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California Recall: Candidate Snapshot
Aired September 29, 2003 - 15:23 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: Well, Michael Jackson and Richard Simmons are among the many candidate on the California recall ballot. You have no doubt heard of them, but they're not who you think they may be.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports neither candidate is actually a celebrity, and both say they entered the race for good reasons.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Their names caught our attention: Ed Kennedy, Robert Dole, Michael Jackson, and Richard Simmons. Of course, not that Kennedy or this Dole. Also with us is Michael Jackson. For a fleeting moment, this Michael Jackson and this Richard Simmons came to mind.
MICHAEL JACKSON, CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: My name is Michael Jackson and I'm running for governor of California.
GUTIERREZ: Michael Jackson is a 36-year-old satellite engineer turned politician for the first time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I actually got my ballot, and your name was on there today.
RICHARD SIMMONS, CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Other campaigns have buttons. We don't have buttons yet. We want buttons. We've ordered buttons, but what we have for you right now are pictures of buttons.
GUTIERREZ: Meet the other Richard Simmons.
SIMMONS: I'm an Independent. So I don't have any alliances to any special interest groups.
GUTIERREZ: Simmons is a 51-year-old attorney, business man, and public speaker running for governor.
SIMMONS: I believe the voters, if given a fair chance to view everybody, would clearly select me over the other candidates.
GUTIERREZ: Jackson says he's serious.
JACKSON: We have too much data oversight. We need to get the communities involved.
GUTIERREZ: The problem, they say, is accessing voters when you have no money.
JACKSON: This election is about accountability.
GUTIERREZ: And so they must rely on free exposure.
SIMMONS: The fact is the media is defining who are the so-called serious candidates.
GUTIERREZ: So they reach out to voters one by one.
SIMMONS: My objective is to fill the void, hold the sign out to businesses to come back to California.
Hi. Michael Jackson. I'm running for governor.
GUTIERREZ: Jackson says he's just trying to catch his party's attention.
JACKSON: It's been very difficult since obviously they want to win really badly.
GUTIERREZ: As for the experience...
SIMMONS: I will look back at this experience as being a wonderful one.
JACKSON: If this doesn't work out for the governor's office, I can run for other offices.
GUTIERREZ: Who knows. Jackson and Simmons may pop up on another ballot one day.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: The truth is it may be one of the holdest trick in politics.
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 29, 2003 - 15:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Michael Jackson and Richard Simmons are among the many candidate on the California recall ballot. You have no doubt heard of them, but they're not who you think they may be.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports neither candidate is actually a celebrity, and both say they entered the race for good reasons.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Their names caught our attention: Ed Kennedy, Robert Dole, Michael Jackson, and Richard Simmons. Of course, not that Kennedy or this Dole. Also with us is Michael Jackson. For a fleeting moment, this Michael Jackson and this Richard Simmons came to mind.
MICHAEL JACKSON, CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: My name is Michael Jackson and I'm running for governor of California.
GUTIERREZ: Michael Jackson is a 36-year-old satellite engineer turned politician for the first time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I actually got my ballot, and your name was on there today.
RICHARD SIMMONS, CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Other campaigns have buttons. We don't have buttons yet. We want buttons. We've ordered buttons, but what we have for you right now are pictures of buttons.
GUTIERREZ: Meet the other Richard Simmons.
SIMMONS: I'm an Independent. So I don't have any alliances to any special interest groups.
GUTIERREZ: Simmons is a 51-year-old attorney, business man, and public speaker running for governor.
SIMMONS: I believe the voters, if given a fair chance to view everybody, would clearly select me over the other candidates.
GUTIERREZ: Jackson says he's serious.
JACKSON: We have too much data oversight. We need to get the communities involved.
GUTIERREZ: The problem, they say, is accessing voters when you have no money.
JACKSON: This election is about accountability.
GUTIERREZ: And so they must rely on free exposure.
SIMMONS: The fact is the media is defining who are the so-called serious candidates.
GUTIERREZ: So they reach out to voters one by one.
SIMMONS: My objective is to fill the void, hold the sign out to businesses to come back to California.
Hi. Michael Jackson. I'm running for governor.
GUTIERREZ: Jackson says he's just trying to catch his party's attention.
JACKSON: It's been very difficult since obviously they want to win really badly.
GUTIERREZ: As for the experience...
SIMMONS: I will look back at this experience as being a wonderful one.
JACKSON: If this doesn't work out for the governor's office, I can run for other offices.
GUTIERREZ: Who knows. Jackson and Simmons may pop up on another ballot one day.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: The truth is it may be one of the holdest trick in politics.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
