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Arnold on the Issues
Aired August 28, 2003 - 15:03 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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Now we turn to the California recall. Arnold Schwarzenegger goes further today in his conservative outreach program. The Republican candidate for governor will campaign for the first time outside the Los Angeles area in the state's conservative- leaning Central Valley. People there may be talking about Schwarzenegger's clearest statements yet on social issues, statements that he made during his latest round in his radio talk blitz.
CNN's Dan Lothian has more on Arnold on the issues.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Arnold Schwarzenegger has made a career of standing in front of the camera. But, lately, his campaign to become governor has been confined to conservative radio.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I am totally against raising taxes. I'm against the car tax.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: The self-described fiscal conservative, thought to be moderate on social issues, has been criticized for being short on specifics. Now, presented with a checklist of issues on the nationally syndicated "Sean Hannity" radio show, the actor-turned- politician began filling in the blanks.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, "THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW")
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Do you support gay marriage?
SCHWARZENEGGER: I do support domestic partnership.
HANNITY: But not gay marriage?
SCHWARZENEGGER: No. I think that gay -- marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Schwarzenegger reiterated his pro-choice position, said he did not support partial-birth abortions, but did support parental notification, with some exceptions.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, "THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW")
SCHWARZENEGGER: In some cases, where there is abuse in the family or problems in the family, then the courts should decide.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: The gubernatorial hopeful says he backs the Brady Bill, which mandates a waiting period and background checks before handgun purchases.
On education, the candidate who cut his teeth in politics promoting a successful after-school proposition says he supports a limited voucher system and prayer in schools.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, "THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW")
SCHWARZENEGGER: I think it should be up to the schools what religion they belong and within what direction they want to go.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: And on other issues important to California voters, this is what Schwarzenegger had to say.
Driver's licenses for illegal immigrants:
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, "THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW")
SCHWARZENEGGER: I vote no on that.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Legalizing marijuana.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, "THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW")
SCHWARZENEGGER: It's a bad idea, yes, although I would legalize the medical...
HANNITY: Marijuana?
SCHWARZENEGGER: Exactly.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Oil drilling off the coast of California.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, "THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW")
SCHWARZENEGGER: We should stop the oil drilling.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Schwarzenegger's team says he has laid it all out. Political analyst Elizabeth Garrett says that could be good and bad, but most certainly necessary. ELIZABETH GARRETT, POLITICAL ANALYST: That inevitably is going to turn off some voters, but it has the promise of attracting new voters. This is a short election, but it is a campaign that's going to require positions being taken.
LOTHIAN (on camera): Schwarzenegger says he'll only raise taxes in the case of emergency, like an earthquake or act of terrorism, unlike his two Republican contenders, who have pledged never to raise taxes if elected.
Dan Lothian, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: Well, Schwarzenegger is due in Fresno, California, just about two hours from now.
CNN's Bob Franken is tracking the running man and his recall campaign strategy.
Hello there, Bob.
Yesterday, we talked about the fact that Arnold is doing all these radio interviews. Today, he's appearing in public in Fresno. How does that play, in effect, with California voters? Does it matter to them that these candidates get out there and shake hands and so forth?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's imperative. But you know the terms, of course, Judy, wholesale and retail politics, retail being the one-on-one, meet-and-greet, the type of thing that Schwarzenegger is doing today, vs. wholesale politics, which means mass media.
Now, it's important that the candidate is seen being out there, being comfortable with the people, of course, with whom he will be doing business if he becomes governor. But it's really to see how it plays in the wholesale realm, in other words, how it's covered. So, yes, it's important. But it's important only as, in effect, a backdrop for the TV campaign.
WOODRUFF: Now, Bob, separately, there's this interview that Schwarzenegger gave the magazine -- now defunct magazine -- "Oui" back in 1977. It includes some very explicit, even graphic comments about his sex life. Is this going to have any bearing at all on the campaign?
FRANKEN: That's a good question. It's certainly being discussed today.
And, by the way, he not only did an interview back in 1977. He published his autobiographical book called "Arnold." It was all in conjunction with the release of the movie "Pumping Iron." And both of them are, as you point out, quite explicit. He talks about using marijuana and hashish. He also talks about a variety of sexual activities, including one event where he and several other bodybuilders each had sex -- he talks about how he was there when several other bodybuilders had sex with one woman. All of this was discussed.
Now, we asked the campaign for their comment on that. And the campaign would only say we should refer to the comments that Schwarzenegger made to a Sacramento radio station.
Here they are.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's an old 1977 interview you did with "Oui" magazine out there. And I've got to tell you, Arnold, you were having a lot more fun in 1977 than I was.
(LAUGHTER)
SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, you have to understand, I know exactly what you're saying.
I never lived my life to be a politician. I never lived my life to be the governor of California. Obviously, I've made statements that are ludicrous and crazy and outrageous and all those things, because that's the way I always was. I was always outrageous. Otherwise, I wouldn't have done the things that I did in my career with the body building and with show business and all those things. I was always out there.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
FRANKEN: And, Judy, he went on to say: That's not the way I live my wife -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: All right, we'll listen to his words on this subject. OK. Bob Franken, thanks very much, watching the recall for us.
Well, let's talk more about Schwarzenegger's interviews and campaign strategy with Terry McCarthy of "TIME" magazine and Mickey Kaus of Slate.com. Both of them are in Los Angeles.
Terry, to you first. What about this interview from 25 years ago, 1977? Is this the sort of thing that's going to have any bearing on this campaign?
TERRY MCCARTHY, "TIME": Well, Judy, I don't know about you, but I was shocked that a bodybuilder living off Venice Beach in the mid- '70s in California should have had affairs with unmarried women. That's really -- I don't think it's going to have any effect.
I think Arnold has been quite open about it. He hasn't tried to cover it up. And, frankly, I think Californians would be surprised if he was trying to say he had a life as white as snow. So I don't think it's going to have any effect. I have been saying for some time now that I think, actually, issues are going to define this campaign. And that sounds a bit heretical in the Californian recall circus, as it's called. But, clearly, issues are what Arnold is now trying to get across and what the other campaigns are trying to attack him on.
WOODRUFF: So, Mickey Kaus, something like this doesn't hurt him with the Republican -- with the conservative voters in the state of California?
MICKEY KAUS, SLATE.COM: I think it might hurt him, because, right now, he's on a campaign to woo the right ring, which he doesn't have. He's a middle-of-the-road candidate.
And right when he's doing that, this interview comes out, which I think will disturb a lot of those people. They are only maybe 20 percent of the electorate. But group sex isn't something that they're completely comfortable with yet. Now, maybe the result of this is, we'll advance to a higher state of consciousness, the way Bill Clinton changed people's minds about what was permissible and what's not.
WOODRUFF: But, Terry McCarthy, you don't agree with that?
MCCARTHY: No, I don't, Judy.
And with all deference to my colleague Mickey, I think that, today, you're seeing Schwarzenegger's up in Fresno. He's there to send a message, which is, he's reaching out to the more conservative Republican voters in the state. He's kind of trapped now. He's not going to get the Democratic vote because Bustamante is there taking and soaking up that side of the spectrum. He's got the sort of moderate vote. But then he's trapped between the Republican hard line on the other side.
And what they're interested in is what he believes in raising or keeping taxes level, how he's going to fix the deficit, what he's going to do on the workers comp issues and so on and so forth. I think these are the issues that people are worried about. Interestingly, that interview that was put up on Web sites yesterday, it didn't register in any of the local papers, hasn't really been talked about very much in the local chat shows here.
So I, frankly, think it will blow over, just like all the stuff that's already been out there about Arnold's past. After all, he is a movie star, not a politician from day one, as he said himself.
WOODRUFF: As he said himself.
Mickey Kaus, what about his statements over the last few days, particularly yesterday, where he said -- he clarified, he is pro- choice on abortion. He said he's not for gay marriage, but he's for civil union. He talked about Proposition 54 and so forth. Effect of any of this?
KAUS: What's surprising is how conventional he is. He's not a Jesse Ventura, who is wildly libertarian on one issue and wildly conservative on another. He's basically a sort of state-of-the-art, middle-of-the-road politician who isn't Gray Davis. And his big claim is leadership. It's very hard to demonstrate leadership. I thought his answers to some of the Sean Hannity were sort of tentative and not quite as sure as I would expect.
(CROSSTALK)
WOODRUFF: For example?
KAUS: Well, where he said -- on the gay marriage thing. And on affirmative action, he said he hadn't made up his mind. Well, who hasn't thought about affirmative action? You could be tortured about it, but you should have made up your mind.
WOODRUFF: Yes. OK. Well, we are going to have to leave it there. It's very good for both of you to talk to us. Mickey Kaus, Terry McCarthy, thank you both. And I know we'll be talking to you again.
(CROSSTALK)
WOODRUFF: Thanks.
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 28, 2003 - 15:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Now we turn to the California recall. Arnold Schwarzenegger goes further today in his conservative outreach program. The Republican candidate for governor will campaign for the first time outside the Los Angeles area in the state's conservative- leaning Central Valley. People there may be talking about Schwarzenegger's clearest statements yet on social issues, statements that he made during his latest round in his radio talk blitz.
CNN's Dan Lothian has more on Arnold on the issues.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Arnold Schwarzenegger has made a career of standing in front of the camera. But, lately, his campaign to become governor has been confined to conservative radio.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I am totally against raising taxes. I'm against the car tax.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: The self-described fiscal conservative, thought to be moderate on social issues, has been criticized for being short on specifics. Now, presented with a checklist of issues on the nationally syndicated "Sean Hannity" radio show, the actor-turned- politician began filling in the blanks.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, "THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW")
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Do you support gay marriage?
SCHWARZENEGGER: I do support domestic partnership.
HANNITY: But not gay marriage?
SCHWARZENEGGER: No. I think that gay -- marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Schwarzenegger reiterated his pro-choice position, said he did not support partial-birth abortions, but did support parental notification, with some exceptions.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, "THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW")
SCHWARZENEGGER: In some cases, where there is abuse in the family or problems in the family, then the courts should decide.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: The gubernatorial hopeful says he backs the Brady Bill, which mandates a waiting period and background checks before handgun purchases.
On education, the candidate who cut his teeth in politics promoting a successful after-school proposition says he supports a limited voucher system and prayer in schools.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, "THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW")
SCHWARZENEGGER: I think it should be up to the schools what religion they belong and within what direction they want to go.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: And on other issues important to California voters, this is what Schwarzenegger had to say.
Driver's licenses for illegal immigrants:
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, "THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW")
SCHWARZENEGGER: I vote no on that.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Legalizing marijuana.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, "THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW")
SCHWARZENEGGER: It's a bad idea, yes, although I would legalize the medical...
HANNITY: Marijuana?
SCHWARZENEGGER: Exactly.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Oil drilling off the coast of California.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, "THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW")
SCHWARZENEGGER: We should stop the oil drilling.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Schwarzenegger's team says he has laid it all out. Political analyst Elizabeth Garrett says that could be good and bad, but most certainly necessary. ELIZABETH GARRETT, POLITICAL ANALYST: That inevitably is going to turn off some voters, but it has the promise of attracting new voters. This is a short election, but it is a campaign that's going to require positions being taken.
LOTHIAN (on camera): Schwarzenegger says he'll only raise taxes in the case of emergency, like an earthquake or act of terrorism, unlike his two Republican contenders, who have pledged never to raise taxes if elected.
Dan Lothian, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: Well, Schwarzenegger is due in Fresno, California, just about two hours from now.
CNN's Bob Franken is tracking the running man and his recall campaign strategy.
Hello there, Bob.
Yesterday, we talked about the fact that Arnold is doing all these radio interviews. Today, he's appearing in public in Fresno. How does that play, in effect, with California voters? Does it matter to them that these candidates get out there and shake hands and so forth?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's imperative. But you know the terms, of course, Judy, wholesale and retail politics, retail being the one-on-one, meet-and-greet, the type of thing that Schwarzenegger is doing today, vs. wholesale politics, which means mass media.
Now, it's important that the candidate is seen being out there, being comfortable with the people, of course, with whom he will be doing business if he becomes governor. But it's really to see how it plays in the wholesale realm, in other words, how it's covered. So, yes, it's important. But it's important only as, in effect, a backdrop for the TV campaign.
WOODRUFF: Now, Bob, separately, there's this interview that Schwarzenegger gave the magazine -- now defunct magazine -- "Oui" back in 1977. It includes some very explicit, even graphic comments about his sex life. Is this going to have any bearing at all on the campaign?
FRANKEN: That's a good question. It's certainly being discussed today.
And, by the way, he not only did an interview back in 1977. He published his autobiographical book called "Arnold." It was all in conjunction with the release of the movie "Pumping Iron." And both of them are, as you point out, quite explicit. He talks about using marijuana and hashish. He also talks about a variety of sexual activities, including one event where he and several other bodybuilders each had sex -- he talks about how he was there when several other bodybuilders had sex with one woman. All of this was discussed.
Now, we asked the campaign for their comment on that. And the campaign would only say we should refer to the comments that Schwarzenegger made to a Sacramento radio station.
Here they are.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's an old 1977 interview you did with "Oui" magazine out there. And I've got to tell you, Arnold, you were having a lot more fun in 1977 than I was.
(LAUGHTER)
SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, you have to understand, I know exactly what you're saying.
I never lived my life to be a politician. I never lived my life to be the governor of California. Obviously, I've made statements that are ludicrous and crazy and outrageous and all those things, because that's the way I always was. I was always outrageous. Otherwise, I wouldn't have done the things that I did in my career with the body building and with show business and all those things. I was always out there.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
FRANKEN: And, Judy, he went on to say: That's not the way I live my wife -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: All right, we'll listen to his words on this subject. OK. Bob Franken, thanks very much, watching the recall for us.
Well, let's talk more about Schwarzenegger's interviews and campaign strategy with Terry McCarthy of "TIME" magazine and Mickey Kaus of Slate.com. Both of them are in Los Angeles.
Terry, to you first. What about this interview from 25 years ago, 1977? Is this the sort of thing that's going to have any bearing on this campaign?
TERRY MCCARTHY, "TIME": Well, Judy, I don't know about you, but I was shocked that a bodybuilder living off Venice Beach in the mid- '70s in California should have had affairs with unmarried women. That's really -- I don't think it's going to have any effect.
I think Arnold has been quite open about it. He hasn't tried to cover it up. And, frankly, I think Californians would be surprised if he was trying to say he had a life as white as snow. So I don't think it's going to have any effect. I have been saying for some time now that I think, actually, issues are going to define this campaign. And that sounds a bit heretical in the Californian recall circus, as it's called. But, clearly, issues are what Arnold is now trying to get across and what the other campaigns are trying to attack him on.
WOODRUFF: So, Mickey Kaus, something like this doesn't hurt him with the Republican -- with the conservative voters in the state of California?
MICKEY KAUS, SLATE.COM: I think it might hurt him, because, right now, he's on a campaign to woo the right ring, which he doesn't have. He's a middle-of-the-road candidate.
And right when he's doing that, this interview comes out, which I think will disturb a lot of those people. They are only maybe 20 percent of the electorate. But group sex isn't something that they're completely comfortable with yet. Now, maybe the result of this is, we'll advance to a higher state of consciousness, the way Bill Clinton changed people's minds about what was permissible and what's not.
WOODRUFF: But, Terry McCarthy, you don't agree with that?
MCCARTHY: No, I don't, Judy.
And with all deference to my colleague Mickey, I think that, today, you're seeing Schwarzenegger's up in Fresno. He's there to send a message, which is, he's reaching out to the more conservative Republican voters in the state. He's kind of trapped now. He's not going to get the Democratic vote because Bustamante is there taking and soaking up that side of the spectrum. He's got the sort of moderate vote. But then he's trapped between the Republican hard line on the other side.
And what they're interested in is what he believes in raising or keeping taxes level, how he's going to fix the deficit, what he's going to do on the workers comp issues and so on and so forth. I think these are the issues that people are worried about. Interestingly, that interview that was put up on Web sites yesterday, it didn't register in any of the local papers, hasn't really been talked about very much in the local chat shows here.
So I, frankly, think it will blow over, just like all the stuff that's already been out there about Arnold's past. After all, he is a movie star, not a politician from day one, as he said himself.
WOODRUFF: As he said himself.
Mickey Kaus, what about his statements over the last few days, particularly yesterday, where he said -- he clarified, he is pro- choice on abortion. He said he's not for gay marriage, but he's for civil union. He talked about Proposition 54 and so forth. Effect of any of this?
KAUS: What's surprising is how conventional he is. He's not a Jesse Ventura, who is wildly libertarian on one issue and wildly conservative on another. He's basically a sort of state-of-the-art, middle-of-the-road politician who isn't Gray Davis. And his big claim is leadership. It's very hard to demonstrate leadership. I thought his answers to some of the Sean Hannity were sort of tentative and not quite as sure as I would expect.
(CROSSTALK)
WOODRUFF: For example?
KAUS: Well, where he said -- on the gay marriage thing. And on affirmative action, he said he hadn't made up his mind. Well, who hasn't thought about affirmative action? You could be tortured about it, but you should have made up your mind.
WOODRUFF: Yes. OK. Well, we are going to have to leave it there. It's very good for both of you to talk to us. Mickey Kaus, Terry McCarthy, thank you both. And I know we'll be talking to you again.
(CROSSTALK)
WOODRUFF: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
