Looks like Cruz figures the ship is sinking, and has scuttled down the rope to the dock.
Bustamante drops 'no on recall' as negative ratings rise
- (Published September 9, 2003)
FRESNO - Faced with a rising unfavorable ratings driven in part by his reliance on Indian casino contributions, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's campaign said Tuesday it was officially abandoning the "no on recall" part of their platform.
From now on, Bustamante will emphasize his campaign for governor, not opposition to the recall, consultant Richie Ross told The Associated Press in what he called a conscious change of strategy.
The move follows a gradual shift by Bustamante in campaign appearances to distance himself from his original slogan of "No on recall, yes on Bustamante." It comes the same day the latest Field Poll showed him leading among candidates to replace Gov. Gray Davis on the Oct. 7 ballot, but also showing his highest unfavorable rating to date.
Bustamante's strategy has been bold from the start when he became the first Democrat to break party unity and jump in the race.
"It does bring the realism to the surface that there's no more illusion about the Bustamante campaign being loyal to Gray Davis. It's about Cruz Bustamante," said Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College.
He has presented the most liberal economic plan of all the candidates, calling for higher taxes on the rich, tobacco and alcohol. He's proposed $2 billion in cuts from Medi-Cal spending that would come from requiring employers to provide health insurance to workers.
And his ties to special interest groups such as Indian tribes have drawn criticism from Republicans and Democrats, alike -- even after agreeing to use much of the money to fund a drive to defeat Proposition 54, the ballot initiative that would restrict public agencies from collecting racial data.
Bustamante insisted Tuesday morning he was still promoting the "no recall" message -- even though he never mentioned his opposition to the recall during the debate with Green Party candidate Peter Camejo and independent Arianna Huffington in Los Angeles.
"I am opposed to the recall," Bustamante told reporters. "Any interview I've ever had, every speech I've ever done, I've always indicated that I'm opposed to the recall. But I'm in competition with Arnold, now Peter Camejo, Arianna and (Sen.) Tom McClintock and I'm going to focus my energies to make sure I'm the best candidate there. I'm not on the ballot with Gray Davis."
At a rally in Fresno Sunday, Bustamante mentioned Davis once during his half-hour speech but was never heard urging supporters to vote against the recall.
Asked why he plans to spend millions of dollars he received from Indian tribes and unions to fight Proposition 54 rather than to oppose the recall, Bustamante said Davis was funding the anti-recall campaign.
Bustamante has shifted more than $4 million in contributions from Indians and unions from his 2002 re-election fund into the newly created Cruz Bustamante Committee Against Proposition 54.
"We have been put in a position of constantly defending negative charges," Ross said. "That has resulted in this increasing unfavorable number and has caused us to shift more of our emphasis to presenting a positive case to the voters as to why Cruz Bustamante would be an excellent governor."
According to a new Field Poll released Tuesday, Bustamante has opened a small lead against Republican challenger Arnold Schwarzenegger -- 30 percent to 25 percent, with a 4.5 percentage point margin of error.
But while the Democratic frontrunner's favorability rating remained at 40 percent, an increasing number of people -- 49 percent -- had formed an unfavorable opinion of him. Only 40 percent saw the lieutenant governor in an unfavorable light last month.
Ross said the campaign's internal polls showed similar figures last week before the Fresno rally, causing them to alter their strategy and leave behind their efforts to beat the recall.
"We figure at this point the governor is adequately financed. He's doing 'no on recall' and doing everything he can," Ross said. "Our best and most responsible course of action at this point is to try to brunt Schwarzenegger's negative campaign by more aggressively promoting Cruz's positive attributes."
-- By Brian Skoloff, Associated Press Writer
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