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Interview With Governor Gray Davis
Aired October 21, 2003 - 15:01 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: Exactly two weeks after the historic recall election here, the transition of power is picking up steam -- Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger set to meet with outgoing Governor Gray Davis in Sacramento on Thursday. Davis is expected to show Schwarzenegger around the office and to discuss budget and policy issues, including a briefing that one in the Davis camp likened to governing 101.
Governor Davis has kept a relatively low profile since the vote to remove him from office. But just a few minutes ago, he came here to the CNN's Los Angeles bureau and talked to me about what went wrong for him politically and what he thinks of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I started by asking him if the rejection by voters still hurts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. GRAY DAVIS (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, it's not a lot of fun.
I've invested my whole life in public service. And I'm very grateful for the opportunity. And I hope, somehow, in the private sector, I can continue to serve the people of this state. It's a wonderful state, great, innovative, entrepreneurial people. And I want to find some way to continue to contribute to their well-being.
WOODRUFF: Someone said to me that Gray Davis must feel like the most rejected man in America, because 4.4 million Californians voted to recall you from office just 11 months after 3.5 million people put you in. Is that how you feel?
DAVIS: It's not fun. I don't like it.
But I have learned a long time ago that chief executives get the benefit of good times and the burden of bad times. And there's no governor in America, except the governor of Hawaii, who has a 50 percent approval rating. We're all dealing with the economic consequences of the national economy. And people expect governors to fix the problems.
WOODRUFF: So no looking back at this point?
DAVIS: No regrets. I've enjoyed every moment. It's been nearly 30 years of public service. And I'm just anxious to get on with the rest of my life.
WOODRUFF: Arnold Schwarzenegger said some pretty tough things about you during the campaign. He talked about the mismanagement of the state. He put it pretty graphically. He talked about how close you are to special interests. At one point, he talked about how corrupted the state is by dirty money. What do you say to voters who have those words ringing in their ears?
DAVIS: Well, I don't like it.
And we'll just see how Governor Schwarzenegger conducts himself in office. He took money from business interests and real estate interests. He says those are not special interests. Anyone who has a stake in what happens in Sacramento is a special interest, as the term is normally defined.
The question, however, is not who gives you money, but how you conduct yourself in office. I wish him well. I want any governor to do well, because I want this state to do well. And I'm going to be a phone call away if he needs any advice.
WOODRUFF: Do you feel in any way, Governor, sandbagged by some other Democrats in the party? Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante ran on the replacement ballot. There were prominent Democrats in the state who supported him. Were you undercut by these fellow Democrats, do you think?
DAVIS: I believe in going forward, not backwards.
After the -- after I get out of office, there's time to analyze the election and talk about the what-ifs. Right now, I'm just focused on what I can do in my remaining days. We recently participated with the secretary of interior in a major water compact that helped Southern California. That was nine years in the making. Friday, we'll announce the test scores for schools. Thursday, I will be meeting with governor-elect Schwarzenegger.
Tomorrow, we have our annual Women's Conference. So I'm just going to continue being governor until the moment he takes the oath of office.
WOODRUFF: So you don't resent what these other Democrats did?
DAVIS: It serves no useful purpose.
We said from the beginning we thought we would do better if nobody ran as a Democrat on the other side. And I think the results proved that we were right. But I'm not going backwards. I'm going forward.
WOODRUFF: You also said during the campaign that you think Arnold Schwarzenegger's celebrity allowed him to avoid questions from the political press during the campaign. Does that bother you?
DAVIS: No, because celebrity is really another form of name I.D. And it's actually a better form of name I.D., because people have a good feeling about you. If Gregory Peck ever ran for office, he might have gotten elected.
There's all kinds of people who could run for office, because, in people's subconscious, there's a built-in good feeling. And so they tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. I've run against a lot of wealthy candidates, who have a leg up because they have money. But they have to spend that money to get well-known. A celebrity with money is a pretty potent combination in California.
WOODRUFF: But that's something that you didn't have the benefit of. You did have to answer questions from the press day in and day out. So...
DAVIS: Because I believe, as governor, you should be available...
WOODRUFF: So it's a double standard?
DAVIS: Who knows? I mean, this was an exception to all rules, a 77-day campaign, no primary, no general election, people all over the world covering it.
I believe, as governor, you have to be answerable to the people. And I had 10 town halls. I answered questions from the press. I think, as governor, he'll make himself available as well.
WOODRUFF: You just mentioned you're going to be meeting with the governor-elect this Thursday. Is that going to be difficult, for you to sit down with him?
DAVIS: No, because Governor Wilson was very generous in the transition in the fall of '98. And that's just an obligation of being governor, is to prepare the next administration. I love this state. I want it to do well. I want the governor to know everything that's going on. He'll then make his choices.
WOODRUFF: What's the one primary piece of advice you want to share with him, if you can share it with us?
DAVIS: Well, I want to share it with him privately.
(LAUGHTER)
DAVIS: And then, if he wants me to share it publicly, I'll be happy to share it with you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 October 21, 2003 - 15:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Exactly two weeks after the historic recall election here, the transition of power is picking up steam -- Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger set to meet with outgoing Governor Gray Davis in Sacramento on Thursday. Davis is expected to show Schwarzenegger around the office and to discuss budget and policy issues, including a briefing that one in the Davis camp likened to governing 101.
Governor Davis has kept a relatively low profile since the vote to remove him from office. But just a few minutes ago, he came here to the CNN's Los Angeles bureau and talked to me about what went wrong for him politically and what he thinks of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I started by asking him if the rejection by voters still hurts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. GRAY DAVIS (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, it's not a lot of fun.
I've invested my whole life in public service. And I'm very grateful for the opportunity. And I hope, somehow, in the private sector, I can continue to serve the people of this state. It's a wonderful state, great, innovative, entrepreneurial people. And I want to find some way to continue to contribute to their well-being.
WOODRUFF: Someone said to me that Gray Davis must feel like the most rejected man in America, because 4.4 million Californians voted to recall you from office just 11 months after 3.5 million people put you in. Is that how you feel?
DAVIS: It's not fun. I don't like it.
But I have learned a long time ago that chief executives get the benefit of good times and the burden of bad times. And there's no governor in America, except the governor of Hawaii, who has a 50 percent approval rating. We're all dealing with the economic consequences of the national economy. And people expect governors to fix the problems.
WOODRUFF: So no looking back at this point?
DAVIS: No regrets. I've enjoyed every moment. It's been nearly 30 years of public service. And I'm just anxious to get on with the rest of my life.
WOODRUFF: Arnold Schwarzenegger said some pretty tough things about you during the campaign. He talked about the mismanagement of the state. He put it pretty graphically. He talked about how close you are to special interests. At one point, he talked about how corrupted the state is by dirty money. What do you say to voters who have those words ringing in their ears?
DAVIS: Well, I don't like it.
And we'll just see how Governor Schwarzenegger conducts himself in office. He took money from business interests and real estate interests. He says those are not special interests. Anyone who has a stake in what happens in Sacramento is a special interest, as the term is normally defined.
The question, however, is not who gives you money, but how you conduct yourself in office. I wish him well. I want any governor to do well, because I want this state to do well. And I'm going to be a phone call away if he needs any advice.
WOODRUFF: Do you feel in any way, Governor, sandbagged by some other Democrats in the party? Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante ran on the replacement ballot. There were prominent Democrats in the state who supported him. Were you undercut by these fellow Democrats, do you think?
DAVIS: I believe in going forward, not backwards.
After the -- after I get out of office, there's time to analyze the election and talk about the what-ifs. Right now, I'm just focused on what I can do in my remaining days. We recently participated with the secretary of interior in a major water compact that helped Southern California. That was nine years in the making. Friday, we'll announce the test scores for schools. Thursday, I will be meeting with governor-elect Schwarzenegger.
Tomorrow, we have our annual Women's Conference. So I'm just going to continue being governor until the moment he takes the oath of office.
WOODRUFF: So you don't resent what these other Democrats did?
DAVIS: It serves no useful purpose.
We said from the beginning we thought we would do better if nobody ran as a Democrat on the other side. And I think the results proved that we were right. But I'm not going backwards. I'm going forward.
WOODRUFF: You also said during the campaign that you think Arnold Schwarzenegger's celebrity allowed him to avoid questions from the political press during the campaign. Does that bother you?
DAVIS: No, because celebrity is really another form of name I.D. And it's actually a better form of name I.D., because people have a good feeling about you. If Gregory Peck ever ran for office, he might have gotten elected.
There's all kinds of people who could run for office, because, in people's subconscious, there's a built-in good feeling. And so they tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. I've run against a lot of wealthy candidates, who have a leg up because they have money. But they have to spend that money to get well-known. A celebrity with money is a pretty potent combination in California.
WOODRUFF: But that's something that you didn't have the benefit of. You did have to answer questions from the press day in and day out. So...
DAVIS: Because I believe, as governor, you should be available...
WOODRUFF: So it's a double standard?
DAVIS: Who knows? I mean, this was an exception to all rules, a 77-day campaign, no primary, no general election, people all over the world covering it.
I believe, as governor, you have to be answerable to the people. And I had 10 town halls. I answered questions from the press. I think, as governor, he'll make himself available as well.
WOODRUFF: You just mentioned you're going to be meeting with the governor-elect this Thursday. Is that going to be difficult, for you to sit down with him?
DAVIS: No, because Governor Wilson was very generous in the transition in the fall of '98. And that's just an obligation of being governor, is to prepare the next administration. I love this state. I want it to do well. I want the governor to know everything that's going on. He'll then make his choices.
WOODRUFF: What's the one primary piece of advice you want to share with him, if you can share it with us?
DAVIS: Well, I want to share it with him privately.
(LAUGHTER)
DAVIS: And then, if he wants me to share it publicly, I'll be happy to share it with you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
