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CNN Sunday Morning
Over 100 Qualify to Be on Ballot for California Recall Election
Aired August 10, 2003 - 08:00 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.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: We have a running count. More than 100 people have qualified to run in the California recall election and the list may get longer. For the very latest, we will split to the coast and CNN's Bob Franken. He is at our Los Angeles bureau.
Good morning, Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. As a matter of fact, it could get much longer. About 158 have gone through the preliminaries. What's going to happen now is that registrars across the state are going to make sure that those 65 signatures required with the $3,500 in each of the ballots to announce a candidacy are valid. And some of those will be winnowed out as a result.
But let's suppose the election was held today. The election, of course, is primarily about whether to recall the governor, Gray Davis. The others would be in the, what if he is recalled, then what category. If the election were held today, Davis would be recalled.
Fifty-four percent, according to CNN-"TIME" magazine poll, said that Davis should be replaced. Thirty-five percent said he should be kept in office.
Now, suppose, in fact, that that recall holds up. If the election was held today and those 100-plus people were on the ballot, it looks like, that's right, Arnold Schwarzenegger would be the one who would win. Right now, he has a 25 percent vote. Remember, you only need a plurality, not a majority to win if it gets to that point.
The only one who is even really close is Cruz Bustamante, who is the Democratic lieutenant governor. There's a real debate going on now among Democrats as to whether he should get their support, as well as the opposition to the recall.
This is really in a state of chaos right now. The election is seven weeks away. A lot can happen, so these are very preliminary results. But that's the way it is right now.
And, of course, a lot of the attention has focused on Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movie star with lots and lots of money filed his papers yesterday and then talked, as he has been so far, in generalities when he came out to meet his adoring crowds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: The outpour that I have witnessed these last few days was absolutely extraordinary, the outpour of support for my candidacy. So I want to thank all the people and all the supporters so much for your great enthusiasm. I don't want to say anymore. I just want to say to you that I'm running for governor and I promise you that I will be the people's governor, the people's governor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: So now we know that he intends to be the governor of the people, which was about as specific as he got. By the way, that was his wife, Maria Shriver, standing next to him. She, of course, of the Kennedy Shrivers, and important in this Democratic state. She expressed her support, of course, for him yesterday, too.
Now, as for the sitting governor, Gray Davis, well, he had some, shall we say, minor put-downs of Arnold Schwarzenegger, doing it, of course, in his usual low-key style, as he was interviewed in an exclusive interview with CNN's Kelly Wallace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GRAY DAVIS (D), CALIFORNIA: He clearly doesn't have very much experience in public life. And I can tell you that recycling old lines from movies only gets you so far. I believe leadership is more than talk. It is action.
We have taken tough stands on education, which is improving, getting a million children with health insurance, and protecting the environment. That is leadership. That is action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: Now, one other thing to remember, Sean, is that with more than 100 people on the ballot, some of the registrars, some of the ballots in many parts of the state could be overwhelming. There could be huge problems and huge expense to the state of California -- Sean.
CALLEBS: Yes. This is, indeed, something. Bob, we'll check back in with you a little bit later on in the morning. Thanks very much. Bob Franken from our L.A. bureau.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Election>
Aired August 10, 2003 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: We have a running count. More than 100 people have qualified to run in the California recall election and the list may get longer. For the very latest, we will split to the coast and CNN's Bob Franken. He is at our Los Angeles bureau.
Good morning, Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. As a matter of fact, it could get much longer. About 158 have gone through the preliminaries. What's going to happen now is that registrars across the state are going to make sure that those 65 signatures required with the $3,500 in each of the ballots to announce a candidacy are valid. And some of those will be winnowed out as a result.
But let's suppose the election was held today. The election, of course, is primarily about whether to recall the governor, Gray Davis. The others would be in the, what if he is recalled, then what category. If the election were held today, Davis would be recalled.
Fifty-four percent, according to CNN-"TIME" magazine poll, said that Davis should be replaced. Thirty-five percent said he should be kept in office.
Now, suppose, in fact, that that recall holds up. If the election was held today and those 100-plus people were on the ballot, it looks like, that's right, Arnold Schwarzenegger would be the one who would win. Right now, he has a 25 percent vote. Remember, you only need a plurality, not a majority to win if it gets to that point.
The only one who is even really close is Cruz Bustamante, who is the Democratic lieutenant governor. There's a real debate going on now among Democrats as to whether he should get their support, as well as the opposition to the recall.
This is really in a state of chaos right now. The election is seven weeks away. A lot can happen, so these are very preliminary results. But that's the way it is right now.
And, of course, a lot of the attention has focused on Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movie star with lots and lots of money filed his papers yesterday and then talked, as he has been so far, in generalities when he came out to meet his adoring crowds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: The outpour that I have witnessed these last few days was absolutely extraordinary, the outpour of support for my candidacy. So I want to thank all the people and all the supporters so much for your great enthusiasm. I don't want to say anymore. I just want to say to you that I'm running for governor and I promise you that I will be the people's governor, the people's governor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: So now we know that he intends to be the governor of the people, which was about as specific as he got. By the way, that was his wife, Maria Shriver, standing next to him. She, of course, of the Kennedy Shrivers, and important in this Democratic state. She expressed her support, of course, for him yesterday, too.
Now, as for the sitting governor, Gray Davis, well, he had some, shall we say, minor put-downs of Arnold Schwarzenegger, doing it, of course, in his usual low-key style, as he was interviewed in an exclusive interview with CNN's Kelly Wallace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GRAY DAVIS (D), CALIFORNIA: He clearly doesn't have very much experience in public life. And I can tell you that recycling old lines from movies only gets you so far. I believe leadership is more than talk. It is action.
We have taken tough stands on education, which is improving, getting a million children with health insurance, and protecting the environment. That is leadership. That is action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: Now, one other thing to remember, Sean, is that with more than 100 people on the ballot, some of the registrars, some of the ballots in many parts of the state could be overwhelming. There could be huge problems and huge expense to the state of California -- Sean.
CALLEBS: Yes. This is, indeed, something. Bob, we'll check back in with you a little bit later on in the morning. Thanks very much. Bob Franken from our L.A. bureau.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Election>
