Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Now That Voting is Over, What's Next?

Aired October 08, 2003 - 08:05   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: So, then, now that the voting is over, what is next? Election officials do not expect to have all the votes counted until the 15th of November. Once that's done, the results can be certified in Sacramento. Arnold Schwarzenegger then has 10 days to assume office.
The Democrat, Cruz Bustamante, will still remain as California's lieutenant governor. The governor elect has a 10 point plan, he says, for his first hundred days in office, including returning the nearly tripled car tax to 1998 levels, a spending freeze on state contracts and travel and an audit of the budget. He'll also propose cuts to reduce the $8 billion budget deficit and restructure the debt in California and he plans to repeal the law recently signed by Governor Davis that gave illegal immigrants the right to hold driver licenses.

With me now, Bill Simon. He was a candidate in the race before bowing out, now live here with us in L.A. Also, he will stay on board with the transition team for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Good morning to you.

BILL SIMON, FORMER RECALL CANDIDATE, ON TRANSITION TEAM: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: You have your work cut out right now. How are you going to get this done?

SIMON: Well, you know, we're going to have to move quickly. You know, there's no question that we've got a very serious budget crisis facing California, Bill. You know, we've got the nation's worst credit rating. We've got an income statement that it deteriorating because jobs are leaving our state. The tax base is eroding.

So there's plenty of things that we need to do. Arnold talked about reforming worker's compensation, about having a constitutional cap on state spending, about having an audit, as you mentioned. These are things actually I had campaigned on for the last two years.

HEMMER: Also you have a candidate now who will be governor with no political experience. You've got to balance this budget, also with this pledge not to raise taxes. You've got a Democratic state legislature on the House and Senate side up in Sacramento. It seems pretty formidable.

Can you say tonight -- make that this morning, I've been up late...

SIMON: Me, too.

HEMMER: Can you say in six months from now that people living in the State of California will, indeed, see changes and improvement in their state?

SIMON: Yes, I think you can unequivocally say that. You know, Arnold's talking about repealing the tripling of the car tax, which has angered millions of people. And I think when you see the exit poll, the results, you'll see that that's one of the principle reasons why people had lost confidence in Gray Davis.

HEMMER: You have a transition team here, Republican Governor Pete Wilson used to run the state here, yourself, you're going to take on economic issues.

SIMON: Yes.

HEMMER: On the educational side, a former mayor here in L.A., Richard Reardon.

Are these three members of the transition team the key elements that will help Arnold Schwarzenegger get the roots and the balance that he needs to run the biggest state in the country?

SIMON: Well, Bill, there are a lot of very experienced, very smart people that are on the transition team. And I think Arnold has shown that he's going to reach out to lots of different people from different beliefs and backgrounds.

HEMMER: About a year ago, in fact, a little less than that, 11 months ago, you lost a race to Gray Davis, defeated 47-42 percent. Could Gray Davis ever save this race that happened yesterday?

SIMON: You know, I don't think so, honestly. You know, if you -- I took a look at some polling information that showed that as of a month ago, 83 percent of Californians had made up their minds. Now, historically, as you know, Bill, voters tend to make up their minds in the last month and a very high percentage make up their minds in the last two weeks. In this election, an extraordinarily high percentage of people made up their minds over 30 days ago.

So I think the answer to your question is no.

HEMMER: In 15 seconds, do you believe the tide is turning in California, knowing that Democrats have dominated this state for the past decade?

SIMON: I think there's a sea change, no question about it. I think people are tired of politics as usual. You know, as a friend of mine, Dave Johnson, used to say -- he's, I believe, one of the preeminent college coaches now -- you know, you can sense when the momentum shifts. And sometimes it's imperceptible other than just a feeling you have.

I felt this six months ago, Bill, and I think it's borne out in the numbers last night. HEMMER: We're going to pick up that same topic with Jeff Greenfield in a moment here.

But I want to thank you for joining us this morning nice and early here in L.A.

SIMON: My pleasure, Bill.

HEMMER: Bill Simon, thanks again.

SIMON: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: In total, there were 135 candidates on that ballot. Some of the more well known included a former child TV actor and a porn star. The latest numbers, Gary Coleman chipped in with 12,000 votes last night; Larry Flynt, 14,800; Angeline, 2,200; and the porn star Mary Carey Cook, just under 10,000 at 9,500; and the comedian Gallagher, 4,600 from the voting yesterday.

We mentioned earlier today it's been 82 years since a governor has been recalled. You have to go back to 1921 and the State of North Dakota.

Jeff Greenfield loves that history.

He joins us now.

Good morning to you.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lynn Frazier (ph), and they sent her to the U.S. sent the next year.

HEMMER: One year later.

GREENFIELD: There you go.

HEMMER: As a matter of fact.

I want to pick up on this point by Bill Simon in a moment here. But first, what was the turning point in this race? If you look back to the debate of September 24 and watched the polling the following day, that's when it seemed like Schwarzenegger's campaign really gained steam.

GREENFIELD: I think that was the single most important night of the whole campaign because, first of all, it had a huge audience, mostly because of Arnold. People who'd gotten totally disconnected or never connected with politics were watching it out of curiosity.

What they saw was, first of all, a very lively debate with a wide variety of views that I think they felt, OK, it isn't a train wreck, we can recall the governor, which we want to do basically anyway. And they saw Arnold Schwarzenegger, a man who cleared the bar of comfort, that is, maybe he couldn't pass the same quiz on state government that Gray Davis could, but he was good enough to let them do what they wanted to go ahead and do. HEMMER: Listen to some of the exit polling. Hispanics and union households, typically Democratic, 50 percent voted to recall Governor Davis. One in four Democrats considering themselves very liberal voted in favor of the recall.

Look at the women factor, too. Again, coming off this "L.A. Times" report from a week ago, 42 percent voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Favorable rating at 48 percent. All on the female side.

What explains that, do you believe?

GREENFIELD: One number that you didn't read. Seventy-two percent of the people who voted yesterday thought that California had seriously got off on the wrong track. And here's a lesson for all you young political analysts out there. When three quarters of the state thinks that the state's on the wrong track, they're not going to keep the governor in power.

HEMMER: We want to pick up on this point with Bill Simon. Al Gore won this state in the year 2000 by 11 points.

GREENFIELD: Yes.

HEMMER: An absolute landslide when it comes to presidential races, in many cases.

GREENFIELD: Yes.

HEMMER: Do you agree with the turning of the tide here or not?

GREENFIELD: No, I don't. But what I think is it gives the Republicans an opportunity. This is a solidly Democratic state. Bill Kerack (ph), who is a very smart Democratic political analyst, told me the other day if this is a competitive state, if the 2004 election is competitive, Bush loses. And, anyway, the link between a governor of a state and who carries a state is non-existent just historically.

What I think is that because Arnold Schwarzenegger was able to bypass a primary in which a pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-gun patrol Republican would have had a very difficult time, he had -- it gives the opportunity -- it gives the party the opportunity to rebrand itself. This is a state that does, that has not elected a social conservative to statewide office since, I believe, since Ronald Reagan, to high statewide office.

So it's a chance. But do I think that this, in a term, a partisan way, turns the state around? No.

Here's what I do think, quickly. If the economy, the national economy improves, and there are signs that Silicon Valley is stirring again, Schwarzenegger -- Joe DiMaggio once said I'd rather be lucky than good -- Schwarzenegger will be seen as a miracle worker, whether he had anything to do with turning around the economy or not. And, the fresh wind that he brings to Sacramento in terms of a non-politics as usual thing is going to seem as incredibly attractive. So there's a chance there.

HEMMER: Always better lucky than good, huh?

GREENFIELD: Well, you know...

HEMMER: Joe D.

GREENFIELD: ... he was both.

HEMMER: That's right.

Thank you, Jeff.

Great to see you.

GREENFIELD: OK.

HEMMER: Jeff Greenfield here in L.A.

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 8, 2003 - 08:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: So, then, now that the voting is over, what is next? Election officials do not expect to have all the votes counted until the 15th of November. Once that's done, the results can be certified in Sacramento. Arnold Schwarzenegger then has 10 days to assume office.
The Democrat, Cruz Bustamante, will still remain as California's lieutenant governor. The governor elect has a 10 point plan, he says, for his first hundred days in office, including returning the nearly tripled car tax to 1998 levels, a spending freeze on state contracts and travel and an audit of the budget. He'll also propose cuts to reduce the $8 billion budget deficit and restructure the debt in California and he plans to repeal the law recently signed by Governor Davis that gave illegal immigrants the right to hold driver licenses.

With me now, Bill Simon. He was a candidate in the race before bowing out, now live here with us in L.A. Also, he will stay on board with the transition team for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Good morning to you.

BILL SIMON, FORMER RECALL CANDIDATE, ON TRANSITION TEAM: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: You have your work cut out right now. How are you going to get this done?

SIMON: Well, you know, we're going to have to move quickly. You know, there's no question that we've got a very serious budget crisis facing California, Bill. You know, we've got the nation's worst credit rating. We've got an income statement that it deteriorating because jobs are leaving our state. The tax base is eroding.

So there's plenty of things that we need to do. Arnold talked about reforming worker's compensation, about having a constitutional cap on state spending, about having an audit, as you mentioned. These are things actually I had campaigned on for the last two years.

HEMMER: Also you have a candidate now who will be governor with no political experience. You've got to balance this budget, also with this pledge not to raise taxes. You've got a Democratic state legislature on the House and Senate side up in Sacramento. It seems pretty formidable.

Can you say tonight -- make that this morning, I've been up late...

SIMON: Me, too.

HEMMER: Can you say in six months from now that people living in the State of California will, indeed, see changes and improvement in their state?

SIMON: Yes, I think you can unequivocally say that. You know, Arnold's talking about repealing the tripling of the car tax, which has angered millions of people. And I think when you see the exit poll, the results, you'll see that that's one of the principle reasons why people had lost confidence in Gray Davis.

HEMMER: You have a transition team here, Republican Governor Pete Wilson used to run the state here, yourself, you're going to take on economic issues.

SIMON: Yes.

HEMMER: On the educational side, a former mayor here in L.A., Richard Reardon.

Are these three members of the transition team the key elements that will help Arnold Schwarzenegger get the roots and the balance that he needs to run the biggest state in the country?

SIMON: Well, Bill, there are a lot of very experienced, very smart people that are on the transition team. And I think Arnold has shown that he's going to reach out to lots of different people from different beliefs and backgrounds.

HEMMER: About a year ago, in fact, a little less than that, 11 months ago, you lost a race to Gray Davis, defeated 47-42 percent. Could Gray Davis ever save this race that happened yesterday?

SIMON: You know, I don't think so, honestly. You know, if you -- I took a look at some polling information that showed that as of a month ago, 83 percent of Californians had made up their minds. Now, historically, as you know, Bill, voters tend to make up their minds in the last month and a very high percentage make up their minds in the last two weeks. In this election, an extraordinarily high percentage of people made up their minds over 30 days ago.

So I think the answer to your question is no.

HEMMER: In 15 seconds, do you believe the tide is turning in California, knowing that Democrats have dominated this state for the past decade?

SIMON: I think there's a sea change, no question about it. I think people are tired of politics as usual. You know, as a friend of mine, Dave Johnson, used to say -- he's, I believe, one of the preeminent college coaches now -- you know, you can sense when the momentum shifts. And sometimes it's imperceptible other than just a feeling you have.

I felt this six months ago, Bill, and I think it's borne out in the numbers last night. HEMMER: We're going to pick up that same topic with Jeff Greenfield in a moment here.

But I want to thank you for joining us this morning nice and early here in L.A.

SIMON: My pleasure, Bill.

HEMMER: Bill Simon, thanks again.

SIMON: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: In total, there were 135 candidates on that ballot. Some of the more well known included a former child TV actor and a porn star. The latest numbers, Gary Coleman chipped in with 12,000 votes last night; Larry Flynt, 14,800; Angeline, 2,200; and the porn star Mary Carey Cook, just under 10,000 at 9,500; and the comedian Gallagher, 4,600 from the voting yesterday.

We mentioned earlier today it's been 82 years since a governor has been recalled. You have to go back to 1921 and the State of North Dakota.

Jeff Greenfield loves that history.

He joins us now.

Good morning to you.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lynn Frazier (ph), and they sent her to the U.S. sent the next year.

HEMMER: One year later.

GREENFIELD: There you go.

HEMMER: As a matter of fact.

I want to pick up on this point by Bill Simon in a moment here. But first, what was the turning point in this race? If you look back to the debate of September 24 and watched the polling the following day, that's when it seemed like Schwarzenegger's campaign really gained steam.

GREENFIELD: I think that was the single most important night of the whole campaign because, first of all, it had a huge audience, mostly because of Arnold. People who'd gotten totally disconnected or never connected with politics were watching it out of curiosity.

What they saw was, first of all, a very lively debate with a wide variety of views that I think they felt, OK, it isn't a train wreck, we can recall the governor, which we want to do basically anyway. And they saw Arnold Schwarzenegger, a man who cleared the bar of comfort, that is, maybe he couldn't pass the same quiz on state government that Gray Davis could, but he was good enough to let them do what they wanted to go ahead and do. HEMMER: Listen to some of the exit polling. Hispanics and union households, typically Democratic, 50 percent voted to recall Governor Davis. One in four Democrats considering themselves very liberal voted in favor of the recall.

Look at the women factor, too. Again, coming off this "L.A. Times" report from a week ago, 42 percent voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Favorable rating at 48 percent. All on the female side.

What explains that, do you believe?

GREENFIELD: One number that you didn't read. Seventy-two percent of the people who voted yesterday thought that California had seriously got off on the wrong track. And here's a lesson for all you young political analysts out there. When three quarters of the state thinks that the state's on the wrong track, they're not going to keep the governor in power.

HEMMER: We want to pick up on this point with Bill Simon. Al Gore won this state in the year 2000 by 11 points.

GREENFIELD: Yes.

HEMMER: An absolute landslide when it comes to presidential races, in many cases.

GREENFIELD: Yes.

HEMMER: Do you agree with the turning of the tide here or not?

GREENFIELD: No, I don't. But what I think is it gives the Republicans an opportunity. This is a solidly Democratic state. Bill Kerack (ph), who is a very smart Democratic political analyst, told me the other day if this is a competitive state, if the 2004 election is competitive, Bush loses. And, anyway, the link between a governor of a state and who carries a state is non-existent just historically.

What I think is that because Arnold Schwarzenegger was able to bypass a primary in which a pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-gun patrol Republican would have had a very difficult time, he had -- it gives the opportunity -- it gives the party the opportunity to rebrand itself. This is a state that does, that has not elected a social conservative to statewide office since, I believe, since Ronald Reagan, to high statewide office.

So it's a chance. But do I think that this, in a term, a partisan way, turns the state around? No.

Here's what I do think, quickly. If the economy, the national economy improves, and there are signs that Silicon Valley is stirring again, Schwarzenegger -- Joe DiMaggio once said I'd rather be lucky than good -- Schwarzenegger will be seen as a miracle worker, whether he had anything to do with turning around the economy or not. And, the fresh wind that he brings to Sacramento in terms of a non-politics as usual thing is going to seem as incredibly attractive. So there's a chance there.

HEMMER: Always better lucky than good, huh?

GREENFIELD: Well, you know...

HEMMER: Joe D.

GREENFIELD: ... he was both.

HEMMER: That's right.

Thank you, Jeff.

Great to see you.

GREENFIELD: OK.

HEMMER: Jeff Greenfield here in L.A.

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