Will Palin Turn Into Cross-Party Draw?

This is a rush transcript from "Your World With Neil Cavuto," September 2, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: All right, then waiting for the payback from Palin. Will the Alaska governor turn into the cross-party draw the McCain folks have been hoping for?

Who better to ask than a former vice presidential nominee, Jack Kemp, who ran with Bob Dole back in 1996?

So, Jack, you know the pressure that is on a newly minted number two. And you experienced that. This — the governor has an enormous amount of pressure. How do you handle that?

JACK KEMP, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN & HOUSING AND FORMER URBAN DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY: Well, first of all, she's a terrific woman, a terrific governor, and, I think, a great candidate for John McCain.

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It is so typical of John to reach beyond where the conventional wisdom would take him. And he did not make a mistake with Governor Palin. I think she's going to be fabulous either tomorrow night or Thursday night.

And I agree with Karl Rove and you, to a certain extent. We have got to talk about, A, where we are today, but, more importantly, where we can be tomorrow with the right type of policies, more trade, lower tax rates on labor and capital, and less spending in the right way. So, I think we're — we are poised. And the eight-point gap is absolutely nothing right now.

CAVUTO: All right, let me ask you a little bit about the pressure the governor is under, as Carl alluded. And a lot of people of it has to do with just noise you hear in the media.

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A lot of people not as married to this stuff as all of us, they just hear the noise. They hear about the child who is pregnant. They hear about the husband decades ago on a DWI charge, all this nonsense they drag out. And they just — they just get kind of weird vibes, like, Neil, I don't know what this is about, but I don't know. I don't know.

And how do you get past the "I don't know," so that the candidates can state her views very clearly, beyond the noise?

KEMP: Yes.

Well, I think that is the purpose of the convention and then beyond. And, clearly, we missed a day yesterday. But I think the Republican Party and the convention did the right thing, allowing the governors and President Bush and John McCain to focus on what was going on in the Gulfport region.

Having put that — it's not aside, but pointing it at least on the back-burner temporarily, with her speech tomorrow night and John's on Thursday night, I think these issues, existential as they are today, are not going to be there once this — once this convention is over.

CAVUTO: Ultimately, it is up to the top of the ticket to sell.

KEMP: Yes, absolutely.

CAVUTO: If Bob Dole was, you know, all that, I mean, I guess you would have been vice president, right? That didn't happen.

KEMP: Right.

CAVUTO: So, do you think, ultimately, that the number two does not matter?

KEMP: No, it matters. And I think she will matter.

But, clearly, it is up to the top of the ticket. But is Barack Obama is on the left? And, boy, is he on the left, with all due respect to the wonderful accomplishment that he has achieved in his young life. His platform and his policies are the most class-warfare-oriented policies this country has seen since George McGovern and Jimmy Carter back in the '70s.

CAVUTO: All right. OK.

KEMP: John has got a unique opportunity Thursday night to nail the policies, not the man, but the policies, to the wall. He is anti-trade...

CAVUTO: OK.

KEMP: ... Barack Obama, and he wants to raise taxes. And John has to really nail those issues on Thursday night, which he will.

CAVUTO: Thank you, my friend. Always good having you on.

KEMP: Thank you. See you, Neil.

CAVUTO: Jack Kemp, the vice presidential standard-bearer for the Republicans in 1996. All right.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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