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CNN Live At Daybreak
Key Governor Races
Aired November 04, 2002 - 06:08 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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Now we're going to talk about some of the governors' races -- huge races out there.
Ron Brownstein is joining us now.
I guess we're going to cover the big states.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: We'll cover the big states.
CALLAWAY: Yes, let's start with California -- Gray Davis in a little trouble, a tight race there.
BROWNSTEIN: Gray Davis has had a weak approval rating really since the energy crisis. The budget crisis in California has been severe, as the economy has turned down.
And yet, Davis is holding on largely because his opponent, Republican Bill Simon -- who you'll remember beat a more moderate Dick Riordan in the primary -- simply hasn't been able to connect with California voters. They may hold their nose, but it looks like they're going to re-elect Gray Davis.
CALLAWAY: And Simon has had some personal issues that have kind of crept into this campaign, right?
BROWNSTEIN: He really -- you know, he's been one of several candidates this year, Catherine, with business backgrounds who really have been hamstrung and hurt by questions about their business ethics and previous business practices. It's really been sort of a car wreck of a campaign. They've had problems from the beginning, and despite Davis' obvious vulnerabilities, it doesn't look like they're going to get over the top.
CALLAWAY: I guess we won't know until Tuesday night what's going to happen in that race.
Let's go to Florida -- Governor Jeb Bush, Bill McBride, a great race there, very tight. You know, McBride came out of the gate looking great, beating Janet Reno. And where are we now?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think, you know, McBride beating Reno was an example of really two, I think, weak candidates from the beginning. Democrats felt that Reno had no chance, and that McBride would be a stronger general election candidate.
He has had some momentum, as you said, coming out of that victory. But he really, I don't think, has been forceful and sharp enough in presenting a case against Bush. It's a 50-50 state, Catherine, so the race may be close, but right now, you'd have to give Bush a clear edge. He's taking control of the debate, arguing that McBride's agenda would mean higher taxes, and that's always tough.
CALLAWAY: Do you think it's going to help, all of the big candidates, the big whigs going down there to push for McBride and Jeb Bush?
BROWNSTEIN: You know, I'm not really sure how much that matters. And what's a real dynamic this year, Catherine, it is interesting of course, is that the states are in difficult fiscal circumstances; 45 of them have budget deficits. And that means a lot of governors have had to take steps that are unpopular, either talking about cutting spending in most cases, or in some instances raising taxes.
So, you could see a lot of turnover, particularly for the Republicans, who are defending twice as many seats -- governor's seats on Tuesday than Democrats. You could see Democrats regaining the majority of the nation's governorships for the first time since 1994.
CALLAWAY: That's a good point.
All right, you know, Texas is an interesting state, because the Democrats started out with a great plan to go out there and get the minority. What do you think is going to happen?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, in Texas, as you mentioned, they put together what they call a "dream team." They have a Latino nominee for governor, Tony Sanchez, a banker, an African-American nominee for Senate, and a white nominee for the lieutenant governor, which is an important position in that state. The idea was to increase turnout in all of the Democratic communities.
Tony Sanchez, though, is not really -- has not really gotten off the ground. He, too, like Bill Simon, has been hurt by questions about his business dealings while running a family S&L in Texas.
And Rick Perry, the incumbent, who took office when George Bush was elected president, is cruising to a re-election, even though Sanchez may spend something like over $70 million.
CALLAWAY: Oh, my goodness!
BROWNSTEIN: That's a lot of money to take home to a loss.
CALLAWAY: That is a lot of money.
We're running out of time, Ron, but I want to touch on New York very quickly. Governor George Pataki, what's going to happen?
BROWNSTEIN: You know, the post-9/11 glow really made him safe. This is an amazing story, a very Democratic state where Pataki is going to cruise to re-election.
Democrats have to focus their hopes on states like Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania this year, because in the big three, as you mentioned -- Texas, Florida and New York -- they're not looking for any inroads.
CALLAWAY: All right, Ron Brownstein -- of course, you're with the "Los Angeles Times," we want to be sure and mention that -- our CNN political analyst. Thank you, Ron, for being with us. Thanks for getting up so early. We appreciate it.
BROWNSTEIN: Well, thank you. All right.
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 4, 2002 - 06:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Now we're going to talk about some of the governors' races -- huge races out there.
Ron Brownstein is joining us now.
I guess we're going to cover the big states.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: We'll cover the big states.
CALLAWAY: Yes, let's start with California -- Gray Davis in a little trouble, a tight race there.
BROWNSTEIN: Gray Davis has had a weak approval rating really since the energy crisis. The budget crisis in California has been severe, as the economy has turned down.
And yet, Davis is holding on largely because his opponent, Republican Bill Simon -- who you'll remember beat a more moderate Dick Riordan in the primary -- simply hasn't been able to connect with California voters. They may hold their nose, but it looks like they're going to re-elect Gray Davis.
CALLAWAY: And Simon has had some personal issues that have kind of crept into this campaign, right?
BROWNSTEIN: He really -- you know, he's been one of several candidates this year, Catherine, with business backgrounds who really have been hamstrung and hurt by questions about their business ethics and previous business practices. It's really been sort of a car wreck of a campaign. They've had problems from the beginning, and despite Davis' obvious vulnerabilities, it doesn't look like they're going to get over the top.
CALLAWAY: I guess we won't know until Tuesday night what's going to happen in that race.
Let's go to Florida -- Governor Jeb Bush, Bill McBride, a great race there, very tight. You know, McBride came out of the gate looking great, beating Janet Reno. And where are we now?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think, you know, McBride beating Reno was an example of really two, I think, weak candidates from the beginning. Democrats felt that Reno had no chance, and that McBride would be a stronger general election candidate.
He has had some momentum, as you said, coming out of that victory. But he really, I don't think, has been forceful and sharp enough in presenting a case against Bush. It's a 50-50 state, Catherine, so the race may be close, but right now, you'd have to give Bush a clear edge. He's taking control of the debate, arguing that McBride's agenda would mean higher taxes, and that's always tough.
CALLAWAY: Do you think it's going to help, all of the big candidates, the big whigs going down there to push for McBride and Jeb Bush?
BROWNSTEIN: You know, I'm not really sure how much that matters. And what's a real dynamic this year, Catherine, it is interesting of course, is that the states are in difficult fiscal circumstances; 45 of them have budget deficits. And that means a lot of governors have had to take steps that are unpopular, either talking about cutting spending in most cases, or in some instances raising taxes.
So, you could see a lot of turnover, particularly for the Republicans, who are defending twice as many seats -- governor's seats on Tuesday than Democrats. You could see Democrats regaining the majority of the nation's governorships for the first time since 1994.
CALLAWAY: That's a good point.
All right, you know, Texas is an interesting state, because the Democrats started out with a great plan to go out there and get the minority. What do you think is going to happen?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, in Texas, as you mentioned, they put together what they call a "dream team." They have a Latino nominee for governor, Tony Sanchez, a banker, an African-American nominee for Senate, and a white nominee for the lieutenant governor, which is an important position in that state. The idea was to increase turnout in all of the Democratic communities.
Tony Sanchez, though, is not really -- has not really gotten off the ground. He, too, like Bill Simon, has been hurt by questions about his business dealings while running a family S&L in Texas.
And Rick Perry, the incumbent, who took office when George Bush was elected president, is cruising to a re-election, even though Sanchez may spend something like over $70 million.
CALLAWAY: Oh, my goodness!
BROWNSTEIN: That's a lot of money to take home to a loss.
CALLAWAY: That is a lot of money.
We're running out of time, Ron, but I want to touch on New York very quickly. Governor George Pataki, what's going to happen?
BROWNSTEIN: You know, the post-9/11 glow really made him safe. This is an amazing story, a very Democratic state where Pataki is going to cruise to re-election.
Democrats have to focus their hopes on states like Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania this year, because in the big three, as you mentioned -- Texas, Florida and New York -- they're not looking for any inroads.
CALLAWAY: All right, Ron Brownstein -- of course, you're with the "Los Angeles Times," we want to be sure and mention that -- our CNN political analyst. Thank you, Ron, for being with us. Thanks for getting up so early. We appreciate it.
BROWNSTEIN: Well, thank you. All right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
