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CNN Live At Daybreak
'Talk of CNN'
Aired September 25, 2002 - 05:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: What's the buzz at the water cooler this morning? We like to find out what our viewers are chatting about around the country. We call it "The Talk of CNN," and this morning we're checking in with Matt Pitta at WQRC Radio in Hyannis, Massachusetts. He joins us now by phone.
Good morning -- Matt.
MATT PITTA, WQRC RADIO, HYANNIS, MASSACHUSETTS: Good morning, Carol, how are you today?
COSTELLO: I'm pretty good. And you've got a very interesting race going on there. We're talking politics now.
PITTA: This is a big race for governor. The candidates were down here in our area just days ago. We had the primary just a little over a week ago on Tuesday, and they've already got the debates underway now. The Republican Party in Massachusetts this year is fielding Mitt Romney. I think everyone knows Mitt Romney now, right?
COSTELLO: Oh, from the Olympics, yes.
PITTA: He's the former head of the Salt Lake City Olympics. Mitt Romney ran against Ted Kennedy several years ago, Carol, and he lost that race, but continued in business, then went out to Salt Lake City, came back and decided to run for governor as a Republican here in Massachusetts. He was not opposed in his primary so he got a pass, as we would say, last week in the primary.
Now he's ready for action against his Democratic opponent. He's running against the current state treasurer, as you can see on the screen right now, Shannon O'Brien. She's been the state treasurer here in Massachusetts for several years, and the two of them squared off last night in their first debate. This is going to be a real barn burner of a race here in Massachusetts -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It's been pretty nasty so far, even during the primary, right?
PITTA: It was -- it was definitely a very difficult race for both sides for different reasons. Shannon O'Brien had a four-way race, which was a very tough battle for her. She was in a race against the State Senate president, a former state senator and Robert Reich, the former Labor Secretary. So she was able to beat out those three candidates.
Mitt Romney was trying to get his candidate elected as the new lieutenant governor nominee, and he was successful. So Mitt Romney is running with a woman, Kerry Healy, as his chosen running mate and Shannon O'Brien's running with a gentlemen, Chris Gabrieli.
Now what's interesting and what's shaping -- the way this race is shaping up now, and it really became real clear last night as we watched and monitored this debate, is both candidates are going to try to position themselves as outsiders because there seems to be a disdain for government here in Massachusetts right now based on the -- you know the financial problems. This state has had real big budget cuts. And it's interesting to see the way the two are trying to position themselves, because last night, especially during the debate,...
COSTELLO: Well that's interesting to me because President Bush is so darn popular now with voters.
PITTA: Well you know it's interesting, he's very popular, obviously, nationwide winning election; but in Massachusetts, this remains a very Democratic state. Now the legislature is controlled heavily by Democrats. In fact, it's kind of a joke on Beacon Hill in terms of our State Senate in Massachusetts that when the Republicans get together they can meet in a phone booth, because, and you know it's kind of a joke, Carol, but it's true, there are only about six Republicans in the State Senate in Massachusetts out of a total of 40. So the Republicans have been looking to increase their ranks in the legislature; however, they've controlled the governor's office since 1990. And that's why the Republican Party is very concerned about keeping this office in their column. In fact, President Bush will be coming to Massachusetts in just a few more days to campaign for Mitt Romney.
Now Romney is trying to position himself as an outsider and so is Shannon O'Brien. And Romney and O'Brien had an interesting debate last night with Romney questioning O'Brien how could she be an outsider when she's been in state politics for so many years. O'Brien questioning Romney how he -- how he could be an outsider when he's so tied to the Republican establishment. So this is going to be a great political race in Massachusetts over the next six weeks or so.
COSTELLO: Oh, politics are fun in Massachusetts, though, I must say.
PITTA: Indeed.
COSTELLO: Always interesting.
Thank you very much -- Matt Pitta.
PITTA: All right -- Carol.
COSTELLO: We'll get back to you next week.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 25, 2002 - 05:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: What's the buzz at the water cooler this morning? We like to find out what our viewers are chatting about around the country. We call it "The Talk of CNN," and this morning we're checking in with Matt Pitta at WQRC Radio in Hyannis, Massachusetts. He joins us now by phone.
Good morning -- Matt.
MATT PITTA, WQRC RADIO, HYANNIS, MASSACHUSETTS: Good morning, Carol, how are you today?
COSTELLO: I'm pretty good. And you've got a very interesting race going on there. We're talking politics now.
PITTA: This is a big race for governor. The candidates were down here in our area just days ago. We had the primary just a little over a week ago on Tuesday, and they've already got the debates underway now. The Republican Party in Massachusetts this year is fielding Mitt Romney. I think everyone knows Mitt Romney now, right?
COSTELLO: Oh, from the Olympics, yes.
PITTA: He's the former head of the Salt Lake City Olympics. Mitt Romney ran against Ted Kennedy several years ago, Carol, and he lost that race, but continued in business, then went out to Salt Lake City, came back and decided to run for governor as a Republican here in Massachusetts. He was not opposed in his primary so he got a pass, as we would say, last week in the primary.
Now he's ready for action against his Democratic opponent. He's running against the current state treasurer, as you can see on the screen right now, Shannon O'Brien. She's been the state treasurer here in Massachusetts for several years, and the two of them squared off last night in their first debate. This is going to be a real barn burner of a race here in Massachusetts -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It's been pretty nasty so far, even during the primary, right?
PITTA: It was -- it was definitely a very difficult race for both sides for different reasons. Shannon O'Brien had a four-way race, which was a very tough battle for her. She was in a race against the State Senate president, a former state senator and Robert Reich, the former Labor Secretary. So she was able to beat out those three candidates.
Mitt Romney was trying to get his candidate elected as the new lieutenant governor nominee, and he was successful. So Mitt Romney is running with a woman, Kerry Healy, as his chosen running mate and Shannon O'Brien's running with a gentlemen, Chris Gabrieli.
Now what's interesting and what's shaping -- the way this race is shaping up now, and it really became real clear last night as we watched and monitored this debate, is both candidates are going to try to position themselves as outsiders because there seems to be a disdain for government here in Massachusetts right now based on the -- you know the financial problems. This state has had real big budget cuts. And it's interesting to see the way the two are trying to position themselves, because last night, especially during the debate,...
COSTELLO: Well that's interesting to me because President Bush is so darn popular now with voters.
PITTA: Well you know it's interesting, he's very popular, obviously, nationwide winning election; but in Massachusetts, this remains a very Democratic state. Now the legislature is controlled heavily by Democrats. In fact, it's kind of a joke on Beacon Hill in terms of our State Senate in Massachusetts that when the Republicans get together they can meet in a phone booth, because, and you know it's kind of a joke, Carol, but it's true, there are only about six Republicans in the State Senate in Massachusetts out of a total of 40. So the Republicans have been looking to increase their ranks in the legislature; however, they've controlled the governor's office since 1990. And that's why the Republican Party is very concerned about keeping this office in their column. In fact, President Bush will be coming to Massachusetts in just a few more days to campaign for Mitt Romney.
Now Romney is trying to position himself as an outsider and so is Shannon O'Brien. And Romney and O'Brien had an interesting debate last night with Romney questioning O'Brien how could she be an outsider when she's been in state politics for so many years. O'Brien questioning Romney how he -- how he could be an outsider when he's so tied to the Republican establishment. So this is going to be a great political race in Massachusetts over the next six weeks or so.
COSTELLO: Oh, politics are fun in Massachusetts, though, I must say.
PITTA: Indeed.
COSTELLO: Always interesting.
Thank you very much -- Matt Pitta.
PITTA: All right -- Carol.
COSTELLO: We'll get back to you next week.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
