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CNN Live Today
Interview With Richard Rosengarten
Aired September 15, 2003 - 10:15 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, talking politics, the California recall election is now just three weeks away. And as that future course becomes increasingly unmired in uncertainty, a political powerbroker from the past makes a clear stand. Former President Clinton visited the Golden State to rally Democrats to a common cause, a single candidate.
For more let's turn to a political analyst Richard Rosengarten who is also publisher of "California Political." Dick, good morning.
RICHARD ROSENGARTEN, "CALIFORNIA POLITICAL WEEK": Good morning to you, Daryn.
KAGAN: Amazing you have even five minutes to talk to us right now. I'm going to try to use it well.
ROSENGARTEN: You know, I was going to say working journalists have -- this weekend with Democratic convention, Republican convention, Clinton in town, it's been very, very busy here.
KAGAN: Absolutely. And let's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with President Clinton. He came out for Governor Davis at this church and he's was trying to compare the recall effort to the effort against him to impeach him.
ROSENGARTEN: Well, you know, I don't know that necessarily works, but as we say out here, the big guy knows how to deliver the base. And when I say the base, I'm talking about African-Americans, Latinos, soccer moms, blue collar labor people.
Clinton is absolutely marvelous at mobilizing the base and that's why Gray Davis has him out here, not only yesterday, but also today. And if I was advising Davis, I would say put Bill Clinton in a TV ad. But, you know, that's why I'm a reporter, not a consultant.
KAGAN: That's why, in case we were wondering.
Let's talk about some others on this ticket. Arnold Schwarzenegger has decided finally to give some interviews, but one goes to our Larry King and the other going to Oprah.
ROSENGARTEN: Yes. And the thing is that he still has not held a news conference with the California press corps, which I find that to be incredible.
In the meantime you've Tom McClintock. At the convention he made it very, very clear he's not getting out and there's really no reason for him to get out.
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: How can you say there's no reason for him to get out? if He threw his support behind Arnold Schwarzenegger he would have a much stronger base.
ROSENGARTEN: You mean Schwarzenegger would?
KAGAN: Yes.
ROSENGARTEN: Sure. The dived Republican Party -- well he's just not going to get out, that's just Tom McClintock. And there's no way you can induce him to get out. He's getting in $40,000 a day off the Internet, better than Howard Dean, I might add. And the Indian tribes are going to give him 2 million bucks.
KAGAN: Isn't that what Cruz Bustamante got in trouble for...
ROSENGARTEN: Yes, but it's coming a different way. So I don't think that McClintock's going to get in trouble. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) does get some heat, so what? Like Bustamante, McClintock doesn't have deep pockets, not like Arnold.
And, you know, the other reason why McClintock won't get out is because he has never in his life had so much media attention. Saturday at the convention, when he walked into that press room at 4:45 on Saturday, I mean, this is a guy who doesn't smile. It was like the cat who swallowed the canary. I mean he had just a huge smile.
He saw all those TV crews in the back and a room full of reporters, he's never had it so good. He's getting attention that he has never, ever had. And he is very, very sharp. I don't know if all your viewers have seen him on television, but he is a very, very sharp and concise politician.
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: He's definitely kind of a fiscal -- this is kind...
ROSENGARTEN: You mean fiscal conservative?
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: ... issues have kind of always been his issue in the many years that he has served in state government.
ROSENGARTEN: Oh, absolutely.
KAGAN: And I think that's one of the reason he's chomping at the bit to try to get his hand on this huge problem.
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: ... a movie star could maybe take that away. Finally, I just want to look at this. We could at individual candidates, but at the end of the day, isn't it going to be about who comes out to vote and who is the most energized to come out to vote?
ROSENGARTEN: Oh, absolutely, Daryn. You've got that. And the thing is the pollsters don't really know. You know, everyone's guessing at this point. And that's why the polls are, you know they're such a wide divergence about yes, no on recall and then part two with the candidates.
Nobody really knows how many people are actually going to come out. Everyone thinks it's going to be big, and it could be. But on the other hand, maybe it's the same as it was last time, 50.7.
But my guess is that it's going to be at least 60 percent, and maybe even a little bit higher than that. That's just a guess on my part.
KAGAN: I think if -- I'm using my own family who lives in California as my sample...
ROSENGARTEN: Are they voting?
KAGAN: They will vote. But I'll tell you every time you talk to individual Kagans, they tell you they're voting -- they change their vote. So I don't think we're really going to know what Californians are going to do up until October.
ROSENGARTEN: Where is your family from out here?
KAGAN: We're all Southern Californians.
ROSENGARTEN: Oh, Southern California, OK. That's the big media market.
KAGAN: Absolutely.
ROSENGARTEN: That's the big media market.
KAGAN: It is a big market.
Dick, you have a lot of work to do. Please stop by again before the recall.
ROSENGARTEN: Love it, Daryn, thank you so much.
KAGAN: Appreciate it, 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 September 15, 2003 - 10:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, talking politics, the California recall election is now just three weeks away. And as that future course becomes increasingly unmired in uncertainty, a political powerbroker from the past makes a clear stand. Former President Clinton visited the Golden State to rally Democrats to a common cause, a single candidate.
For more let's turn to a political analyst Richard Rosengarten who is also publisher of "California Political." Dick, good morning.
RICHARD ROSENGARTEN, "CALIFORNIA POLITICAL WEEK": Good morning to you, Daryn.
KAGAN: Amazing you have even five minutes to talk to us right now. I'm going to try to use it well.
ROSENGARTEN: You know, I was going to say working journalists have -- this weekend with Democratic convention, Republican convention, Clinton in town, it's been very, very busy here.
KAGAN: Absolutely. And let's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with President Clinton. He came out for Governor Davis at this church and he's was trying to compare the recall effort to the effort against him to impeach him.
ROSENGARTEN: Well, you know, I don't know that necessarily works, but as we say out here, the big guy knows how to deliver the base. And when I say the base, I'm talking about African-Americans, Latinos, soccer moms, blue collar labor people.
Clinton is absolutely marvelous at mobilizing the base and that's why Gray Davis has him out here, not only yesterday, but also today. And if I was advising Davis, I would say put Bill Clinton in a TV ad. But, you know, that's why I'm a reporter, not a consultant.
KAGAN: That's why, in case we were wondering.
Let's talk about some others on this ticket. Arnold Schwarzenegger has decided finally to give some interviews, but one goes to our Larry King and the other going to Oprah.
ROSENGARTEN: Yes. And the thing is that he still has not held a news conference with the California press corps, which I find that to be incredible.
In the meantime you've Tom McClintock. At the convention he made it very, very clear he's not getting out and there's really no reason for him to get out.
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: How can you say there's no reason for him to get out? if He threw his support behind Arnold Schwarzenegger he would have a much stronger base.
ROSENGARTEN: You mean Schwarzenegger would?
KAGAN: Yes.
ROSENGARTEN: Sure. The dived Republican Party -- well he's just not going to get out, that's just Tom McClintock. And there's no way you can induce him to get out. He's getting in $40,000 a day off the Internet, better than Howard Dean, I might add. And the Indian tribes are going to give him 2 million bucks.
KAGAN: Isn't that what Cruz Bustamante got in trouble for...
ROSENGARTEN: Yes, but it's coming a different way. So I don't think that McClintock's going to get in trouble. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) does get some heat, so what? Like Bustamante, McClintock doesn't have deep pockets, not like Arnold.
And, you know, the other reason why McClintock won't get out is because he has never in his life had so much media attention. Saturday at the convention, when he walked into that press room at 4:45 on Saturday, I mean, this is a guy who doesn't smile. It was like the cat who swallowed the canary. I mean he had just a huge smile.
He saw all those TV crews in the back and a room full of reporters, he's never had it so good. He's getting attention that he has never, ever had. And he is very, very sharp. I don't know if all your viewers have seen him on television, but he is a very, very sharp and concise politician.
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: He's definitely kind of a fiscal -- this is kind...
ROSENGARTEN: You mean fiscal conservative?
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: ... issues have kind of always been his issue in the many years that he has served in state government.
ROSENGARTEN: Oh, absolutely.
KAGAN: And I think that's one of the reason he's chomping at the bit to try to get his hand on this huge problem.
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: ... a movie star could maybe take that away. Finally, I just want to look at this. We could at individual candidates, but at the end of the day, isn't it going to be about who comes out to vote and who is the most energized to come out to vote?
ROSENGARTEN: Oh, absolutely, Daryn. You've got that. And the thing is the pollsters don't really know. You know, everyone's guessing at this point. And that's why the polls are, you know they're such a wide divergence about yes, no on recall and then part two with the candidates.
Nobody really knows how many people are actually going to come out. Everyone thinks it's going to be big, and it could be. But on the other hand, maybe it's the same as it was last time, 50.7.
But my guess is that it's going to be at least 60 percent, and maybe even a little bit higher than that. That's just a guess on my part.
KAGAN: I think if -- I'm using my own family who lives in California as my sample...
ROSENGARTEN: Are they voting?
KAGAN: They will vote. But I'll tell you every time you talk to individual Kagans, they tell you they're voting -- they change their vote. So I don't think we're really going to know what Californians are going to do up until October.
ROSENGARTEN: Where is your family from out here?
KAGAN: We're all Southern Californians.
ROSENGARTEN: Oh, Southern California, OK. That's the big media market.
KAGAN: Absolutely.
ROSENGARTEN: That's the big media market.
KAGAN: It is a big market.
Dick, you have a lot of work to do. Please stop by again before the recall.
ROSENGARTEN: Love it, Daryn, thank you so much.
KAGAN: Appreciate it, 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
