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Interview With Congressman Darrell Issa
Aired September 23, 2003 - 15:00 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: It looks as though we can mark October 7 on our calendars finally in permanent ink. Hours after a federal appeals court put the California recall election back on track, a group that had sued to delay the vote has given up its legal battle.
CNN's Bob Franken has more from Los Angeles.
Bob, how are the campaigns reacting?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The campaigns are reacting as you'd expect them to react, saying, good, let's get it on.
Of course, tomorrow night is the debate. It does not include Governor Gray Davis, the man who wants to avoid the recall. But it does include the principal candidates who would like to have him recalled, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, the man who is participating thus far in one debate. He calls it the Super Bowl of the debates. This is the one that has the questions submitted in advance.
But as for the court hearing, it was a remarkably quick decision. Less than 16 hours after the hearing concluded in San Francisco yesterday, all 11 members of the en banc panel of the appeals court said the election should go on. The concerns of the state and the disruption it would cause to the state of California disrupted any constitutional questions that might arise out of the fact that the discredited hanging chad punch card ballot machines were being used in six of the state's most populous counties.
So, comes now the decision by the American Civil Liberties Union representing the plaintiffs. Should it go forward? The decision just announced within the hour is, no, there will be no appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, based publicly on the fact that they did not want to further disrupt the California process, privately, on advice from lawyers, that they stood just a snowball's chance of getting the Supreme Court to react.
It really wasn't possible that the nation's highest court was going to take this on. So, absent any other surprise, Judy, mark, as you said, October 7 on your calendar. And we'll see how permanent the ink is.
WOODRUFF: That we will. All right, Bob Franken, thanks very much.
And now let's bring in the man who largely bankrolled the recall effort and was briefly a candidate to replace Governor Davis. He is Congressman Darrell Issa, Republican of California.
Congressman, now we have the leading Republican in the state Senate, Mr. Brulte, Jim Brulte, who was at first against the recall, now saying that it's wrong for Mr. McClintock to stay in the race, that Arnold Schwarzenegger should be the only candidate. Are you really part of this effort now to get McClintock out of the race?
REP. DARRELL ISSA (R), CALIFORNIA: I'm not part of an effort to get McClintock out.
I'm saying, as I said yesterday at the Commonwealth Club, that it is now time for these candidates to soul search and one more candidate to make the decision that I made, that Peter Ueberroth made, that Bill Simon made. And that is, put the welfare of the state ahead of your own ambition. It has to happen. More than 50 percent of the voters are going to vote for a fiscal conservative. They're going to vote for change in the direction of the state. But they may not get that change if they both stay in.
WOODRUFF: Well, who should get out?
ISSA: I'm going to give a day or two more for these candidates to soul search.
I am encouraging groups to weigh in as they see fit. But I've made it very clear that, if one candidate doesn't do the right thing, I will weigh in, in favor of one candidate, not because I don't like the other candidate, but because the will of the people is more important than the ambition of any one person.
WOODRUFF: When I interviewed you on this program, it was back in June. You said, in so many words -- in fact, I think I can quote it -- you said: "Any governor that would be elected post this governor in a recall effort would be better than this governor. We're talking about a governor so bad that any other major candidate would be better."
But now you're saying, if you still have two Republicans in the race, it would be better to have Gray Davis stay in office.
ISSA: I certainly got people's attention. And I'm glad I did.
Look, the frustration of the voters is being seen. It's even being seen in a lowering of the number of people willing to vote for the recall, not because they don't believe Gray Davis should go, because they're scared stiff that we'll replace a failed leader with somebody who stood by as a silent partner in this debacle. And now his solution is $8 billion to $10 billion of new taxes, mandating social programs, everything that people know is wrong in California.
California is a liberal state. And there is nothing wrong with that. But it's a state in which we have high-paying jobs and a lot of great things that we're losing because we've gotten out of touch with the business community. We need somebody who is not literally hating of the exact people we need to have provide high-paying jobs. So that's where the frustration is. That's why we need to narrow the field, so that the voters have a fair choice on October 7.
(CROSSTALK)
ISSA: And a prelude -- just one thing -- there isn't a debate with Gray Davis yesterday, because he backed out of it. He was originally agreed with the broadcasters to do part, and I was going to do part. We were going to have pro and con recall. Gray Davis maneuvered himself out of it and wouldn't let somebody else substitute. He's not willing to debate the question of his own record. He's trying to hide behind others.
WOODRUFF: All right, let me ask you another question, though, about Tom McClintock. I understand you're saying you're not going to say yet who you think should get out of the race. But it's very pretty clear all the pressure is on Tom McClintock. It's very unlikely, people think, that Schwarzenegger is going to get out.
Tom McClintock has said he sent an e-mail out now to his supporters arguing that the Republicans tried to get Ronald Reagan not to run back in 1966. And, basically, he's saying conservatives need to stick together. So my question to you, Darrell Issa, as a conservative in the Republican Party, do you feel ideologically that, on grounds of principle, that you should be sticking with Tom McClintock?
ISSA: This entire campaign is about one part and the most important part of the Republican agenda. This is about people's personal liberty. This is about the economy. This is about the size of government. Both candidates have run on that.
To now somehow call on people from the right or the left of the party to support on ideological grounds is simply wrong. This is about changing the direction of California.
(CROSSTALK)
WOODRUFF: Well, that's not what Mr. McClintock is saying.
ISSA: Well, I haven't said this publicly before, but I should say it here. I talked to Tom McClintock before he got into this race. He told me a couple of things that I'm going to hold him to. One, he said he wouldn't get in if it wasn't a crowded field. Two, he said he wouldn't be a spoiler. And, three, he said he could do the math.
So I'm asking him and Arnold -- but each of them -- to live up to those three questions. It's not a crowded field anymore. It's only crowded by one too many. Both of them can do the math. And both of them don't want to be spoilers. One of them has to make the right decision and has to make it in the next two days.
WOODRUFF: All right, we're going to leave it at that, Congressman Darrell Issa, who got this whole thing -- ball rolling back not so long ago.
ISSA: Well, Ted Costa deserves a lot of the credit, too.
WOODRUFF: All right.
Thank you very much for talking to us. We'll see what's happening.
ISSA: Thank you very much. Thank you.
WOODRUFF: All right, thank you.
Well, in the recall ad war, the candidates are going on the attack. Arnold Schwarzenegger's camp set the tone with this new ad slamming Governor Davis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, if we've got to change California, we have to change our governor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gray Davis' fiscal mismanagement alone is a reason to recall him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOODRUFF: The Davis camp is firing back now with yet another anti-recall ad questioning whether a replacement candidate would be qualified.
Meantime, Democratic candidate Cruz Bustamante is responding to a Schwarzenegger ad that implicitly slams Bustamante for taking money from Indian tribes. In his first negative ad, Bustamante says, "Schwarzenegger doesn't share our values" -- end quote -- "and lives on planet Hollywood." Bustamante will be our guest on "INSIDE POLITICS. " That's at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, 1:00 Pacific.
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 23, 2003 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: It looks as though we can mark October 7 on our calendars finally in permanent ink. Hours after a federal appeals court put the California recall election back on track, a group that had sued to delay the vote has given up its legal battle.
CNN's Bob Franken has more from Los Angeles.
Bob, how are the campaigns reacting?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The campaigns are reacting as you'd expect them to react, saying, good, let's get it on.
Of course, tomorrow night is the debate. It does not include Governor Gray Davis, the man who wants to avoid the recall. But it does include the principal candidates who would like to have him recalled, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, the man who is participating thus far in one debate. He calls it the Super Bowl of the debates. This is the one that has the questions submitted in advance.
But as for the court hearing, it was a remarkably quick decision. Less than 16 hours after the hearing concluded in San Francisco yesterday, all 11 members of the en banc panel of the appeals court said the election should go on. The concerns of the state and the disruption it would cause to the state of California disrupted any constitutional questions that might arise out of the fact that the discredited hanging chad punch card ballot machines were being used in six of the state's most populous counties.
So, comes now the decision by the American Civil Liberties Union representing the plaintiffs. Should it go forward? The decision just announced within the hour is, no, there will be no appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, based publicly on the fact that they did not want to further disrupt the California process, privately, on advice from lawyers, that they stood just a snowball's chance of getting the Supreme Court to react.
It really wasn't possible that the nation's highest court was going to take this on. So, absent any other surprise, Judy, mark, as you said, October 7 on your calendar. And we'll see how permanent the ink is.
WOODRUFF: That we will. All right, Bob Franken, thanks very much.
And now let's bring in the man who largely bankrolled the recall effort and was briefly a candidate to replace Governor Davis. He is Congressman Darrell Issa, Republican of California.
Congressman, now we have the leading Republican in the state Senate, Mr. Brulte, Jim Brulte, who was at first against the recall, now saying that it's wrong for Mr. McClintock to stay in the race, that Arnold Schwarzenegger should be the only candidate. Are you really part of this effort now to get McClintock out of the race?
REP. DARRELL ISSA (R), CALIFORNIA: I'm not part of an effort to get McClintock out.
I'm saying, as I said yesterday at the Commonwealth Club, that it is now time for these candidates to soul search and one more candidate to make the decision that I made, that Peter Ueberroth made, that Bill Simon made. And that is, put the welfare of the state ahead of your own ambition. It has to happen. More than 50 percent of the voters are going to vote for a fiscal conservative. They're going to vote for change in the direction of the state. But they may not get that change if they both stay in.
WOODRUFF: Well, who should get out?
ISSA: I'm going to give a day or two more for these candidates to soul search.
I am encouraging groups to weigh in as they see fit. But I've made it very clear that, if one candidate doesn't do the right thing, I will weigh in, in favor of one candidate, not because I don't like the other candidate, but because the will of the people is more important than the ambition of any one person.
WOODRUFF: When I interviewed you on this program, it was back in June. You said, in so many words -- in fact, I think I can quote it -- you said: "Any governor that would be elected post this governor in a recall effort would be better than this governor. We're talking about a governor so bad that any other major candidate would be better."
But now you're saying, if you still have two Republicans in the race, it would be better to have Gray Davis stay in office.
ISSA: I certainly got people's attention. And I'm glad I did.
Look, the frustration of the voters is being seen. It's even being seen in a lowering of the number of people willing to vote for the recall, not because they don't believe Gray Davis should go, because they're scared stiff that we'll replace a failed leader with somebody who stood by as a silent partner in this debacle. And now his solution is $8 billion to $10 billion of new taxes, mandating social programs, everything that people know is wrong in California.
California is a liberal state. And there is nothing wrong with that. But it's a state in which we have high-paying jobs and a lot of great things that we're losing because we've gotten out of touch with the business community. We need somebody who is not literally hating of the exact people we need to have provide high-paying jobs. So that's where the frustration is. That's why we need to narrow the field, so that the voters have a fair choice on October 7.
(CROSSTALK)
ISSA: And a prelude -- just one thing -- there isn't a debate with Gray Davis yesterday, because he backed out of it. He was originally agreed with the broadcasters to do part, and I was going to do part. We were going to have pro and con recall. Gray Davis maneuvered himself out of it and wouldn't let somebody else substitute. He's not willing to debate the question of his own record. He's trying to hide behind others.
WOODRUFF: All right, let me ask you another question, though, about Tom McClintock. I understand you're saying you're not going to say yet who you think should get out of the race. But it's very pretty clear all the pressure is on Tom McClintock. It's very unlikely, people think, that Schwarzenegger is going to get out.
Tom McClintock has said he sent an e-mail out now to his supporters arguing that the Republicans tried to get Ronald Reagan not to run back in 1966. And, basically, he's saying conservatives need to stick together. So my question to you, Darrell Issa, as a conservative in the Republican Party, do you feel ideologically that, on grounds of principle, that you should be sticking with Tom McClintock?
ISSA: This entire campaign is about one part and the most important part of the Republican agenda. This is about people's personal liberty. This is about the economy. This is about the size of government. Both candidates have run on that.
To now somehow call on people from the right or the left of the party to support on ideological grounds is simply wrong. This is about changing the direction of California.
(CROSSTALK)
WOODRUFF: Well, that's not what Mr. McClintock is saying.
ISSA: Well, I haven't said this publicly before, but I should say it here. I talked to Tom McClintock before he got into this race. He told me a couple of things that I'm going to hold him to. One, he said he wouldn't get in if it wasn't a crowded field. Two, he said he wouldn't be a spoiler. And, three, he said he could do the math.
So I'm asking him and Arnold -- but each of them -- to live up to those three questions. It's not a crowded field anymore. It's only crowded by one too many. Both of them can do the math. And both of them don't want to be spoilers. One of them has to make the right decision and has to make it in the next two days.
WOODRUFF: All right, we're going to leave it at that, Congressman Darrell Issa, who got this whole thing -- ball rolling back not so long ago.
ISSA: Well, Ted Costa deserves a lot of the credit, too.
WOODRUFF: All right.
Thank you very much for talking to us. We'll see what's happening.
ISSA: Thank you very much. Thank you.
WOODRUFF: All right, thank you.
Well, in the recall ad war, the candidates are going on the attack. Arnold Schwarzenegger's camp set the tone with this new ad slamming Governor Davis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, if we've got to change California, we have to change our governor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gray Davis' fiscal mismanagement alone is a reason to recall him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOODRUFF: The Davis camp is firing back now with yet another anti-recall ad questioning whether a replacement candidate would be qualified.
Meantime, Democratic candidate Cruz Bustamante is responding to a Schwarzenegger ad that implicitly slams Bustamante for taking money from Indian tribes. In his first negative ad, Bustamante says, "Schwarzenegger doesn't share our values" -- end quote -- "and lives on planet Hollywood." Bustamante will be our guest on "INSIDE POLITICS. " That's at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, 1:00 Pacific.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
