Tuesday, Aug 26, 2003
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2003 |
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By Sridhar Krishnaswami
On the one hand, the Republican Party is mounting pressure on its various candidates to drop out of the race and rally behind Arnold Schwarzenegger; and this has already had some effect. Bill Simon, the Republican candidate who ran against the Governor, Gray Davis, last year, has bowed out of the race. On the other hand, there are indications that voters in the largest American State are losing interest in the recall election, which could work to the advantage of Mr. Davis. A Los Angeles Times poll of last Friday has shown that half of the voters support the idea of getting rid of Mr. Davis; 45 per cent are opposed and 4 per cent are undecided. Past surveys have shown that more than half of the voters expressing interest in removing Mr. Davis from office. State-wide polls have shown Mr. Schwarzenegger running far ahead of the rest of the Republican candidates; at the same time, surveys have shown the leading Democratic candidate, Cruz Bustamante, pulling within striking distance with some even suggesting that he could get the better of the Austrian-born Hollywood star. That Mr. Bustamante's rise in the polls has made the Grand Old Party nervous is seen in frantic attempts by the leadership to put up a united front. With Mr. Simon now out of the way, all eyes are on the former baseball commissioner, Peter Ueberroth, and the State Senator, Tom McClintock. The small comfort to the GOP has been that the Republican Congressman, Darrel Issa, who personally bankrolled the recall effort, has bowed out of the race. Mr. Simon has not endorsed any of the other Republican candidates and is expected to do so a little later. The Simon campaign has been stressing that there was no pressure to quit and that the decision was made on "rational conclusions". But the Democrats are saying that it did not make much of a difference just because of one Republican getting out of the race that has a field of 130-odd candidates. A spokesman for Mr. Davis has called Mr. Simon's departure as "irrelevant", going on to say that focus is still on part one of the ballot — whether Mr. Davis ought to be recalled. In the second part, voters will choose from the long list of candidates. "We are still focussed on defeating question one on the ballot .Question two has become a sideshow with one less clown", the spokesman for the Davis' campaign, Gabriel Sanchez, said. Many political quarters see the recall election, which is expected to cost the State $70 millions, as nothing more than a "circus". The recall of Mr. Davis has a lot to do with the economic crisis the State is facing. California has a $38-billion budget deficit and a slumping economy; and the popularity of the Democratic Governor is at an all-time time low — even below the 20 per cent mark in some polls. But Mr. Davis has branded the drive to oust him from office as a "hostile takeover by the right" and is seeking advice from the former Democratic President, Bill Clinton.
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