I hope voters in Kalif. are smart enough to see this election for what it is. Let's be honest, who gets elected gov. isn't going to make any significant difference for the state and it's problems. If a Republican - even in name only is in the office when the 2004 Presidential election rolls around it can help Bush get re-elected. That should be the focus of this election. Voting for McClintock might be the right thing to do, but only if you want the state to remain in Democratic hands thru the 2004 election. A vote for McClintock at this point is nothing more than a vote for Crud Boozamonte - you might as well punch his hole out on the ballot.
Schwarzenegger gaining GOP support
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/09/26/california.recall/index.html
Schwarzenegger gaining GOP support
Sources: Issa will follow Simon with endorsement Friday
Friday, September 26, 2003 Posted: 7:43 AM EDT (1143 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Republican leaders are beginning to unite behind Arnold Schwarzenegger as their best choice to wrest the governor's office from Democratic hands in the October 7 California recall election.
Rep. Darrell Issa, who financed the recall initiative, will endorse Schwarzenegger Friday, sources close to Issa told CNN. On Thursday County GOP chairmen from across the state agreed to endorse the actor-turned-politician, as did one of the Republican candidates who dropped out of the campaign, Bill Simon.
But Schwarzenegger's last remaining major GOP rival, conservative state Sen. Tom McClintock, remained defiant, saying he will not drop out of the race.
"I made a promise to people when I entered this race that I would be in it to the finish line, and I keep my promises," he said in an interview with CNN's John King. "When I make a promise, I stand by that promise. I'm in this race to the finish line."
McClintock also insisted he has the momentum to win the election, now just 12 days away.
"Our message is clearly resonating across California," he said. "I began this campaign as an asterisk behind Peter Camejo of the Green Party. I've moved into a solid position now, according to the recent L.A. Times poll, while the other candidates have been dead in the water."
A number of Republicans have been pressuring McClintock to get out, fearing that a division in the GOP vote will allow Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante to squeak through to victory.
Bustamante is the only major Democrat in the race, and California has nearly 1.4 million more registered Democrats than Republicans. However, nearly 3.1 million independents hold the balance of power between the two parties.
The latest poll in the recall race, by the Public Policy Institute of California, showed Bustamante with support from 28 percent of likely voters, Schwarzenegger with 26 percent and McClintock with 14 percent. With a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points, Bustamante and Schwarzenegger were locked in a statistical tie.
Simon, a conservative businessman who was the GOP nominee last year against Gov. Gray Davis, appeared with Schwarzenegger at a news conference Thursday afternoon to offer his support. He had dropped out of the recall race earlier in the campaign without offering an endorsement.
"I think it's now time to get behind one candidate for governor, and I believe that Arnold Schwarzenegger has the best chance to be the next governor of California," Simon said.
Sen. Tom McClintock remained defiant, saying he will not drop out of the race.
During the campaign, Simon -- ideologically much closer to McClintock -- had run ads highly critical of Schwarzenegger on taxes and other issues. But Thursday, he said that Schwarzenegger had "clarified those views to my great satisfaction about taxes and how he felt about taxes."
"We're not always going to agree on every issue, that's for sure, but we certainly agree on what I believe are the most important issues facing our great state, and those are economic issues," Simon said.
Issa, a multi-millionaire Republican congressman from San Diego County, poured more than $1 million of his own fortune into the recall initiative and planned to run for governor himself. But he decided not to run after Schwarzenegger entered the race.
Tuesday, Issa had urged one of the two Republicans in the race to drop out to prevent a Bustamante victory, even suggesting that it would be better not to recall Davis than to let that happen.
Another departed Republican candidate, Peter Ueberroth, will meet again with Schwarzenegger and McClintock over the weekend and could offer an endorsement early next week, sources close to him said.
Though both Simon and Ueberroth have stopped campaigning, their names will still appear on the recall ballot.
Issa, a multi-millionaire Republican congressman from San Diego County, poured more than $1 million of his own fortune into the recall initiative.
In Sacramento Thursday, the California Republican County Chairmen's Association decided to endorse Schwarzenegger by a vote of 40 to 9, with five abstentions.
"We are attempting to break the logjam among Republican candidates for governor," said Jim Hartman, the group's vice chairman.
During a debate Wednesday night, McClintock and Schwarzenegger didn't engage in any contentious exchanges. But the state senator from Ventura County clearly sought to establish himself as the more conservative of the two.
McClintock emphasized his pledge not to raise taxes under any circumstances and his opposition to abortion rights, gun control and providing public services to illegal immigrants.
The more moderate Schwarzenegger, by contrast, supports abortion rights and some gun control measures, and he has said that while he doesn't plan to raise taxes, he won't absolutely rule it out.
In the debate, Schwarzenegger said he would support making health care available to children of low-income illegal immigrants through an existing state program.
The two Republican candidates also differed on Proposition 54, a controversial measure also on the October 7 ballot that would prohibit the state from collecting information about race. Schwarzenegger opposes it, but McClintock highlighted his support for the measure in Wednesday's debate.
"Proposition 54 simply says that our government has got to stop classifying us by race," McClintock said. "It doesn't matter what race you are. The government should treat everyone exactly the same."
Thursday, Davis discounted the unruly debate as being more like "a food fight, there was very little serious discussion about solving California's problems."
"Mr. Schwarzenegger in particular had a bunch of one-liners and put-downs," Davis said after attended a town hall meeting. "I'm tired of him running down the state, I am tired of him overstating California's problems. I want Arnold to get his facts straight."
When asked if he would formally challenge Schwarzenegger to a one-on-one debate, Davis said he would answer that question in the next two days.
Earlier in the day, Davis appeared to issue a challenge of sorts.
"I'm getting sick and tired of his (Schwarzenegger's) distortions and if he doesn't set the record straight, I just may have to debate him," Davis said.
Schwarzenegger's aides told CNN's John Mercurio Thursday they took the comment to indicate that Davis' poll numbers are sinking, but they said they'd wait for a formal challenge before responding further.
Schwarzenegger gaining GOP support
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/09/26/california.recall/index.html
Schwarzenegger gaining GOP support
Sources: Issa will follow Simon with endorsement Friday
Friday, September 26, 2003 Posted: 7:43 AM EDT (1143 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Republican leaders are beginning to unite behind Arnold Schwarzenegger as their best choice to wrest the governor's office from Democratic hands in the October 7 California recall election.
Rep. Darrell Issa, who financed the recall initiative, will endorse Schwarzenegger Friday, sources close to Issa told CNN. On Thursday County GOP chairmen from across the state agreed to endorse the actor-turned-politician, as did one of the Republican candidates who dropped out of the campaign, Bill Simon.
But Schwarzenegger's last remaining major GOP rival, conservative state Sen. Tom McClintock, remained defiant, saying he will not drop out of the race.
"I made a promise to people when I entered this race that I would be in it to the finish line, and I keep my promises," he said in an interview with CNN's John King. "When I make a promise, I stand by that promise. I'm in this race to the finish line."
McClintock also insisted he has the momentum to win the election, now just 12 days away.
"Our message is clearly resonating across California," he said. "I began this campaign as an asterisk behind Peter Camejo of the Green Party. I've moved into a solid position now, according to the recent L.A. Times poll, while the other candidates have been dead in the water."
A number of Republicans have been pressuring McClintock to get out, fearing that a division in the GOP vote will allow Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante to squeak through to victory.
Bustamante is the only major Democrat in the race, and California has nearly 1.4 million more registered Democrats than Republicans. However, nearly 3.1 million independents hold the balance of power between the two parties.
The latest poll in the recall race, by the Public Policy Institute of California, showed Bustamante with support from 28 percent of likely voters, Schwarzenegger with 26 percent and McClintock with 14 percent. With a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points, Bustamante and Schwarzenegger were locked in a statistical tie.
Simon, a conservative businessman who was the GOP nominee last year against Gov. Gray Davis, appeared with Schwarzenegger at a news conference Thursday afternoon to offer his support. He had dropped out of the recall race earlier in the campaign without offering an endorsement.
"I think it's now time to get behind one candidate for governor, and I believe that Arnold Schwarzenegger has the best chance to be the next governor of California," Simon said.
Sen. Tom McClintock remained defiant, saying he will not drop out of the race.
During the campaign, Simon -- ideologically much closer to McClintock -- had run ads highly critical of Schwarzenegger on taxes and other issues. But Thursday, he said that Schwarzenegger had "clarified those views to my great satisfaction about taxes and how he felt about taxes."
"We're not always going to agree on every issue, that's for sure, but we certainly agree on what I believe are the most important issues facing our great state, and those are economic issues," Simon said.
Issa, a multi-millionaire Republican congressman from San Diego County, poured more than $1 million of his own fortune into the recall initiative and planned to run for governor himself. But he decided not to run after Schwarzenegger entered the race.
Tuesday, Issa had urged one of the two Republicans in the race to drop out to prevent a Bustamante victory, even suggesting that it would be better not to recall Davis than to let that happen.
Another departed Republican candidate, Peter Ueberroth, will meet again with Schwarzenegger and McClintock over the weekend and could offer an endorsement early next week, sources close to him said.
Though both Simon and Ueberroth have stopped campaigning, their names will still appear on the recall ballot.
Issa, a multi-millionaire Republican congressman from San Diego County, poured more than $1 million of his own fortune into the recall initiative.
In Sacramento Thursday, the California Republican County Chairmen's Association decided to endorse Schwarzenegger by a vote of 40 to 9, with five abstentions.
"We are attempting to break the logjam among Republican candidates for governor," said Jim Hartman, the group's vice chairman.
During a debate Wednesday night, McClintock and Schwarzenegger didn't engage in any contentious exchanges. But the state senator from Ventura County clearly sought to establish himself as the more conservative of the two.
McClintock emphasized his pledge not to raise taxes under any circumstances and his opposition to abortion rights, gun control and providing public services to illegal immigrants.
The more moderate Schwarzenegger, by contrast, supports abortion rights and some gun control measures, and he has said that while he doesn't plan to raise taxes, he won't absolutely rule it out.
In the debate, Schwarzenegger said he would support making health care available to children of low-income illegal immigrants through an existing state program.
The two Republican candidates also differed on Proposition 54, a controversial measure also on the October 7 ballot that would prohibit the state from collecting information about race. Schwarzenegger opposes it, but McClintock highlighted his support for the measure in Wednesday's debate.
"Proposition 54 simply says that our government has got to stop classifying us by race," McClintock said. "It doesn't matter what race you are. The government should treat everyone exactly the same."
Thursday, Davis discounted the unruly debate as being more like "a food fight, there was very little serious discussion about solving California's problems."
"Mr. Schwarzenegger in particular had a bunch of one-liners and put-downs," Davis said after attended a town hall meeting. "I'm tired of him running down the state, I am tired of him overstating California's problems. I want Arnold to get his facts straight."
When asked if he would formally challenge Schwarzenegger to a one-on-one debate, Davis said he would answer that question in the next two days.
Earlier in the day, Davis appeared to issue a challenge of sorts.
"I'm getting sick and tired of his (Schwarzenegger's) distortions and if he doesn't set the record straight, I just may have to debate him," Davis said.
Schwarzenegger's aides told CNN's John Mercurio Thursday they took the comment to indicate that Davis' poll numbers are sinking, but they said they'd wait for a formal challenge before responding further.