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ANNOUNCER: Your voice. K-Talk, AM 1150.
DAVID CRUZ: Former President Bill Clinton
endorsing Wendy Greuel
in our mayor's race. He says
'she has personified good, honest,
'she has personified good, honest,
and effective government.'
Now a lot of stuff can sometimes be scripted
for endorsers. Let me just read a little bit of it. Then we have
our good friend and commentator Peter Mathews. Professor Peter Mathews from
Cypress College on the line with us. One of our go-to guys on this.
We wan'a get his take.
President Clinton says, "In her many years of public service in Los Angeles,
Wendy has personified good, honest
Wendy has personified good, honest
and effective government,
improving the lives of countless Angelenos,
while saving millions of their tax dollars."
while saving millions of their tax dollars."
Now, let me say this to you:
Has she improved your life?
Has she improved your life? I think that's a legitimate question. How?
I would ask this of any candidate endorsed by someone like the President.
Is it by pointing out some of the miss spending or the bad management within
the city? And if so how does that benefit to you?
Now there are those who say her claims have been exaggerated.
Nonetheless, him coming into the race, by endorsing Wendy Greuel --
That's a potential game changer. Or is it?
Let's get Peter Matthews on the line. Professor, welcome to the program.
PETER MATHEWS: Thank you David. Its good to be here. ... DAVID CRUZ: ...you know, I have you on so often because of
these of political issues, I want to have to have a chair for you here in the
studio named after you.
We may name this the Peter Mathews studio. Okay professor, PETER MATHEWS: (laughter) ..Got it. ..
DAVID CRUZ: Seriously, is Bill Clinton is the game changer at this late moment in the race, because, I mean,
we're not that far away from election day. Will people care?
And does it have a deep impact on the vote?
PETER MATHEWS: It could definitely have an impact on the segment of the voters --
--the population. For example, the moderate Republicans in the Valley
uh... who have developed a good relationship to the... admiration for
Bill Clinton
and also the South LA African-American Democrat who are very
close to Clinton.
It could make a difference in a few percentage the vote, David. Such a close
election. This could be the game changer. ..Could be. --Very well.
DAVID CRUZ: All right. Now...
We've been looking for something that breaks the race
into the national spotlight. it is something to me
of a 'blah' race, in that...
You know, when when we have a mayoral contest in New York, everyone knows who's
running, and there's a lot of buzz about it.
I have not detected the same kind of buzz in LA. Maybe it's me.
...uh...
Since you since you have the pulse to the political..
..you know.. sense of the country,
is it something that people care about?
PETER MATHEWS: I do believe that the voters who vote -- that's only about twenty percent actually
do care about it --
I think the turnout's going to be very low, and that's another reason the Clinton endorsement
could make a difference, although Garcetti has quite a few good endorsements as well. quite a few good important as well but
But to tell you the truth, why its not so much on the radar, is that its an off-year election and
People in LA are so distracted by so many other things. You know?
Including entertainment. And ...uh... that's a problem. We need to get the voter turnout back
back up again, and get these people speaking, Plus, these two candidates are very similar
to each other. They're the same party... DAVID CRUZ: ...That's the point!
PETER MATHEWS: They stand for very similar issues, David. DAVID CRUZ: Well, do you think think that voters right now are
distinguishing a difference? Is that making it more of a 'ho-hum' race?
PETER MATHEWS: Absolutely! We Political Scientists know
that when the choices are very similar between candidates, or parties,
voters tend to stay home. If there are contrasting choices with clear-cut alternatives,
voters then get behind one of the other. And this is not what we have today.
So, this thing can go either way, depending on so many other
minuscule factors, Including the Clinton endorsement.
DAVID CRUZ: Alright. So he comes out,
he sends out a letter to supporters...
...uh... Does this help her fundraising, and if so, how?
PETER MATHEWS: He hasn't committed to fundraising or campaigning yet.
It will help her fundraising somewhat, of course,
because, to have a former president endorse you, that's big, and its the biggest,
most popular Democratic in the United States, and in California -- Bill Clinton.
Now, I think that if Garcetti did, he could get President Obama's endorsement, he could counter that.
But I think that's unlikely because the President's a sitting president's...(David exclaims) "...Woooo..." ...a sitting president...
... has a lot of ..you know.. problems within the party, and the party itself.
DAVID CRUZ: "Now, I mean, that is interesting, because even President Obama turned to Bill Clinton when he needed
turned to Bill Clinton when he needed
some gusto, ..some 'get up and go'.
PETER MATHEWS: That's right, that's right. And if it worked for him,
--and were very interestingly enough, Obama and Garcetti were very close. I mean, Garcetti was his co-chair in the California Democratic...
...in the election of 2008. He was actually
Obama's Co-Chair in the primary, and the General Election, which it means they're
very close. And which means he's been seeing the president regulary, he went there president regularly went there recently
for the Inaugural
and a private reception.
So, if anyone can pull off an endorsement from Obama it would be Garcetti.
And Garcetti's got quite a bit support among other unions, like the UTLA. He got the
LA Times endorsement, La Opinion's endorsement, the National Organization for Women,
He's got very impressive endorsements. But Guelle has the lion's share of union
endorsements, including the LA County Federation of Labor.
DAVID CRUZ: I was being asked this morning ... Having a
conversation with a friend of mine who's a South Texas...
uh... He's a South Texas rancher.
In of all the things he wanted to talk about, he says, "Hey, who do you think's going to be the next mayor of LA?"
(Peter laughing) And I found it very interesting ... Here's a guy sitting
in the middle of no where in South Texas, and he heard about Bill Clinton
supporting Greuel. Maybe this is what's going to wake up other parts of America...
PETER MATHEWS: Maybe it should. It could also mean more money from around the country as well for Greuel.
PETER MATHEWS: Maybe it should. It could also mean more money from around the country as well for Greuel.
You know, that's the key right there, because with the money you can really get the
message out. You know, after a certain level, money doesn't help, but at the beginning,
and toward a certain maximum, it does help ... a lot.
So, Clinton's endorsement could mean a lot more funding, and it certainly
it got her more in the news. Didn't it? DAVID CRUZ: It certainly did. I mean, even with a rancher like that.
I guess, my closing question to you is: With only 20% engagement,
there seems to be this 'lack-a-daisical' kind of thing in the air
and you didn't give some reasons it's an offbeat years, so forth and so on,
but Los Angeles has a lot of things starring it in the face: Like that downtown
project that fell apart. We've got ... and you know I talk about it every day ...
We've got potholes, we got lights that are burned out, we got no left turn signals.
Is it really going to signal any kind of a change
in the minds and lives of voters. Maybe that's why they're not coming and
getting more excited.
PETER MATHEWS: That's another major reason. Voters don't really see an impact and get involved,
and choose one or the other. And I don't think its going to signal a
change one way or the other.
The real change will come from when
the state and federal government realize that there have to be money put into
infrastructure. The American Society of Civil Engineers just came out a report that it
costs every Californian
five million dollars. $580 extra per year because of cuts. (David whistles)
in car repairs, Dave, because of our roads. DAVID CRUZ: Where do I send my bill? That's what I want to know.
PETER MATHEWS: Thousands of our bridges are not in good shape -- They're not functional. -- Thousands of our bridges in California,
So, that kind of thing has to be focused upon by the state level and the federal level.
So, that kind of thing has to be focused upon by the state level and the federal level.
And the city can only ... the mayor can only go out there to Sacramento and to Washington