The election to recall the governor inched closer to becoming a
narrower race over the weekend, with the exit of one high-profile
candidate and the release of a poll that contrasted the popular
support of the Republican front-runner. GOP hopeful Bill Simon
dropped out of the race on Saturday, citing the need for his party
to consolidate behind one candidate. Other developments in the
recall election have the latest Los Angeles Times poll showing that
Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante ““ the prominent Democratic candidate
with ever-increasing party support, leading Republican leader and
media darling Arnold Schwarzenegger by 13 percentage points.
Meanwhile, the current governor kicked off an effort last week to
increase his favor among voters in what may be the final weeks of
his term.
Davis on campus Gov. Gray Davis came to UCLA on Aug. 19 to plead
his case before a couple hundred supporters in Ackerman Grand
Ballroom, marking the first time the governor has campaigned
aggressively against the recall. Mounting the stage to cries of
“Viva Gray” and “No recall” from his
supporters, Davis accepted some responsibility for the
state’s energy crisis and $38 billion budget shortfall. But
he also lashed out strongly against his critics, accusing
Republicans of trying to hijack the state government and portraying
himself as a victim of a broad “right-wing conspiracy.”
“What’s happening here is part of an ongoing national
effort to steal elections Republicans cannot win,” he said.
Ted Costa, head of DavisRecall.com, one of the leading advocates of
the recall, dismissed Davis’ conspiracy defense, saying the
recall effort extended across party lines. “We’ve got a
lot of good company in our right-wing conspiracy, because 30
percent of them are Democrats,” he said. “Anyone who
thinks (Davis) bungled the energy crisis, anyone who thinks he fell
asleep at the switch, they’re suddenly part of the right-wing
conspiracy?” he added. “I don’t think so.”
Davis also affirmed his commitment to education, saying his top
three priorities were “education, education, education”
and citing that test scores and teacher performance had risen under
his watch. But some questioned Davis’ true commitment to
education, especially in light of millions of dollars in budget
cuts to the University of California and the California State
University system. The UC was cut by $410 million in the state
budget, which has led to a 30 percent student fee increase, cuts to
a slew of student services, and a possible freeze in enrollment
growth for next year. Anica McKesey, president of the UCLA
Undergraduate Students Association Council, questioned Davis’
avoidance of the issue of higher education. “It was a bit
deceptive of him not to mention the 30 percent fee increase that UC
students have to deal with,” she said. Other UCLA students
were also skeptical of Davis’ campaign pitch. “It seems
ironic he came right now when we have to pay increases in
fees,” said Katie Tshann-Grimm, a fourth-year physics
student. “It doesn’t seem we are feeling the help in
education.” But Gabriel Sanchez, a spokesperson for
Californians Against the Costly Recall, defended the
governor’s record on higher education, blaming the dismal
state economy for the recent round of budget cuts. “The
governor is counting on the economy coming back, and then
we’ll reaffirm our core commitment to higher
education,” he said. Republicans, however, say Davis’
misspending of state funds compounded poor economic conditions.
“He has spent money. He has wasted a lot of it,” he
said. “He’s like the husband that goes out and buys a
new car for his wife with money that needs to go to the
mortgage,” said Duf Sundheim, chairman of the California
Republican Party. Sundheim attended Davis’ speech and was
quickly surrounded by supporters of the governor, who aggressively
shouted in his face. One man reached into his wallet and showed
Sundheim a picture of his daughter, whom he said was being hurt by
the money going towards the recall. Sundheim was undeterred by the
angry crowd. “It’s all democracy at work; everybody has
a right to express their feelings,” he said. Also last week,
Schwarzenegger and former Major League Baseball Commissioner Peter
Ueberroth revealed their economic plans for the state, which faced
a $38 billion deficit this year and a projected $8 billion deficit
for 2004-2005. Ueberroth proposed 5 percent across-the-board cuts
and a one-time tax amnesty of $6 billion, which has been disputed
by several economic analysts. Schwarzenegger avoided detailing
specific plans for the state economy, but made it clear that he
would not raise taxes. This puts him at odds with one of his
economic advisers, The Anderson School at UCLA’s forecast
director, Edward Leamer, who is in favor of raising taxes to help
rebuild California’s credit, which has dropped to worst in
the country. Bob Mulholland, a campaign advisor with the California
Democratic Party, dismissed Schwarzenegger’s plan for the
budget as lacking substance. “It was all steroid and no
muscle,” he said. Mulholland also said neither Schwarzenegger
nor Ueberroth would be able to keep their promises not to cut
public education funding without raising taxes, especially given
the financial difficulties facing the state. “There’s
no magic wand where some Republican can come up here and say:
We’re going to make sure that public education has
funding,” he said.
With reports from Daily Bruin wire services.