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CNN Live At Daybreak

Total Recall: Schwarzenegger is in, but can he Win?

Aired August 07, 2003 - 06:34   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: Now for what you missed last night. Arnold Schwarzenegger announcing to millions of viewers that he will terminate Gray Davis. The actor-politician appeared on Jay Leno's "Tonight Show" to announce his much-anticipated decision about entering the recall race.
Here is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: That message is not just a message for California. It is a message that is from California all the way to the East Coast to all of the politicians.

JAY LENO, HOST, "TONIGHT SHOW": Right.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Republicans and Democrats alike.

LENO: Right.

SCHWARZENEGGER: To say them, do your job for the people and do it well, or otherwise you are out. Asta la vista, baby!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: He had it down, but can he win?

Live to the phone lines now and Mark Plotkin, political commentator for WTOP Radio out of Washington and our man for party politics.

Good morning, Mark.

MARK PLOTKIN, WTOP RADIO: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, can he win?

PLOTKIN: Well, yes, I guess anybody can win. There are a lot of candidates. You don't need to win 50 percent plus one; you just need a plurality. There will probably be 20 candidates, and if Democrats stay off the ballot, he has a shot. It's a long way off, October 7, and many things can happen. He'll be coming under close scrutiny, but he sure has 100 percent name recognition and an amiable personality.

COSTELLO: Boy, you're not kidding. He threw in a lot of Terminator terms, didn't he, last night? There are prominent Democrats now in the race, and that could really hurt Gray Davis actually more than Arnold Schwarzenegger can.

PLOTKIN: Well, no prominent Democrat has said they're going to be in the race. The lieutenant governor has toyed with it. They talk about Jane Harman, who has a lot of money herself, who ran for governor as a Democrat before, who is now a congresswoman. Leon Panetta, the former chief of staff and is a congressman right now. And Diane Feinstein says she is not running.

COSTELLO: Well, now wait. Let me interrupt for a second, Mark, because we heard late last night that the lieutenant governor, Bustamante, will run for governor.

PLOTKIN: You're ahead of me. Well, if he runs, that surely makes for more problems for Gray Davis. I mean, Gray Davis doesn't, you know, want any Democrats there. He had gotten the nine presidential candidates to say don't have a Democrat run. He had gone to Chicago to get the AFL-CIO. Yes, any Democrat, any alternative -- it's an overwhelmingly Democratic state -- surely hurts Gray Davis. There is no doubt about that.

And it makes it a little more difficult for Arnold Schwarzenegger, although Schwarzenegger has Republicans that can siphon his vote -- Darrell Issa, who bankrolled the whole effort, and Bill Simon, who ran -- it was a long time ago, Carol, November -- against Gray Davis and got votes.

So, it's a brokered field, there is no doubt about that.

COSTELLO: Yes, and Arnold Schwarzenegger is a moderate Republican, so maybe some Democrats would vote for him and some Republicans would not because of that.

I want to talk about the race as a whole, because it's kind of become a national joke. Larry Flynt is going to run. Another Arnold, Gary Coleman is going to run.

PLOTKIN: Yes, it's a free country. And, you know, the requirements are -- really, I think mostly anybody who is interested in politics and can pay the rent can get in. You only need 65 signatures and $3,500, and if you don't have it, borrow it from somebody and get your name on the ballot. Nearly -- over 400 people have expressed interest. We'll find out on Saturday at 5:00 how many are actually in.

But this is a phenomenon that was never heard before, and everybody says, look, I'd like to be governor. Why not?

COSTELLO: Yes, I'd love to see Gary Coleman use that famous line -- "What you talking about, Willis?" -- somehow in the race for governor.

PLOTKIN: He already has.

The other thing that Schwarzenegger said, which is interesting -- we'll see if he holds to it -- is he said he will not ask for money from other people; that he will finance his own campaign, sort of ala Ross Perot. So, the variables are just unimaginable.

COSTELLO: Well, thank goodness his latest movie did well, because he has even more money to finance his campaign.

Mark Plotkin joining us live on the phone from Washington this morning, thank you.

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 August 7, 2003 - 06:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now for what you missed last night. Arnold Schwarzenegger announcing to millions of viewers that he will terminate Gray Davis. The actor-politician appeared on Jay Leno's "Tonight Show" to announce his much-anticipated decision about entering the recall race.
Here is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: That message is not just a message for California. It is a message that is from California all the way to the East Coast to all of the politicians.

JAY LENO, HOST, "TONIGHT SHOW": Right.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Republicans and Democrats alike.

LENO: Right.

SCHWARZENEGGER: To say them, do your job for the people and do it well, or otherwise you are out. Asta la vista, baby!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: He had it down, but can he win?

Live to the phone lines now and Mark Plotkin, political commentator for WTOP Radio out of Washington and our man for party politics.

Good morning, Mark.

MARK PLOTKIN, WTOP RADIO: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, can he win?

PLOTKIN: Well, yes, I guess anybody can win. There are a lot of candidates. You don't need to win 50 percent plus one; you just need a plurality. There will probably be 20 candidates, and if Democrats stay off the ballot, he has a shot. It's a long way off, October 7, and many things can happen. He'll be coming under close scrutiny, but he sure has 100 percent name recognition and an amiable personality.

COSTELLO: Boy, you're not kidding. He threw in a lot of Terminator terms, didn't he, last night? There are prominent Democrats now in the race, and that could really hurt Gray Davis actually more than Arnold Schwarzenegger can.

PLOTKIN: Well, no prominent Democrat has said they're going to be in the race. The lieutenant governor has toyed with it. They talk about Jane Harman, who has a lot of money herself, who ran for governor as a Democrat before, who is now a congresswoman. Leon Panetta, the former chief of staff and is a congressman right now. And Diane Feinstein says she is not running.

COSTELLO: Well, now wait. Let me interrupt for a second, Mark, because we heard late last night that the lieutenant governor, Bustamante, will run for governor.

PLOTKIN: You're ahead of me. Well, if he runs, that surely makes for more problems for Gray Davis. I mean, Gray Davis doesn't, you know, want any Democrats there. He had gotten the nine presidential candidates to say don't have a Democrat run. He had gone to Chicago to get the AFL-CIO. Yes, any Democrat, any alternative -- it's an overwhelmingly Democratic state -- surely hurts Gray Davis. There is no doubt about that.

And it makes it a little more difficult for Arnold Schwarzenegger, although Schwarzenegger has Republicans that can siphon his vote -- Darrell Issa, who bankrolled the whole effort, and Bill Simon, who ran -- it was a long time ago, Carol, November -- against Gray Davis and got votes.

So, it's a brokered field, there is no doubt about that.

COSTELLO: Yes, and Arnold Schwarzenegger is a moderate Republican, so maybe some Democrats would vote for him and some Republicans would not because of that.

I want to talk about the race as a whole, because it's kind of become a national joke. Larry Flynt is going to run. Another Arnold, Gary Coleman is going to run.

PLOTKIN: Yes, it's a free country. And, you know, the requirements are -- really, I think mostly anybody who is interested in politics and can pay the rent can get in. You only need 65 signatures and $3,500, and if you don't have it, borrow it from somebody and get your name on the ballot. Nearly -- over 400 people have expressed interest. We'll find out on Saturday at 5:00 how many are actually in.

But this is a phenomenon that was never heard before, and everybody says, look, I'd like to be governor. Why not?

COSTELLO: Yes, I'd love to see Gary Coleman use that famous line -- "What you talking about, Willis?" -- somehow in the race for governor.

PLOTKIN: He already has.

The other thing that Schwarzenegger said, which is interesting -- we'll see if he holds to it -- is he said he will not ask for money from other people; that he will finance his own campaign, sort of ala Ross Perot. So, the variables are just unimaginable.

COSTELLO: Well, thank goodness his latest movie did well, because he has even more money to finance his campaign.

Mark Plotkin joining us live on the phone from Washington this morning, thank you.

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