Hey, I can't help it if you and the rest of the left don't show up.
The Sacramento Bee remembers that Bustamante and Davis really dislike each other.
"'When Bustamante did not call the election for the most immediate date and created a 16-day filing period, rather than a one-day filing period, he sealed Gray Davis' fate,' said Republican strategist Kevin Spillane. 'He created a period of time for Gray Davis to twist in the wind and allow Democratic unity to crumble.'" LINK
"Spillane recalled the time Davis removed some parking spaces from Bustamante's control."
"'The parking spaces that Gray Davis took away from Bustamante's office in 1999 are going to go down as the most valuable parking spaces in California political history,' Spillane said. 'Someone should build a monument by those parking spaces: 'On this spot Gray Davis ultimately lost his political career.'"
Key Democrats enter as party unity shatters
By Sam Stanton and Margaret Talev -- Bee Staff Writers
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Friday, August 8, 2003
California's political earthquake continued Thursday as two prominent Democrats announced they would run for governor, while U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, who funded the recall drive, tearfully dropped out of the race.
Meanwhile, former Los Angeles Olympics chief and Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth signaled he is likely to enter the contest as an independent candidate today, and former Los Angeles Mayor Dick Riordan confirmed he was not running.
The rapid-fire sequence of events began early Thursday as Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, who had been a vocal opponent of the Oct. 7 recall, became the first major Democrat to formally announce that he would run to replace Gov. Gray Davis if the Democrat is recalled.
Bustamante unveiled his campaign theme -- "No on recall, Yes on Bustamante" -- and said he still opposes the drive against Davis. But he added it was time to face the reality that the party could soon lose the Governor's Office.
"We saw there was declining political viability of the governor," Bustamante said, referring to a series of polls taken in the past week. "As much as we tried to stop the recall, as much as we tried to slow it down, no matter what we did, it's not seemed to be working."
Bustamante downplayed past differences he has had with Davis as a motivation for his move, although one observer noted there is plenty of political intrigue surrounding his entry.
Bustamante's decision to set the election for Oct. 7, the latest possible date after the recall was certified, gave candidates more than two weeks to get into the race rather than one day, a period that allowed political maneuvering to further degrade Davis' political standing.
"When Bustamante did not call the election for the most immediate date and created a 16-day filing period, rather than a one-day filing period, he sealed Gray Davis' fate," said Republican strategist Kevin Spillane. "He created a period of time for Gray Davis to twist in the wind and allow Democratic unity to crumble."
Spillane recalled the time Davis removed some parking spaces from Bustamante's control.
"The parking spaces that Gray Davis took away from Bustamante's office in 1999 are going to go down as the most valuable parking spaces in California political history," Spillane said. "Someone should build a monument by those parking spaces: 'On this spot Gray Davis ultimately lost his political career.' "
Bustamante, who made his announcement in English and Spanish, said he would repeal the tripling of the vehicle license tax Davis approved to get lawmakers to pass a state budget this year, and would replace that revenue by increasing taxes on the wealthy, tobacco and alcohol.
He added that he hoped to raise $10 million to $15 million for the race.
Within an hour of that announcement, state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi declared that he also would enter the race, saying Bustamante had "broken open the floodgates."
Garamendi, who has run twice before for governor, managed to read his announcement speech without ever referring to Davis or to the recall effort.
And when pressed by reporters whether he thought Davis should be recalled or how he would vote on the recall question, Garamendi refused to answer, saying he already has stated his position.
In the past, Garamendi has said he would not get involved in the recall. "I have no intention of running should the recall qualify," he announced June 17.
But Garamendi echoed Bustamante in noting that private polls have shown Davis faring poorly in the election.
"We all know what those polls look like," Garamendi said, adding that he would bring his long experience as a legislator and insurance commissioner to the job to prove that California can be governed effectively.
"I will do everything in my power to stop the political war in Sacramento," he said, adding that he would raise "enough money" for his campaign, but that none would come from insurance companies.
Davis has tried for weeks to keep Democrats from entering the race, arguing that a unified party could attract enough voters to reject the recall and make the second part of the ballot -- the part with replacement candidates listed -- meaningless.
Up until Wednesday, that firewall appeared intact, particularly after U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., declared she would not run and said Davis still could survive the vote.
The governor, speaking to reporters in Anaheim on Thursday before a speech to unionized school workers, put a positive spin on the entry into the race of two Democrats.
"Sometimes the conventional wisdom turns out to be wrong," Davis said. "The conventional wisdom was it would be better if no other Democrat ran. Who knows?
"Maybe it will turn out that other Democrats bring more people to the polls, and more people see this recall is unwise and they vote no on (the recall)."
Davis advisers also said they were not fearful of actor Arnold Schwarzenegger's candidacy, saying they had been more worried about Riordan.
"Obviously, Arnold presents some problems because he's got money and name recognition," said media adviser David Doak. "But the Republican we thought was most dangerous was Riordan, because he's a moderate with a base in Los Angeles and comes experienced in government. We were never as worried about Schwarzenegger."
But the defections Thursday of Bustamante and Garamendi had Republicans openly writing Davis' political obituary.
"What this signals is Davis is clearly finished," said Bill Simon, who came within five percentage points of defeating Davis in November and plans to run again.
Simon predicted Democrats would continue to denounce the recall for another day or so, and "then they're going to all start piling on Davis," leaving him unable to launch attack ads against numerous candidates.
"He's been defanged, he can't pick on one guy," Simon said.
The Republican side of the ballot continued to evolve Thursday, as well.
Issa, the Vista Republican who used his personal fortune to bankroll the recall petition drive, stunned his supporters by dropping out just as he was set to deliver his paperwork to the San Diego County Registrar's Office.
In a tearful address outside the office, Issa said he had achieved his main goal: forcing a recall of Davis.
Spokesman Jonathan Wilcox said the surprise move was an "intensely personal and intensely private decision" that was not sparked by Schwarzenegger's candidacy.
The actor's dramatic announcement Wednesday created headlines worldwide and took many by surprise, including Riordan, who had said he would not run if the actor did. The two met privately Thursday, and later Riordan closed the door on a possible candidacy.
But Schwarzenegger was not keeping all other Republicans from entering the race.
Ueberroth, a Republican, was considering announcing his plans today to run as an independent candidate who could bridge the partisan divide in Sacramento and said he would only serve for the three-year balance of Davis' term.
Ueberroth adviser Dan Schnur said that if Ueberroth entered the race, he would focus on bridging partisan divides, and he noted that the former Time magazine "Man of the Year" could go toe-to-toe with Schwarzenegger in terms of fame.
"It's a different kind of star power," Schnur said of Ueberroth's reputation. "Ueberroth is hoping to improve Sacramento's focus from political to economic growth and job creation."
Candidates have until 5 p.m. Saturday to file the paperwork to run, and by Thursday afternoon 527 people had taken out preliminary paperwork, although only a fraction of those are expected to make the ballot. |
