Davis: GOP rival may be unfit
DEMOCRATS TAKE AIM AT SCHWARZENEGGER IN WAKE OF ALLEGATIONS
By Barry Witt and Dawn C. Chmielewski
Mercury News
LONG BEACH - Seizing the offensive Friday, Gov. Gray Davis joined the attack on Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, suggesting that reports of sexual indiscretions and an alleged statement professing admiration for Adolf Hitler make him unfit for office.
``For my part, the information about Mr. Schwarzenegger's conduct and beliefs raises serious questions about his ability to govern this state,'' Davis said at a union rally at the port of Long Beach, a day after avoiding comment on the conduct of the Republican front-runner in the race to replace him. ``If true, his personal behavior was disturbing and unacceptable, and his professed admiration for Adolf Hitler unconscionable.''
Coordinated strategy
The Democratic governor's remarks were part of a coordinated effort by his party allies to make negative images of Schwarzenegger the focus of the campaign's waning days. Davis said he joined the critics because the actor's apology signaled that ``at least some of the incidents involving women were accurate.''
Three polls in the past week have shown Davis trailing badly in his effort to avoid being recalled in Tuesday's election. The reports on Schwarzenegger's past fit into the governor's strategy of trying to convince voters that retaining him is a better alternative than allowing the Republican to take over his office.
`Very serious'
At a campaign stop in San Jose, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, who is trying to come from behind in the replacement race, also addressed reports from several women that Schwarzenegger had groped them.
``They're very serious allegations,'' Bustamante told reporters. ``Had they been my daughters, there wouldn't be this delay. It wouldn't take a campaign to resolve the matter.''
Standing beside Davis in Long Beach, a host of prominent Democrats aimed fire at Schwarzenegger.
Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said California's economic woes were a direct result of President Bush's failed economic policies -- not mismanagement on Davis' part. He said Davis should be credited with improving health care, education and the lives of working families.
``Why in the world would you want to change that kind of leadership for a guy who admires Adolf Hitler, for a guy who has no respect for women?'' Vilsack said.
U.S. Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, D-Torrance, described Davis as ``a man who knows where to keep his hands'' -- a not-so-subtle swipe at Schwarzenegger, who has apologized for behaving ``badly'' and has denied that he had ever expressed awe for Hitler.
S.J. campaign stop
Like Davis at the union rally, Bustamante chose another core Democratic constituency Friday, appearing before a mostly Latino crowd at San Jose's Tropicana Shopping Center and with African-Americans at Emmanuel Baptist Church.
``Cruz is the only candidate who has asked to speak to us. That's telling, right?'' said Rick Callender, president of the San Jose Silicon Valley chapter of the NAACP.
In his remarks, Bustamante focused on his commitment to restoring funds for higher education, reducing the car tax while raising taxes on wealthier Californians, and opposing Proposition 54, which would prevent state and local governments from collecting racial data.
Bustamante harked back to a time when members of minority groups united to effect social change. In 1968, when Cesar Chavez was on a hunger strike to support the rights of farmworkers, Bustamante said, Chavez received a telegram from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that read: ``Our separate struggles are really one. A struggle for freedom, dignity and humanity.''
Sharing a stage at a San Jose Baptist church with members of the NAACP and other minority groups, Bustamante added, ``Dr. King knew Cesar's fight was his fight, and Cesar knew Dr. King's fight was his.''
In an interview with the Mercury News, Bustamante insisted that he is confident he can win on the second part of the ballot and dismissed speculation that he might abandon the race. ``I'm going to go out fighting,'' Bustamante said after his appearances in San Jose. ``I still think we have a good chance.'' |
