|
CNN SATURDAY NIGHT
Dean Comes Out Against Recall
Aired September 6, 2003 - 22:22 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: In the California recall, embattled Governor Gray Davis was able to pull out a relatively big gun today, upstart presidential candidate Howard Dean. The former Vermont governor minced no words while attacking the special election. Dean denounced it as a right wing attempt to hijack a legitimate election and undermine democracy.
CNN's Miguel Marquez has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Howard Dean goes where no presidential candidate has gone before, shoulder to shoulder with Gray Davis against the California recall.
HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What's going on in California, the nation's biggest state, is nothing less than an attempt by the right wing to undo what this country's all about.
MARQUEZ: All nine Democratic candidates are anti recall, but Dean is the first to share the stage with Davis and probably not the last.
GOV. GRAY DAVIS (D), CALIF.: It's important that presidential candidates weigh in and express their views on this recall.
MARQUEZ: While Davis was making political hay, Arnold Schwarzenegger was getting an endorsement from those who grow it. Two agricultural organizations endorsed Mr. Schwarzenegger's candidacy. They may not be Hollywood schmoozers, but they represent political meat and potatoes, literally.
Democrat candidate Cruz Bustamante blasted Schwarzenegger's promise to rescind a newly minted law that would give illegal immigrants the right to apply for California drivers' licenses.
LT. GOV. CRUZ BUSTAMANTE (D), CALIF.: He doesn't support drivers' licenses. I don't know either overtly or covertly, doesn't sound like he's for immigrants to me.
MARQUEZ: Schwarzenegger says anti immigrant? Hardly.
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR: We have to go and create a situation where we can make it legitimate, where the undocumented immigrants can earn their legitimacies or they're a part of California in a legitimate way. MARQUEZ: But the racial politics may be taking a toll. Schwarzenegger says he was supposed to be the grand marshal for the L.A. Mexican independence day parade, but was disinvited.
In a statement he said, "The parade has been tainted by partisan politics."
MARQUEZ (on camera): Finally, at the Howard Dean, Gray Davis press conference, Dean said he believes President Bush and his political adviser, Karl Rove, are involved in the California recall. A White House spokesperson said, "I would dismiss those charges as baseless. This is a matter for the people of California to decide."
Miguel Marquez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: The Dean broadside comes amid news that Governor Davis may be gaining ground, as he fights to keep his job. And there's another Democrat out there who is polling very well in the White House race, but is not a declared candidate.
CNN senior political correspondent Bill Schneider joins us live from Los Angeles. Bill, what's the latest out there?
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People are beginning to consider the astonishing possibility here in California, which is that Governor Gray Davis may actually survive? How? The same way he always survives, not because voters like him, but because they can't accept the alternatives.
The frontrunners have stumbled. Arnold Schwarzenegger's failure to participate in the debate, his failure to answer policy questions, stories about his behavior among women, around women. Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, there are stories about barely legal campaign contributions from Indian Casino interests.
If Schwarzenegger and Bustamante look tarnished, voters may decide to stick with the devil they know. And Kelli, imagine how mind boggling it will be for people to wake up on October the 8th and discover that after all of this, Gray Davis is still governor.
ARENA: That would be amazing, wouldn't it, Bill? Well, there's also a new poll showing a drop in the president's approval rating. isn't there?
SCHNEIDER: Yes. You want to see why there's a certain urgency to the president's speech tomorrow night? Here's why. The president's job approval rating is down to 52 percent. That is the lowest rating since he took office.
Now he's planning on speaking about Iraq and the war on terrorism tomorrow night. And there is growing concern about how the United States is going to get out of Iraq.
But the public's biggest concern right now is not Iraq. It's the economy. And the administration points to some positive economic signs, but the top issues to the voters are jobs, followed by jobs, and then jobs, which means President Bush has got to turn those job losses around, because if not, well, he can ask his dad.
ARENA: It's the economy, stupid. The last poll, very interesting, hitting the president against Democrats. But very surprising results because the most popular, someone who's not even running.
SCHNEIDER: That's right. President Bush does look increasingly vulnerable, but Democrats have to come up with a credible alternative.
Right now, Bush leads all the major Democrats who are running. Joe Lieberman, Dick Gephardt, John Kerry, and Howard Dean. Only one Democrat comes within striking distance of President Bush and one who's not running, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, within four points of beating Bush. You see this? Bush, 50. Clinton, 46. Too close to call statistically. Why? Because she is the only Democrat, the only one that women vote for over George Bush.
Now something interesting. If Senator Clinton does not run this year, she's taking a big chance, because if a Democrat wins, that'll shut the Democratic nomination down until 2012. And I don't want to be too ungentlemanly about this, but in 2012, she'll be 65 years old
ARENA: Oh, oh, you had to say that, didn't you? Bill Schneider, always enlightening. It's good to see you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
|
