This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," August 16, 2013. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
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O'REILLY: Thanks for staying with us. I'm Bill O'Reilly. In the "Factor Follow-up" segment tonight, two hot topics, the feud between Republicans Chris Christie and Rand Paul and Hillary Clinton already on the campaign trail.
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ROBERT GIBBS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I, as a strategist, am fairly floored that she has decided to enter the public fray so quickly.
She could do the foundation work, she could do issue work, she could build a campaign, she could develop a message without having to be so far out front of there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: Well, today, the Wall Street Journal ran an article saying Vice President Biden may challenge Mrs. Clinton. But I doubt that.
Joining us now from Austin, Texas, Political Analyst, Karl Rove. First, about Hillary, are you surprised she's out on the trail so quickly.
KARL ROVE, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I think Robert Gibbs is right. In fact, let's take a quick look at this. Think about this.
March 18th, she gives a YouTube video coming out in favor of gay marriage. The 13th of June, she gives a speech on immigration before the Society for Human Resource Management.
She goes to Bryn Mawr on the 9th of July to give a speech about women in public service, has lunch with the President on the 29th, breakfast with Biden on the 30th, goes to the American Bar Association on the 12th of August and gives a speech attacking voter ID laws.
On the 10th of September, she has announced she's going to give a speech on transparency in government at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
Later on in September, she's got a fundraiser for Terry McAuliffe. In October, a speech at the Yale Law School.
And in November, a speech on education in Orlando and a speech to the National Association of Realtors in San Francisco.
That is like you're in a general -- you know, like you're in the final months of a primary campaign, not three years away from the election.
O'REILLY: But doesn't she get $200,000 per speech. I mean I think they're paying her a lot of money to roll --
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-- into town and bloviate about anything she wants to bloviate about.
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ROVE: Well, some of them -- some of them are not. I don't know that she got paid that much for the ABA but I think she's given a -- she has given a free speech at the National Constitution Center.
And she -- you know, look, she put out her own YouTube video in order to be heard on the issue of same-sex marriage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
So, I think Robert is right. You cannot -- you know, she's way out in front, she's highly visible, she's doing it a lot.
You cannot sustain that pace for three years and then pop up in late 2015, early 2016 when people start paying attention to the primary season and sound like you have something new to say.
You're going to have bored the press to death. They're going to have heard it all before and you're going to be vulnerable to somebody --
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-- who is capable of sounding fresh and new and different. And it's hard to be the frontrunner from the beginning to the end without making a lot of mistakes along the way.
And she is -- she not only accepted the crown of frontrunner, she's doing everything she can to highlight it.
O'REILLY: But there's so much money behind her and so much power behind her. You know, on Vice President Biden, I think the general said he had raised $11 million. I mean that's just lunch money for the Clintons, $11 million.
(LAUGHTER)
ROVE: Well, that may be right, Bill, but we heard this before in 2007, you know, she was going to be the nominee, the powerful --
O'REILLY: All right, listen, absolutely. Absolutely. But do you think Biden -- I don't think Biden would go up against her. Do you.
ROVE: Look, a, I don't think there's anything he has to lose by saying he's going to go up against her. And, b, he's Joe Biden so, --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
-- yes, I think he will go up against her. Does he prevail, no. But he'll give us a lot of entertainment --
O'REILLY: Oh, he absolutely will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
All right, so I don't think he's going to go but you do, but I'm rooting for you to be right because I want the entertainment value.
All right, now, let's go to Christie and Rand Paul. Now, these guys are both trying to run for president, too, in different ways.
And, now, they're fighting or arguing with each other. And how do you analyze that.
ROVE: Well, first of all, this is a fight that both of them want because it gives them a chance to lay claim to a certain thing --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
-- that's important in a Republican presidential primary. For Rand Paul, there's a chance for him to try to change the Republican Party.
There's always been a libertarian strain inside the Republican Party.
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But that libertarian strain has had its biggest influence on economic issues, limited government, low taxation, sound money policies.
Less on the social issue side. Maybe a little bit of "leave everybody alone" but the idea that the libertarian philosophy of, you know, drugs, decriminalize it, victims of crimes and prostitution, et cetera, that hasn't got much purchase.
But the least impact of libertarianism inside the Republican Party, at least for the 30 years, has been on the international side, you know, this idea of downsizing military, cut the military budget, bring everybody home, withdrawal from the world, you know, this kind of stuff has not been popular inside the Republican Party.
So, Rand Paul wants the chance to change the Republican Party by saying, --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
-- "If you don't like -- if you're a young person and you don't like what Obama is doing with drones, or you want to repeal the Patriot Act or roll back some of the national security steps taken in the aftermath of 9/11, you don't just have to go on the left-hand of the Democratic Party."
O'REILLY: Yes, "I'm your guy," right.
ROVE: "We can deal with you in libertarian wing."
O'REILLY: "I'm your guy."
ROVE: And that adds value to him. That's his view, that's vision. And it's a smart move on his part to try and seize an opportunity of controversy, to expand on that.
On the other hand, Christie wants to be seen as a strong national defense conservative.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
And so, using the fact that he's the governor of a state that suffered a lot of loss on 9/11, he says, "No, wait a minute. Whoa, I'm blowing the whistle. I'm not willing to roll back those protections that we put in place, that have kept America safe since 9/11."
So, for each one of them, that gives them a chance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
This controversy is useful.
O'REILLY: Yes.
ROVE: Because it gives them a chance to emphasize what they're for and draw more attention to it.
O'REILLY: That's for sure. And there's nothing much else to talk about politically. Mr. Rove, as always, thank you.
ROVE: It's August. It's August, what else.
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