Jeff Bezos Buys "Washington Post"; George W. Bush Gets Heart Stent
TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. Now it's time for our Politics Lead. Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is back in the political spotlight, attending a New Hampshire reception to raise money for the GOP. It's a rare, rare public appears for the 2012 runner-up and a reminder that when you lose a presidential campaign, fundraisers are now very special occasions. Like date night. Dan Balz, a veteran political reporter for "The Washington Post" has just released a book on the race. It's called "Collison 2012: Obama vs. Romney And The Future of Elections In America." And boy, does he mean collision.</s>TAPPER (voice-over): It's got Mike Tyson, an anecdote about vomit, and at least one guy who has had alleged inappropriate relations with women. But it's not the movie "The Hangover." It's the story behind America's 2012 presidential campaign that esteemed political reporter Dan Balz could not have made up if he tried. In his new book "Collision 2012," "The Washington Post" chief correspondent delves into the two-year, multi-character plot, twist- filled contest to be the leader of free world. And the behind-the-scenes details do not disappoint. This is Jim Messina, President Obama's former campaign manager, who told Balz his job on the campaign was to, quote, "punch the Republicans in the face," a metaphorical play on Mike Tyson's famous line "Everyone has a plan until they get punched." But to read Balz's account, the Republicans needed no help beating themselves up.</s>WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Was this an affair?</s>HERMAN CAIN, FORMER GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: No, it was not.</s>BLITZER: There was no sex?</s>CAIN: No.</s>TAPPER: More than a punch, Governor Rick Perry's adviser told Balz, this moment like an earthquake.</s>RICK PERRY, FORMER GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: What's the third one there? Let's see.</s>TAPPER: One that just kept going.</s>PERRY: Oops.</s>TAPPER: And then there was this moment.</s>CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR: What do you mean shut up?</s>TAPPER: Vomit. No, I'm not saying anything against Clint Eastwood's Republican convention appearance. I'm just telling you the literal reaction that Romney adviser top advisor Stu Stevens had to this memorable speech. Ann Romney was a bit kinder during her CBS appearance the next morning.</s>ANN ROMNEY, MITT ROMNEY'S WIFE: We appreciated Clint's support, and he's a unique guy and he did a unique thing last night.</s>TAPPER: Balz writes that even some of the best-reviewed convention speeches of the presidential race were worrisome. Former president Bill Clinton walked out to thunderous Democratic Conventiona applause at approximately 10:40 p.m. on September 5. Backstage and throughout the day, President Obama had been asking repeatedly to see a draft of Clinton's comments. The planned 25-minute speech by the former president was continually interrupted by applause, and the future second-term president grew more anxious. Fifty minutes later, Clinton exited the stage, leaving the commander-in-chief smiling his way through the changing plan.</s>TAPEPR: President Clinton always cuts it close on deadlines, which can make those coordinated conventions even more nerve-racking. But joining me now for the Lead Read is the author of "Collision 2012," Washington Post chief correspondent Dan Balz. Dan, thanks for joining us. You interviewed Mitt Romney for this book in January, and I have to say, reading what he said about the response to the question about the 47 percent of the American people as he characterized them, I don't really know if he understands yet why people took offense at that comment. There seems to be a bit of denial there. What was your take?</s>DAN BALZ, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Well, I had the same reaction, Jake. I thought that -- he believes he said something different, and the literal words obviously are the ones that people remember when he said there's 47 percent of the country, these are people who won't take control of their own lives. And he continues to say, I didn't really say that. And he went and got his iPad and started to read through some of what he had said and the question that he was asked. He knows it was a damaging moment. He believes it was damaging because there was the perception what he said. He still had trouble processing that it was the actual words.</s>TAPPER: You also got the sense in your book from both Romney and his son, Tagg, that throughout the buildup to his announcement that he was going to run, he was looking for reasons not to run. Do you think that lack of fire in the belly in some ways, do you think that might have contributed to why he lost?</s>BALZ: You know, it may be, although I think once he was into it, he's a competitive person. He was a competitive businessman, and I think he was a competitive running mate. But he had two reservations. One early on was was he the best person in the party who might be able to defeat President Obama. He said to me if some other people ran, and he mentioned specifically Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida. He said if someone like that had gotten into the race, he might not have. The other question he had was whether he was actually a very good fit for a Republican Party that is more conservative than he is, that's Southern based, he's a northerner, that's evangelical, he's Mormon. He said Stu Stevens, his chief strategist, always said to him this could be a tough fight. And so, he had some questions. But as the field developed, Jake, the actual field he was going to have to compete against, he decided he was the best of that group in order to go against the president.</s>TAPPER: The book, speaking of the president, the book discusses the president's lack of a real second-term agenda. It discusses some questions he faced throughout the first term about how strong a leader he was. How do you see those critiques from the 2012 campaign playing out now?</s>BALZ: Well, we continue to see some of that. The question about what he would do in a second term was one that they wanted to address in only the vaguest of ways. He did not have a big new economic program, as you know, to roll out during the campaign. And so he wanted to make the fight not about exactly what ideas he had or the current state of the economy, he wanted to make it about the question of which of these two candidates would be better for the middle class well into the future. And they were pretty effective at doing that. But it begged the question. And you know, it was after Labor Day they finally put out a document about a second-term agenda. But it was -- it was late, it was not that well developed and he didn't talk that much about it except in generalities. We've seen he has an agenda for the second term, but it's been interrupted constantly by the battles on the Hill. He has had to return to the middle class theme only recently at a time when a lot of Americans are still wondering what the administration has in mind for them in order to really get this economy moving.</s>TAPPER: Dan, before you go, you are a 35-year veteran of "The Washington Post" and obviously yesterday big news, Amazon's Jeff Bezos bought "The Washington Post." What's the feeling inside the newsroom and what's it like for you, who has worked there for so long?</s>BALZ: Well, I never thought I would see this day. I always thought that the Graham family would keep the newspaper. It was a combination of shock yesterday and a certain amount of sadness. They've been terrific owners. Ben Bradley always said the key to being a great editor is you start with a great owner and that's what the Grahams have been. So there's sadness about departure of the Grahams and their stewardship of the paper. On the other hand, there's some hopefulness that Mr. Bezos will be able to chart a future that will put us on a more secure footing economically. I mean, we're all struggling. It doesn't matter whether it's the "Washington Post" or many other news organizations are trying to figure out how we become more economically viable, how we reach more people, how we generate more revenues. He's been innovative in the new world and we're hopeful he'll be able to bring some ideas and some innovation to what we do.</s>TAPPER: All right, Dan Balz, author of "Collision 2012," a LEAD read, thank you so much for your time. I'll see you on the campaign trail, my friend.</s>BALZ: Thank you, Jake. I appreciate it.</s>TAPPER: He'd wait until it hit 100 degrees to go run for his -- in the morning in Texas. That's a real threat for his Secret Service agents, but even a guy as seemingly healthy as President George W. Bush could not escape the threat of heart disease. Doctors say the former president successfully had a stent placed into a heart artery this morning to open a blockage that was found during his yearly physical. President Bush is now 67 years old. He is expected to be out of the hospital tomorrow. Still to come, the breaking news in Benghazi, nearly a year after the deadly attack, the U.S. finally seeks justice with a complaint under seal. We'll have more about CNN's special report about the attack and the aftermath. And the author of the girl with the dragon tattoo died nearly nine years ago, but Stig Larson is still managing to put out a new crime story coming up.