CBS Candidate Christmas List: Romney's Hair 'Too Perfect,' Hillary Needs ‘Selective Memory’

December 21st, 2007 2:24 PM

On Friday’s CBS "Early Show," co-host Harry Smith and Political Correspondent Jeff Greenfield put together a Christmas wish list for the various Republican and Democratic presidential candidates. Of Mitt Romney, Greenfield said the Massachusetts Governor could use voters having "buyers remorse" about Mike Huckabee and:

I have a second gift for Mitt Romney, which is somebody to muss his hair. It's too perfect. A lot of people have noticed a startling resemblance between Mitt Romney and that of the Muppet game show host, Guy Smiley. He's got to have a mussed-up hairdo soon.

Perhaps an even more interesting word of campaign advice from Greenfield was to Hillary Clinton:

Selective memory. She needs the Democrats to remember the good things they liked about Clinton in the '90s, to forget the bad thing apart from the obvious one, the investigations and the turmoil. And if they think of her as that kind of '90s, it's going to be bad for her.

Wow, Greenfield certainly became more critical of Clinton compared to Wednesday’s show, when he said a campaign ad with Hillary’s mom, "packs a powerful emotional wallop."

Here is the full transcript:

7:01AM TEASER:

HARRY SMITH: And there is news from the campaign trail this morning. Rudy Giuliani fights off the physical and political flu, while John McCain picks up his second big endorsement from a Boston newspaper as his poll numbers surge in New Hampshire.

7:12AM SEGMENT:

HARRY SMITH: While most of us will sit back and enjoy the holidays, the presidential candidates can't stop campaigning, not with the Iowa caucuses just two weeks away. So that got us wondering, what might be on the candidates' wish list this holiday season? CBS News Senior Political Analyst Jeff Greenfield is here. Good morning, Jeff.

JEFF GREENFIELD: Hi.

SMITH: Alright so, I've got a list of Republican and Democratic candidates. Let's say, for instance, if Mike Huckabee showed his list to us, the one for Santa, what would be on his list?

GREENFIELD: Mike Huckabee wants weight, not the weight he lost, the hundred pounds, not the weight he's been -- he wants political weight, gravitas. People know him as an agreeable, charismatic guy, but he has to convince people that he's actually the right guy in the Oval Office.

SMITH: Very nice. I don't know if you saw that graphic.

GREENFIELD: Drew it myself.

SMITH: That's very impressive. Okay, let's move on down the list a little more quickly here to Rudy Giuliani. What does -- what does Rudy need for the holidays?

GREENFIELD: Rudy needs long division, by which I mean he needs the Republican field to stay divided as long as possible. It looks less and less likely he can win an early contest. But if the early contests are split, then his strategy of waiting till Florida, maybe even February 5th, has more resonance than if one guy emerges. So long division for Rudy.

SMITH: Okay. Yeah long division. Okay, let's move on to Mitt Romney. What would be on Mitt's wish list?

GREENFIELD: A case of buyer's remorse. He needs the social conservatives in Iowa to take a look at the guy they flocked to, Mike Huckabee, and say you know what, I don't think so, he's got too many problems. I have a second gift for Mitt Romney, which is somebody to muss his hair. It's too perfect. A lot of people have noticed a startling resemblance between Mitt Romney and that of the Muppet game show host, Guy Smiley. He's got to have a mussed-up hairdo soon.

SMITH: You know what, I kept thinking I know that from -- Guy Smiley.

GREENFIELD: If you've got kids it's Guy Smiley.

SMITH: Very good. Very good. This is a good one. This might be the toughest one on the list. Fred Thompson.

GREENFIELD: Not tough for me, Harry. A time machine. He needs a time machine to go back to July, when he was supposed to enter the presidential race amid calls that he was the next Reagan. He really kicked away about three or four months. He's got his groove on now, but it may be too late.

SMITH: Big mistake. Alright, let's really quickly go to the Democrats, John Edwards, what's on his list?

GREENFIELD: A January 3rd blizzard in Iowa because his caucus goers are more likely to show up. Obama's and Clinton's less likely. He wants really lousy weather.

SMITH: Barack Obama.

GREENFIELD: A surge, of optimism. His people have -- know they're taking a gamble on a guy that's inexperienced. They have to feel good about turning to an unconventional candidate.

SMITH: Yeah, and he's got a big surge in New Hampshire, here in the polls.

GREENFIELD: We think.

SMITH: Hillary Clinton, what's on her list?

GREENFIELD: Selective memory. She needs the Democrats to remember the good things they liked about Clinton in the '90s, to forget the bad thing apart from the obvious one, the investigations and the turmoil. And if they think of her as that kind of '90s, it's going to be bad for her. We left out John McCain, he wants New Hampshire. For the second time in eight years.

SMITH: And the polls look like he's starting to close in. Single digits in at least one poll with Romney.

GREENFIELD: In one poll has him almost tied. I've never seen a campaign where eight years apart a candidate's fate relies on exactly the same state that it was two -- in 2000. So those are my Christmas gifts. I don't want to offend the Jewish voters in Iowa, both of them, so we'll get a Hanukkah list the next time.

SMITH: Next time around. Jeff Greenfield, as always, thank you so much.

GREENFIELD: Okay.