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American Morning

Battle of Texas Exes

Aired January 22, 2004 - 08:37   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you could call it the war of the roses Texas style. A San Antonio congressman and his wife get divorced and now she wants to take his place in Congress.
Ed Lavandera has the story of these two Texas exes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. CHARLES GONZALEZ (D), TEXAS: This should be a wonderful shot.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five years ago, San Antonio Congressman Charlie Gonzalez and Becky Whetstone were on top of the world. They were newlyweds enjoying their first days in Washington. But last October, Gonzalez and Whetstone divorced. Now she wants his seat in Congress. Whetstone says her ex-husband cares more about his political career than about solving San Antonio's problems.

BECKY WHETSTONE, CONGRESSIONAL HOPEFUL: It's not about revenge. It's about seeing a wrong and trying to right it.

GONZALEZ: It's sad and it's regrettable. And we will move on and meet any challenge and treat any legitimate candidate that has a legitimate issue as we would anyone else. And that's the way this will be treated.

WHETSTONE: I'm Becky Whetstone. I'm running for Congress.

LAVANDERA: Whetstone says her ex-husband should take her more seriously, like some people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think you are doing a good job.

WHETSTONE: OK, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You do what you feel you need to do.

LAVANDERA: But she also gets an earful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are a joke. I have been divorced three times, and I am friends with my ex-husbands. I do not treat people the way you do.

WHETSTONE: I have had a couple of verbal tomatoes thrown at me, but you know any time anybody takes a stand for something, they are going -- they are going to get criticized. So I figure it's part of the territory.

GONZALEZ: There's a difference between public service and publicity.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Becky Whetstone used to write a column for the San Antonio newspaper, but any hope she might have had that her former employer would support her campaign pretty much disappeared the day the paper wrote in an editorial that she should drop her embarrassing flirtation with Congress and end this soap opera.

(voice-over): You can't escape the drama. As Whetstone campaigned, her ex-husband was just a few feet away, one of the honored guests at this parade.

WHETSTONE: I stand to the side and look over there and I envision myself standing there in two years and him standing by the curb watching me.

KINKY FRIEDMAN, TEXAS CULTURAL GURU: Come here, Gilbert (ph).

LAVANDERA: A story like this demands a unique analytical perspective. Kinky Friedman has never been married, but he's a cigar chomping, mystery book writer and expert on all things Texas.

FRIEDMAN: I think it's some karma, because I don't know Charlie, but there has to be something there that would be coming back to bite him in the ass here, spiritually speaking, of course.

GONZALEZ: We are going to the Capitol.

WHETSTONE: We are going to the Capitol.

LAVANDERA: Actually, only one of them can go to Washington, so voters will decide who gets to write the happy ending to this political war of the roses.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, San Antonio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Well, who knows more about Texas politics than author and syndicated columnist Molly Ivins. She's live for us in Austin, Texas this morning.

Nice to see you, Molly, let's get right to it. We hear the ex- wife's own employer says it's a flirtation, it's a soap opera. Is there any indication that there is some kind of real platform here or is this just drama, drama, drama every step of the way?

MOLLY IVINS, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Looks like major psychodrama to me. I have looked at Miss Whetstone's Web site where she announces that the reason she is running for Congress is to provide a fresh face and new leadership. She goes on at great length about the need to stand up to bullies. She thinks her ex-husband is a bully.

And in a way I don't want to completely dismiss this woman. I mean her Web site is about women who feel wronged and how deeply pained they are. And, yes, they need to, you know, stand up. And instead of just, you know, saying well get over it and pull up your socks, you know, she may be right psychologically but it doesn't make much sense politically. I mean I don't see where the voters of the 20th Congressional District are getting anything out of this.

O'BRIEN: You know you have to imagine that when an ex-wife comes forward everyone is waiting to hear what dirt is going to follow. I mean she knows more about the candidate, the congressman now, you know, trying to get his -- keep his seat. Is there a sense that we are going to hear a lot more and it's going to be some seriously dirty laundry in this story?

IVINS: No, I don't think so. I mean she has already said that she has not accused him of cheating or abuse. Again, she says he is a powerful bully. Apparently they parted acrimoniously, particularly on the subject of money. And I think this confirms an old theory of mine, which is bad divorce is a form of temporary insanity.

O'BRIEN: She has declared her intent, obviously, to run, but she actually has until I think it's May 13 to formally file. Do you think in the end that this is going to happen, because if you look through her documents, she doesn't seem to have a real platform based on much more than being wronged and wanting some kind of revenge to some degree. I think that's fair to say.

IVINS: Yes, I don't -- again, I want to be fair to this woman, I don't want to just dismiss her out of hand as a case of a woman scorned. On the other hand, she certainly hasn't come up with anything except her resentments to justify this race.

O'BRIEN: Well we will see what Ms. Whetstone does, won't we?

Molly Ivins joining us this morning from Austin, Texas. Nice to see you, Molly, thanks for being with us.

IVINS: 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 January 22, 2004 - 08:37   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you could call it the war of the roses Texas style. A San Antonio congressman and his wife get divorced and now she wants to take his place in Congress.
Ed Lavandera has the story of these two Texas exes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. CHARLES GONZALEZ (D), TEXAS: This should be a wonderful shot.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five years ago, San Antonio Congressman Charlie Gonzalez and Becky Whetstone were on top of the world. They were newlyweds enjoying their first days in Washington. But last October, Gonzalez and Whetstone divorced. Now she wants his seat in Congress. Whetstone says her ex-husband cares more about his political career than about solving San Antonio's problems.

BECKY WHETSTONE, CONGRESSIONAL HOPEFUL: It's not about revenge. It's about seeing a wrong and trying to right it.

GONZALEZ: It's sad and it's regrettable. And we will move on and meet any challenge and treat any legitimate candidate that has a legitimate issue as we would anyone else. And that's the way this will be treated.

WHETSTONE: I'm Becky Whetstone. I'm running for Congress.

LAVANDERA: Whetstone says her ex-husband should take her more seriously, like some people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think you are doing a good job.

WHETSTONE: OK, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You do what you feel you need to do.

LAVANDERA: But she also gets an earful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are a joke. I have been divorced three times, and I am friends with my ex-husbands. I do not treat people the way you do.

WHETSTONE: I have had a couple of verbal tomatoes thrown at me, but you know any time anybody takes a stand for something, they are going -- they are going to get criticized. So I figure it's part of the territory.

GONZALEZ: There's a difference between public service and publicity.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Becky Whetstone used to write a column for the San Antonio newspaper, but any hope she might have had that her former employer would support her campaign pretty much disappeared the day the paper wrote in an editorial that she should drop her embarrassing flirtation with Congress and end this soap opera.

(voice-over): You can't escape the drama. As Whetstone campaigned, her ex-husband was just a few feet away, one of the honored guests at this parade.

WHETSTONE: I stand to the side and look over there and I envision myself standing there in two years and him standing by the curb watching me.

KINKY FRIEDMAN, TEXAS CULTURAL GURU: Come here, Gilbert (ph).

LAVANDERA: A story like this demands a unique analytical perspective. Kinky Friedman has never been married, but he's a cigar chomping, mystery book writer and expert on all things Texas.

FRIEDMAN: I think it's some karma, because I don't know Charlie, but there has to be something there that would be coming back to bite him in the ass here, spiritually speaking, of course.

GONZALEZ: We are going to the Capitol.

WHETSTONE: We are going to the Capitol.

LAVANDERA: Actually, only one of them can go to Washington, so voters will decide who gets to write the happy ending to this political war of the roses.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, San Antonio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Well, who knows more about Texas politics than author and syndicated columnist Molly Ivins. She's live for us in Austin, Texas this morning.

Nice to see you, Molly, let's get right to it. We hear the ex- wife's own employer says it's a flirtation, it's a soap opera. Is there any indication that there is some kind of real platform here or is this just drama, drama, drama every step of the way?

MOLLY IVINS, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Looks like major psychodrama to me. I have looked at Miss Whetstone's Web site where she announces that the reason she is running for Congress is to provide a fresh face and new leadership. She goes on at great length about the need to stand up to bullies. She thinks her ex-husband is a bully.

And in a way I don't want to completely dismiss this woman. I mean her Web site is about women who feel wronged and how deeply pained they are. And, yes, they need to, you know, stand up. And instead of just, you know, saying well get over it and pull up your socks, you know, she may be right psychologically but it doesn't make much sense politically. I mean I don't see where the voters of the 20th Congressional District are getting anything out of this.

O'BRIEN: You know you have to imagine that when an ex-wife comes forward everyone is waiting to hear what dirt is going to follow. I mean she knows more about the candidate, the congressman now, you know, trying to get his -- keep his seat. Is there a sense that we are going to hear a lot more and it's going to be some seriously dirty laundry in this story?

IVINS: No, I don't think so. I mean she has already said that she has not accused him of cheating or abuse. Again, she says he is a powerful bully. Apparently they parted acrimoniously, particularly on the subject of money. And I think this confirms an old theory of mine, which is bad divorce is a form of temporary insanity.

O'BRIEN: She has declared her intent, obviously, to run, but she actually has until I think it's May 13 to formally file. Do you think in the end that this is going to happen, because if you look through her documents, she doesn't seem to have a real platform based on much more than being wronged and wanting some kind of revenge to some degree. I think that's fair to say.

IVINS: Yes, I don't -- again, I want to be fair to this woman, I don't want to just dismiss her out of hand as a case of a woman scorned. On the other hand, she certainly hasn't come up with anything except her resentments to justify this race.

O'BRIEN: Well we will see what Ms. Whetstone does, won't we?

Molly Ivins joining us this morning from Austin, Texas. Nice to see you, Molly, thanks for being with us.

IVINS: 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