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American Morning

America Votes 2002: Miami Madness

Aired November 05, 2002 - 08:53   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to Miami. One person who may not have been surprised by the election chaos here in Florida two years ago is veteran Miami journalist Edna Buchanan. She has covered South Florida for decades, and she's also a best-selling author, has a new crime novel out called "The Ice Maiden." Edna Buchanan joins us live here on the rooftop here in South Florida.
Good morning to you.

EDNA BUCHANAN, JOURNALIST, AUTHOR: Good morning.

HEMMER: what do you think the image and impact on Floridians has been over the past 24 months, as really the spotlight comes back on this stage?

BUCHANAN: Well, i think it's always been a place where -- that's stranger than fiction. And I think although Floridians don't like the negative publicity and late night jokes, they say they don't, but really they enjoy it. They're a whole different group.

HEMMER: They enjoy it?

BUCHANAN: They love to vote.

HEMMER: Miamians or Floridians?

BUCHANAN: They've been known to do it after they're dead. And I think Miami is a microcosm of America, the city of the future, and we should warn the rest of the country, because it's never boring.

HEMMER: I heard one election supervisor give kind of a pep talk to his workers yesterday, and he said, I'm sick and tired of late night comedians making fun of my home state. Does that resonate, or not?

BUCHANAN: Well, how would we get attention any other way? Miami is different. They've been known to re-elect convicted criminals and name streets after drug dealers, and it's hard to stop them from voting. Remember last time, there were people on the streets who voted twice, demanding the right to vote a third time, and now hen has cops and the defense and justice departments and county officials and everybody else involved, and they are like doctors in that respect, they only make bad situations worse.

HEMMER: You have got a big deep barrel here in South Florida.

BUCHANAN: It's going to be a long day. HEMMER: What is your take on what happens today. The early indication is that...

BUCHANAN: They're playing our song.

HEMMER: Very good. Is that there are no discernible trouble just yet. Your take on what happens today?

BUCHANAN: It's still early. And of course they've walked around the clock. They've rehearsed. They've planned this like an invasion. Miami always does the unexpected. It may go absolutely smoothly. But I wouldn't count on it.

HEMMER: But what about this, though? It was supposed to be made more simple. But in Broward County, there's a death penalty question that runs about 549 words in length. To me, that does not sound like an election question, that sounds like an essay.

BUCHANAN: Of course, here they have a way of avoiding these questions, so no really means yes and yes really means no. They pulled that trick on us in the past, and people thought they were voting for something, and they were really voting against it. You can't be for animal cruelty, so I hope the pig issue comes out OK.

HEMMER: What is the pig issues all about.

BUCHANAN: It's about the poor pigs, they're kept in little cages to breed, and they can't even turn around.

HEMMER: So the question is what?

BUCHANAN: I think pigs should run free, just like politicians.

HEMMER: On the ballot itself, your politics aside, just a question of whether or not they should be stored in bigger boxes, and why is that on the ballot?

BUCHANAN: Well, that's a good question. Why are a lot of things on our ballot?

HEMMER: That's why we're here in Florida to find out. So your prediction at the end of the day is what? Are we sitting here at the end of the day saying Florida did it again?

BUCHANAN: Well, I think we'll be sitting here tomorrow, trying to still get some of the results. When I was a young reporter, we had paper ballots, when the polls closed we went to election central. By 10:00, 11:00, 10:00 we knew the answers to all the races. We went back, we wrote the stories for the morning papers. Now everything is modernized, computerized and sophisticated, and we don't know for days, sometimes for weeks.

HEMMER: With the technology does not necessarily come quicker answers. I was curious two years ago quickly in Tallahassee. Two years after the Florida fiasco, would it drive voters away? Would it drive voters toward the booth, or would it be a wash? BUCHANAN: It will drive them toward the booth. Floridians love to vote. They love to mix it up. They don't want to be left out. In Miami, unlike other cities, when people hear gunshots, they run toward the sound. They'll run to the voting booths today.

HEMMER: Thank you, Edna. Appreciate your time today. Edna Buchanan, author of "The Ice Maiden," with us here in Miami.

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 November 5, 2002 - 08:53   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to Miami. One person who may not have been surprised by the election chaos here in Florida two years ago is veteran Miami journalist Edna Buchanan. She has covered South Florida for decades, and she's also a best-selling author, has a new crime novel out called "The Ice Maiden." Edna Buchanan joins us live here on the rooftop here in South Florida.
Good morning to you.

EDNA BUCHANAN, JOURNALIST, AUTHOR: Good morning.

HEMMER: what do you think the image and impact on Floridians has been over the past 24 months, as really the spotlight comes back on this stage?

BUCHANAN: Well, i think it's always been a place where -- that's stranger than fiction. And I think although Floridians don't like the negative publicity and late night jokes, they say they don't, but really they enjoy it. They're a whole different group.

HEMMER: They enjoy it?

BUCHANAN: They love to vote.

HEMMER: Miamians or Floridians?

BUCHANAN: They've been known to do it after they're dead. And I think Miami is a microcosm of America, the city of the future, and we should warn the rest of the country, because it's never boring.

HEMMER: I heard one election supervisor give kind of a pep talk to his workers yesterday, and he said, I'm sick and tired of late night comedians making fun of my home state. Does that resonate, or not?

BUCHANAN: Well, how would we get attention any other way? Miami is different. They've been known to re-elect convicted criminals and name streets after drug dealers, and it's hard to stop them from voting. Remember last time, there were people on the streets who voted twice, demanding the right to vote a third time, and now hen has cops and the defense and justice departments and county officials and everybody else involved, and they are like doctors in that respect, they only make bad situations worse.

HEMMER: You have got a big deep barrel here in South Florida.

BUCHANAN: It's going to be a long day. HEMMER: What is your take on what happens today. The early indication is that...

BUCHANAN: They're playing our song.

HEMMER: Very good. Is that there are no discernible trouble just yet. Your take on what happens today?

BUCHANAN: It's still early. And of course they've walked around the clock. They've rehearsed. They've planned this like an invasion. Miami always does the unexpected. It may go absolutely smoothly. But I wouldn't count on it.

HEMMER: But what about this, though? It was supposed to be made more simple. But in Broward County, there's a death penalty question that runs about 549 words in length. To me, that does not sound like an election question, that sounds like an essay.

BUCHANAN: Of course, here they have a way of avoiding these questions, so no really means yes and yes really means no. They pulled that trick on us in the past, and people thought they were voting for something, and they were really voting against it. You can't be for animal cruelty, so I hope the pig issue comes out OK.

HEMMER: What is the pig issues all about.

BUCHANAN: It's about the poor pigs, they're kept in little cages to breed, and they can't even turn around.

HEMMER: So the question is what?

BUCHANAN: I think pigs should run free, just like politicians.

HEMMER: On the ballot itself, your politics aside, just a question of whether or not they should be stored in bigger boxes, and why is that on the ballot?

BUCHANAN: Well, that's a good question. Why are a lot of things on our ballot?

HEMMER: That's why we're here in Florida to find out. So your prediction at the end of the day is what? Are we sitting here at the end of the day saying Florida did it again?

BUCHANAN: Well, I think we'll be sitting here tomorrow, trying to still get some of the results. When I was a young reporter, we had paper ballots, when the polls closed we went to election central. By 10:00, 11:00, 10:00 we knew the answers to all the races. We went back, we wrote the stories for the morning papers. Now everything is modernized, computerized and sophisticated, and we don't know for days, sometimes for weeks.

HEMMER: With the technology does not necessarily come quicker answers. I was curious two years ago quickly in Tallahassee. Two years after the Florida fiasco, would it drive voters away? Would it drive voters toward the booth, or would it be a wash? BUCHANAN: It will drive them toward the booth. Floridians love to vote. They love to mix it up. They don't want to be left out. In Miami, unlike other cities, when people hear gunshots, they run toward the sound. They'll run to the voting booths today.

HEMMER: Thank you, Edna. Appreciate your time today. Edna Buchanan, author of "The Ice Maiden," with us here in Miami.

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