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American Morning

Party Lines

Aired October 07, 2003 - 09:07   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So what will be the deciding factors in today's voting? Joining us this morning Duf Sundheim. He is the chairman of California's Republican Party, and the state's Democratic Party chairman Art Torres.
Gentlemen, feels like just minutes ago that we were chatting. We had the opportunity to talk last night. Let's talk a little bit about the bigger picture here.

And, Duf, let's begin with you. First and foremost, are you concerned about the impact these allegations -- now 16 women coming forward to say that Arnold Schwarzenegger behaved inappropriately, at the very least, with them. Are you concerned about that impact that that's going to have as voters today think about who they're going to vote for as they head to the polls?

DUF SUNDHEIM, CALIF. REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIRMAN: No, because he addressed the issue forthrightly and directly, immediately. And our polling numbers and the Democratic polls that we've seen both indicate that on the question of whether this governor is going to be recalled, he is going to be recalled. And on the second question, Arnold Schwarzenegger will be elected governor. But it really is up to the voters, Soledad, to make that decision, no matter what the polls show. If the people that want change, if the people want to stop this kind of politics don't vote, then we're not going to get the change that they want. So it's really important that people get out to vote today.

O'BRIEN: Art, a big problem for the Davis campaign is that people can be horrified by what Arnold Schwarzenegger is alleged to have done and still not translate that into a vote for Gray Davis. That's a big problem to overcome. Isn't it?

ART TORRES, CALIF. DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIRMAN: I know it is a big problem, Soledad. But, quite frankly, a lot of women now saying they wish they could take back their absentee ballots, because they voted for Arnold already, and they can't, because of what they've heard recently.

You know, the only pew politics that's going on is the puking going on by women across the state in reaction to 16 women who were groped, who were spanked, who were tousled, who were thrown down on beds by this man. This is not over yet.

Quite frankly, I'm tired of him lying about the governor's record. You know, 800,000 new jobs were created since 1999 in this state. If we're going to use that as a record in terms of employment he ought to be given credit for that. And also that businesses are not leaving the state. Businesses are increasing here in California.

But ultimately, as Duf said, the voters will decide today in terms of where we go in the future of this state, and I hope to God that they stay with Gray Davis.

O'BRIEN: Well, Duf, you mentioned that Arnold Schwarzenegger in fact -- I'm sort of paraphrasing what you said a minute ago, he's answered the questions forthrightly and directly, immediately, and yet at the same time, we actually heard Arnold Schwarzenegger saying to Tom Brokaw, I believe, he would deal with the allegations later when he wasn't so focused on the campaign. There are some who say, well, that's too late, let's deal with them now. Do you think that's not a fair criticism?

SUNDHEIM: Yes, I don't think it's a fair criticism, because what he said is, look, there were problems, I admit there were problems, I accept responsibility. And you contrast that with Gray Davis, who has failed to accept responsibility for the mistakes that he's made. And for Art to start talking about these allegations and saying they're central to the political process, Art, I have page after page of comments that you made when these allegations were made against Clinton, and you were saying the people of this country should be focusing on other issues...

TORRES: Clinton was punished. He was impeached.

SUNDHEIM: Obviously, you're not going to agree on this issue, so let's move on. Art, I want to ask you -- and I want -- alleged actions. And I want to move on. And I want to move on. Mr. Torres, I hate to interrupt you, but I want to move on.

I want to talk about a scenario that we talked about with Ron Brownstein this morning. More people could vote no on the recall, meaning that Gray Davis would get more votes, theoretically, than Arnold Schwarzenegger, could get something like 49 percent of the vote, Arnold Schwarzenegger could get 37 percent of the vote, and still Arnold Schwarzenegger would walk away as governor of California. What would the potential impact, Art, be on that?

TORRES: Well, the potential impact is that he's going to be investigated, whether he submits himself personally or whether the district or the attorney general begins an investigation. He's going to be handicapped if he takes over as governor, God forbid, and quite frankly, as Tom McClintock said, he ought to step out of the race if these allegations are true. Apparently they are. He's admitted to that. And what the Republicans need to do is to, quite frankly, figure out how they're going to deal with a very crippled new governor if Arnold gets elected, who's going to be investigated for these charges. I think more women are going to come out, given what we've been hearing already.

O'BRIEN: We only have ten seconds. Duf, how you going to deal with it potentially if indeed that's a scenario that happens?

SUNDHEIM: Well, Soledad, in this state, people sue if you get your coffee too hot. No complaints have ever been filed against Arnold with respect to his conduct, much less criminal charges.

TORRES: The women were afraid to.

SUNDHEIM: So we're focused on the future of this state.

O'BRIEN: Duf Sundheim, Art Torres, as always, nice to have you. Good to see you've got lots of energy first thing in the morning. Always like that, guys. Thanks.

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 7, 2003 - 09:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So what will be the deciding factors in today's voting? Joining us this morning Duf Sundheim. He is the chairman of California's Republican Party, and the state's Democratic Party chairman Art Torres.
Gentlemen, feels like just minutes ago that we were chatting. We had the opportunity to talk last night. Let's talk a little bit about the bigger picture here.

And, Duf, let's begin with you. First and foremost, are you concerned about the impact these allegations -- now 16 women coming forward to say that Arnold Schwarzenegger behaved inappropriately, at the very least, with them. Are you concerned about that impact that that's going to have as voters today think about who they're going to vote for as they head to the polls?

DUF SUNDHEIM, CALIF. REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIRMAN: No, because he addressed the issue forthrightly and directly, immediately. And our polling numbers and the Democratic polls that we've seen both indicate that on the question of whether this governor is going to be recalled, he is going to be recalled. And on the second question, Arnold Schwarzenegger will be elected governor. But it really is up to the voters, Soledad, to make that decision, no matter what the polls show. If the people that want change, if the people want to stop this kind of politics don't vote, then we're not going to get the change that they want. So it's really important that people get out to vote today.

O'BRIEN: Art, a big problem for the Davis campaign is that people can be horrified by what Arnold Schwarzenegger is alleged to have done and still not translate that into a vote for Gray Davis. That's a big problem to overcome. Isn't it?

ART TORRES, CALIF. DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIRMAN: I know it is a big problem, Soledad. But, quite frankly, a lot of women now saying they wish they could take back their absentee ballots, because they voted for Arnold already, and they can't, because of what they've heard recently.

You know, the only pew politics that's going on is the puking going on by women across the state in reaction to 16 women who were groped, who were spanked, who were tousled, who were thrown down on beds by this man. This is not over yet.

Quite frankly, I'm tired of him lying about the governor's record. You know, 800,000 new jobs were created since 1999 in this state. If we're going to use that as a record in terms of employment he ought to be given credit for that. And also that businesses are not leaving the state. Businesses are increasing here in California.

But ultimately, as Duf said, the voters will decide today in terms of where we go in the future of this state, and I hope to God that they stay with Gray Davis.

O'BRIEN: Well, Duf, you mentioned that Arnold Schwarzenegger in fact -- I'm sort of paraphrasing what you said a minute ago, he's answered the questions forthrightly and directly, immediately, and yet at the same time, we actually heard Arnold Schwarzenegger saying to Tom Brokaw, I believe, he would deal with the allegations later when he wasn't so focused on the campaign. There are some who say, well, that's too late, let's deal with them now. Do you think that's not a fair criticism?

SUNDHEIM: Yes, I don't think it's a fair criticism, because what he said is, look, there were problems, I admit there were problems, I accept responsibility. And you contrast that with Gray Davis, who has failed to accept responsibility for the mistakes that he's made. And for Art to start talking about these allegations and saying they're central to the political process, Art, I have page after page of comments that you made when these allegations were made against Clinton, and you were saying the people of this country should be focusing on other issues...

TORRES: Clinton was punished. He was impeached.

SUNDHEIM: Obviously, you're not going to agree on this issue, so let's move on. Art, I want to ask you -- and I want -- alleged actions. And I want to move on. And I want to move on. Mr. Torres, I hate to interrupt you, but I want to move on.

I want to talk about a scenario that we talked about with Ron Brownstein this morning. More people could vote no on the recall, meaning that Gray Davis would get more votes, theoretically, than Arnold Schwarzenegger, could get something like 49 percent of the vote, Arnold Schwarzenegger could get 37 percent of the vote, and still Arnold Schwarzenegger would walk away as governor of California. What would the potential impact, Art, be on that?

TORRES: Well, the potential impact is that he's going to be investigated, whether he submits himself personally or whether the district or the attorney general begins an investigation. He's going to be handicapped if he takes over as governor, God forbid, and quite frankly, as Tom McClintock said, he ought to step out of the race if these allegations are true. Apparently they are. He's admitted to that. And what the Republicans need to do is to, quite frankly, figure out how they're going to deal with a very crippled new governor if Arnold gets elected, who's going to be investigated for these charges. I think more women are going to come out, given what we've been hearing already.

O'BRIEN: We only have ten seconds. Duf, how you going to deal with it potentially if indeed that's a scenario that happens?

SUNDHEIM: Well, Soledad, in this state, people sue if you get your coffee too hot. No complaints have ever been filed against Arnold with respect to his conduct, much less criminal charges.

TORRES: The women were afraid to.

SUNDHEIM: So we're focused on the future of this state.

O'BRIEN: Duf Sundheim, Art Torres, as always, nice to have you. Good to see you've got lots of energy first thing in the morning. Always like that, guys. Thanks.

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