Other transcripts

Transcripts

October 17, 2002

Host: Michael Grant
Topics:
A look at the campaigns, including the pitched battle taking place in District 1, a race drawing national attention;
Profile of the local artist who sculpted the statue of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
In-Studio Guests:
Susan Bitter Smith, Republican political analyst;
Jay Thorne, Democratic political analyst

>> Michael: Tonight on "Horizon," lots of money being poured into Arizona's Congressional District 1 race. We will talk about that contest as well as other races for Congress in our state. And it's a larger-than-life statue for a larger-than-life Arizona woman, Sandra Day O'Connor. We'll show you how the statue was made. Good evening, I'm Michael Grant. Arizona's Congressional District 1 being watched not only locally but also nationally. It is one of the races which could tilt the balance of power on capital hill. In a moment, we'll talk to a couple of political experts about that race and other congressional races in our state, but first here's more about the CD-1 battle.

>> Sauceda: In downtown Prescott, Democrat George Cordova rallies the troops.

>> George Cordova:But we can win it, we will win it, but I can't do it without your help.

>> Rick Renzi:I have to live by an example of integrity and morality and character in order to say thank you by my actions to that individual.

>> Sauceda: Payson Republican Rick Renzi addresses the party faithful. Libertarian Edwin Porr uses the Internet to do most of his campaigning. Efforts to schedule a meeting with him were unsuccessful. They're all candidates in Arizona's Congressional District 1, a newly created rural district that covers half the state.

>> Renzi: Largest rural district in America that is not one continuous state, like the state of Wyoming, that has only one representative.

>> Cordova: You know, it takes us approximately eight hours to get from Page, Arizona, right at the Utah border to Duncan, Arizona, which is the furthest southeast city in our district right next to the New Mexico line.

>> Sauceda: The district is huge and the stakes are high. CD-1 is among a handful of districts nationwide that will determine which party controls Congress. Arizona's other Congressional Districts are not quite as compelling. In the four central Arizona districts, voter registration gives incumbents an advantage. District 3 includes northwest Phoenix and all of Carefree, Cave Creek, and Paradise Valley. 49% of its voters are Republican and 30% are Democrats, giving incumbent John Shaddegg the edge. District 4 covers southeast Phoenix, part of Glendale and all of Guadalupe. It's one of two minority-majority congressional districts in the state. The high percentage of Democrats benefits incumbent Ed Pastor. District 5 includes northeast Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe and part of Glendale. 50% of the voters are Republican, which helps incumbent J.D. Hayworth. And in District 6, which covers parts of Chandler and Mesa, plus all of Apache Junction, Queen Creek and Sun Lakes, Republican incumbent Jeff Flake enjoys 52% Republican registration. Voter registration is the closest in southeastern Arizona's Congressional District 8, where Republican incumbent Jim Kolbe is being challenged by chief deputy county attorney Mary Judge Ryan, a Democrat, and Libertarian Joe Duarte. There is no incumbent in CD-7. The district is 61% minority and half the voters are Democrats. That's a tremendous advantage for former chair of the Pima County Board of Supervisors Raul Grijalva. His Republican rival is a former Yuma City councilman. John Nemeth is the Libertarian candidate. Voter registration in northwestern Arizona's Congressional District 2 favors Republicans. The candidates in that race are Republican Trent Franks, a former state lawmaker and owner of an oil exploration company. The Democrat is Randy Camacho, a high school teacher from Avondale. And Libertarian Edward Carlson is an attorney. That brings us back to the marquee congressional matchup in Arizona CD-1. The Democrat is George Cordova, the manager of a venture capital fund.

>> Cordova: what makes me, I believe, the better candidate for the district is that I work with people. I come to the district with an ability in 17 years of experience of bringing people together, of building bridges.

>> The Republican candidate in CD-1 is Rick Renzi, the owner of an insurance company.

>> Renzi: I believe my business background, my Washington experience, my legal background have prepared the foundation for what this district needs so they have a congressman who hits the ground running and is not going to be viewed as a freshman congressman had cannot do the job.

>> Sauceda: The Libertarian in the race is Edwin Porr, a retired engineer who lives just west of Flagstaff in Parks. Our attempts to schedule an interview with Mr. Porr were unsuccessful.

>> Renzi: We went into a discussion for a half hour on forest salvage.

>> Sauceda: Congressional District 1 has about 10% more Democrats than Republicans. Mr. Renzi explains how he'll overcome that deficit.

>> Renzi: When you look at the district and you look at the make-up of the values of the people and how they vote, the district has a tendency to be an old-fashioned kind of southern district, like a blue dog conservative district, and I believe that it gives you the foundation you need in order to get the Democrats, those conservative Democrats, traditional Democrats, to cross over.

>>Sauceda: Financial backing from the national Republican party and a recent visit from President Bush have helped Renzi's campaign immensely.

>> Cordova: Thank you very much. Wha an honor. What an honor it is --

>> Cordova, a surprise winner in the Democratic primary, says his party is also very supportive.

>> Cordova: Is there, has been there, is there, and will continue to be there, and we'll put the resources that we need, whatever it takes, to make sure that we're protecting our children and our senior citizens and we're fine with that on being able to deliver that from here to -- we're one in a handful of top tier races, if you will, that are focussing on the control of Congress. This is one of the seats that we really want to focus on to bring home as we go down a path of taking control of Congress.

>> Michael: Here now to talk about the race in CD-1 as well as other congressional races is Susan Bitter Smith, a Republican political analyst. Also with us is a Jay Thorne, a Democratic political analyst. Good to see both of you. Let me just note also that the photo that we ran of Raul Grijalva in Congressional District 7 was actually Jaime Gutierrez's photo and we apologize that. Hello.

>> Hello.

>> Michael: This truly is, I'm not used to having a local race, Jay, that's of national importance, but CD-1 truly is.

>> Jay Thorne: It's a district that is one of the 8 to 12 critical ones in the balance of power in Congress, and because of the voter registration difference, which is nominally democratic, but the conservative nature of rural voters, it makes it very competitive for either a Republican candidate or a Democrat.

>> Michael:, Susan, one of the reasons we're not used to that is we're not used to having the house turn on six votes and the Senate turn on one vote.

>> Susan Bitter Smith: Absolutely. So it's a tight race, and by the fact we've had the president and the vice-president here for the Republican nominee, which is an abnormal circumstance, used to having the president fly over the the state wave at us but they have been on the ground raising money. It's a key race for control.

>> Michael: Speaking of money, it is always important. Renzi as gotten quite a boost up there by both of those visits.

>>Susan Bitter Smith: Not only the party but by both events with the president and then the vice-president earlier in the week. He continues to raise money. This is going to be a very money intense campaign, both party organizations have poured in in the range of a million to 2 million to make this a very high intensity, high dollar activity.

>> Michael: Jay, right after the primary result democratic national committee kind of packed up its bags and went home. They were disappointed that this candidate was not Steve Udall or Fred Duval. What coaxed them back and are they back to stay?

>> Jay Thorne: Well, they were very hopeful that either Steve Udall, who has family that have served in Congress and a good national reputation, ability to raise money, would win or Fred Duval, who served in the Clinton White House and had the ability to raise money and was also just a very attractive candidate. That didn't happen, and indeed their initial reaction was shock, surprise and packing bags to go back home. Fred Duval was actually one of the folks who went back and worked with them, convinced them that George Cordova was a very viable candidate and this was still a winnable race for the candidates. So they came back home.

>> Michael: National party has dumped some significant change in it.

>> Jay Thorne: They have. That's a sign that they are taking it seriously. They have put money into the race and whether or not it's enough to beat a man who is running from the state of Virginia for this district remains to be seen, but it certainly is going to make it a tight race and George had put a lot of his own money into the primary, and it really wasn't clear what kind of fund raising base he would have on his own. So the party did come to his aid.

>> Michael: Both candidates are trading the carpet bagging charges. Obviously it didn't work in the primary. Is it going to work in the general?

>> Susan Bitter Smith: Either side. There had been issues about who has been in the state the longest and who hasn't been and where voter registrations are. So probably ends up being a wash in terms of where that happens and the outcome. Real money may dictate the outcome. As Jay mentioned, both candidate put a lot of their own money into that race and are now getting caught up with making up for what they spent on their own and trying to make up the difference in what it's going to cost to get media out and mailers and target all those little populations throughout the rural part of the state that aren't used to having that much attention.

>> Jay Thorne: The reason George prevailed in the primary is because he really truly did have a very strong grass roots campaign on the ground. He was able to turn out a significant number of Navajo voters. He was able to turn out hispanic voters in the money towns in eastern Pinal County and Gila County and that may be kind of a hidden asset beyond the money. He does have ground forces and that can make a difference in a race like this.

>> Michael Grant: Now, D's have got about, I think, a six-point registration --

>> Susan Bitter Smith: About a nine-point edge in terms of shear voter registration. Republicans, of course, in Arizona notoriously better showing up election day, so the turnout ratio could be very important. We know in the Republican side, certainly that the Navajos have conveniently scheduled their tribal election for general election day which for the most part benefits the Democrat but we also know because we have a heavy push for Matt Salmon and the rest of the Republican team that should help in the more Republican areas of the district. Yavapai County is growing and burgeoning Republican stronghold. That should help even up the score.

>> Michael: Does this kind of turn out to be a geographic battle in that district? Is it kind of generally the west side of the district versus the east side Navajo nation mining strip, maybe Globe, Miami, superior, Casa Grande?

>> Susan Bitter Smith: It could end up being that way just by the nature of where those vote counts end up residing. Clearly there are differences in bases. Again, back to Yavapai County and the Prescott, Payson area is getting much more Republican than it used to be. Even five or ten years ago. No question the DEMS have a control factor in the Globe-Miami area and certainly in the tribal areas, whether or not Indian gaming even bumps that further, that's an issue that I think both sides would agree can help with turnout.

>> Michael: Would it seem everyone is speculating what impact the gaming props are going to have but it would seem this is one race where if they're going to have an impact, they're going to have an impact here.

>> Jay Thorne: It's going to be because they turn out in this district. So there will -- there will disproportionately be an impact in CD-1 because that's where the Navajo nation is and that's where one heck of a lot of native American votes come from. It's like running for city council in this district in a dozen different cities. They are small campaigns that, yeah, you do mass media, but you need to be runying a Prescott campaign, a Casa Grande campaign and Northern Arizona campaign and they're all really fundamentally different.

>> Michael: CD-2, Republicans obviously have a significant registration advantage in CD-2 but is the Republican party really enthusiastic about Trent Franks?

>> Susan Bitter Smith: I think the party in general is. We do have a 60,000 vote edge in that district. Trent was not the expected winner of that primary, but we had a lot of those unexpected winners, as we've just alluded to, and, again, because the control of the house is so tight, those that might be less enthused because Trent is from more right of the party than perhaps other candidates from that race have no choice but to get excited.

>> Michael: Randy Camacho got any chance in CD-2?

>> Jay Thorne: He's got a shot. He's got a shot. It's going to be interesting. With all due respect to Susan, most of the Republicans I talked to are more than a little bit uncomfortable with Trent Franks. It's like the stray that followed you home that you really wanted to try and get rid of but it keeps coming back.

>> Susan Bitter Smith: That -- may work, though.

>> Jay Thorne: Yeah, it may. It may indeed.

>> Michael: Jay Thorne, thanks very much for joining us.

>> Jay Thorne: My pleasure.

>> Michael: Susan Bitter Smith, always a pleasure. Appreciate the input.

>> Susan Bitter Smith: Glad to be here.

>> Michael: She was the first woman named to the United States Supreme Court. And about 20 years after that historic event a U.S. District Court building in downtown Phoenix was named in her honor. But the building needed something more to commemorate O'Connor. So a statue of the justice was commissioned. Mike Sauceda and videographer Richard Torruellas tell us more about the artist who created the bronze sculpture.

>>Sauceda: It all started with an idea to put a portrait of United States Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor in the Phoenix Federal Court Building bearing her name. Two of O'Connor's former clerks, Arizona Supreme Court Justic Ruth McGregor, and attorney Scott Bales, wanted to honor their mentor.

>> Ruth McGregor: There was no place to hang a portrait where it would not be either obscured or lost in the space around it.

>> Sauceda: So, instead, they chose a bronze statue to honor O'Connor. A committee was formed to help raise funds and to find the right artist. The committee wanted one who was from the west, preferably an Arizonan, and hopefully a woman. Local elementary school art teacher Susan Henningsen was perfectly sculpted for the job but still it was a daunting task.

>> Susan Henningsen: I came to this project feeling like David as he approached Goliath. I am a sculptor and an art teacher, Justice O'Connor is a world figure. Although it seemed a daunting project, the concept for the sculpture came to me quite effortlessly and I had a very spiritual peace about it.

>> Ruth McGregor: Our instructions to the sculptors whom we asked to submit a proposal were simple yet presented a difficult assignment. We wanted a statue that captured not only the majesty, responsibility and authority that characterized United States Supreme Court associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, but also the warmth, openness and humanity that exemplifies Sandra O'Connor as a person.

>> Sauceda: Her concept was expressed in an 18-inch clay figure. Henningsen, who created the small model in one weekend from an Internet photo, used a pose with O'Connor's hand extended to meet the desires of the committee. Justice O'Connor would be standing on stone tablets which would document her life. Once Henningsen got the commission, Justice O'Connor broke through with an idea for the tablets that remains in the final product.

>>Susan Henningsen: The first ones looked like chocolate covered graham crackers. So when she was at my house and looked at them, she said, what are these? I told her. She said, let's have them fractured, then -- or randomly -- like I have broken the glass ceiling.

>>Sauceda: Now the real work was to start. For that, Henningsen would need more than one Internet photo, so she requested for information from the Justice and and found out firsthand about O'Connor's warmth and openness.

>> Susan Henningsen: I was really fortunate. I had sent her a stick figure drawing of how I wanted her measurements to be. So I -- and I had lines and I had it all written down, so I wanted this, I wanted the chin to the collar bone, I wanted from the cromium process to the elbow to the wrist to the -- on through the whole body and then around. So I had sent them and I had gotten them back and I picked up the telephone one summer morning in June and she was on the other end.

>> Suaceda: Henningsen was then ready for bigger things, a model twice as big as her original 18-inch model. At this point of the sculpture I had the approval of the committee to go ahead and make a mold.

>> Sauceda: This model had to have all the intricate details that the final bronze would have.

>> Susan Henningsen: What I'm going to do now is get this ready for the urethane, and I'm taking a product that causes the foam -- or the rubber to release any sticking, it's called -- it's a release agent, is what it is.

>> Sauceda: Once that was done, it was time for the rubber to hit the clay.

>> Susan Henningsen: We are going to be coating this with a urethane mixture and I'll probably put four coats on this, and it will build up to about here, and then this will keep it separated so that when it is time to -- when it's all set up and I've done the rubber mold and then I will also be doing a plaster mold on top of that, I can take it apart, pull the clay sculpture out, put it all back together and I can line it up exactly, and from that point I'll be going ahead making a cast of it in plaster and a cast of it in wax, and the wax will go to the gown tree.

>> Sauceda: At the gown tree, the rubber molded clay model is used to make a plaster cast. The rubber easily comes off the clay thanks to the spray applied. The rubber mold is inspected and then put back in the plaster. At that point liquid wax is poured into the rubber mold, creating a wax mold that will used to create plaster molds in which the final bronze statue will be cast. The two hands because of their intricacy are handled separately. To triple the size of the sculpture to the final 9-foot height a high-

>>Sauceda: Nique is inserted into a bronze casting process hundreds of years old.

>> Susan Henningsen: They take the sculpture, they scan it onto a computer in three dimension, and then the computer communicates with a laser cutter and what they did was they took these huge, huge blocks of very fine foam and glued them together and then they set them up vertically and put the laser cutter right next it and a laser cutter starts to cut according to the directions of the computer and so it's really kind of exciting to see it emerging from this block. It would be more like a stone cutter.

>> Sauceda: The foam blocks are put together to give Henningsen a form on which to build the full-sized clay model. Again Henningsen must sculpt all the details in clay. After months of work, the clay model is done, and justice owe coner and family drops by Henningsen's studio for a look. It's O'Connor's first peek at the full size statue.

>> O'Connor: The size of it really takes one back, and it's a little frightening actually to see one's self in -- larger than life size and to know that it will be there long after I'm gone. It's humbling and intimidating.

>> Sauceda: With the clay model done, the big guns are brought in to spray rubber on it. As with the smaller mold, the rubber mold will be used to create a wax mold which will then be made into a plaster mold. For the larger statue it will be done in pieces instead of as a whole. Finally, after more than a year of work, it is time to melt some bronze.

>> Melder: Got about six shells to pour today. The Sandra Day O'Connor will be the first piece out. It's about 92 pounds of metal. All right? Let's start. . Up. Anybody with open-toed shoes, if I can get you to stand off to the side. .

>> It it! --.

>> Sauceda: The statue is now ready for its final home.

>> Henningsen: Like the child living at home, like the empty nest, when I go back now it's finished, and I've had such an intimate relationship with it for a year and a half, or at least 14 months of actual sculpting, and so, it's become a big part of my life and everyone has been so wonderful that I've worked with, that it's a nice chapter in my life and it's coming to a close.

>> O'Connor: I can't believe it! How are you?

>> Sauceda: The time has come for a private unveiling one day before the public got to see the statue. The private unveiling was attended by sponsors of the statue and many powerful Arizonans.

>> Ruth McGregor: The statue you will see tonight has changed in detail but not in concept from the clay sample submitted almost two years ago by Susan Henningsen about whom you will learn more later. Her model, which she completed over a weekend --

>> Sandra Day O'Connor: And it's a little bit like attending one's own memorial service, which is a rare achievement, indeed. But I did see the full clay model, and it was enormous. Now, I know I've put on weight, but this is really weighty. And I've grown considerably in every direction, and when I saw the hands and feet, I've always had big hands and big feet, but this is not even reasonable. Wait till you see.

>> Susan Henningsen: Sandra Day O'Connor is a rare treasure to those who know her and I don't have to tell you all that. And a gift to our nation. Now I commit this sculpture to the world where justice O'Connor dwells and where it belongs.

>> Michael: Next week on "Horizon," join us for a full week of debates, featuring the candidates running for four statewide offices. We would like to use some of your questions for those debates. To send us your questions, e-mail us at... Join us for the Friday roundtable edition of "Horizon" tomorrow. Journalists will have a field day with lots of election news to talk about. Also, we'll be discussing the possibility of a special session to deal with the state's budget and taking up a variety of other subjects as well. Hope you can join us for Friday's edition of "Horizon." A thank you very much for being here on a Thursday evening. I'm.

>> Michael:. Have an incredibly good one. Good night.