Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Interview With Dick Rosengarten

Aired August 07, 2003 - 10:04   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Let's not forget that pornographer Larry Flynt is also among the voters choices to replace Governor Davis. And now, there's word that the comedian Gallagher is also preparing to take a whack at it. Some are calling all of this quite the circus atmosphere.
Veteran political observer Dick Rosengarten of "California Political Week" rejoins us today from Los Angeles with his assessment of the latest developments. All right, well, would you agree that this is somewhat of a circus atmosphere with everyone sort of getting into it?

DICK ROSENGARTEN, "CALIFORNIA POLITICAL WEEK": Oh, absolutely. And that's even in my headline for this week's issue of the newsletter.

But I have to say this: I was really shocked about Schwarzenegger. Twenty-four hours ago, when I was here on CNN, I said there was no way he was going to run, that it was going to be a former L.A. Mayor Dick Riordan. So this is really a surprise.

But I tell you one thing that it is going to do, and your report that just came off the air is absolutely accurate. It may cause this election to be as good as a regular gubernatorial election.

Remember, now, Fredricka, when this recall first started, the conservative Republicans who started it were hoping, well, we'll do a fall election. There won't be a very big turnout. Maybe 30, 35 percent. That's out the window now with Schwarzenegger and all the attention and the media that's out here in California.

I'm willing to bet right now that the turnout exceeds 50, 55 percent, which means it's closing in on what a regular presidential election would be.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: ... that's something to applaud. But let's talk about Schwarzenegger. And while he may be very popular in the Los Angeles area and likely to have quite the support there, does he represent the entire state?

ROSENGARTEN: No. You know, he's got great name identification, been in the movies all these years and everything. But he's never run for political office before. His experience is next to nothing, except for being the chairman of an initiative which passed last year. Yes, he's in the Kennedy clan because he's married to Maria Shriver. WHITFIELD: Yes, but he's a Republican and they're Democrats.

ROSENGARTEN: That's true.

The guy who was really the scariest to Gray Davis was Mayor Riordan, because Riordan was very popular here in Los Angeles and he could have gotten a lot of crossover Democrats. I'm not sure that Schwarzenegger can get crossover Democrats.

WHITFIELD: Well let's talk about how serious his campaign really is. Here we're talking about a candidate who has now thrown his hat into the ring, made it official on a late night talk show.

ROSENGARTEN: Yes. Well, you know...

WHITFIELD: Should his candidacy be taken seriously based on that alone?

ROSENGARTEN: I take it seriously, because No. 1, he does have money. No. 2 he's hired a very competent campaign staff. It's mostly Governor Wilson's people, former Governor Wilson's people. But they're very, very good. They're sharp operators.

This guy is a moderate Republican. He's not going to scare anybody. He's not anti-choice. He's not for getting rid of all the gun laws we have here. He's a very moderate Republican. And given the unpopularity of Gray Davis, I mean, you know, anything's possible.

WHITFIELD: And oftentimes, when you have high-profile races, just like this one is obviously going to be, you might have the president that might even do a little campaigning for the candidate of choice. Do you see that President Bush would actually campaign for this Republican?

ROSENGARTEN: So far, he has kept his hands off this thing. And, you know, there is a member of Congress who is running in this race, Congressman Darryl Issa. And I would tend to think that while President Bush might say, you know, great, you know, let's recall Davis. Arianna Huffington's message that everybody's blaming Davis for the economic crisis here in California. You know, President Bush has also run up a pretty heavy deficit in the nation's Capitol. So he's got to be very, very careful about this.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dick Rosengarten, good to see you. Thanks so much for joining us once again this week.

ROSENGARTEN: Thank you so much. Good morning to you.

WHITFIELD: Good morning to 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 - 10:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Let's not forget that pornographer Larry Flynt is also among the voters choices to replace Governor Davis. And now, there's word that the comedian Gallagher is also preparing to take a whack at it. Some are calling all of this quite the circus atmosphere.
Veteran political observer Dick Rosengarten of "California Political Week" rejoins us today from Los Angeles with his assessment of the latest developments. All right, well, would you agree that this is somewhat of a circus atmosphere with everyone sort of getting into it?

DICK ROSENGARTEN, "CALIFORNIA POLITICAL WEEK": Oh, absolutely. And that's even in my headline for this week's issue of the newsletter.

But I have to say this: I was really shocked about Schwarzenegger. Twenty-four hours ago, when I was here on CNN, I said there was no way he was going to run, that it was going to be a former L.A. Mayor Dick Riordan. So this is really a surprise.

But I tell you one thing that it is going to do, and your report that just came off the air is absolutely accurate. It may cause this election to be as good as a regular gubernatorial election.

Remember, now, Fredricka, when this recall first started, the conservative Republicans who started it were hoping, well, we'll do a fall election. There won't be a very big turnout. Maybe 30, 35 percent. That's out the window now with Schwarzenegger and all the attention and the media that's out here in California.

I'm willing to bet right now that the turnout exceeds 50, 55 percent, which means it's closing in on what a regular presidential election would be.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: ... that's something to applaud. But let's talk about Schwarzenegger. And while he may be very popular in the Los Angeles area and likely to have quite the support there, does he represent the entire state?

ROSENGARTEN: No. You know, he's got great name identification, been in the movies all these years and everything. But he's never run for political office before. His experience is next to nothing, except for being the chairman of an initiative which passed last year. Yes, he's in the Kennedy clan because he's married to Maria Shriver. WHITFIELD: Yes, but he's a Republican and they're Democrats.

ROSENGARTEN: That's true.

The guy who was really the scariest to Gray Davis was Mayor Riordan, because Riordan was very popular here in Los Angeles and he could have gotten a lot of crossover Democrats. I'm not sure that Schwarzenegger can get crossover Democrats.

WHITFIELD: Well let's talk about how serious his campaign really is. Here we're talking about a candidate who has now thrown his hat into the ring, made it official on a late night talk show.

ROSENGARTEN: Yes. Well, you know...

WHITFIELD: Should his candidacy be taken seriously based on that alone?

ROSENGARTEN: I take it seriously, because No. 1, he does have money. No. 2 he's hired a very competent campaign staff. It's mostly Governor Wilson's people, former Governor Wilson's people. But they're very, very good. They're sharp operators.

This guy is a moderate Republican. He's not going to scare anybody. He's not anti-choice. He's not for getting rid of all the gun laws we have here. He's a very moderate Republican. And given the unpopularity of Gray Davis, I mean, you know, anything's possible.

WHITFIELD: And oftentimes, when you have high-profile races, just like this one is obviously going to be, you might have the president that might even do a little campaigning for the candidate of choice. Do you see that President Bush would actually campaign for this Republican?

ROSENGARTEN: So far, he has kept his hands off this thing. And, you know, there is a member of Congress who is running in this race, Congressman Darryl Issa. And I would tend to think that while President Bush might say, you know, great, you know, let's recall Davis. Arianna Huffington's message that everybody's blaming Davis for the economic crisis here in California. You know, President Bush has also run up a pretty heavy deficit in the nation's Capitol. So he's got to be very, very careful about this.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dick Rosengarten, good to see you. Thanks so much for joining us once again this week.

ROSENGARTEN: Thank you so much. Good morning to you.

WHITFIELD: Good morning to 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