Poll: Support for Recalling California Governor Slipping; Bustamante Holds Slim Lead
The Associated Press
ORANGE, Calif. Sept. 8 —
Support for the recall of Gov. Gray Davis is slipping, a new poll says, while Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante has opened a slim lead over Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Field Poll, set for release Tuesday, found that 55 percent of likely voters support the recall, down from 58 percent in an August poll.
Also, Bustamante and Schwarzenegger a month ago were about even, but Bustamante has now opened a small lead 30 percent to the actor's 25 percent, according to the poll.
State Sen. Tom McClintock, the leading conservative in the race, has strengthened his third-place position, receiving 13 percent, a gain of four points in recent weeks.
Former baseball commissioner and businessman Peter Ueberroth came in with 5 percent and columnist Arianna Huffington received support from 3 percent of those voters polled.
The poll, conducted over a five-day period ending Sunday, was drawn from telephone interviews with 505 likely voters, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
The poll results come just 30 days before the Oct. 7 vote. Monday also was the first day of absentee voting in the recall election. Election officials say absentee voting is a growing trend and could account for up to a third of the votes in the election.
Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger held a town hall-style meeting at a college campus Monday night, taking another step toward settling into the role of a traditional candidate in the recall campaign.
The Republican front-runner mimicked Davis' style in holding unscripted exchanges with guests at Chapman University. Davis, who has already held a series of town hall meetings in what he has described as a bid to reconnect with Californians, was scheduled to hold a forum in Los Angeles later Monday evening.
Schwarzenegger said he had an honorary doctorate from the university and joked that "I'm not really a doctor ... but then again the reality of it is Gray Davis isn't really a governor."
In response to a law student's question about how he would protect public schools, Schwarzenegger said he understood the importance of education and would focus on giving local districts more control. He described Sacramento as "the schoolyard bully."
Schwarzenegger, who was criticized early in the campaign for not making himself available to reporters, has in recent days held extended news conferences during public appearances. His campaign also was planning three or four more town halls before the vote.
Schwarzenegger's wife, Maria Shriver, campaigned at a voter-registration event in the Sacramento suburb of Natomas, but the event was countered a dozen union members opposed to the recall.
At one point the group chanted, "Yes on pants, no on recall," a reference to a 1988 Playboy magazine interview in which Schwarzenegger said he inherited his father's distaste for women's slacks.
Shriver was peppered with questions about Schwarzenegger's past comments that have been criticized by some women's groups. The Kennedy relative said she is confident women will support her husband's campaign.
Davis' anti-recall campaign also announced in San Diego that it was working to bring former President Clinton to the state to help the governor try to retain his job.
"It is absolutely not nailed down, but I would expect news within the next couple of days," said Steve Smith, campaign director of Californians Against the Costly Recall.
Davis faced more fallout Monday from his criticism last week of Schwarzenegger's Austrian-accented pronunciation of the name California.
California Republican Party Chairman Duf Sundheim called for an apology, and Huffington, a Greek-born independent candidate, seized on the opportunity.
"Contrary to what Gov. Davis said, you can have an accent, you can pronounce California in the wrong way and still be governor of California," she told Orange Coast College students.
Elsewhere, McClintock campaigned on the airwaves, vowing during a television appearance in Oakland that he would not drop out to make way for Schwarzenegger.
But McClintock joined Schwarzenegger in attacking Davis for signing a bill to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, and in attributing the move to politics. Davis signed the bill Friday after vetoing similar legislation last year.
photo credit and caption: California gubernatorial hopeful Arnold Schwarzenegger addresses a crowd during an "Ask Arnold" meeting with students and locals Monday, Sept. 8, 2003, at the Chapman University Memorial Hall in Orange, Calif. (AP Photo/Stefano Paltera)
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