Return to Transcripts main page
Live From...
Interview With Lalo Alcaraz, Michael Ramirez
Aired August 14, 2003 - 13:46 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well in the old days, political squabbles were often settled with pistols at 20 paces. Remember Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton? Well nowadays, such duels are played out with Sharpies and sharp wits in political cartoons.
In California, the current state of affairs is certainly ripe for comic comment, especially when it comes to the issue of the state's Latino voters. Now, here's Lalo Alcaraz's take. Check out this comic strip here. There it is.
"`Democrats are accusing Republicans of ignoring the Latino voter. Republicans are only capable of superficial, empty gestures, when courting the Latino vote,' said Ricardo Gephardt, Juan Kerry and Howard `Refried' Dean."
And equal time of course for the opposing view from our own Michael Ramirez with "The L.A. Times." Here it is "Terminated." I don't think so. You see Gray Davis on the bottom there -- "I'll be back."
Let's bring these two in now for a little smart repartee about the Hispanic vote. What do you think, guys? Hasta la vista, is that the only Spanish that Arnold Schwarzenegger knows?
LALO ALCARAZ, POLITICAL CARTOONIST: That's also his only policy position apparently.
PHILLIPS: Michael?
MICHAEL RAMIREZ, POLITICAL CARTOONIST: You know I think this governor's probably going to be gone in about 55 days. And we will shed a tear as political cartoonists as he goes.
PHILLIPS: Now as political cartoonists, obviously, you've had a lot to play with here. Michael, your favorite moment so far?
RAMIREZ: Well you know I think just the announcement itself, when Arnold just kind of surprised everyone and jumped in the race, you could see the political tacticians running back and forth and panic, not sure what they were going to do.
PHILLIPS: Lalo?
ALCARAZ: I think it's -- I don't know, it's going to be sad when it's over. This recall's bad for California great for political cartoonists, and I am going to be sad, too. But let's hope -- see if we can get a Latino Democrat into office. How about it, Michael?
RAMIREZ: Well you know I'm all for that, because he would be -- he's the co-conductor for this train wreck that we have in California. And a continuation of that in any respect would be wonderful for political cartooning.
ALCARAZ: Well actually, Gray Davis hasn't spoken to Bustamante in years because he didn't exactly tow the Davis conservative, you know party line. He's our most liberal Republican governor to date, you know?
(LAUGHTER)
RAMIREZ: Well, you know, it's interesting how Cruz is also suddenly embraced repealing this car tax acceleration that's going to be happening in October. It's nice to see that the conservative Latino is alive and well.
PHILLIPS: Speaking of conservative or liberal as I go on to ask you guys about the Latino, Hispanic vote and how much of an impact do you think it will make on the race, two more cartoons I'm going to have our folks bring up. One by Lalo and the other by Michael Ramirez.
Let's start with you, Lalo, as we look at these. Let's talk about the impact of the Hispanic vote and could it make a huge difference here? And do these candidates need to be courting Hispanics?
ALCARAZ: Yes, they need to be doing the opposite of what Arnold Schwarzenegger's doing, which is hiring Pete Wilson and all of his gang, the ones responsible for Proposition 187, the anti-Mexican immigrant initiative, that really -- I mean, we should be thanking Pete Wilson actually for making Latino voters register in record numbers, because -- and wiping out single-handedly the Republican Party in California. That's why rich Republicans have to come in and buy the election, because they can't win at the polls during the regular election.
So I think Arnold, you know, he's now the Mex-terminator. And when he sees his schpiel about being an immigrant, yet voting against hard-working immigrants and voting for Prop 187 -- which would have kicked little brown children out of school and deny them medical service -- I mean, it's ridiculous. It's beyond the pale.
PHILLIPS: Michael, as we look at your cartoon, you're new movie, get ready for a change in your life, "Total Recall," as we look at this cartoon what do you think about the whole issue of Prop 187?
RAMIREZ: I think Prop 187 has been vastly mischaracterized in some respects. Before it was overturned by the courts, it was passed with an overwhelming majority of Californians, even 26 percent of Latinos voted for it.
And with the change in -- shift in demographics there in California, obviously, Latinos represent 32 percent of the vote. But I think Arnold, with his immigrant background, being an immigrant himself who didn't have command of the language when he got here and had $50 in his pocket, I think that will appeal to Latino voters.
And more importantly, in this state, as a very moderate Republican, where the Democrats really dominate the landscape here with 44 percent of the voting public, I think that's going to appeal to them as well.
PHILLIPS: Lalo, with such a large Hispanic population in California, aren't your surprised there aren't more candidates in the mix?
ALCARAZ: Well you know it takes a long time to get somebody, you know, into politics, and to nurture a career like Cruz Bustamante has. But I'm actually kind of disappointed that Erik Estrada is not running because I think he would have been a good law enforcement ticket right there.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Michael, would you second that motion?
RAMIREZ: Yes. Well, you know, any entertainer I think would be totally entertaining for the California population, and especially for political cartoonists.
You know one thing I want to mention, too is that Pete Wilson, if they're going to really make him the object of this campaign, when he was elected in '94, he got 55 percent of the vote, Cruz Bustamante in the last election only got 49 percent of the vote. So hopefully...
ALCARAZ: I think he got more votes than Gray Davis, too.
RAMIREZ: Well everybody's getting more votes than Gray Davis. In fact, I think the majority of the population here in California would probably vote to have Gray Davis cryogenically frozen at this point more than anything else.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Well I'll tell you one thing I don't want to freeze. "La Cucaracha" or "The L.A. Times," Michael, with your cartoons. Gentlemen, we'll be following your humor and your insight. We hope to have you back.
ALCARAZ: Thanks a lot.
RAMIREZ: Thanks for having us.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, guys.
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 14, 2003 - 13:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well in the old days, political squabbles were often settled with pistols at 20 paces. Remember Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton? Well nowadays, such duels are played out with Sharpies and sharp wits in political cartoons.
In California, the current state of affairs is certainly ripe for comic comment, especially when it comes to the issue of the state's Latino voters. Now, here's Lalo Alcaraz's take. Check out this comic strip here. There it is.
"`Democrats are accusing Republicans of ignoring the Latino voter. Republicans are only capable of superficial, empty gestures, when courting the Latino vote,' said Ricardo Gephardt, Juan Kerry and Howard `Refried' Dean."
And equal time of course for the opposing view from our own Michael Ramirez with "The L.A. Times." Here it is "Terminated." I don't think so. You see Gray Davis on the bottom there -- "I'll be back."
Let's bring these two in now for a little smart repartee about the Hispanic vote. What do you think, guys? Hasta la vista, is that the only Spanish that Arnold Schwarzenegger knows?
LALO ALCARAZ, POLITICAL CARTOONIST: That's also his only policy position apparently.
PHILLIPS: Michael?
MICHAEL RAMIREZ, POLITICAL CARTOONIST: You know I think this governor's probably going to be gone in about 55 days. And we will shed a tear as political cartoonists as he goes.
PHILLIPS: Now as political cartoonists, obviously, you've had a lot to play with here. Michael, your favorite moment so far?
RAMIREZ: Well you know I think just the announcement itself, when Arnold just kind of surprised everyone and jumped in the race, you could see the political tacticians running back and forth and panic, not sure what they were going to do.
PHILLIPS: Lalo?
ALCARAZ: I think it's -- I don't know, it's going to be sad when it's over. This recall's bad for California great for political cartoonists, and I am going to be sad, too. But let's hope -- see if we can get a Latino Democrat into office. How about it, Michael?
RAMIREZ: Well you know I'm all for that, because he would be -- he's the co-conductor for this train wreck that we have in California. And a continuation of that in any respect would be wonderful for political cartooning.
ALCARAZ: Well actually, Gray Davis hasn't spoken to Bustamante in years because he didn't exactly tow the Davis conservative, you know party line. He's our most liberal Republican governor to date, you know?
(LAUGHTER)
RAMIREZ: Well, you know, it's interesting how Cruz is also suddenly embraced repealing this car tax acceleration that's going to be happening in October. It's nice to see that the conservative Latino is alive and well.
PHILLIPS: Speaking of conservative or liberal as I go on to ask you guys about the Latino, Hispanic vote and how much of an impact do you think it will make on the race, two more cartoons I'm going to have our folks bring up. One by Lalo and the other by Michael Ramirez.
Let's start with you, Lalo, as we look at these. Let's talk about the impact of the Hispanic vote and could it make a huge difference here? And do these candidates need to be courting Hispanics?
ALCARAZ: Yes, they need to be doing the opposite of what Arnold Schwarzenegger's doing, which is hiring Pete Wilson and all of his gang, the ones responsible for Proposition 187, the anti-Mexican immigrant initiative, that really -- I mean, we should be thanking Pete Wilson actually for making Latino voters register in record numbers, because -- and wiping out single-handedly the Republican Party in California. That's why rich Republicans have to come in and buy the election, because they can't win at the polls during the regular election.
So I think Arnold, you know, he's now the Mex-terminator. And when he sees his schpiel about being an immigrant, yet voting against hard-working immigrants and voting for Prop 187 -- which would have kicked little brown children out of school and deny them medical service -- I mean, it's ridiculous. It's beyond the pale.
PHILLIPS: Michael, as we look at your cartoon, you're new movie, get ready for a change in your life, "Total Recall," as we look at this cartoon what do you think about the whole issue of Prop 187?
RAMIREZ: I think Prop 187 has been vastly mischaracterized in some respects. Before it was overturned by the courts, it was passed with an overwhelming majority of Californians, even 26 percent of Latinos voted for it.
And with the change in -- shift in demographics there in California, obviously, Latinos represent 32 percent of the vote. But I think Arnold, with his immigrant background, being an immigrant himself who didn't have command of the language when he got here and had $50 in his pocket, I think that will appeal to Latino voters.
And more importantly, in this state, as a very moderate Republican, where the Democrats really dominate the landscape here with 44 percent of the voting public, I think that's going to appeal to them as well.
PHILLIPS: Lalo, with such a large Hispanic population in California, aren't your surprised there aren't more candidates in the mix?
ALCARAZ: Well you know it takes a long time to get somebody, you know, into politics, and to nurture a career like Cruz Bustamante has. But I'm actually kind of disappointed that Erik Estrada is not running because I think he would have been a good law enforcement ticket right there.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Michael, would you second that motion?
RAMIREZ: Yes. Well, you know, any entertainer I think would be totally entertaining for the California population, and especially for political cartoonists.
You know one thing I want to mention, too is that Pete Wilson, if they're going to really make him the object of this campaign, when he was elected in '94, he got 55 percent of the vote, Cruz Bustamante in the last election only got 49 percent of the vote. So hopefully...
ALCARAZ: I think he got more votes than Gray Davis, too.
RAMIREZ: Well everybody's getting more votes than Gray Davis. In fact, I think the majority of the population here in California would probably vote to have Gray Davis cryogenically frozen at this point more than anything else.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Well I'll tell you one thing I don't want to freeze. "La Cucaracha" or "The L.A. Times," Michael, with your cartoons. Gentlemen, we'll be following your humor and your insight. We hope to have you back.
ALCARAZ: Thanks a lot.
RAMIREZ: Thanks for having us.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, guys.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
