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American Morning
Political Fallout
Aired October 01, 2002 - 08:30 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning Democrats in New Jersey are hurrying to get Senator Robert Torricelli's name of the ballot and a new name on it, but the state's Republicans say not so fast. They plan to argue in court that it's too late to make a change with only 35 days before the election. So how could this all affect the balance of power in Capitol Hill as we head to these midterm elections?
Senior analyst Jeff Greenfield is the man who answer the questions this morning.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: Sure.
ZAHN: Good morning.
Let's talk a little bit before you get into all that minutiae about the impact of Torricelli's speech.
GREENFIELD: When you see a man whose public life ends over these circumstances, there is a mix of the political and human. He has had a reputation for years as being one of the toughest partisan Democrats in public life. And he was clear yesterday that his concerns for Democratic prospects for control of the Senate is what drove him to this decision. Let's hear him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ROBERT TORRICELLI (D), NEW JERSEY: I will not be responsible for the loss of the Democratic majority in of the United States Senate. I will not allow it to happen. There is just too much at issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: And the senator was also very clear, not that there was any other choice, that it was his ethical problems that turned his campaign into a one-issue campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TORRICELLI: This is a political campaign devoid of all issues. I cannot talk about war and peace, or economic opportunity or the environment, the sanctity of our Constitution or the things that have guided my life. I can't be heard. My voice is not so important that it cannot be substituted. If I cannot be heard, then someone else must be heard.
(END VIDEO CLIP) GREENFIELD: And while he acknowledged mistakes, there was also a real tone of anguish at the price that he was paying for those mistakes, namely the end of his political career.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TORRICELLI: I am a human being. And while I have not done the things that I have been accused of doing, I most certainly have made mistakes. There will be those who concluded that those mistakes bring justice this moment, because there's a price to be paid. When did we become such an unforgiving people?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Paula, I think it has to be said that one of the reasons why the voters apparently were not ready to forgive Torricelli was that the substance of his mistakes was a lot greater than he admitted, and the level of his candor, according to the Senate Ethics Committee and Justice Department lawyers, was a lot lower.
ZAHN: Some people viewed him as a liar.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
ZAHN: And it's hard to get around that.
GREENFIELD: Yes. And also someone who committed -- the misdeeds were not trivial, as far as taking far more in cash and gifts, and perhaps even trying to do favors for David Chang, the Korean-American businessman who is now in jail.
ZAHN: Let's talk about what is going on behind the scenes. You have the Republicans in court, trying to say it's not even legal to replace Torricelli on the ballot. The fact remains, no matter who they put on the ballot if they're allowed to do so,whoever that is has to somehow close a double-digit lead.
GREENFIELD: Not necessarily. There are two issues here. One is, can the Democrats do it? I think the law is going to give them fits. The governor said it just on this air; 51 days says can you do it, but it's silent about what happens less than 51 days. Been a long time since I was in law school, but if the law says you got 51 days to do something, it's not silent; it says, that's probably a problem.
And there are other options for the Democrats. They could run Torricelli, and he could pledge to resign, if elected, and let the governor appoint a replacement.
But because this race -- and I think in this case Senator Torricelli was right, was only about Torricelli and his problems, a different Democrat in a state that votes Democratic might in fact have a chance if that guy gets to be on the ballot.
ZAHN: Let's look at the other names being bandied about -- Bill Bradley, who has told just about everybody he's not interested, former Senator Frank Lautenberg. GREENFIELD: The most interesting one in a novelistic way. He's 78 years old, served in the Senate for 20 years. He and Torricelli hated each other, literally almost came to blows. In fact, I think Torricelli at one point was saying to people, if you try to put Lautenberg in, I will step down. On the other hand, he's not only a former senator, he's got big bucks.
ZAHN: And who are the other two choices?
GREENFIELD: Well, there's Congressman Menendez, Robert Menendez, a prominent congressman. He's got a war chest. There's Congressman Frank Pallone, Congressman Andrews, and in the state where the last Republican elected to the Senate was 30 years ago, this is why the Democrats think they have a chance. The other question is, are voters going to see that this is too clever? Are they going to hold the Democrats responsible for trying to pull a fast one, or are they going to say, thank you for giving us a choice.
ZAHN: Very quickly in closing. Let's assume they allowed a replacement candidate, the Republicans win. What does that mean for the balance of power in the Senate if that happens?
GREENFIELD: Well, it's a one-vote Democratic majority. There were about 12 Senate seats in play. This was a seat that six months ago, everybody chalked up to a Democratic victory. And it goes to show that whoever called it political science didn't know what they were talking about. It ain't science; it's very human.
ZAHN: Just goes to show, you and I are going to have a very long election night, I think, together.
GREENFIELD: Do you think it will be as long as 2000?
ZAHN: Oh, I hope not. That one took a lot out of a lot of people.
Thanks, Jeff.
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 October 1, 2002 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning Democrats in New Jersey are hurrying to get Senator Robert Torricelli's name of the ballot and a new name on it, but the state's Republicans say not so fast. They plan to argue in court that it's too late to make a change with only 35 days before the election. So how could this all affect the balance of power in Capitol Hill as we head to these midterm elections?
Senior analyst Jeff Greenfield is the man who answer the questions this morning.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: Sure.
ZAHN: Good morning.
Let's talk a little bit before you get into all that minutiae about the impact of Torricelli's speech.
GREENFIELD: When you see a man whose public life ends over these circumstances, there is a mix of the political and human. He has had a reputation for years as being one of the toughest partisan Democrats in public life. And he was clear yesterday that his concerns for Democratic prospects for control of the Senate is what drove him to this decision. Let's hear him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ROBERT TORRICELLI (D), NEW JERSEY: I will not be responsible for the loss of the Democratic majority in of the United States Senate. I will not allow it to happen. There is just too much at issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: And the senator was also very clear, not that there was any other choice, that it was his ethical problems that turned his campaign into a one-issue campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TORRICELLI: This is a political campaign devoid of all issues. I cannot talk about war and peace, or economic opportunity or the environment, the sanctity of our Constitution or the things that have guided my life. I can't be heard. My voice is not so important that it cannot be substituted. If I cannot be heard, then someone else must be heard.
(END VIDEO CLIP) GREENFIELD: And while he acknowledged mistakes, there was also a real tone of anguish at the price that he was paying for those mistakes, namely the end of his political career.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TORRICELLI: I am a human being. And while I have not done the things that I have been accused of doing, I most certainly have made mistakes. There will be those who concluded that those mistakes bring justice this moment, because there's a price to be paid. When did we become such an unforgiving people?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Paula, I think it has to be said that one of the reasons why the voters apparently were not ready to forgive Torricelli was that the substance of his mistakes was a lot greater than he admitted, and the level of his candor, according to the Senate Ethics Committee and Justice Department lawyers, was a lot lower.
ZAHN: Some people viewed him as a liar.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
ZAHN: And it's hard to get around that.
GREENFIELD: Yes. And also someone who committed -- the misdeeds were not trivial, as far as taking far more in cash and gifts, and perhaps even trying to do favors for David Chang, the Korean-American businessman who is now in jail.
ZAHN: Let's talk about what is going on behind the scenes. You have the Republicans in court, trying to say it's not even legal to replace Torricelli on the ballot. The fact remains, no matter who they put on the ballot if they're allowed to do so,whoever that is has to somehow close a double-digit lead.
GREENFIELD: Not necessarily. There are two issues here. One is, can the Democrats do it? I think the law is going to give them fits. The governor said it just on this air; 51 days says can you do it, but it's silent about what happens less than 51 days. Been a long time since I was in law school, but if the law says you got 51 days to do something, it's not silent; it says, that's probably a problem.
And there are other options for the Democrats. They could run Torricelli, and he could pledge to resign, if elected, and let the governor appoint a replacement.
But because this race -- and I think in this case Senator Torricelli was right, was only about Torricelli and his problems, a different Democrat in a state that votes Democratic might in fact have a chance if that guy gets to be on the ballot.
ZAHN: Let's look at the other names being bandied about -- Bill Bradley, who has told just about everybody he's not interested, former Senator Frank Lautenberg. GREENFIELD: The most interesting one in a novelistic way. He's 78 years old, served in the Senate for 20 years. He and Torricelli hated each other, literally almost came to blows. In fact, I think Torricelli at one point was saying to people, if you try to put Lautenberg in, I will step down. On the other hand, he's not only a former senator, he's got big bucks.
ZAHN: And who are the other two choices?
GREENFIELD: Well, there's Congressman Menendez, Robert Menendez, a prominent congressman. He's got a war chest. There's Congressman Frank Pallone, Congressman Andrews, and in the state where the last Republican elected to the Senate was 30 years ago, this is why the Democrats think they have a chance. The other question is, are voters going to see that this is too clever? Are they going to hold the Democrats responsible for trying to pull a fast one, or are they going to say, thank you for giving us a choice.
ZAHN: Very quickly in closing. Let's assume they allowed a replacement candidate, the Republicans win. What does that mean for the balance of power in the Senate if that happens?
GREENFIELD: Well, it's a one-vote Democratic majority. There were about 12 Senate seats in play. This was a seat that six months ago, everybody chalked up to a Democratic victory. And it goes to show that whoever called it political science didn't know what they were talking about. It ain't science; it's very human.
ZAHN: Just goes to show, you and I are going to have a very long election night, I think, together.
GREENFIELD: Do you think it will be as long as 2000?
ZAHN: Oh, I hope not. That one took a lot out of a lot of people.
Thanks, Jeff.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
