Candidates Reveal Their Biggest Mistakes

Katie Couric Asks The Top Presidential Candidates To Explain The Standout Slipups Of Their Lives

(CBS) 
FRED THOMPSON

Couric: What is the biggest mistake you've ever made? How did you recognize it and what did you do to change course?

Thompson: The biggest mistake? I don't know there … was any one particular thing that I would think was a big mistake. But of some time ago in my personal life, I didn't live up to my own standards there for a while. I was a single man and, looking back on it, I didn't … always do the things that I ought to do, didn't look at things the way I should have. What I did about it was try to change my life. Part of that was meeting and falling in love with my now wife, having a couple children late in life, having and getting another chance to re-evaluate things and just trying to be a better person.


JOE BIDEN

Couric: What is the biggest mistake you've ever made? How did you recognize it and what did you do to change course?

Biden: (SIGHS) Gosh, I think all the mistakes that I've made that I look back on and wish I could change have all been a consequence of pride or arrogance. From the time when I was a kid, I was a pretty good football player and I didn't get chosen as all-state, but I got asked to play in the all star game. And out of pure pride, I said no. I wasn't picked. Stupid, stupid. I regret that.

I regret losing my temper in 1987 when I was running for president and saying the most immature things, saying to a guy who asked me what my place in law school was, saying do you wanna compare IQs? I mean that was immature as hell. I regret…not having apologized immediately to that fella. I knew I'd made a mistake. I knew I shouldn't have let my temper get the best of me. But there's not…much in my life that I look back on that I regret in the sense that I’d want to be able to do it over again. I've made mistakes. I made a lot of mistakes, but they're, none of them have gone to the core of my feeling ashamed or knowing that I wasn't true to myself.

Couric: But have you ever pursued something and say, in that midcourse, thought this isn't right? Or thought something about someone and then changed your mind? In other words…

Biden: Yeah, I did. I remember when I was a young senator, I got to the senate and Senator Mike Mansfield, who was a wonderful guy, the majority leader, had talked me into staying in the senate. I know, you know, after I got elected, my wife and daughter were killed and my two kids were…my two surviving children were hospitalized for a long time. And I contacted Senator Mansfield to say, “I don't want to, I'm not going to come to the senate. Go to my governor to appoint someone in my place.” And he gave me the “Dutch uncle” talk, said, look, come for six months and see what happens then.

And so once a week I'd go to his office and he'd give me an assignment. I realize now he was just taking my pulse. I was 30 years old, wanted to know how I was doing. I walked in one day and I was angry as heck at Jesse Helms - Jesse Helms on the floor of the Senate railing against [the] American Disability Act, which Bob Dole was trying to pass. And the majority leader said to me, “Joe, how did it go?” And I said, “You know what Helms…” And I went on and on. I said, “How could he be so heartless? And he doesn't care about…” and I went on about his motives. And Mike Mansfield looked at me and said, “Joe, what would you say if I told you that four or five years ago, Jesse and Dot Helms adopted a child that is in braces and wheelchair-bound as their own son.” I said, “I'd feel like a jerk.” He said, “Well, they did.” And he said, “Your job is to figure out what it is about each individual sent here that their people liked about them, not what's wrong with them.”

And it was a real object lesson. I felt really, really small because here I was [equating] Jesse Helms’ opposition to a government program with his disdain for people with disabilities. And here's a guy that …. As a grown man, a man in his 50s, and he and his wife adopted a child who they'd taken care of their whole life and is doing very well. This child is not a child anymore. And I remember thinking to myself, “My god, what a jerk I was.” And so I learned: don't question the other person's motive, question the judgment. Take issue with the judgment, but not their motive. You don't know what their motive is.


JOHN EDWARDS

Couric: What's the biggest mistake you've ever made? How did you recognize it and what did you do to change course?

Edwards: I got too many of these. Picking the biggest one, I mean, if I had to say one, I'd probably say voting for the war in Iraq, which was…it took time for me to recognize what a serious mistake it was. And what I did about it is announce to the world that I was wrong in exactly that language. And I learned a lesson from it, which is you have to be skeptical of information that other people give you and be - judge it very critically.

Couric: If there was another one that wasn't as political, can you think of one sort of in your life? I know these are really hard, 'cause they're …

Edwards: Yeah.

Couric: … very, sort of, deep. You have to think about …

Edwards: They also ask about - you want me to list one, and that's hard.

Couric: Yeah. I mean, I'll use your Iraq one. I'm just curious, though, 'cause that could be seen as kind of political.

Edwards: It's - it's completely political (LAUGHS).

Couric: Yeah. (LAUGHS)

Edwards: There's a reason.

Couric: But I just wonder if there's something in your life that you did that you really thought was a dopey thing.

Edwards: I've done a lot of those things. I have to just think about it for a second.

Couric: We got a lot of videotape. So don't worry. (LAUGHTER)

Edwards: Lemme think about that for a second. What did I do?

Couric: As a lawyer or …

Edwards: I know. I'm thinking through my whole life right now.

Couric: I've tried to ask - answer these questions and, believe me, they're really hard.

Edwards: This one is particularly hard. I can't think of anything.


HILLARY CLINTON

Couric: What is the biggest mistake you've ever made? How did you recognize it and what did you do to change course?

Clinton: Well, I've made lots of mistakes. You know, I have to put my handling of health care among my biggest mistakes because it was so personally disappointing, but it was also such a tragic loss of time for so many Americans who needed health care and we weren't able to deliver it. And I didn't handle it right. And I didn't know everything I know today about the best way of presenting it and trying to convince the Congress and the country to go along. And I, you know, I was upset about that for a long time because I was, you know, really unhappy with the mistakes I made and felt like they had contributed to the loss of an opportunity to provide health care for people.

Couric: You've talked about that on the campaign trail, but if you had to say specifically with dealing, if you had to say specifically in dealing with health care what it was that you did wrong, what would that be?

Clinton: I think it was a misunderstanding, or perhaps a lack of understanding about what it took to get hard work done in Washington. And it appeared, if you looked at the polls, that everybody was for health care reform, but everybody was for it in general, but not in specific. And I didn't spend enough time because, frankly, I was new to Washington and I didn't have the experience that I now have on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. So, I didn't spend the time that I should have in really listening to people in the Congress who understood how you get big change done in America. One of the reasons why I think I'm the best candidate this time is that I've had some of these experiences. I've had some of these tough knocks and I've learned from them and I now have this unique ability to understand what a White House can do and what a Congress can do and how, if you want to get something done, you've got to figure out a way to get people together.


RUDY GIULIANI

Katie Couric: What was the biggest mistake?

Giuliani: Well, I don't know the biggest mistake. I mean, I've had - made - made a number of mistakes. I know the one that comes to mind right away. And that's one, in not being able to anticipate the changes that were needed in child welfare and setting up the Administration for Children's Services enough. All of [a] sudden, this young girl, Elisa Izquierdo, was ... killed. She was killed in a brutal way. She had been in and out of the child welfare agencies. She had been on our radar screen and ... I hadn't fixed it in time. And I ... had time to do it. I could have done it in the time that I reformed the other agencies. And I felt terrible about this. And ... we made a very big reform based on it. But, I always felt if we had done that earlier, maybe just maybe we could have avoided her death, and maybe some other situations like that.

[chrissy19661]

Shame on you! If you are going to report the news - then report the news on everyone on an equal level. The media must stop being so slanted and offer representation to everyone, not to whom they would like the public to see and hear more of. Give EVERY candidate their equal amount of airtime and let America decide for itself!!!! The Ron Paul rEVOLution is alive and growing stronger each day. Just accept it. The more we are ignored, the faster we grow!

[jack3213]

Those who speak of political mistakes in a manner of aceptance and honesty, and to make the right changes for the future, are the most viable candidates

[mudrose-2009]

''''Candidates Reveal Their Biggest Mistakes''''

Hillary - Running for president
Ubama - Not marrying a white woman
Biden - Opening his mouth
McCain - Supporting amnesty
Rudy - 3 too many wives (is he morman?)
Romney - Not converting to islam
Posted by Infidel_Us

Are you just naturally witty? This is great!

[neptunebob-2009]

Dennis Kucinich has often be right the first time, but I am sure he has made some mistakes in his life. Why not ask about them? I think a lot of people might be interested in a Dennis mistake!

[mima43]

MITT LIED As an X-mormon, I know they believe in a separate ''paradise'' for each family after death provided that they followed ALL THE CHURCH RULES,(including multiple marriage) which are dictated from the "prophet" who lives in Salt Lake City. I do NOT want any mormon president taking guidance from their prophet, instead of the American multi-religion population electorate.

[blodulv]

Where''s Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich? All articulate candidates should be represented because they raise the bar for everyone! If I hadn''t stopped watching CBS I would stop because of this, and I hope others do too.

[steve95640]

The Bias is so blatantly obvious is isn''t even funny. You said TOP 5, well why isn''t Ron PAUL up there? he leads in every poll i''ve seen. He has more military support then anyone else, he has more supporters, he raised more in campaign funds. KUCINICH as well, those are the only 2 i would be intrested in hearing from. You pick a drag queen caught spending tax payer money to finance his extramarrital affair and has ties to terrorists (Khalid Sheikh) over Ron Paul? if anyone shouldn''t be up there its Giuliani. I see why they call CBS Censoring Broadcast Scums now. I think Couric should be asking her CEO Leslie Moonves what his bigest mistake was...after his ratings start slumping i''m sure this will be one of them.

[p96b8p7ban]

SO YOU KNOW WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT...WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

respond. post something. edit this article. LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE before we tell more about this horrible organization.

[harrisonbarnes]

The decision to not include all the candidates exemplifies why CBS is not relevant, and continues to lose the trust of the American people.

[attobuoy]

Katie, you''re not reporting the news, you''re making the news. Only the news is not the candidates, the news is you and your subversion of the democratic process.

Kucinich, Paul, Gravel, Tancredo: They''re all running for President. Kucinich and Paul in particular are influencing the race by making the other candidates look shallow while spreading vicious truths. The non-web-reading public needs to hear their opinions in order to be well-educated voters.

The people have a right to know. How many times have you heard that? How could you ever forget it?

[infidel_us]

''Candidates Reveal Their Biggest Mistakes''

Hillary - Running for president
Ubama - Not marrying a white woman
Biden - Opening his mouth
McCain - Supporting amnesty
Rudy - 3 too many wives (is he morman?)
Romney - Not converting to islam

[ashleydawnah]

I haven''t forgoten about you Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul!

[One_Eyed_Pony]

Where RON PAUL?

Where''s DENNIS KUCINICH?

C - Corporate
B - Broadcasting
S - Scams

Catie Couric you a MORON for accepting this FIXED, TAINTED, CORPORATE ELITES, NEOCON Special!

How INSULTING to the American People!

[abbe91]

Giuliani''s biggest mistakes have names :

Placa, Kerik, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, ...

[nolalou]

jennymar, sure it would be nice to include ALL the candidates in news reports, but they are not ALL included in debates either. Usually there is some standard, such as money raised, or standing in the polls. Besides, by ALL Candidates , do you mean just Republicans & Democrats? After all, the last time I voted for President, there must have been 20 names on the ballot from parties I never heard of!

[One_Eyed_Pony]

Where RON PAUL?

Where''s DENNIS KUCINICH?

C - Corporate
B - Broadcasting
S - Scams

Catie Couric you a MORON for accepting this FIXED, TAINTED, CORPORATE ELITES, NEOCON Special!

How INSULTING to the American People!

[jennymar-2009]

We all feel you forgot some people! When you say Presidential Candidates you should include ALL of them!! Shame on you CBS, Shame on you Katie.

Ron Paul 2008!

[hayalayea]

Aren''t you forgetting someone?
Ron Paul.
Dennis Kucinich.
Tom Tancredo.

Maybe I''ll stop buying the products advertised during the news airtime. And maybe I''ll tell all (and I mean all!) my friends that CBS is trying to dictate who is getting elected.

[tbradtbrad]

Congratulations CBS! Tonight, for the first time, I will watch The CBS EVENING NEWS w/KC. And I will make a list of every advertiser and write each a letter explaining how I can live without their products because you, CBS, are trying to dictate who is electable. Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich are also candidates, ELECTABLE candidates.

We have to do something... however small.

[neoconslayer]

THEMAGIC07,
I smell the stink of your fear.
Yours is the cowardice that eats away at the soul of America.
How does his alleged non-payment of a parking ticket (the very same reason we all hate Jeffrey Dahmer) more damning than a certain professed Christian''s matching pair of DUI convictions? (Hint: He lives at 1600 Pennsylvannia Avenue...)
The comments "...running on his record...questionable investments...knows what universal means...says one thing...politics as usual...living overseas...inexperienced..." are all just a bunch of ***. Most of them say nothing relevant, but are instead the keening whine of your terror.
Your comment concerning the pledge of allegiance: prove it or drop it back into the well of your hate.
Ditto for your rather bizarre claim of recruiting non-Iowans to vote. C''mon slick! Do you really expect us to believe that after all the practice, not to mention the attention paid to going first, that the people of Iowa can''t figure out who is registered to vote in their own state?
Have a nice day.