<font color=green> It looks like the recall's back on and Arnold is in the lead in the latest poll. Californians should pay attention to the fact Arnold doesn't like to debate........its because he doesn't know squat about running a government. <font color=black>
ted
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signonsandiego.com
Davis to actor: Let's debate
Governor's ad accuses Schwarzenegger of twisting facts
By John Marelius
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER and
Michael Gardner
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
September 27, 2003
Gov. Gray Davis escalated his newfound combativeness against Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday, unleashing his first attack ad of the recall campaign and daring the Republican actor to debate him "right here, right now."
The new television commercial accuses Schwarzenegger of twisting the facts about California's financial condition and portrays the novice politician as unprepared to be governor.
"Why can't Arnold Schwarzenegger get his facts straight?" the ad says. "He has no experience, won't answer press questions, won't debate unless he has the questions in advance and didn't bother to vote in 13 of the last 21 elections."
The Schwarzenegger camp said Davis' abrupt shift to attacking the best-known candidate running to replace him in the Oct. 7 recall election is a sign the original strategy of attacking the recall process wasn't working.
"Gray Davis's death spiral has begun and we're seeing him now default into the negative, lying Gray Davis for his final 11 days in office," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Rob Stutzman. "We're more than happy watching him spend his money trying to convince Californians he's done a good job with the budget the last five years."
The anti-recall campaign maintained that support for the recall is eroding and that it is simply responding to Schwarzenegger's televised attacks on the governor.
"If your opponent directs a tsunami of negative ads against you, you cannot let those charges go unanswered," said Peter Ragone, communications director for Californians Against the Costly Recall.
A public opinion poll conducted after Wednesday's free-for-all debate in Sacramento among the five leading candidates to replace Davis showed majority support for the recall holding firm, and Schwarzenegger overtaking Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante among the replacement candidates.
Analysts said the new anti-recall ad appeared to be aimed at moderate and independent voters who will likely determine the outcome of both the recall and the candidate race.
"Probably the voters up for grabs are the ones with weak party affiliations because the strong partisans are already spoken for," said Jack Pitney, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College. "So they're the ones who are most likely to be persuaded by questions of competence and qualifications."
At a rally in West Hollywood aimed at solidifying support among women, Davis again accused Schwarzenegger of blowing California's economic problems out of proportion and "running down this great state."
"That is not fair to 35 million Californians. I'm not going to take it anymore," Davis said. "And right here, right now, I challenge him to a debate."
The Schwarzenegger campaign, which has agreed to only one debate, declined.
Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger picked up the endorsement of Rep. Darrell Issa, the Vista Republican who bankrolled the recall petition drive but dropped out of the race to replace Davis. Another Republican campaign dropout, Bill Simon, endorsed Schwarzenegger on Thursday.
The back-to-back endorsements were intended to turn up the heat on state Sen. Tom McClintock, the Republican state senator from Thousand Oaks whose candidacy many Republicans fear will deny the party the opportunity to claim the governor's office if the recall succeeds.
At a Sacramento news conference yesterday, McClintock remained determined to stick it out and suggested that Schwarzenegger should be the one to drop out.
Asked about how he would feel if he woke up Oct. 8 to learn that Bustamante won, McClintock said: "I will think it's a shame that Arnold Schwarzenegger got into this race after I filed, because he split my vote."
A poll commissioned by the California Chamber of Commerce that was released yesterday showed Schwarzenegger leading Bustamante 35 percent to 31 percent. with 17 percent for McClintock.
In early September, the same survey showed Bustamante leading with 33 percent to 28 percent for Schwarzenegger and 12 percent for McClintock.
The recall question was virtually unchanged, with 53 percent favoring Davis' removal to 41 percent opposed in the latest poll. Bustamante has been under sharp attack the past few weeks for taking contributions far in excess of the legal limit from Indian gaming tribes and labor unions and funneling nearly $4 million of it to his campaign.
Yesterday, a Sacramento Superior Court judge affirmed an earlier decision and ordered Bustamante to cancel television and radio commercials financed by those contributions and return the money.
Richie Ross, Bustamante's senior strategist, has said the money has all been spent. He defended the money transfers as being in accordance with an opinion by the Fair Political Practices Commission, the state's campaign finance watchdog.
State Sen. Ross Johnson, a Republican from Irvine who brought the lawsuit, said it's time for Bustamante to return the money. "He should set aside his blind ambition and obey the law," Johnson said.
Meanwhile, the Morongo band reported buying $1.15 million in ads for McClintock, one day after the tribe reported spending $850,000 on behalf of his campaign.
First Americans for a Better California, an independent committee of the Pechanga Band of Mission Indians and the Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Indians in San Diego County, reported spending $1.5 million for Bustamante TV ads and $427,828 for a mailing on his behalf.
Wilson advisers
McClintock again attacked Schwarzenegger over taxes, saying the actor has surrounded himself with advisers from the administration of former Gov. Pete Wilson that he said was responsible for the "biggest tax increase" in state history."
"That's not my idea of conservative governance," McClintock said.
He also contended that Schwarzenegger would raise taxes on Indians by $1 billion. Schwarzenegger has said he would call on Indians to increase revenue sharing from gaming profits, but has not pinned down an amount.
If Davis is recalled, the next governor would have to negotiate gaming compacts that spell out the number of slot machines, revenue sharing and other conditions.
McClintock favors a hands-off approach to casinos on Indian land, which would allow tribes unlimited slot machines and card games.
Under his administration, "Indian nations will have sovereignty on their reservation land," McClintock said.
Indian casino interests have lavished millions of dollars on behalf of McClintock's candidacy, as well as Bustamante's.
After Wednesday's debate, Schwarzenegger took swipes at McClintock and Bustamante for being cozy with tribes.
"I want to act on behalf of the people when I become governor, not on behalf of the Indians," he said.
Dig by McClintock
Hours before release of the Davis commercial, McClintock took a dig at Schwarzenegger for skipping some elections. Schwarzenegger's excuse that some records may have been lost is like telling a teacher "the dog ate my homework," McClintock said.
The Davis ad claims that Schwarzenegger missed 13 of the past 21 elections. Spokesman Stutzman said the actor missed only four and said the discrepancy lies in returned absentee ballots that the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's office cannot account for.
The governor's ad also states that "official state records show spending went up less under Davis than under Pat Brown . . . Jerry Brown . . . George Deukmejian . . . less than even Ronald Reagan."
The Davis campaign cites as a source the California Budget Project, a nonpartisan research group that Republicans contend is left-leaning.
As for other claims in the ads, Schwarzenegger does answer "press questions," but his exposure to reporters well-versed in state issues is sparing.
And while the California Broadcasters Association released the questions for Wednesday's debate in advance, all of the campaigns, including Schwarzenegger's, objected to the format.
That Schwarzenegger has "no experience" is a charge his campaign is willing to live with, Stutzman said.
"Gray Davis is the guy that ran on 'experience money can't buy,' " he said. "That experience has run the state into ruin. We fully acknowledge we're not the career politician that is run by special interests."
The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
