A slightly more humble but nonetheless aggressive Gov. Gray
Davis came to UCLA on Tuesday in one of his first major campaign
stops against the recall, defending his record on policy and the
economy but neglecting to mention his performance with higher
education.
The move comes seven weeks before the Oct. 7 recall election
date and with the governor lagging behind significantly in the
polls, buried beneath a field of 135 candidates that includes movie
star Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and author
Arianna Huffington.
Greeted by cries from the crowd of “No recall” and
“Viva Davis,” the governor dismissed the recall as a
Republican plot to take over an office they lost in last
year’s gubernatorial election, a point he has repeated since
the recall qualified in July. He said the recall detracts attention
from more important issues.
“Call me old fashioned ““ and I am “”mdash; but I
believe that when an election is over, the people have spoken and
it’s time to go to work and do the people’s
business,” he said.
Davis also tried to link the recall to other Republican actions,
including the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton and the
alleged miscount of votes in Florida during the last presidential
election.
Conspicuously absent from Davis was any mention of the
candidates running to replace him, especially Bustamante, who broke
Davis’ attempt to keep a unified Democratic front against the
recall by placing himself on the ballot.
Tim Groseclose, a political science professor at UCLA,
questioned the wisdom of Davis not endorsing Bustamante as an
alternative should the recall pass.
“He doesn’t look like a team player for the
Democratic party when he does that,” he said.
Also absent from Davis’ speech was any mention of higher
education and cuts the University of California, the California
State University system and community colleges have suffered under
the latest state budget. The UC alone saw its state funding fall by
over $400 million, which has lead to a 30 percent student fee hike,
cuts in student services across the board, and possible limits on
enrollment growth in the future.
Matt Kaczmarek, external vice president of the Undergraduate
Students Association Council, said he would only be persuaded by
Davis’ commitment to higher education through his actions.
“We’ll see if he’s really committed to higher
education or not,” said Kaczmarek, who is also the incoming
chairman of the UC Student Association.
But Gabriel Sanchez, a spokesperson for Californians Against the
Costly Recall, defended Davis’ higher education record,
pointing to past years of increased educational funding followed by
one dismal year.
“If you look at it over a period of five years, it’s
gone up, and that’s important,” he said.
Speaking to a largely supportive crowd of close friends, union
workers, firefighters, students and faculty, Davis accepted
responsibility for problems in the state budget and for
California’s energy crisis.
But he also tried to paint himself out to be a victim of
circumstances beyond his control, saying he inherited a poor
economy and a poor energy situation at the start of his term.
“Like you, I wish I had known then what I know now,” he
lamented.
Davis staunchly defended his actions during California’s
energy crisis ““ a favorite sticking point of Republicans
““ and said that he had taken steps to improve the
state’s energy situation dramatically.
“Last Friday, 50 million Americans lost electricity for 29
hours. In California, not a single light has gone out for the last
two and a half years,” he said, alluding to a blackout that
left many major cities in the northeastern United States and Canada
without power for hours.
The governor also came out against Proposition 54, which will be
on the recall ballot, and seeks to bar the state from classifying
individuals by their gender or race. The initiative is being pushed
by UC Regent Ward Connerly.
Davis called the measure “another Republican effort to
divide California over race” and vowed to fight against
it.
In general, the predominantly Democratic audience seemed
encouraged by Davis’ speech and expressed confidence in his
ability to weather the recall and budget problems.
“I’m not at all for the fee increase, but I’m
sure that after another three years in office, Gov. Davis can do
something about it,” said Naya Villarreal, a third-year
political science student.
One audience member who was not enchanted by the speech was Duf
Sundheim, chairman of the California Republican Party. Sundheim
attended the speech to listen to what Davis had to say and was
quickly surrounded by Davis supporters who yelled loudly into his
ears and booed him out of the room.
Sundheim said the governor’s speech was
“insulting” and called Davis out on his record.
“You have to make tough choices as governor. He has not
made one in five years,” he said.
With reports from Brad Greenberg, Bruin Reporter.