Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Interview with Wayne Genthner

Aired July 02, 2002 - 09:45   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: In Florida, secretary of state Katherine Harris has a dogfight on her hands in her campaign for Congress. That is because the new write-in candidate for the Republican primary is a dog, a dog named Percy. There you see Percy's picture.

The Percy-for-Congress campaign is part parody, part protest, and the canine candidate is with us this morning from his home district of Sarasota, along with his owner and political mouthpiece, Wayne Genthner. Hey, good morning, how are you doing, Wayne?

WAYNE GENTHNER, DOG OWNER: Well, good morning. I'm doing fine down here.

HARRIS: All right. Let's see Percy. Where is Percy right now?

GENTHNER: Percy is relaxing at my feet, which is probably where most politicians ought to be regarding their constituents.

HARRIS: OK. Listen, what is this all about, Wayne? Now, why in the world would a loyal Republican jump into the fray right now and try to get in the way -- and just muck things up right now for Katherine Harris, or any other candidate right now who may be running for this particular seat?

GENTHNER: Well, I don't really think we're messing up Katherine Harris' bid as much as we are trying to draw some attention to what I perceive as a very profound gap between the Republican leadership and its constituents. I find there are a lot of work-a-day Republicans (ph), and quite frankly, this is really a bipartisan issue. Working folks, regular folks, the kind of people that made this country, that have put themselves out for this country, are being basically left in the dust by their leadership.

HARRIS: All right. Well then, tell us why we should care about Percy running. What is it that Percy stands for? What is Percy all about?

GENTHNER: Well, quite simply, Percy stands for liberty and justice for all, some of the very basic precepts of our country.

HARRIS: Well, right now, he's sitting for those, we don't see him standing.

GENTHNER: Well, yes. He's looking forward to his seat, obviously.

HARRIS: Good grief. OK. Well, listen, how many votes do you honestly expect to get, and what do you expect to accomplish by doing this?

GENTHNER: Well, what we are trying to accomplish is secure a couple of thousand good Republican votes for a dog. The dog represents an issue of concern to me which is the lack of what we might call a "none of the above" space on a ballot. That would serve to -- perhaps provoke any candidate into really trying hard to express our ideas. Really trying hard, which we don't seem to have.

HARRIS: All right. Well, if you -- well, we don't seem to have enough time to talk about this any more, either. But hey, listen, we'll keep an eye on the campaign, see how things turn out for you and Percy.

GENTHNER: OK.

HARRIS: Take care. Wayne Genthner in Sarasota, Florida.

GENTHNER: Bye bye.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com