ED KOCH DECLARES HIS SUPPORT FOR HIS PRESIDENT BUSH



In an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN today, the former mayor of New York said that he not only supports the President, but intends to vote for him in the next election. Additionally, he labeled Howard Dean "McGovern II."



I'm looking for the transcript now, and will post excerpts as they become available.



UPDATE: Rush transcript excerpts. All spelling and related errors are uncorrected (via CNN):

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get some perspective now on New York City, how it's been affected over the course of these past two years. And for that, I am joined by the former mayor of New York City, Ed Koch. He's joining us live.



Mr. Mayor, once again, thank you very much for joining us. How has your beautiful city, a city so many of us love, no one more than you yourself, how has it changed?



ED KOCH, FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: Well, the aftermath -- the immediate aftermath we were overwhelmed with sorrow. Now, while we are still sorrowful, we are also proud of how we responded and how we are rebuilding.



And I will tell you that when I entered the area, there was a picket group that just revolted me, not very many. But they had a sign which said, "The Bush regime engineered 9/11." It is such an outrage.



I happen to think that President Bush and his team deserve enormous credit. [My emphasis - CD] They had a monumental but short war with minimal casualties, and I think they should be commended and not attacked by the Democratic candidate, and I'm a Democrat.



I'm not suggesting anybody is unpatriotic by having a different position, but it seems to me that you have an obligation not to weaken America by denigrating the president of the country.

Amen to that. Koch continued his comments, this time about John Ashcroft, or "Great Satan" if your a leftist progressive:

BLITZER: In your opinion, Mr. Mayor, how much safer is New York City, New Yorkers today, than they were two years ago, assuming you do believe that they are, in fact, safer?



KOCH: I do believe. And on the other hand, you could have a terrorist act anywhere in the world, including again in New York or anyplace else within the next hour. Nobody can guarantee about that.



But also, there you've got the media attacking Ashcroft for wanting to have the Patriot Act, which gave him additional tools extended. Now, you can discuss individual provisions that you may think are not worthy of being extended, but the people who are smearing Ashcroft and smearing the law, they're nuts. Their lives are in danger, too, but they don't care. [Emphasis mine - CD]

Finally, Mr. Koch proclaims his voting intention for 2004:

BLITZER: But David Obie (ph), who has been in the Congress, as you well know, for 34 years, the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, someone highly-regarded, when he comes to the conclusion that Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, should resign, not because of the way they prosecuted the war, but the way they apparently failed to understand the implications of winning the war that quickly, that's a conclusion he comes down to in all sincerity.



KOCH: And my answer is this sincerity doesn't make it right. And the fact is that what Rumsfeld has done in Baghdad and elsewhere in the country has been magnificent. Yes, there are continuing casualties, because we're still at war. But the major war has been won. There is a guerrilla war going on, and it has to be faced.



So, what I believe is wrong is the -- not the argument. You can argue. It's the demeaning. When he says you should resign, now, he knows they're not going to resign. But he just seeks to reduce his status in the world, and that's just wrong.



Yu know, there are lots of countries that resent us, hate us, because we are so successful, not only our standard of living, but our willingness, as President Bush has been willing to declare the Bush doctrine. It's equal to the Monroe Doctrine. What he said was, we're going to go after the terrorists and the countries that harbor them. No other country has been willing to do that except Great Britain on the battlefield joining with us.



I think our administration -- and I'm a Democrat, but I'm voting for Bush. I think that people who are demeaning Bush, you can disagree with him...but who seek to demean him are just dead wrong.

It's amazing what a Democrat will say when he/she isn't running and trying to pacify the, well, radical elements of the party.



You can read the entire exchange here.