Aug 21, 10:11 PM EDT
Calif. Dems in Congress Tout Bustamante
By BETH FOUHY
Associated Press Writer
As the chuckling subsides a bit over some of the 135 candidates for governor in California, the recall campaign aimed at Governor Gray Davis has taken a more traditional turn. (Audio)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- California's congressional Democrats urged voters Thursday to oppose the recall but vote for Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, underscoring their fears that a Republican could unseat Gov. Gray Davis in the Oct. 7 election.
Davis, meanwhile, was stepping up efforts to fight for his job, appearing with the state's most popular Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and then holding a town hall-style meeting in a San Francisco suburb, where he got standing ovations from a crowd of black business leaders.
The move by California's 33 House Democrats reflects a growing pessimism about Davis' chances, with polls showing his popularity reaching one all-time low after another.
"The lieutenant governor's name is on the ballot, and he is the legitimate successor in the case of a vacancy," House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said at a press conference in San Francisco. "So while we strongly and vocally oppose the recall, we urge a yes vote on Bustamante."
Other core Davis supporters quickly followed suit Thursday. The California Teachers Association, for example, said it too would support the "no on recall, yes on Bustamante" campaign.
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Late Thursday, Bustamante welcomed the delegation's endorsement, calling it "very significant."
Pelosi said she warned Davis of the delegation's decision Wednesday night, and added that the decision should boost Democratic turnout, particularly among Hispanic voters "energized" by the prospect of electing a Hispanic governor.
Davis supporters had urged fellow Democrats to stay off the ballot. Once his lieutenant governor decided to run, Davis still hoped to keep Democrats united against the recall without throwing their support behind Bustamante.
Aides sought to present the congressional Democrats' announcement in a positive light.
"We kind of look at it this way: We're all focused on the same goal, and that's defeating the recall. There's just different strategies out there about how to go about it," said Gabriel Sanchez, spokesman for Davis' campaign committee.
In an appearance Wednesday, Davis said that Bustamante's campaign might help him by bringing more anti-recall voters to the polls, adding that the two might campaign together at some point.
"It's entirely possible that we can find ways going forward to coordinate one another's activities," he said. Davis and Bustamante have a frosty relationship and barely speak.
Asked late Thursday whether he would campaign with Davis, Bustamante said, "I'm going to be campaigning on the 'no on the recall' throughout the state." Pressed on whether he would share a podium with Davis, Bustamante said, "Sure."
The move by the congressional delegation came as a new poll showed 58 percent of likely voters would recall Davis, while 36 percent were opposed. If the Democratic governor is removed, 23 percent would replace him with actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and 18 percent with Bustamante. None of the other 133 candidates topped 5 percent, the Public Policy Institute of California poll showed.
Not all leading Democrats were behind the Bustamante strategy. In an appearance with Davis Thursday, Feinstein split with her colleagues in Congress.
"I am not going to vote on the second part of the ballot. I am going to vote on the first part of the ballot and my vote is going to be to vote 'no' on the recall," the state's senior senator said.
The state's other senator, Democrat Barbara Boxer, is supporting the "no on recall, yes on Bustamante" approach.
The decision by the House members could increase pressure on Republicans to unite behind a single candidate. In addition to Schwarzenegger, former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth, businessman Bill Simon and state Sen. Tom McClintock are on the ballot on the GOP side.
Those candidates have been under pressure from some leading party members to get out of the race, and the Republican who funded the recall, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, already dropped out.
"There may come a time where what may be in the best interests of the state is for one or more of these candidates to put their personal ambitions aside," California Republican Party Chairman Duf Sundheim said Thursday on CNN.
Davis and Feinstein were in Los Angeles to call on Congress to make its 1994 ban on assault weapons permanent. Davis has held a series of events focused on gun control, the environment, and other key issues as he seeks to shore up his support with core Democratic voters.
"I fought in a war. And I can tell you straight out assault weapons are designed to do one thing: kill people and kill them quickly. So when the gun lobby says guns don't kill, people do, I beg to differ," Davis said.
Davis slipped in a famous phrase from his recent adviser President Clinton as he said his popularity sank with the economy.
"The fact is the entire nation is going through a tough time, with a tough economy - 3 million jobs have been lost - and people feel that here. I feel their pain, if you will," Davis said.
Davis and Feinstein have not had a close relationship since Davis angered Feinstein in the 1992 Democratic Senate primary when he aired a television commercial comparing her to hotel heiress and convicted tax evader Leona Helmsley. Davis lost that race to Feinstein and later told her the ad was "one of the worst mistakes of my life."
But Feinstein has been one of the most vocal opponents of the recall and Davis has repeatedly expressed his gratitude.
At the town hall-style meeting, in Millbrae before the California Black Chamber of Commerce, Davis said the recall, like the Clinton impeachment and the vote counting debacle in Florida's 2000 presidential election, is part of a pattern of Republican interference in the democratic process.
"Some Republicans in this country are determined to steal an election they can't win," Davis said, getting a warm response as he urged the audience to vote no on the recall and no on Proposition 54, which would bar the state from collecting racial data.
Simon, meanwhile, campaigned in Fresno, pledging not to raise taxes as part of his plan to balance California's budget, a pledge Schwarzenegger refused to make. Simon, a social conservative who lost to Davis in November, also promised to cut the size of government and repeal the state's recent tripling of its unpopular car tax.
Simon took a swipe at Schwarzenegger, who's added billionaire Warren Buffett and other big-name advisers to his campaign.
"The governor's chair has room for only one person. There's no room for committees or commissions," Simon said. Aides said former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Simon's former boss when both worked for the U.S. Attorney's office in New York, would be campaigning for Simon.
Ueberroth offered his own economic plan this week, as did Bustamante.
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