I like what I see. It's worth fighting for and that's a fight I'll never stop. As for the battle that ends tonight, I do believe as my father once said, "that no matter how hard the loss, defeat might serve as well as victory to shape the soul and let the glory out." So for me this campaign ends as it began: With the love of Tipper and our family; with faith in God and in the country I have been so proud to serve, from Vietnam to the Vice Presidency; and with gratitude to our truly tireless campaign staff and volunteers, including all those who worked so hard in Florida for the last 36 days. Now the political struggle is over, and we turn again to the unending struggle for the common good of all Americans and for those multitudes around the world to look-- who look to us for leadership in the cause of freedom. In the words of our great hymn "America, America," let us crown thigh good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. And now, my friends, in a phrase I once addressed to others, it's time for me to go. Thank you, and good night, and God bless America.

JIM LEHRER: Bush followed less than a hour later from the Texas capitol building in Austin; here are excerpts from that speech.

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH: Vice President Gore and I put our hearts and hopes into our campaigns. We both gave it our all. We shared similar emotions, so I understand how difficult this moment must be for Vice President Gore and his family. He has a distinguished record of service to our country as a Congressman, a Senator and a Vice President. This evening I received a gracious call from the Vice President. We agreed to meet early next week in Washington, and we agreed to do our best to heal our country after this hard- fought contest. I know America wants reconciliation and unity. I know Americans want progress. And we must seize this moment and deliver. Together, guided by a spirit of common sense, common courtesy and common goals, we can unite and inspire the American citizens. Together, we will work to make all our public schools excellent, teaching every student of every background and every accent, so that no child is left behind. Together we will save Social Security and renew its promise of a secure retirement for generations to come. Together we will strengthen Medicare and offer prescription drug coverage to all of our seniors. Together we will give Americans the broad, fair and fiscally responsible tax relief they deserve. Together we'll have a bipartisan foreign policy true to our values and true to our friends, and we will have a military equal to every challenge and superior to every adversary. 200 years ago, in the election of 1800, America faced another close presidential election. A tie in the electoral college put the outcome into the hands of Congress. After six days of voting and 36 ballots, the House of Representatives elected Thomas Jefferson the third President of the United States. That election brought the first transfer of power from one party to another in our new democracy. Shortly after the election, Jefferson, in a letter titled "Reconciliation and Reform," wrote this: "The steady character of our countrymen is a rock to which we may safely moor; unequivocal in principle, reasonable in manner. We should be able to hope to do a great deal of good to the cause of freedom and harmony." 200 years have only strengthened the steady character of America. And so as we begin the work of healing our nation, tonight I call upon that character: Respect for each other, respect for our differences, generosity of spirit, and a willingness to work hard and work together to solve any problem. I was not elected to serve one party, but to serve one nation. The President of the United States is the President of every single American, of every race and every background. Whether you voted for me or not, I will do my best to serve your interests and I will work to earn your respect. I will be guided by President Jefferson's sense of purpose, to stand for principle, to be reasonable in manner, and above all, to do great good for the cause of freedom and harmony. The presidency is more than an honor. It is more than an office. It is a charge to keep, and I will give it my all. Thank you very much, and God bless America. ( Applause )

NEWSMAKER

JIM LEHRER: And now, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Dennis Hastert of Illinois.

Mr. Speaker, welcome.

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: Good evening.

JIM LEHRER: First, what did you think of the job Misters Bush and Gore did last night?

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: Well, I think certainly President-elect Bush laid out his agenda, asked for people to come together, bring a healing process to this country and the political nature of this election. I think certainly Vice President Gore was very gracious in his concession, and that was well taken. It's our job now to move forward on those promises.

JIM LEHRER: Has there been some serious harm done to the country and its government as a result of this post-election process?

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: I really don't think so. I think the American people are ready for us to come together to go to work to get the goods things done that we can actually produce in this Congress with the leadership of a President, and I think this country has been tested, but it's come off this test very well. We pride ourself on law. We say we're a nation based on the Constitution, and the Constitution prevailed. And we need to come together and move forward from this point on.

JIM LEHRER: Do you believe Vice President Gore was wrong to have contested the results in Florida? >>

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: Well, I mean that's one of the rights that people have. I think it was somewhat painful, especially for those of us on the Republican side of the aisle, to see this process go on. But that was certainly within his right to do that, and under the laws and the Constitution of this country. And finally we came to a solution.

JIM LEHRER: But as one of the leaders of the Republican Party and a long-time member of the political world, you have no problems with the fact that he did it, is that right?

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: Well, I think that was within his rights to do that. And if I think we were...had some grievance that we have as Republicans, we'd have the right to do the same.

JIM LEHRER: Do you agree with those who say this election, both in terms of the President, as well as the Senate races and the House of Representatives, should be seen as a tie, that the government of the United States, as we speak, is split right down the middle?

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: Well, actually, it's not a tie. We have the same majority in the House of Representatives that we did before this election. So we did work, and we have a majority it's a thin majority. The Senate is still controlled by a Republican majority, at least it will be after January 20, and we have a Republican President. But I think the voting was extremely close in this country. I think what the American people are saying, "hey, let's get something done. There's good ideas on the Republican side. There are some good ideas on the Democratic side. Let's not do all this political snarling back and forth. Let's do something the American people want." I think they want better education for their kids. I think they want some tax relief. I think we're seeing at the time, at the end of this administration, that it looks like the economy's becoming a little soft. Let's do the fixes and taxes that will help this economy be strong again. And, you know, they want us to pay down the debt. Last year we paid down $350 billion worth of debt. This year we're going to pay down another $250 billion of debt. I think that's what the American people want.

JIM LEHRER: Are you going to run the House of Representatives any differently because of the closeness of the presidential race and the thinning of the margins in both the Senate and the House?

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: Well, I think clearly the American people want to see some bipartisan work. And it's going to happen in the Senate just because of the nature of the closeness of the Senate. But I think... I've met with Dick Gephardt, who's the minority leader in the House, talked to Dave Bonior, who is the minority whip in the House. I've talked to certainly the minority leader in the Senate. And I think there are some things we can do together. And what we can do together I think is an advantage. There's also things that are going to be partisan, and we should do that because that's things that we've promised our constituencies that we would do.

JIM LEHRER: But President-elect Bush has called repeatedly and again last night for something new in Washington, a new atmosphere.

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: Well, I think what's going to happen Monday when President-elect Bush comes to Washington and meets with the Democrat leadership, he's going to meet with the Republican leadership and lay out an agenda, and do exactly what he's tried to do and has done in Texas, and that's bring... that's going to bring the sides, the different sides together so in a we can get things done. And I repeat, I've said it several times, the American people want to see achievements, they want to see us do things here in this Congress and do it together. It's good for all Americans.

JIM LEHRER: Is it wrong to suggest that, as Senator Daschle said, that... earlier today in a news conference-- we just ran a clip of it-- that if President Bush wants to govern, he must govern from the middle, he has no option?

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: Well,, I disagree with that. First of all, your ideas come from where your philosophical base is. But I think we pull people together. There are things that we can agree on in on education. There's things that we can agree on on taxation and tax relief for the American people. I think they're saying that we can agree on in making our military strong and safe and give our young men and women who serve this country the ability to have the wherewithal to take care of their families. We can agree on those things, and I think those types of things we need to pull together and get things done. And education, our... the future of our children, there are commonalities there that we can pull together and achieve, so that we ought to do that.

JIM LEHRER: But nobody should think that there's going to be a kind of shared government; it's going to be a Republican-controlled White House, a Republican-controlled Senate and a Republican-controlled House, is that correct?

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: Well, the Senate's very close, as you know.

JIM LEHRER: Sure, sure.

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: And there's going to be some shared power there. But we're going to work across the aisle and do the best we can on a bipartisan basis. But there are some issues, as you well know, that are partisan issues, and we'll fight because they're based on philosophies. That's one of the great things about this country. We have Republicans that believe in a philosophy, you have Democrats who believe in a philosophy, and those tough debates are done here in the House, on the floor of the House and the floor of the Senate. That's how we come to consensus.

JIM LEHRER: But let me get back to what I asked before. So should the American people expect something different? Every poll in the world has said-- you said it yourself a couple of times-- the American people are sick of what's been going on in Washington. Rightly or wrongly, they are. Is there going to be a new world or is it just going to be kind of around the edges, is there going to be a major new world?

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: I think President-elect Bush is committed to bringing Democrats and Republicans together, starting with the leadership on Monday, to try to get something done. That's what he's talked about for the last year and a half. That's what he's been able to demonstrate in Texas during his term as governor there, and we're looking forward to it.

JIM LEHRER: What about the... your conservative colleagues in the House, in the Republican Party, are they going to be eager to make deals with Democrats in the middle?

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: Well, I think they're going to be eager to talk about their principles and what they believe in, and to the extent, in areas like education, that they can be heard, they're going to be eager to do that. But in the end, we're going to find where we can work on consensus, and we can pass legislation and in a very close House and a Senate, those ideas are going to have to be some give-and-take. And we'll get these things done.

JIM LEHRER: Give and take in a new way or just kind of... is it just going to be more of give and take... explain what is going to be different, if anything.

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: Look it, we have to reach across the aisle to get people to bring together consensus. We plan to do that. There are people that are willing to work on education, to look at new ideas, to think outside the traditional box. And we can meld those ideas with ideas that we have from the right and the center and come up with good proposals that are going to make our education, our kids' life better. And that's going to take some reaching across to those people who are interested in doing it and getting it done. Now, there may be fringes on both sides that don't want to do this. That may be. That's certainly their right to be able to abstain.

JIM LEHRER: There are some, as you know, Mr. Speaker, who've said, "wait a minute, we've got this closeness in the House and Senate and we've had this close election which reflects a division in the country, a division in the courts, wherever there can be division, there are division and that this is a prescription for chaos, not cooperation. What would you say to them?

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: Well, you know, we have to trust in the best, I think so -- you talk about those who are conservative and are conservative... are concerned about not getting their agenda in. I think patience will prove well for them, that we will get their agenda debated and some of it passed. There are others that are concerned about health care, that there's ways that we can bring people together to find good results for the American people. You know, chaos is in the eyes of the beholder. Sometimes the making of laws seems very chaotic. But we'll have good things come out of this, I'm sure, and I think George W. Bush is ready to provide that leadership to make those things happen.

JIM LEHRER: Has it been your experience thus far, since this post-election period began, that the Democratic leadership feels the same way?

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: Well, we've had some good conversations with the Democrat leaders and not necessarily on substance, but basically on how we're going to start to operate and work together. And hopefully, that will continue.

JIM LEHRER: But operate, here again, in a new way, in a way that you have not operated up till now?

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: Well, you know, this whole election, just because it was as close as it was, has been very contentious. The fight for the House leadership has been something the Democrats have carried on for almost two years. We're ready to put that behind us, and I hope the Democrats will, too, and let's start anew.

JIM LEHRER: Mr. Speaker, thank you very much.

REP. DENNIS HASTERT: My pleasure. Nice to be with you, sir.

NEWSMAKER

JIM LEHRER: Now, some companion words from a leading Democrat, and to Ray Suarez.

RAY SUAREZ: We get those words from the former Vice President of the United States, Walter Mondale. Welcome back to the program.

WALTER MONDALE: Thank you.

RAY SUAREZ: Let's talk first about last night. Given that you've been on both ends, victory and defeat in national campaigns, it's fair to say you've been there, how did the two principals handle themselves last night, first Governor Bush?

WALTER MONDALE: I thought he did very well. It was a good appeal for public support for reconciliation. It was generous toward Vice President Gore. It reached out to the American people. I think he got off to a very good start.

RAY SUAREZ: And Vice President Gore?

WALTER MONDALE: I thought he did very well last night. As a matter of fact, I've never seen him do better. And there was some nice humor in there and a wonderful tone, and I think he helped set the stage for progress in our government. And I was glad to see President-elect Bush commend him for those words.

RAY SUAREZ: Let's talk about what's waiting out there for the new President-elect. He comes from the state capital in Austin to Washington to find a very divided Senate, a very close House after a very tough campaign. What should he know about what's waiting for him?

WALTER MONDALE: Well, that's a very good question. I think the first thing he ought to think about is what a challenge this is goingto be. And it's hard to explain to somebody who's been a Governor, who's just won an election as President, about to become President, how different and how much more demanding the presidency is than the governorship, as tough as those jobs are. After all, a Governor has never dealt with national security issues, with foreign policy questions, with national economic and Federal Reserve issues. He's never dealt with the Congress, and the Congress is a much different animal than these state legislatures. And he will find that his own party is often a much tougher thing to deal with than it was in his home state. And so we've had a habit in America of electing Governors, often running against the federal government, to take over and reform it. And once they get in office, there's a very painful year or a year and a half while they discover how different and how tough this job is. And while they're learning, their adversaries around the world are trying to test them. There are many, many powerful members of the Congress in both parties that are testing. He has to assemble an administration. You know, I don't know if you've noticed, but take a picture of a new president when he takes office, particularly if they're a Governor, and then you take a picture of that same person four years later at the end of the first term, they always look like they're ten years older. In other words, I remember Clark Clifford telling me when I was elected Vice President, he said, "you have no idea what's about to happen to you." And I was only the Vice President.

RAY SUAREZ: Suarez: Well, will George W. Bush be under a peculiar kind of pressure to deliver, given the circumstances under which he's taking the office?

WALTER MONDALE: I think in two ways it's tougher, and by the way, I support Gore's plea for public support for President Bush. We all have to stand behind him at this time and wish him well. But I think it's tougher in two ways: One, the nature of the mandate, where he runs even or, depending on how you want to calculate it, slightly behind Vice President Gore, where he was elected in part because of a Supreme Court decision, and secondly, because of this unbelievable down-the-middle split in America. The Senate 50-50 -- I've never seen anything like that. The House is almost 50-50. The national election results show that the nation nationwide split 50-50, in the Senate popular vote, the House popular vote and for the state legislature. This country and the American people are dead even. And he's got to somehow reach across that and pull us together as a country and gain the confidence of a lot of people that have yet to be persuaded and some substantial part of the American people that feel that they've been cheated.

RAY SUAREZ: Well, during the last couple of days, the President-elect has been getting a lot of free and unsolicited advice about bipartisanship, about working with the Democrats, even about bringing Democrats into the cabinet. Are these just pretty words, high-minded thoughts, or do they have some practical application?

WALTER MONDALE: No. I think they do have some practical application. I think who he picks for the cabinet, for example, he's going to pick Colin Powell as secretary of state, everyone says. Well, that will be very well received by everyone, Democrats and Republicans. If he follows on with that kind of strong person, with bipartisan support, that will make a difference. If he goes up on the Hill and comes to know and tries to find common ground with the leaders of both parties on the Hill and can find that common ground, that will help. But the other thing is substance. In other words, where does he want to take the country? What are the essential guidelines of where he wants to take us? And I believe there is a tendency, if I'm hearing it correctly, to come up with the traditional proposals. Education is very important. I don't want to be misunderstood, but I think this new President has to do something that's unexpected.

RAY SUAREZ: Like what?

WALTER MONDALE: I would say be the leader of election reform or stand with John McCain for election... finance reform, something that's unexpected that will help pull us together and heal a nation that's gone through this unbelievable 36-day count -- I think something of that kind. They're not going to listen to me, but I don't think just politics as usual, just meeting, just what you might call the adornments of an effort to build consensus will do it alone. There needs to be a central theme of substance that the President uses to pull us together.

RAY SUAREZ: Well, you've heard Senator Daschle suggest that President-elect Bush is going to have to govern from the middle; Speaker Hastert wasn't so sure. Do you think he can do... the new President can do the big things that he campaigned on over the last several months?

WALTER MONDALE: I think he can do some of them. I noticed last night when he said, "we need a fiscally responsible tax cut," those are his words, that could mean something. In other words, it was the outsized $1.3 trillion tax cut that bothered a lot of us. If he came up with a much more limited proposal that had some fairness in it, all sides might get together on that. There's many things, like if he really wants to make some progress on prescription drugs and Social Security, move toward further support of Social Security, I think there's ways of bringing people together on that, yes. And education, if he really wants to move in that area and help our kids get a better education, yes, he'll be able to get support in that across the board.

RAY SUAREZ: Well, before we part, maybe you could tell us what Al Gore might be thinking about tonight. You've been on both ends in a national campaign, as well, just as he has.

WALTER MONDALE: Well, there must be a sense of great disappointment. He ran a campaign, got more votes than almost anybody else who's ever run for President. He came out ahead. He had a great campaign with a lot of his family and everybody working with him. He came this close. It took so long. The fight for the recount was so tough. And then he loses and he leaves high public office just within the reach of the presidency. So it must be a very disappointing letdown. On the other hand, he's got a long life ahead of him. He's young; he's strong; he's smart. He's got a lot of experience. He left on a very strong note yesterday. People are very grateful to him for the generous way in which he made his plea and his departure to the American people. So I think he's got a good future ahead of him, and I'll bet he's thinking about that, and I'll bet he's thinking about one other thing. I know I was. After all those years... remember, he mentioned he's going to spend the holidays with his family -- this time he can really do it.

RAY SUAREZ: Vice President Walter Mondale, good to talk to you, sir.

WALTER MONDALE: Thank you.

FOCUS - PERSPECTIVES

JIM LEHRER: Broder, Brooks and Oliphant, and to Margaret Warner.

MARGARET WARNER: For further perspective on the last 24 hours and on what's ahead, we turn to three veteran political reporters: David Broder of the "Washington Post," David Brooks of the "weekly standard," and Tom Oliphant of the "Boston Globe." All right, gentlemen, your reviews of last night's speeches. David Brooks, starting with you. Let's start with Gore.

DAVID BROOKS: Well, like Walter Mondale, I thought it was the best speech he ever gave. Not only was it funny, had the semblance of candor, it also was lofty. It really, after all the battle, it united people on the creedal things which make us all Americans. It was a very religious speech, had sort of liturgical cadences, and an incredibly patriotic speech. Not since Ronald Reagan has left town have we heard that level of patriotism. So after all the fighting, I thought the loftiness of it really made it, you know, just a wonderful speech.

MARGARET WARNER: Tom, it must have been wrenching for him because he does believe he won Florida.

TOM OLIPHANT: Yes, but as I've said here a couple of times before, he's had some experience in dealing with almost this level of disappointment-- 12 years ago-- and he's been ready at a couple of junctures in the past. And I think the first thing I thought it reflected was that he's had some time to think about that moment. I am told it was almost entirely his own work, maybe a little polishing done. Politically, what seemed to matter was that he used the "c" word, concession and not the "w" word, withdrawal. I think there was some Republican grumbling that what he said, that after all that had happened, George W. Bush will be the next President of the United States. He hadn't used the "e" word, elected. But I think that's sort of picking at the scab. It was a triumph, and he will be remembered very well for it.

MARGARET WARNER: Dave Broder, your thoughts.

DAVID BRODER: I thought it showed extraordinary self-control, Margaret, on what had to be one of the most difficult days and nights of his life. It was, as David Brooks said, a very well-expressed speech. And it was significant, also, for what he didn't say. Except for one sentence, he did not quarrel with the judgment of the Supreme Court. He did not in any way refer back to the controversies over the Florida vote. It was a forward-looking speech, and it's one for which I think he deserves the high praise he's receiving.

MARGARET WARNER: He called-- Dave Broder, staying with you-- he called on Democrats, he said, "I particularly urge those who supported me to unite behind this new President." Do you think that is having or will have a practical impact on the way Democrats are going to regard George W. Bush?

DAVID BRODER: Well, the Democrats on Capitol Hill are already in full adaptation mode. They live in a world of real politic and they will do with whoever has power, as the new President will have. But I think Democrats around the country, particularly in the minority communities, have not accepted Governor Bush as the legitimate President yet, and I'm sure that Gore's words will have an impact on them.

MARGARET WARNER: All right, David Brooks, now on to President- elect Bush's speech, your thoughts on that.

DAVID BROOKS: Well, it showed the decency of the man and the decency of the family, but I thought it was an awfully pedestrian speech, to be honest. It reminded me of some of the old speeches in the old Bush administration, somebody would write a speech and somebody would run it through the dull-a- tron and then run it through the trite-o-matic, and you get a lot of nice words that don't mean anything; I thought it suffered a bit from that. But it did indicate a few things about the Bush Presidency, one it's not going to be a rhetorical high-flown Presidency. But two, it's going to be a disciplined and cautious Presidency. He could have adapted to the speech and agenda to this special moment. Instead he ran down the four themes and programs which he has stuck to through the whole campaign and I think that was an insight into the man.

MARGARET WARNER: But, Tom, did it help launch him successfully into this new role of his?

TOM OLIPHANT: I think it did. And for this reason: One of the things that Governor Bush has the ability to project is a mixture of humility and strength. He claimed the office, there's absolutely no question about that, if you read it as well as watch it, but in a spirit that was more humble than boastful. I think it will be noted, just because it was talked about before the speech, that he didn't in any way acknowledge or discuss the unique circumstances of his coming to office. Many people perhaps were looking for that. Nor did he discuss that the possibility of reforming our election system so that things like what happened in the past... but there's time to do that in the future. The reason I thought it worked so well is that he offered a persona who you could imagine Democrats and others dealing with. And on that basis, I thought it was an excellent launch.

MARGARET WARNER: David Broder?

DAVID BRODER: Margaret, I thought the setting was perfect, to go to the chamber of the Texas House of Representatives to be introduced by the Democratic Speaker of the House and to use that as a metaphor for the kind of bipartisanship which he has said from the very beginning of the campaign he hopes to engender in Washington. But I have to say that I agree with David Brooks about the quality of the rhetoric. Let me offer a comparison. I have somehow a feeling that the Bush men do not feel comfortable talking in lofty terms about historic moments. Remember what his father did when the Soviet empire cracked and Germany was being reunited. We did not hear a word of historic rhetoric from the elder George Bush on that occasion, and here we've come through this extraordinary, historic election experience, and his son did not summon up the words to try to encapsulate or give significance to that moment either.

TOM OLIPHANT: And yet, you know, one of the favorite Bush family words, David, is "prudence." How many times did we hear it when Bush's dad was President?

MARGARET WARNER: As in "wouldn't be prudent?"

TOM OLIPHANT: "Wouldn't be prudent, wouldn't be prudent." And I think back ten years ago and as matter of policy, I think the nature of the collapse of communism was probably made easier in the West precisely because we didn't brag on the body. And I think again last night, Governor Bush managed to make the election palatable in a way that didn't pick at a scab that is just forming.

DAVID BRODER: You're certainly right that he did not brag.

MARGARET WARNER: Let's talk about Bush's call for bipartisanship, though. Do you feel, David Brooks... Or do you know whether he's ready to do the kind of things Walter Mondale just talked about? In other words, what is it in a concrete way, other than... I think Mondale called it the trappings or the accouterment of, you know, meeting with leadership and so on, but what is he really ready to do? Is he ready to govern in a new way?

DAVID BROOKS: I think he sort of is. One thing he emphasized in the speech was the compassionate conservatism, and that, on one level, is a political ploy. But very early in the campaign, in the primary campaign, he gave speeches in Manhattan where he laid out a set of agenda items, agenda items dedicated toward issues that are usually Democratic: Drug abuse, homelessness, urban housing, things like that. And that got away from the old trench warfare we have in Washington between big government and little government, and it was about using government in limited, but energetic ways. And that sort of compassionate conservative agenda, which I think he may put up front, really does scramble the battlefield.

MARGARET WARNER: But how do you read... for instance, Vice President Mondale picked up on the way Bush described his tax cut, something about a fair one or a prudent one, something like that. But yet there was a story in the "Washington Post" today quoting all kinds of aides saying, "oh, no, he's going to go for the big sweeping tax cut." What's he going to do when he really gets to the substance of these four issues or so that he emphasized in the campaign?

DAVID BROOKS: Well, he can try to create the Reagan coalition, which is some Republicans and peel off Democrats. I think that's going to be phenomenally hard, there are so few centrist governments left. The party discipline is going to be very strong. But if we know something from the Texas governorship, he's very good at failing upward, which is to say he proposes, in this case, in Texas, a tax cut or a tax plan that's really big, it gets shot down. But he gets at some halfway point and then claims victory and that may be what he does here.

MARGARET WARNER: Tom, your thoughts on his approach to bipartisanship, and factor in the way Hastert reacted to Jim's repeated efforts to find out...

TOM OLIPHANT: He just did not want to give up very much. What I've heard is it provides, I think, a contrast, depending on the issue, in keeping with Mr. Mondale's spirit of emphasizing substance. I have also heard that Governor Bush really does intend to propose the income tax cut that he proposed in the campaign, including...

MARGARET WARNER: The big one?

TOM OLIPHANT: ...At the top rates, forgetting whether it can happen or not. But I offer that as a contrast to what I've heard is going to be his approach on Social Security and particularly Medicare reform. And that is to use advisory commissions to try to work out consensus in advance before making... so I think what we're going to see is going to be a mixed bag, maybe some harder- edged partisan stuff and also some efforts to reach across and try to negotiate the details in advance.

MARGARET WARNER: David Broder?

DAVID BRODER: Margaret, the noises coming out of Austin in the news story that you referred to suggested that basically no retrenchment on the plans because of the political environment are worrisome to me. You will remember that eight years ago, Bill Clinton won a plurality victory, 43% for President, and used some of his time in the transition period basically to regear his fundamental economic program from one of emphasizing a middle class tax cut to one emphasizing budget cuts in order to satisfy the New York bond market. It will be very interesting to see whether there is enough flexibility in this new Bush administration and its hierarchy to regear their thinking to the changed economic and political environment that he now inherits.

DAVID BROOKS: Isaiah Berlin had an essay "The Hedge Hog and the Fox" -- the fox knows many things, the hedge hog only knows one thing. George W. Bush is the hedge hog -- he knows four things. He's talked about them for two years. He's going to push them.

MARGARET WARNER: How did you read the interview with Dennis Hastert and the Republicans, this is to you Tom and then to you Dave Broder, about how the Republicans, what they expect, what are they willing to put up, how much governing from the center they really are willing to see?

TOM OLIPHANT: Well, there is no question that, if you listen to Speaker Hastert, who puts a wonderfully nice face on the Republican Party in the House, but doesn't always seem to speak for all of it, you can see an effort to kind of paper over a reality that is much more in turmoil. I think, to satisfy that base, Governor Bush almost has to make the income tax proposal he made in the campaign. On the other hand, I think there's enough disagreement within the House so that, if you go the commission route for something like Social Security, I think you can transcend the differences. But there are some things that the conservatives in Congress are going to demand, and Bush can't say no to them all the time.

MARGARET WARNER: David Broder, how do you read the Republicans on the Hill?

DAVID BRODER: Well, he can't say no to the conservatives all the time, but he faces a real dilemma because of the division that Tom Oliphant talked about. And we're going to see it very early in the new session of Congress because John McCain is going to force early action, or attempt to force early action on a campaign finance proposal that will put Trent Lott and the other Republican leadership in the Senate on one side and the moderate Republicans and Democrats on the other side. And it's going to take some very fancy footwork on President Bush's part to avoid choosing sides at that very early stage of the game.

MARGARET WARNER: And we'll all be there to cover it. Thank you all three very much.

FINALLY - ELECTION DAY POEM

JIM LEHRER: And finally tonight, a post-election poem. Here is NewsHour contributor and former poet laureate, Robert Pinsky.

ROBERT PINSKY: On Election Day, long ago, I read Walt Whitman's "Election Day November 1884," a poem in which Whitman calls the quadrennial choosing "a greater marvel than Niagara, Yosemite, or the spasmic geyser loops of Yellowstone." Whitman's phrase "spasmic geyser loops" has come to seem prophetic of events in the weeks since Election Day 2000. With the election decided, we can recall Whitman's hopeful closing lines about the dross and the darker odds of the bitter election of 1884. He wrote: "These stormy gusts and winds waft precious ships, swell'd Washington's, Jefferson's, Lincoln's sails." In other lines of Whitman's poem, he says that the important aspect of an election is not the campaign, not the candidates, not even the winner, but something larger. "America's choosing day, the heart of it not in the chosen, the act itself the main, the quadrennial choosing." That large, relatively optimistic view recalls another poem of the 19th century, earlier than Whitman's. John Greenleaf Whittier's "The Poor Voter on Election Day." "Today, alike are great and small, the nameless and the known my palace is the people's hall, the ballot box my throne. The rich is level with the poor, the weak is strong today and sleekest broadcloth counts no more than homespun frock of gray. Today, let pomp and vain pretense my stubborn right abide. I set a plain man's common sense against the pedant's pride. The wide world has not wealth to buy the power in my right hand." May it be so, or if it is not, may we make it so, as Americans across the political spectrum, now want to do.

NEWS SUMMARY

JIM LEHRER: In the other news of this day, President Clinton urged wealthy nations to mount a global assault on poverty. He spoke inWarwick, England, at the end of a three day visit that also took him to Ireland and Northern Ireland. He said advanced countries have lagged in attacking disease, malnutrition and illiteracy. But he said freer trade could help.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: More open markets would give the world's poorest nations more chances to grow and prosper. Now, I know that many people don't believe that, and I know that inequality, as I said, in the last few years has increased in many nations. But the answer is not to abandon the path of expanded trade, but instead, to do whatever is necessary to build a new consensus on trade.

JIM LEHRER: Mr. Clinton also called for granting debt relief to poor countries and improving their health care systems. American businessman Edmond Pope was pardoned today by Russian President Putin. He had been convicted last week of espionage. Pope flew to Germany for medical evaluation; he suffers from bone cancer. His family had lobbied for his release on humanitarian grounds. President Clinton welcomed the pardon, but he said Pope's ordeal was "unjustified". The Federal Trade Commission today approved the merger of America Online and Time Warner. It did so after the media giants agreed not to use their Internet powers to limit competition. The $111 billion merger would be the largest in U.S. History. It still needs approval from the Federal Communications Commission. Inflation at the wholesale level eased last month, the Labor Department reported today. The Producer Price Index rose just 0.1%. It was the best showing in three months. Lower costs for heating oil and prescription drugs canceled out higher prices for natural gas and fresh vegetables. We'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening with Shields and Gigot, among others. I'm Jim Lehrer. Thank you and good night.