This is a rush transcript from “Hannity,” May 6, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: This is a Fox News alert. Voters in Great Britain cast their ballots today in that nation’s elections. And exit polls indicate that they have tossed out Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labour Party which has been in power for 13 years.
Now the exit polls show that the election is likely to end with a hung parliament. That means none of the parties — Mr. Brown’s Labour Party, David Cameron’s Conservative Party, or Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats — will have won a majority of the seats in parliament and therefore the right to elect the next prime minister.
But right now the Tories led by Mr. Cameron have won the most seats. And if that lead holds up. But does Cameron win a parliamentary majority? He may not. He may be forced to cut a deal with his rivals in order to become prime minister.
So is the Labour Party’s likely defeat in Great Britain’s swing toward the Conservative Party are warning signal for the Obama administration?
And joining me now with his take on all of this and what it means for the U.S. is pollster and president of the Word Doctors, the one and only, Frank Luntz.
Frank, interesting results. Go ahead.
FRANK LUNTZ, THE WORD DOCTORS: Sean. Yes, and I’m going to surprise you because I’ve been going through the data. I’ve had the opportunity to look both at the exit polling and the results that have come in.
And this is not just a warning for the Obama administration. It’s also a warning for Republicans in the states. If you go back seven months, David Cameron and the conservatives had a 19-point lead nationwide which would have given them a very clear majority. In fact, it would have been an overwhelming landslide.
And over the last seven months their support deteriorated to the point in the first debate where they actually were only a couple of points above the Lib-Dems and only four points above Labour.
Now understand, Sean, that the economic condition of Britain are very perilous and the hostility towards the current socialist government was very strong. The fact that the conservatives would be doing so poorly was a clear message to the Republicans.
HANNITY: But hang on. But there’s one thing that you’re not factoring in here. I think you’ve got to factor, nobody anticipated that Nick Clegg of the liberal Democrats would have done as well. And the debates that played a pretty key role in the shifting in the poll numbers that took place.
So in essence, there was a split in the vote that was not anticipated when those polls were taken seven months ago.
LUNTZ: And yet what is happening tonight, and it surprised pundits who were evaluating the exit polls, and it now looks like it’s coming true, is that instead of the Lib-Dems getting 90 or 100 seats as some people had expected, they’re down to 60s and 70s.
And what does that mean for an American voter watching this? Is that you cannot count your chickens before they are hatched. You cannot assume that the election results — just because people are angry, just because they want something new, it doesn’t mean that they actually will deliver it on Election Day.
HANNITY: Yes.
LUNTZ: One more point, Sean. The turnout in Britain jumped up three percent. There is a time at the beginning of the campaign that they were projecting that the turn-out in Britain might actually drop, as voters were frustrated and felt that they couldn’t make a difference.
Instead, there are polling places in Britain where people waited in line for over 90 minutes to vote, which is unheard of in that country. And some people even got shut-out from voting.
HANNITY: Alright. Let’s talk about what the predictable results here. Looks like Cameron and the conservatives will get a governing majority. You would anticipate that?
LUNTZ: Yes.
HANNITY: OK. And that — so alright.
LUNTZ: Yes.
HANNITY: So that is a change of power especially after 13 years. As you pointed out miserable economic conditions among other things. Perilous, I think, is the word that you used.
Let’s go to David Cameron in one of the debates. This is what he said about what Britain could expect Friday if they elect him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAMERON, CONSERVATIVE PARTY CANDIDATE, MAY 5: If you want to wake up with a new government on Friday, with its sleeves rolled up, getting on with the job of cleaning up the mess that’s been left in our country, then vote Conservative.
Any other vote and we could be stuck with what we’ve got. If you vote Labour you’re going to get five more years of Gordon Brown. If you vote Liberal Democrat you’ll probably going to get five more years.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Reaction?
LUNTZ: Now, Sean, yes, this is what’s important. He kept saying five more years of Labour. Five more years. But Labour had been in power for 13 years. What he should have said to really capture the British emotion is you’re going to get 18 years of a Labour government. Do they deserve 18 years in power?
This is a very important example of the party leader getting the messaging wrong. Not being able to encapsulate the frustration that the British have. It’s not five years, Sean. It’s 18 years.
HANNITY: Alright. Let’s go to this issue of the siphoning off of votes by Nick Clegg. And he ran pretty much on a message of change as well. Here’s what he said:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK CLEGG, LIBERAL DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE, MAY 5: What we want is for people to make their choice. The people to make their voice heard. For people to shape the future in the way that they want. For people to vote for the future that they want for themselves and their families.
It’s not for politicians to start second guessing what people are going to do tomorrow in one of the most unpredictable and exciting general elections in a generation.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: OK. So to what extent did he serve as a spoiler in a sense for an even larger majority for Cameron?
LUNTZ: He did serve to some degree as a spoiler. But notice the words that he used: It’s up to people to do this, it’s up to people to do that. He didn’t put it in the first person. He didn’t make it personal.
It’s up to you to say no to the elected officials that have failed you. It’s up to you to say no to a socialist government that hasn’t delivered on its promises. It’s up to you to vote for change.
He put it in the generic people. He wasn’t connecting to the voters in those final few days of the election.
HANNITY: Well, I got — I think that’s good advice. And I think it’s also good advice and a warning, and I have been saying this to conservatives and Republicans. Do not count your chickens before they hatch.
But clearly change is in the air in Great Britain and clearly the socialist policies of Labour have been rejected tonight. And it’s going to be interesting to watch in the days ahead how this all unfolds with parliamentary system a little bit different, obviously. But I would bet Cameron is the next prime minister of Great Britain.
Thanks for being with us.
LUNTZ: On that Sean, we agree.
HANNITY: Alright. Well, finally, I convinced Frank. It must mean — I’m definitely right now.
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