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Posted on 06/17/2003 6:45:14 PM PDT by heleny
Lockyer, Angelides Won't Join In Recall Frenzy
5:43 p.m. PDT June 17, 2003
SACRAMENTO -- State Treasurer Phil Angelides and Attorney General Bill Lockyer both said Tuesday they wouldn't run for governor if the campaign to recall Gov. Gray Davis makes it to the ballot.The two Democrats have both expressed interested in running for the state's top job, and both are sitting on multimillion dollar campaign treasuries.
California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres has asked every Democrat to pledge not to put their name on the ballot, should the recall drive be successful. Angelides, Lockyer and state Controller Steve Westly have now done so.
"I do not intend to run in the recall election," said Angelides, adding that he was interested in running for governor in 2006. Lockyer, in a written statement said that if the recall effort made it to the ballot, "I do not intend to submit my name as a candidate."
And that's the catch, said Sal Russo, chief strategist for the Recall Gray Davis campaign -- the Democrats don't "intend" to run.
"Every statement from the Democrats has been equivocal," Russo said. "It's clear that they have every intention of taking a look at it."
The Republican-led recall campaign has until September to collect nearly 900,000 signatures. If it qualifies for a statewide ballot, voters would be asked whether to remove Davis from office and if so, who should replace him.
The recall campaign has been boosted by donations from U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, a wealthy Republican businessman from San Diego County who has donated $800,000. Issa has set up a gubernatorial campaign committee and is expected to add his name to the ballot, if the recall drive is successful.
Lockyer said the recall effort sends a message to elected officials that they shouldn't make "tough decisions that cross powerful special interests.
"Democracy requires that our elected officials have the courage to make tough choices in the best interest of the people of California -- even when those decisions may offend a well-heeled interest group," Lockyer said.
Angelides, who has amassed a war chest of $10 million, said he would support the anti-recall effort, but he declined to say how much he would donate to that cause. Lockyer has raised $9.9 million.
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who many believe would be by far the strongest Democratic candidate, has not ruled out appearing on the ballot. Feinstein has tried to be governor before -- she lost in 1990 to Republican Pete Wilson.
But Feinstein adviser Bill Carrick said Monday he did not think Feinstein would run.
"My sense of this is she's very much opposed to the recall. She went through one herself that was also created by fringe people," Carrick said, referring to a recall campaign Feinstein beat as San Francisco mayor.
"I don't think she's entertaining a notion about running," Carrick said.
Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante has also said he opposes the recall but has not ruled out running.
Angelides accused Republican lawmakers of purposely stalling the state's budget in order to bolster the recall effort. The Legislature didn't meet a Sunday deadline to pass the budget and Republican legislative leaders have said they'll work to unseat any Republican who votes for a Democratic plan to raise taxes.
"There's a concerted effort, unfortunately, to link the policy debate on the budget to the recall," he said.
Davis' $100 billion budget proposal includes at least $8 billion in new taxes, as well as approximately $18 billion in cuts and $10 billion in borrowing.
Assemblyman John Campbell, vice chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, said Angelides' accusation was "absolutely, 100 percent, completely untrue."
"We're not delaying anything. We are standing for the same things we've been standing for for the three years I've been here," Campbell said. "We don't believe tax increases will or have solved this problem."
"I do not intend to run in the recall election," said Angelides, adding that he was interested in running for governor in 2006. Lockyer, in a written statement said that if the recall effort made it to the ballot, "I do not intend to submit my name as a candidate."
And that's the catch, said Sal Russo, chief strategist for the Recall Gray Davis campaign -- the Democrats don't "intend" to run.
"Every statement from the Democrats has been equivocal," Russo said. "It's clear that they have every intention of taking a look at it."
Suhprize Suhprize!!
It has legs, and Now , it's got teeth too!!!
calgov2002:
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When was the last time this group of thieves approved a budget before Sept..
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"Democracy requires that our elected officials have the courage to make tough choices in the best interest of the people of California -- even when those decisions may offend a well-heeled interest group," Lockyer said.
What is so abjectly absurd about this inane statement is that EVERYONE who knows him knows Davis can't make ANY decisions... Period!!!
He "chokes" with analysis paralysis on anything major.
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