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CNN Live Today

Total California Recall

Aired August 07, 2003 - 11:04   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: It's an unusually odd, but interesting nonetheless political climate for August, and an Aussie in the election cycle to built.
Senior political analyst Bill Schneider joins us in Los Angeles this morning. I know you love this and you've got your hands doing this here.

Let's just kind of reflect now if we can over the past 24 hours, over some of the more pivotal moments in this race.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the world has changed in the last 24 hours. Arnold Schwarzenegger getting in the race was a complete surprise to everyone, because the rumor mill, which has been going strong for weeks here in California said that he wasn't going to run, and Richard Riordan, the former mayor of Los Angeles, another self-described moderate Republican, was going to get it instead. Apparently, according to "The Los Angeles Times,":Schwarzenegger blindsided Mayor Riordan, got in at the last minute, and he is a formidable contender.

Although I should tell you that the polls show that a lot of voters have serious questions about his credibility. He's an actor. They wonder, well, can an actor be governor? They've done it before back with Ronald Reagan back in 1966. And about the only profession that has less credibly than an actor is a politician.

So Gray Davis is clearly pitching this as a campaign against the political insiders, the people in Sacramento who run the state and, in his view, have misrun the state.

WHITFIELD: And, Bill, while there are some questioning whether Schwarzenegger is really serious, he seemed to underscore his message of his seriousness by saying during his announcement, he's got the money, he's going to use his own money, he's not going to be bought by political interest groups. That would caution the sentiments that he doesn't need to be taken seriously, don't you think?

SCHNEIDER: People say, look, if he's willing to put his money into it, more power to him, and that's also a way for him to way to run against the political insiders, because he's saying Gray Davis, the governor, spends all his time raising money. He's indebted to the special interests. He owes things and favors to everybody in the state. I'm going to spend my own money. I don't know anybody, anything, no one has a claim on me. That's a pretty good argument.

He can also say, why do I need to do this? I have money, I have fame, I have celebrity, I must really believe in this, I want to save the state. And a lot of voters are going to nod and say, that's a good argument.

WHITFIELD: Well, here's another stars name, Gary Coleman. He's kind of thrown his hat into the ring, but he even admits he doesn't need to be taken seriously. He even wants to vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger. So what is this all about really?

SCHNEIDER: Well, we've got a little Arnold and a big Arnold, because Gary Coleman once played Arnold on television.

What it means is, look, you would call it a free-for-all, except it ain't going to be free. It's going to be a very expensive race with lots of people with a lot of money spending a lot of money to run. What it means is it's very easy to get into the rice. Just about anybody with 65 signatures can run, and 65 signatures, $3,500, you're a candidate. It's so easy to get in, the barriers are so low that this field is going to be very crowded and possibly very confusing it voters.

WHITFIELD: And getting even more confusing is the lieutenant governor now throwing his hat into the ring here, really confusing voters out there, I'm sure.

SCHNEIDER: That's right. And of course, he is a leading Democrat, and that means the Democrats have broken ranks. There may be other Democrats, John Garamendi (ph), the state insurance commissioner, elected statewide. There is another Democrat who is fairly known. There's Cruz Boustamante (ph). He's not even on speaking terms with the governor, Gray Davis, although they're both Democrats. So that means the Democrats have broken ranks, they're no longer holding firm behind Gray Davis. So it's really anybody's guess how this thing goes.

WHITFIELD: Well, it's really interesting. We have gotten some quite interesting e-mails that have been coming in. Some folks saying, they just don't like the idea of a Hollywood personality throwing his hat into the ring, but you know what, it's getting folks' attention, isn't it, Bill?

SCHNEIDER: Absolutely.

And you know, we've elected Jesse Ventura in California, Ronald Reagan became president, politician Fred Thompson was a senator from Tennessee, he was an actor. When a voter get fed up, as they appear to be here in California, they want something completely different and there's a rebellion. And in this case, it's a rebellion against the whole political establishment, and no one epitomizes that political establishment running the state of California more than Gray Davis.

WHITFIELD: All right, Bill, this is going to be a lot of fun watching all these races. Thanks very much.

SCHNEIDER: Absolutely.

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 - 11:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It's an unusually odd, but interesting nonetheless political climate for August, and an Aussie in the election cycle to built.
Senior political analyst Bill Schneider joins us in Los Angeles this morning. I know you love this and you've got your hands doing this here.

Let's just kind of reflect now if we can over the past 24 hours, over some of the more pivotal moments in this race.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the world has changed in the last 24 hours. Arnold Schwarzenegger getting in the race was a complete surprise to everyone, because the rumor mill, which has been going strong for weeks here in California said that he wasn't going to run, and Richard Riordan, the former mayor of Los Angeles, another self-described moderate Republican, was going to get it instead. Apparently, according to "The Los Angeles Times,":Schwarzenegger blindsided Mayor Riordan, got in at the last minute, and he is a formidable contender.

Although I should tell you that the polls show that a lot of voters have serious questions about his credibility. He's an actor. They wonder, well, can an actor be governor? They've done it before back with Ronald Reagan back in 1966. And about the only profession that has less credibly than an actor is a politician.

So Gray Davis is clearly pitching this as a campaign against the political insiders, the people in Sacramento who run the state and, in his view, have misrun the state.

WHITFIELD: And, Bill, while there are some questioning whether Schwarzenegger is really serious, he seemed to underscore his message of his seriousness by saying during his announcement, he's got the money, he's going to use his own money, he's not going to be bought by political interest groups. That would caution the sentiments that he doesn't need to be taken seriously, don't you think?

SCHNEIDER: People say, look, if he's willing to put his money into it, more power to him, and that's also a way for him to way to run against the political insiders, because he's saying Gray Davis, the governor, spends all his time raising money. He's indebted to the special interests. He owes things and favors to everybody in the state. I'm going to spend my own money. I don't know anybody, anything, no one has a claim on me. That's a pretty good argument.

He can also say, why do I need to do this? I have money, I have fame, I have celebrity, I must really believe in this, I want to save the state. And a lot of voters are going to nod and say, that's a good argument.

WHITFIELD: Well, here's another stars name, Gary Coleman. He's kind of thrown his hat into the ring, but he even admits he doesn't need to be taken seriously. He even wants to vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger. So what is this all about really?

SCHNEIDER: Well, we've got a little Arnold and a big Arnold, because Gary Coleman once played Arnold on television.

What it means is, look, you would call it a free-for-all, except it ain't going to be free. It's going to be a very expensive race with lots of people with a lot of money spending a lot of money to run. What it means is it's very easy to get into the rice. Just about anybody with 65 signatures can run, and 65 signatures, $3,500, you're a candidate. It's so easy to get in, the barriers are so low that this field is going to be very crowded and possibly very confusing it voters.

WHITFIELD: And getting even more confusing is the lieutenant governor now throwing his hat into the ring here, really confusing voters out there, I'm sure.

SCHNEIDER: That's right. And of course, he is a leading Democrat, and that means the Democrats have broken ranks. There may be other Democrats, John Garamendi (ph), the state insurance commissioner, elected statewide. There is another Democrat who is fairly known. There's Cruz Boustamante (ph). He's not even on speaking terms with the governor, Gray Davis, although they're both Democrats. So that means the Democrats have broken ranks, they're no longer holding firm behind Gray Davis. So it's really anybody's guess how this thing goes.

WHITFIELD: Well, it's really interesting. We have gotten some quite interesting e-mails that have been coming in. Some folks saying, they just don't like the idea of a Hollywood personality throwing his hat into the ring, but you know what, it's getting folks' attention, isn't it, Bill?

SCHNEIDER: Absolutely.

And you know, we've elected Jesse Ventura in California, Ronald Reagan became president, politician Fred Thompson was a senator from Tennessee, he was an actor. When a voter get fed up, as they appear to be here in California, they want something completely different and there's a rebellion. And in this case, it's a rebellion against the whole political establishment, and no one epitomizes that political establishment running the state of California more than Gray Davis.

WHITFIELD: All right, Bill, this is going to be a lot of fun watching all these races. Thanks very much.

SCHNEIDER: Absolutely.

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