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'Square Peg' senator sounds offOrrin Hatch discusses abortion, the judiciary and Bush
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- When Republicans take over the U.S. Senate in January, Orrin Hatch of Utah will get back his old job as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In addition to his political career, Hatch is also a songwriter and author, having written an autobiography, "Square Peg: Confessions of a Citizen Senator," and penning the song "Little Angel of Mine," from the movie "Stuart Little 2." The senator joined "Crossfire" hosts James Carville and Robert Novak to talk about the GOP regaining the Senate and his new book. NOVAK: Do you think that under a Republican nominee -- Republican nominations to the Supreme Court approved by your committee, approved by the Senate -- that Roe v. Wade, the abortion law, will be repealed? HATCH: I really question whether that's going to happen in the next nomination. I don't know what's going to happen there. You know, it has been around a long time. But there's a real split in the country. If you ask most people, "Do you believe in abortion?" -- [I think] about 75 percent would say no. NOVAK: But ... HATCH: If you ask them, "Do you believe in the right to choose?" [I think] about 55, 60 percent would say, "Yes." So, you know, it's a very divided question. It depends on who's appointed. CARVILLE: But the two people that are really in charge of this are President Bush and you. President Bush wants to repeal Roe v. Wade and so do you. HATCH: Well, President Bush is in charge. I'm not a ... CARVILLE: I understand, but you have ... HATCH: I'm just a poor foot soldier. CARVILLE: No, but you're the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, so he sends the nomination to you. Both of you want to see this repealed. Give us a time. Do you think it will be around another two years, or will it be repealed by then? HATCH: You know, in all honesty, I've been on the committee 26 years. I went all through the Reagan judges, the Clinton judges, and I don't know of one person who was asked, "What is your view on Roe v. Wade?" ... NOVAK: I want to get to your book now. You had something that just froze me. On Page 201, [you wrote,] "If Bill Clinton had simply told the truth, in all probability Al Gore would be president today." Do you really believe that? HATCH: I think that's probably true. NOVAK: Explain that. HATCH: Well, you know, I told President Clinton, I said, "Look, if you didn't tell the truth in the Paula Jones case, why don't you just admit it?" I said, "The American people are very forgiving people, and we'll forgive you." I said, "You might go through some tough times for a while, but they'll get over it." Had he told the truth, I really believe that there would never have been an impeachment trial. I don't know many people who wanted to go through an impeachment trial. I certainly didn't. NOVAK: How would Al Gore be president then? HATCH: Well, as you know, it was a very close race anyway. NOVAK: It was? Oh ... HATCH: It was a darn close race, and if George ... CARVILLE: Bush almost won. HATCH: Well, Bush won -- no, no... NOVAK: Bush did win. We have an Electoral College. Go ahead. HATCH: One thing I like about James is he's never studied the Constitution, you know, and it's typical of most Democrats. NOVAK: He's never studied anything. HATCH: Because, you know, the reason we have the Electoral College -- it's one of the most ingenious things in politics -- is because you've got to run a popular race among 50 states, not ... CARVILLE: But If they would have counted all the ballots in Florida, Gore would have won. NOVAK: Oh, come on! Get off of that, will you? CARVILLE: Because five of your friends stopped it. HATCH: James, James, James ... CARVILLE: OK. We don't have to fight now, but we know that. HATCH: We've been friends for a long time. CARVILLE: I know. HATCH: There were at least five or six other states where we knew there was fraud, but it just wasn't worth going into. Florida was the place where it had to be won. And it wasn't won there. CARVILLE: Absolutely, absolutely. You even knew fraud was there, and you didn't do it because ... HATCH: We knew fraud was there, but nobody could have afforded the trial of those. NOVAK: Let me get another quote out of your book. You said, -- this is fascinating -- "Good senators make bad presidential candidates." Are you talking about yourself? HATCH: Yes, sir. NOVAK: You are a good senator. HATCH: Well, I thought I made a pretty good candidate. But, you know, we had a great candidate in George Bush. No question about it. I have to say I fell in love with George Bush on the campaign trail. I'll never forget when I had a question for Steve Forbes. And I said, "Steve, I'm going to throw you a home run ball." And Steve said, "Well, I better hold onto my wallet." And I said, "Gee, Steve, I couldn't even lift your wallet." Everybody laughed, you know. And then George Bush was sitting next to me, and he leaned over to me and said, very sincerely, "Senator, I'd give you some of my money if I could." It was kind of an endearing moment to me. NOVAK: You once said that you had trouble running for president because you came from a state where people didn't drink and it was hard to raise money from those kinds of people. HATCH: That's right. It's a heck of a thing to raise money from people who never get drunk, you know.
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