Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
Labor Day Marks Start of Campaign Season
Aired September 01, 2003 - 11:05 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it may be a holiday for some, as you know, but '04 presidential candidates are not taking the day off, as we've been telling you. That story tops today's "Voter Alert 2004."
We want to go to Judy Woodruff now, in Washington, for all of the latest on this. Just looking at those pictures out of Ohio, this is definitely a state that the president is thinking about in his reelection bid. Isn't that right, Judy?
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: No question, Heidi. As we just heard Dana say, this state has always been important, particularly to republicans. They've been able to count on Ohio as a reliably republican state in the presidential election year.
You're looking at, I presume, a motorcade coming in. These are live pictures.
But in the last election, in 2000, George Bush only beat Al Gore by a little under 4 percent. And for republicans that's not a percentage, that's not a close call that they want to repeat. They want to see Ohio firmly in President Bush's corner. They see this election as a very close one.
Despite the fact that President Bush has been well ahead in the public opinion polls, particularly since 9/11, and through the war in Afghanistan, and through the war in Iraq, they say, when you sit down to talk to them, that they see this election potentially as very, very close. They're not taking any state for granted, and certainly not Ohio, Heidi.
COLLINS: You're right, Judy. We are looking at some live pictures here, coming to us from Richfield, Ohio. We expect that the president will be coming to that podium there, which they have now taken the plastic off of because of the rainy situation there, getting ready for him to speak.
Judy, I do want to ask you, though, some experts would say that the candidates gave up too early on the state of Ohio. But there are 21 electoral votes there. Is that true, or is that possible they're just trying to make sure that does not happen once again?
WOODRUFF: I don't think, at this point, Ohio is very much in play. Dennis Kucinich, who is one of the nine democrats who declared they're running, he's frequently considered to be at the lower end of public opinion scale, because in the polls he's certainly in the single digits, the lower single digits, but he's very much out there, punching, talking about the president's Iraq policy, the president's economic policy. He's been a very tough liberal critic of the president.
But I don't think it's fair to say that any of the democrats, at this point certainly, 15 months away from the election, would, in any sense, write off Ohio. They're going to consider it in play as long as they think it's something they can win.
COLLINS: Judy, let's talk for just a minute, as we continue to look at these live pictures, expecting the president to speak any moment now in Ohio, about the other candidates, the other democratic candidates, in Iowa coming up, the Iowa caucuses.
WOODRUFF: Right. Well, you have, as we've been saying, I guess for days now, and for some people, they're looking at the calendar and saying, wait a minute, this isn't 2004, this is 2003. It is, but we are just four months away at this point, a little over four months away, from the Iowa caucuses. And it is a time when you're going to see all the democrats up there stumping around the state.
And, Heidi, as you suggested, most Americans taking a break on this Labor Day. Those candidates are off and running on what is traditionally viewed as the unofficial start of the campaign season. Six of the nine Democratic Party hopefuls are in Iowa where the presidential caucuses will kick off, as we just said, in January. Carol Moseley Braun, Howard Dean, John Edwards, Bob Graham, Dennis Kucinich, and Joe Lieberman all making visits to the Hawkeye State today.
Now, Senator John Kerry is going to be in Iowa tomorrow as part of his official campaign kick-off tour. You might say he's relaunching his campaign. He begins a two-day trip in South Carolina with stops also planned in New Hampshire and in Boston.
Meantime, the Reverend Al Sharpton also is in South Carolina. He plans to appear in the Charleston Labor Day parade with members of the Longshoreman's Association.
Congressman Dick Gephardt is in New Hampshire today, home, of course, of the first presidential primary. Gephardt and Senator Kerry will begin running their first television ads later this week. That's a sure sign that the campaign is off and running.
Many of the people who want to be governor of California are at work this Labor Day, trying to improve their position for the October recall vote out on the west coast. There's also criticism of Arnold Schwarzenegger over something that he won't do. Bob Franken is live in Los Angeles now to bring us up to date. Bob?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, this is definitely not Iowa or Ohio. California is about opposite as you can get, but they do have political campaign going on here. It's for real, apparently. It's the recall campaign and involves the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is campaigning extremely carefully. Trying to be in controlled circumstances whenever he can.
In that context there was an announcement yesterday, the spin on it from the campaign was Arnold Schwarzenegger will appear in a debate. By the way, he'll skip the first two and will appear in the one three weeks from now put on by the California Broadcasters Association. That was the announcement from Arnold Schwarzenegger.
We're expecting, in a short while, one of the people who's so far in the also run category, that would be Peter Ueberroth, will be holding a news conference in which he's expected to criticize Schwarzenegger, saying that it's important that the voters get a chance to find out just what his views are and how he stands up under the pressure of a debate.
This is Labor Day in California, that part is traditional. The democrats are out there. Gray Davis, the governor who's trying to avoid recall, is going to be appearing at a series of events, starting here in Los Angeles with a Labor Day mass, followed by a rally, and then he moves to the northern part of the state. And Cruz Bustamante, the lieutenant governor who is on the ballot also as the democratic alternative to Gray Davis if there is a recall, is also campaigning, doing traditional Labor Day events.
The news of the day thus far, Judy, is the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, by the way will also be campaigning in one event in front of the state fair grounds in Sacramento, the story with him, though, is that he will not be appearing in the first or the second debates that are set up, only appearing, so far, in the one that's set up for three weeks from now. Judy?
WOODRUFF: All right, Bob. And as we talk with Bob, I also want to mention I'll be interviewing Cruz Bustamante; that'll be appearing today on CNN at 4:00.
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 September 1, 2003 - 11:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it may be a holiday for some, as you know, but '04 presidential candidates are not taking the day off, as we've been telling you. That story tops today's "Voter Alert 2004."
We want to go to Judy Woodruff now, in Washington, for all of the latest on this. Just looking at those pictures out of Ohio, this is definitely a state that the president is thinking about in his reelection bid. Isn't that right, Judy?
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: No question, Heidi. As we just heard Dana say, this state has always been important, particularly to republicans. They've been able to count on Ohio as a reliably republican state in the presidential election year.
You're looking at, I presume, a motorcade coming in. These are live pictures.
But in the last election, in 2000, George Bush only beat Al Gore by a little under 4 percent. And for republicans that's not a percentage, that's not a close call that they want to repeat. They want to see Ohio firmly in President Bush's corner. They see this election as a very close one.
Despite the fact that President Bush has been well ahead in the public opinion polls, particularly since 9/11, and through the war in Afghanistan, and through the war in Iraq, they say, when you sit down to talk to them, that they see this election potentially as very, very close. They're not taking any state for granted, and certainly not Ohio, Heidi.
COLLINS: You're right, Judy. We are looking at some live pictures here, coming to us from Richfield, Ohio. We expect that the president will be coming to that podium there, which they have now taken the plastic off of because of the rainy situation there, getting ready for him to speak.
Judy, I do want to ask you, though, some experts would say that the candidates gave up too early on the state of Ohio. But there are 21 electoral votes there. Is that true, or is that possible they're just trying to make sure that does not happen once again?
WOODRUFF: I don't think, at this point, Ohio is very much in play. Dennis Kucinich, who is one of the nine democrats who declared they're running, he's frequently considered to be at the lower end of public opinion scale, because in the polls he's certainly in the single digits, the lower single digits, but he's very much out there, punching, talking about the president's Iraq policy, the president's economic policy. He's been a very tough liberal critic of the president.
But I don't think it's fair to say that any of the democrats, at this point certainly, 15 months away from the election, would, in any sense, write off Ohio. They're going to consider it in play as long as they think it's something they can win.
COLLINS: Judy, let's talk for just a minute, as we continue to look at these live pictures, expecting the president to speak any moment now in Ohio, about the other candidates, the other democratic candidates, in Iowa coming up, the Iowa caucuses.
WOODRUFF: Right. Well, you have, as we've been saying, I guess for days now, and for some people, they're looking at the calendar and saying, wait a minute, this isn't 2004, this is 2003. It is, but we are just four months away at this point, a little over four months away, from the Iowa caucuses. And it is a time when you're going to see all the democrats up there stumping around the state.
And, Heidi, as you suggested, most Americans taking a break on this Labor Day. Those candidates are off and running on what is traditionally viewed as the unofficial start of the campaign season. Six of the nine Democratic Party hopefuls are in Iowa where the presidential caucuses will kick off, as we just said, in January. Carol Moseley Braun, Howard Dean, John Edwards, Bob Graham, Dennis Kucinich, and Joe Lieberman all making visits to the Hawkeye State today.
Now, Senator John Kerry is going to be in Iowa tomorrow as part of his official campaign kick-off tour. You might say he's relaunching his campaign. He begins a two-day trip in South Carolina with stops also planned in New Hampshire and in Boston.
Meantime, the Reverend Al Sharpton also is in South Carolina. He plans to appear in the Charleston Labor Day parade with members of the Longshoreman's Association.
Congressman Dick Gephardt is in New Hampshire today, home, of course, of the first presidential primary. Gephardt and Senator Kerry will begin running their first television ads later this week. That's a sure sign that the campaign is off and running.
Many of the people who want to be governor of California are at work this Labor Day, trying to improve their position for the October recall vote out on the west coast. There's also criticism of Arnold Schwarzenegger over something that he won't do. Bob Franken is live in Los Angeles now to bring us up to date. Bob?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, this is definitely not Iowa or Ohio. California is about opposite as you can get, but they do have political campaign going on here. It's for real, apparently. It's the recall campaign and involves the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is campaigning extremely carefully. Trying to be in controlled circumstances whenever he can.
In that context there was an announcement yesterday, the spin on it from the campaign was Arnold Schwarzenegger will appear in a debate. By the way, he'll skip the first two and will appear in the one three weeks from now put on by the California Broadcasters Association. That was the announcement from Arnold Schwarzenegger.
We're expecting, in a short while, one of the people who's so far in the also run category, that would be Peter Ueberroth, will be holding a news conference in which he's expected to criticize Schwarzenegger, saying that it's important that the voters get a chance to find out just what his views are and how he stands up under the pressure of a debate.
This is Labor Day in California, that part is traditional. The democrats are out there. Gray Davis, the governor who's trying to avoid recall, is going to be appearing at a series of events, starting here in Los Angeles with a Labor Day mass, followed by a rally, and then he moves to the northern part of the state. And Cruz Bustamante, the lieutenant governor who is on the ballot also as the democratic alternative to Gray Davis if there is a recall, is also campaigning, doing traditional Labor Day events.
The news of the day thus far, Judy, is the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, by the way will also be campaigning in one event in front of the state fair grounds in Sacramento, the story with him, though, is that he will not be appearing in the first or the second debates that are set up, only appearing, so far, in the one that's set up for three weeks from now. Judy?
WOODRUFF: All right, Bob. And as we talk with Bob, I also want to mention I'll be interviewing Cruz Bustamante; that'll be appearing today on CNN at 4:00.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
