Ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Rep. Jim Nussle on 2006 Midterms

This is a partial transcript from "Hannity & Colmes," November 6, 2006, that has been edited for clarity.

SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: A few minutes ago, we spoke with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He is on the trail campaigning for Republican candidates in Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANNITY: And joining us now, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and gubernatorial candidate Jim Nussle is with us.

Guys, welcome back to the program.

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: Thanks. Thanks for having us.

REP. JIM NUSSLE (R), IOWA: Good to be with you.

HANNITY: All right, Mr. Mayor, here we are -- we have the FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll. We have the ABC/Washington Post poll. We have the Pew poll. All show a late movement towards the GOP in a pretty dramatic fashion. What do you think's happening, Mr. Mayor?

GIULIANI: Well, I think some of the issues that are critical are starting to really register. I think the president's campaigning has helped a lot, you know, going out there and making the case for remaining on offense against terrorism.

I think people see an economy that's doing really well, and they realize a lot of that had to do with the action that the president took in lowering taxes and what really Jim did and his colleagues in the Congress to vote for tax cuts. I think that's starting to happen.

And I think a lot of the races are going back to local issues, like the one here in Iowa. It's going down to who's the better leader, and I think people are looking at this carefully and saying Jim Nussle is the better leader.

HANNITY: You know, Mr. Mayor, one of the fascinating things to me is, it seems the Democrats peaked over the issue of [former Florida Rep. Mark] Foley. That got out of the way, and people got back on substance. They're comparing the Democrats and Republicans on taxes, the issue of border security.

GIULIANI: Right.

HANNITY: They're looking at the enemy surveillance program. They're looking at enemy intercepts. They're looking at the Patriot Act. There seems, when issues are substance-oriented, that it seems that that does well or bodes well for Republicans. Do you agree with that, Mr. Mayor?

GIULIANI: Yes, absolutely. I think you've got two big issues right always for people: security and the economy. And I think, on both of those issues, when you start really drilling down on it, the Republican candidates start to look a lot better.

Here in Iowa, you've got a choice, and you've got someone who understands security, understands homeland security, understands the economy, has voted for tax cuts. Jim certainly is one of those people that has helped to bring our economy back by the things he's sponsored in Washington.

So people here in Iowa start looking at that. And he's also been a leader on energy independence, which is one of the things that's really the most exciting about his candidacy, because that can help, not just Iowa, it can help the whole country.

HANNITY: Now, Mr. Mayor, I'm not allowed to interpret anything in the fact that you just happen to be campaigning once again in Iowa, am I? Can I read anything into that?

GIULIANI: I've been -- well, I just was in Virginia, Maryland, Minnesota, earlier in the week in Tennessee.

HANNITY: OK.

GIULIANI: So you can interpret it, but I've been all over. And I feel that -- and I've been doing it, you know, a lot really intensely in the last five, six days. And I do feel what you're talking about. I feel a real movement in our direction. So I'm really hoping that a lot of the expert predictions are not going to turn out to be correct tomorrow.

HANNITY: Jim, I was out there, and I gave a speech out there. And you happened to had to have suffered through a lot of my bad jokes about Alan.

ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: And they are bad.

HANNITY: Your race has tightened up considerably just in the last couple of days here. It seems to be like close to a 1-point race now. What's the status of that race? Why have things shifted in Iowa for you?

NUSSLE: Well, I think the reason that they're shifting is people are focusing now on leadership. The difference in this race is that I'm running against someone who's basically been attacking the president and attacking Washington, D.C., where Iowans want to focus on Iowa. They want to focus on Iowa education, Iowa growth, so we can create jobs and opportunities for young people here, reducing taxes and the burden of government, and focusing on leadership that can actually get results. And when do you that, I think that tightens the polls.

Plus, we have one of the best turnout programs anywhere in the country. It was invented in Iowa. And our Iowa turnout program is getting the job done. And we're turning out Republicans for Election Day.

HANNITY: Mr. Mayor, let me go back to the possibility -- it seems that the Republicans are now fairly safe in the Senate, at least my read of the polls here. -- They're going to take Tennessee. It looks like Rhode Island is back in play, Montana's back in play. Senator Rick Santorum has tightened his race. Maryland is a dead heat right now. Missouri, we have [Sen. Jim Talent (R)] up.

GIULIANI: That's real exciting.

HANNITY: Yes, I mean, so things have shifted. It seems that the difficulty for the Republicans may be in the House of Representatives. What, in your view, would it mean to America if Nancy Pelosi becomes the Speaker of the House? We know where she's voted, and we know her position on issues. What do you think it would mean?

GIULIANI: It clearly means a tremendous amount of pressure coming out of the House then to go back on defense against terrorism. I think it means a real, real, real push for a pre-September 11 mentality.

You know, these are people who oppose the extension of the Patriot Act. They seem to object to appropriate electronic surveillance, appropriate interrogation. These are the things that have kept us safe; these are the lessons learned from September 11th.

So I think, when the president says, "It's the difference between a post-September 11th mentality and a pre-September 11th mentality," I think that's correct. And I think that's the thing you're seeing starting to register with people in this...

(CROSSTALK)

COLMES: Mr. Mayor, Mr. Nussle, it's Alan Colmes. Thank you very much for being with us.

Mr. Nussle, thank you for coming on our show tonight.

GIULIANI: Hi, Alan. How are you doing?

COLMES: Good, Mr. Mayor. Thank you.

Mr. Nussle, one poll, The Des Moines Register, had you nine points behind just a couple days ago. You need a little bit, a couple more days to catch up. The election may not happen late enough for you to catch up; is that possible?

NUSSLE: Don't bet on the polls, Alan. Be careful. This is what you did last time.

COLMES: I don't bet on polls. I'm not a betting man.

NUSSLE: This is the exactly -- the Democrats bet on the polls last time, and John Kerry would have been the president of Iowa, but he not only lost Iowa...

COLMES: That sounds pretty good to me.

NUSSLE: ... election nationally because -- well, but that's -- and they lost the election nationally because they bet on the polls. They're already blowing up balloons and hanging streamers.

COLMES: No, I don't see that happening.

NUSSLE: They need to do the voter turnout that we have.

COLMES: That's in my office. I have some balloons in there.

NUSSLE: Well, they are here in Iowa. Trust me. The Des Moines Register poll earlier this week was at 9 points. But as it closed to the end, it's a 1-point race, and we believe our turnout's going to make the difference.

COLMES: Mr. Mayor, you wrote an op-ed recently which I saw on "Real Clear Politics." You said, "I spent most of my career bringing corrupt government officials from both parties to justice." Isn't one of the big problems and one of the reasons there's such low ratings for the current Congress is because of corruption?

We've seen a huge amount of corruption, with Bob Ney being the latest -- one of four senior Republicans to resign-- and that's why there's disgust and very low approval ratings for the incumbents, Republican incumbents?

GIULIANI: Well, you know, I think neither party has a monopoly on virtue or vice. You know, when we pretend to have a monopoly on virtue, in particular, everybody ends up looking hypocritical.

I have prosecuted a lot of corruption cases in my past. And it seemed to me it equally tracked Republican and Democrat. And some of the things that have happened to Republicans are things that have happened to Democrats in the past. And I think you get a shock value out of that.

But then people put it in perspective, and they realize that both of these political parties have human beings, and we keep getting surprised. Sometimes it's a Democrat; sometimes it's a Republican.

Sure, Republicans are in power, and maybe that issue redounds against the Republicans a little bit more. But now I think it's going back to what Jim is talking about; it's going back to basic issues, the economy, security, schools, particularly in these local races.

I was with Bob Ehrlich and then with Tim -- and Bob Ehrlich last night, and with Tim Pawlenty, the governor of Minnesota, today. And I get a sense that these gubernatorial elections are going to get decided on local issues.

HANNITY: All right. Jim, I wish you all the best in your race. Mr. Mayor, I have a funny feeling you're going to be spending a lot of time in the Iowa in the days and weeks and months to come.

COLMES: Don't forget New Hampshire.

HANNITY: And probably New Hampshire, too. Just a guess, but it's good to see both of you.

GIULIANI: Two very, very nice states, with great history, great tradition. I love being here.

NUSSLE: We'll welcome him back any time he wants.

GIULIANI: Particularly when Jim becomes the governor.

HANNITY: All right. Guys, thank you. Thank you both for with being us. And maybe you'll even invite me back, Governor-to-be.

NUSSLE: Thank you.

HANNITY: Thanks.

GIULIANI: See you in New York.

NUSSLE: We'd love to have you back, Sean.

HANNITY: All right, guys, thank you.

NUSSLE: You, too, Alan.

COLMES: Thank you very much, sir.

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