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American Morning
Early Lead for Arnold Schwarzenegger
Aired August 11, 2003 - 07:03 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, polls indicate that most Californians want Arnold Schwarzenegger to be their next governor. Schwarzenegger leads all 155 candidates in a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll. In fact, the number of candidates is now approaching 200 as of this morning.
Two-thirds of those polled would vote to remove the current governor, Gray Davis, from office.
Bob Franken up early in L.A. to take us through it yet again today.
Bob -- good morning there.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
And it's early in the campaign, and that's the caution that everybody puts on a poll like this. It is true that Governor Gray Davis is immensely unpopular in this state, which, of course, is what fueled the recall election. And it is true that Arnold Schwarzenegger early in the campaign, before he has really been put through the meat grinder of the campaign, is in the lead. Nobody is really surprised by that, because he brings so much star power.
But he is going to have to, as I said, go through this really meat grinder of a campaign, which, of course, is also turning into the real bizarre, with what could be close to 200 people on the ballot.
And Bill, as you know, having covered extensively the Florida election, the complications of that could be a real mess come election day.
HEMMER: And on that same note about Florida's election recount, there are already some reports today, Bob, that indicates that California uses a similar system that you point out right now, that indeed if the recall were to take place. Are there headaches that people are seeing right now two months in advance?
FRANKEN: Oh, huge headaches. They're talking about everything from hanging chad possibilities -- will we ever forget that? -- talking about the possibilities that there are going to be three, four and five pages of ballots. Some counties use the paper ballot. It's going to take days to count. Nobody expects a result at least for two or three days. It's going to be a mess.
It's also going to be an expensive mess. They're already revising upward their earlier estimates that this special election could cost the state of California more than $60 million.
HEMMER: Tack that on to the 38 billion they're in debt right now. It keeps adding up. Bob, thanks -- Bob Franken in L.A.
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 11, 2003 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, polls indicate that most Californians want Arnold Schwarzenegger to be their next governor. Schwarzenegger leads all 155 candidates in a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll. In fact, the number of candidates is now approaching 200 as of this morning.
Two-thirds of those polled would vote to remove the current governor, Gray Davis, from office.
Bob Franken up early in L.A. to take us through it yet again today.
Bob -- good morning there.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
And it's early in the campaign, and that's the caution that everybody puts on a poll like this. It is true that Governor Gray Davis is immensely unpopular in this state, which, of course, is what fueled the recall election. And it is true that Arnold Schwarzenegger early in the campaign, before he has really been put through the meat grinder of the campaign, is in the lead. Nobody is really surprised by that, because he brings so much star power.
But he is going to have to, as I said, go through this really meat grinder of a campaign, which, of course, is also turning into the real bizarre, with what could be close to 200 people on the ballot.
And Bill, as you know, having covered extensively the Florida election, the complications of that could be a real mess come election day.
HEMMER: And on that same note about Florida's election recount, there are already some reports today, Bob, that indicates that California uses a similar system that you point out right now, that indeed if the recall were to take place. Are there headaches that people are seeing right now two months in advance?
FRANKEN: Oh, huge headaches. They're talking about everything from hanging chad possibilities -- will we ever forget that? -- talking about the possibilities that there are going to be three, four and five pages of ballots. Some counties use the paper ballot. It's going to take days to count. Nobody expects a result at least for two or three days. It's going to be a mess.
It's also going to be an expensive mess. They're already revising upward their earlier estimates that this special election could cost the state of California more than $60 million.
HEMMER: Tack that on to the 38 billion they're in debt right now. It keeps adding up. Bob, thanks -- Bob Franken in L.A.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
