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CNN Live Today

Election 2002 Ballot Initiatives

Aired November 01, 2002 - 11:13   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Voters will do more than just choose candidates when they go to the polls on Tuesday. In many areas, they'll also voting on ballot initiatives, on issues ranging from education to health care, to marijuana. Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider joins us to talk about some of those ballot questions. And, aren't we lucky. We have you down here in Atlanta.
BILL SCHNEIDER, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: My pleasure. We had you up in Washington last week.

KAGAN: I know. Twice in one week. I am feeling like a lucky girl. America is an interesting place, isn't it, though?

SCHNEIDER: We vote own everything, and some of the craziest things. Well, some of them are interesting. Here, in Nevada, not a liberal state, but a libertarian state, they're voting on a proposition that would legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana because the view is that this distracts law authorities -- law enforcement authorities --

KAGAN: And we're not talking medical use here. We're talking anybody.

SCHNEIDER: Any use. A small amount of marijuana should not be a crime in Nevada, where some other things are not crimes either, like gambling. Another measure in Nevada, that marriage must be between a man and woman. Well, duh. It doesn't sound too unusual, except that it's meant to say that never can be a gay...

KAGAN: It's anti-gay.

SCHNEIDER: ... marriages in Nevada. In Vermont, they do have a law that allows gay civil unions. They're not called marriages.

Florida has an initiative that started becoming very, very divisive in the contest there. It should mandate reductions in class sizes and it's dividing...

KAGAN: Sounds simple.

SCHNEIDER: Sounds very simple. The state is accumulating a lot of population. The class sizes are growing. The voters have getting angry. But it's dividing the candidates. Governor Jeb Bush says he doesn't favor this, because it will cost too much and they'll have to raise taxes. And he's challenging the Democrat to say how is he going to pay for it. So that's going to be very divisive...

KAGAN: And Bill McBride hasn't had an exact answer for that yet.

SCHNEIDER: No, he hasn't. And there's a big debate over how much is this going to cost?

Well, in Oregon, talk about money. How's this for money.

KAGAN: OK.

SCHNEIDER: Oregon is considering a measure that would mandate a state program to provide universal health care for everybody in the state of Oregon. Now, talk about expensive. That would be expensive. And that's -- but it's still a very popular measure, because people don't like the idea that there are Oregonians who don't have any kind of health insurance.

Oklahoma, here's a big one, cock fighting. Sounds something that doesn't happen anymore, well, actually it does happen. In Oklahoma and a couple of states, it is legal. They're debating and voting --

KAGAN: So it's still legal there?

SCHNEIDER: It is still legal. Should it be illegal? And here the lines are all mixed up, because Frank Keating, the Republican governor, says it should be illegal, and a lot of Democrats and liberals are saying, we don't want to ban anything. So the lines are all confused there. It's animal rights activists versus people who say it's a matter of personal freedom and culture. A lot of immigrant groups participate in cock fighting.

KAGAN: OK. And, finally, my home state of California?

SCHNEIDER: California, there's a so-called Arnold Schwarzenegger initiative.

KAGAN: Only in California.

SCHNEIDER: Now, this sounds like a liberal Democrat would propose it, increasing state funding for before and afterschool programs. But Arnold Schwarzenegger, who's pushing this real hard, is considered a possible contender for governor of California in the next election four years from now. A lot of Republicans who were doing very badly in California have pinned their hopes on Schwarzenegger, and this is a very popular initiative that could very well pass in California.

KAGAN: And speaking of California, you were going to save one that talks about coffee in Berkeley, California, the kind of coffee that you'll be able to serve. We're going to talk about it in a bit. And you're also going to come back because we're going to have Ben Stein, and you're going to hang out with him, as well, with me.

SCHNEIDER: That's right. Politically correct coffee.

KAGAN: We're looking forward to that. So don't go far.

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 November 1, 2002 - 11:13   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Voters will do more than just choose candidates when they go to the polls on Tuesday. In many areas, they'll also voting on ballot initiatives, on issues ranging from education to health care, to marijuana. Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider joins us to talk about some of those ballot questions. And, aren't we lucky. We have you down here in Atlanta.
BILL SCHNEIDER, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: My pleasure. We had you up in Washington last week.

KAGAN: I know. Twice in one week. I am feeling like a lucky girl. America is an interesting place, isn't it, though?

SCHNEIDER: We vote own everything, and some of the craziest things. Well, some of them are interesting. Here, in Nevada, not a liberal state, but a libertarian state, they're voting on a proposition that would legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana because the view is that this distracts law authorities -- law enforcement authorities --

KAGAN: And we're not talking medical use here. We're talking anybody.

SCHNEIDER: Any use. A small amount of marijuana should not be a crime in Nevada, where some other things are not crimes either, like gambling. Another measure in Nevada, that marriage must be between a man and woman. Well, duh. It doesn't sound too unusual, except that it's meant to say that never can be a gay...

KAGAN: It's anti-gay.

SCHNEIDER: ... marriages in Nevada. In Vermont, they do have a law that allows gay civil unions. They're not called marriages.

Florida has an initiative that started becoming very, very divisive in the contest there. It should mandate reductions in class sizes and it's dividing...

KAGAN: Sounds simple.

SCHNEIDER: Sounds very simple. The state is accumulating a lot of population. The class sizes are growing. The voters have getting angry. But it's dividing the candidates. Governor Jeb Bush says he doesn't favor this, because it will cost too much and they'll have to raise taxes. And he's challenging the Democrat to say how is he going to pay for it. So that's going to be very divisive...

KAGAN: And Bill McBride hasn't had an exact answer for that yet.

SCHNEIDER: No, he hasn't. And there's a big debate over how much is this going to cost?

Well, in Oregon, talk about money. How's this for money.

KAGAN: OK.

SCHNEIDER: Oregon is considering a measure that would mandate a state program to provide universal health care for everybody in the state of Oregon. Now, talk about expensive. That would be expensive. And that's -- but it's still a very popular measure, because people don't like the idea that there are Oregonians who don't have any kind of health insurance.

Oklahoma, here's a big one, cock fighting. Sounds something that doesn't happen anymore, well, actually it does happen. In Oklahoma and a couple of states, it is legal. They're debating and voting --

KAGAN: So it's still legal there?

SCHNEIDER: It is still legal. Should it be illegal? And here the lines are all mixed up, because Frank Keating, the Republican governor, says it should be illegal, and a lot of Democrats and liberals are saying, we don't want to ban anything. So the lines are all confused there. It's animal rights activists versus people who say it's a matter of personal freedom and culture. A lot of immigrant groups participate in cock fighting.

KAGAN: OK. And, finally, my home state of California?

SCHNEIDER: California, there's a so-called Arnold Schwarzenegger initiative.

KAGAN: Only in California.

SCHNEIDER: Now, this sounds like a liberal Democrat would propose it, increasing state funding for before and afterschool programs. But Arnold Schwarzenegger, who's pushing this real hard, is considered a possible contender for governor of California in the next election four years from now. A lot of Republicans who were doing very badly in California have pinned their hopes on Schwarzenegger, and this is a very popular initiative that could very well pass in California.

KAGAN: And speaking of California, you were going to save one that talks about coffee in Berkeley, California, the kind of coffee that you'll be able to serve. We're going to talk about it in a bit. And you're also going to come back because we're going to have Ben Stein, and you're going to hang out with him, as well, with me.

SCHNEIDER: That's right. Politically correct coffee.

KAGAN: We're looking forward to that. So don't go far.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com