Dick Morris on Obama's Afghanistan Decision

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," November 30, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: The president has at last responded to General McChrystal's requests for more troops in Afghanistan. Now according to administration officials, the president yesterday issued orders sending more troops into the field although the precise number is not yet known. The president will disclose all of that tomorrow evening in yet another prime-time address to the American people.

Now both The Washington Post and The New York Times are reporting that he plans to commit between 30,000 and 35,000 troops. But will that plan make anybody happy? Now General McChrystal, he asked for 40,000 troops, and it does not look like, well, he is going to get his wish.

Meanwhile, left-wingers are already questioning the president's decision because they want out of Afghanistan altogether. Take a look at what Wisconsin Democrat David Obey had to say yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DAVID OBEY, D-WIS.: The problem is you can have the best policy in the world, but if you don't have the tools to implement it, it isn't worth a beanbag, and I don't think we have the tools in the Pakistani government, I don't think we have the tools in the Afghan government. And until we do, I think much of what we do is a fool's errand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right, all of the political bickering aside, the president's decision comes three months after he received General McChrystal's strategy and his request for more troops, so what took so long?

Joining me now with more on this is the author of The New York Times number one bestseller, "Catastrophe," by the way, still in bookstores and a great Christmas gift, Dick Morris.

How are you?

DICK MORRIS, "CATASTROPHE" AUTHOR: Thank you. Good to be here.

HANNITY: Three and half months later.

MORRIS: Yes.

HANNITY: And David Obey, by the way, wants a war tax to help pay for all of this. The president does not seem to do well any longer when he goes on TV.

MORRIS: Well, at some point, you lose your credibility, but we on the show always talk about attacking the president from the right, because that's where you and I are coming from.

HANNITY: Right.

MORRIS: But he's just as my vulnerable on the left, and, you know, we're still in Iraq. He's going to put 35,000 more troops on top of 21,000 into Afghanistan. There are still people in the Guantanamo. And when you look at all of this stuff, the left really at some point is saying, where is gays in the military? Where's amnesty on immigration.

We may have to compromise on the public option in health insurance, and there really is going to emerge a left critique of him.

HANNITY: We'll report on this later in the program tonight, but even Michael Moore is saying, if he doesn't say withdrawal, then he is America's new war president.

MORRIS: Yes.

HANNITY: Now it's interesting. Washington Times today had a report, do you recognize our troops have rules? No night or surprise searches? Villagers have to be warned prior to any search. U.S. forces cannot engage the enemy if civilians are present. Only women can search —

MORRIS: That will makes sense. The civilians, but yes.

HANNITY: Dick, you cannot fight a war against an enemy with rules like this.

MORRIS: And then on top of that, he's going to get on the speech on the air tomorrow night. He's going to say we're going to send 35,000 more troops and we're going to pull them out as fast as we can.

HANNITY: Yes.

MORRIS: So if you are a warlord in Afghanistan, put yourself a beard and everything, what are you going to do?

HANNITY: OK. Whatever you say, Dick.

MORRIS: What are going to do? Are you going to go with the Americans? Are we going to withdraw in six months and get your head chopped off when the Taliban is the only one there? Or are you going to go with the Taliban?

HANNITY: Is this Barack Obama then trying to vote present?

MORRIS: Yes, it's Barack Obama trying to have it both ways, and he is trying to buy off the left. He took three months to do it so that he could give the appearance of working hard and looking at all the options and everything, but I think, in fact, he is stuck. He has got to go with what McChrystal wants, because he can't lose Afghanistan. He can't let the Taliban take over. And yet he probably can't stop it.

• Great American Blog: What do you think should be done about the war?

HANNITY: All right, but look at where the president is. His lack of decision making, his vacillation, he's angering the left, clearly, he is not the moderate that he portrayed himself to be. The latest Harris poll, he's at 43 percent approval, 57 percent disapproval. Zogby, Rasmussen, Quinnipiac, Gallup, all have him below 50 percent. Forty-three is now the lowest number I've seen.

MORRIS: Yes.

HANNITY: What is that mean?

MORRIS: Well, yes, Rasmussen had him down at 45 one day last week.

HANNITY: Zogby.

MORRIS: Yes. But it really means that he's cutting into his base. Remember he won 52 percent of the vote. So if he is down to 43, I think that may be an exaggeration, but if he is down to 43, that means he's losing a fifth of his vote.

HANNITY: Yes. All right, so now, all the health care polls, all credible polls, show that people oppose it anywhere between 4 and 18 percent. He's lost independents.

MORRIS: And I had something really interesting happened. There were ads that were run in Arkansas, North Dakota, and Maine, aimed at young people, and the group that did them did polling before the ads ran and polling after the ads ran. And they found that young people under 30 moved 30 points from support of health care to opposition once they learned they'd go to jail and 15,000 bucks each and somewhat.

And then the other thing is on my Web site tonight, DickMorris.com, you will see a list of the 39 states which are going to have to pay more in state taxes for the Medicaid eligibility. Texas will have to pay $2.7 billion of state funds. Pennsylvania, $1.7, California, $1.4 billion. Florida, $1 billion.

HANNITY: Go to the important states that you also have listed. Arkansas.

MORRIS: Arkansas, $400 million, a 10 percent increase in state spending.

HANNITY: Right. Louisiana.

MORRIS: Louisiana. It takes back all the money that Landrieu got and then.

HANNITY: All right.

MORRIS: It's $200 million extra.

HANNITY: So the American people, overwhelmingly now, are pulling back from the president. He is not the moderate he portrayed himself to be. They overwhelmingly are against health care but they're going to force it down America's throat. They just lost two very important gubernatorial races. What happens as we go to 2010?

MORRIS: But you have to — and some say that if they attempt to pass health care, given the overwhelming opposition that's mounting to it, they're going to cost themselves Congress in '10.

HANNITY: You think they can defeat — the Republicans are going to take over the House of Representatives?

MORRIS: I am making a prediction right now that the Republican Party will take both Houses of Congress in 2010.

HANNITY: How did you get both Houses? How do you get the Senate?

MORRIS: You get the Senate this way.

HANNITY: Let's go over those states.

MORRIS: Yes. You have six that I think you can pick up fairly easily. Dodd is behind Delaware.

HANNITY: Reid.

MORRIS: Reid in Nevada.

HANNITY: Arkansas.

MORRIS: Lincoln in Arkansas. Specter in Pennsylvania. And Colorado, where I think Jane Norton can beat the appointed senator. Then if the governor of North Dakota runs against Dorgan, that's going to be a seven pick up. If Rudy runs against Gillibrand, that's an 8th pickup.

HANNITY: You got it.

MORRIS: Kirk has an excellent chance of winning in Illinois. That's a ninth pickup. And Boxer, Fiorina, is really a credible candidate against her. And by the way, the margins for Patty Murray and Widen weren't that good in Washington and Oregon.

HANNITY: Right.

MORRIS: And by the way, I've heard rumors that that guy Lou Dobbs who used to work for that other station.

HANNITY: I hear.

MORRIS: Might want to run against Menendez and I think he can beat him.

HANNITY: Interesting. All right, Dick, we appreciate you being here.

MORRIS: Thank you.

HANNITY: All right, plenty more —

MORRIS: See, I can count to 10.

(LAUGHTER)

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