Little money going for 'yes on recall' campaign
Davis, candidates seeking to replace him have much bigger war chests
Mark Simon, Robert Salladay, Chronicle Political Writers
Wednesday, September 3, 2003
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The campaign committee urging California voters to recall Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, which expected to spend $15 million, is lagging far behind its fund-raising projections and the money hauled in by the governor to retain his office.
At the same time, the focus of the Oct. 7 recall has shifted to a traditional horse race between major candidates. The "yes on recall" message is only occasionally mentioned on the campaign trail as the media fixate on replacement candidates such as actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The situation provides a glimpse into a problem that major candidates face as the unprecedented election approaches. In order for any of them to win, Davis first must be ousted from office. But there is little money being spent selling that message compared to the "No on recall" campaign.
Money that Rescue California expected would pour into their effort from state business interests has failed to materialize, leaving officials to hope for an infusion of money from individual donors. That kind of contribution, more than $1.5 million from Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of San Diego County, helped push the recall onto the ballot.
But the absence of a competitive campaign treasury thus far raises the possibility the pro-recall forces will fail to make their case in a way that competes with the anti-recall campaign being waged by the governor.
"It seems to me they do have to come out and close the deal with the voters, " said Bill Whalen, a scholar at the Hoover Institution and a veteran Republican strategist. "Davis will have a very strong defense. Where's the prosecution?"
Even recall campaign officials admit they are at risk of failing to make their case that the governor should be recalled, the first question voters will face in the Oct. 7 election, despite polls showing at least 50 percent of California voters now agree with them.
In fact, the recall organizers hope that risk will prompt some donors to kick in.
"I think a lot of interests out there are going to see question one hasn't been put to bed yet, and Davis is going on the offensive," said Phil Paule, campaign director of Rescue California, the principal recall committee.
Since the recall was certified for the ballot in July 23, Rescue California has received only $97,000 in new contributions. During the same time, Californian Against the Costly Recall, the committee organized by Davis, has raised more than $3.4 million.
"I'm not getting the sense that it's a major concern," said Duf Sundheim, chairman of the California Republican Party. "But if there was an issue about whether Gray Davis was going to be able to get large contributions from special interests . . . we all knew that Davis would be able to shake more money that way than we would be."
But Ann Lewis, the former White House communications director who now is helping the anti-recall effort, said the lack of enthusiasm for the "yes on recall" campaign said more about Issa's failed ambition to become governor.
"The idea that this was somehow the irrepressible voice of the people bubbling up on the recall does seem to fade when you look what happened when Darrell Issa realized he wasn't going to be a candidate and closed his checkbook," Lewis said.
Although candidates such as Schwarzenegger and state Sen. Tom McClintock routinely criticize Davis on the campaign trail, much of the media are concentrating on the second question on the ballot -- who would replace the governor should a majority of voters choose "yes" on the recall.
Schwarzenegger has set up a separate committee to push a "yes on recall" message, but so far it has collected only about $199,000. In his TV ad, Schwarzenegger has only a single line at the end that reads, "Yes on Recall."
Media coverage has focused overwhelmingly on the views and records of the replacement candidates themselves, not Davis' record or the recall question. The candidates are fighting among themselves as well, as Davis remains mostly on the sidelines when it comes to criticizing replacement candidates.
In addition, the top Democrat in the race, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, is urging voters to reject the recall and vote for him on the second question. This is more free help for Davis, although Bustamante has spent far more time on his own campaign than on a "no on recall" message.
Some campaign veterans noted the replacement candidates and the news media coverage of the election were keeping the recall question before the public.
"If you were a television viewer . . . you'd be reminded continually that Gray Davis' numbers are not great, and, in part, that's the message the 'yes on recall' people are trying to communicate," said Kam Kuwata, political strategist for Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who opposes the recall. "They make the argument every day."
Feinstein hit the airwaves this week with a TV ad urging people to vote against the recall. Pro-recall forces don't have the money to mount a similar campaign.
At the campaign's outset, Paule said he expected leading state businesses, frustrated and appalled by the governor's fiscal failures and fund-raising tactics, to give handsomely to ousting Davis.
But California's business executives appear reluctant to get involved directly in the recall for a host of reasons, not the least of which is the timing of the recall to coincide with the period during which the governor will be signing or vetoing bills.
The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn Sept. 12, which gives Davis until Oct. 12, five days after the recall, to sign or veto any bill passed by the Legislature.
Among the items still pending is a package of bills that would seek to reform the state workers compensation insurance system, a problem that tops the list of complaints among most California business executives.
Leading state business organizations, such as the California Business Roundtable, also have been taking a hands-off approach to the recall question, diminishing the hopes of the pro-recall officials that corporate executives would rise up against the governor.
Some executives feel comfortable making donations to recall replacement candidates -- most notably Republican Schwarzenegger and business executive Peter Ueberroth, a Republican running as an independent -- but they have avoided taking sides on the recall itself.
In the absence of a rush by business to recall Davis, Paule said his committee now was expecting donations from "individuals who have the means to make this happen."
Among those individuals, Paule said, is Issa, R-Vista, who spent more than $1.5 million to gather recall petition signatures and bring the issue to the ballot.
Peter Ragone, spokesman for the governor's Californians Against the Costly Recall, said the reliance of the pro-recall effort on a few individuals "proves our point that this recall was just a bunch of jokers who had gotten money from one sugar daddy and now are putting the state through a $70 million wringer."
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