Posted on 10/01/2003 2:19:52 AM PDT by kattracks
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Long-shot independent candidate Arianna Huffington dropped her bid for governor of California on Tuesday and said she would campaign against the recall of Gov. Gray Davis, while a new poll showed front-runner Arnold Schwarzenegger is surging toward victory.
Huffington, a conservative-turned-liberal gadfly whose campaign had failed to gain much traction against Schwarzenegger or Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, told CNN talk-show host Larry King during an interview that she would not yet endorse a candidate in the Oct. 7 vote.
"I'm pulling out and I'm going to concentrate every ounce of my time and energy to defeat the recall," Huffington said. "I've realized that's the only way now to defeat Arnold Schwarzenegger."
Her decision to pull out comes as a poll by the Los Angeles Times released late on Tuesday shows a solid majority of likely voters now favor removing Davis from office in next week's recall and that actor-turned-politician Schwarzenegger will succeed him.
By 56 percent to 42 percent, likely voters support ousting Davis next Tuesday, Oct. 7, as support has slipped among key voters in his political base -- Democrats, women, moderates and liberals -- since the last Times poll in early September found 50 percent for the recall and 47 percent against it.
The poll found that Schwarzenegger is favored by 40 percent of likely voters, followed by Bustamante with 32 percent and Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock with 15 percent, the Times reported on its Web-site (www.latimes.com).
The shift in support to Schwarzenegger was dramatic. He has made double-digit gains since the last Times poll among Republicans, independents, whites, senior citizens, women and other key voting blocs. The earlier poll had Bustamante in the lead with 30 percent, followed by Schwarzenegger at 25 percent and McClintock at 18 percent.
EXCITING DEMOCRATIC PROCESS
Schwarzenegger, campaigning in northern California, called Huffington's announcement "interesting" and said she had "brought a lot of color and excitement to the whole process."
The feisty, finger-wagging columnist had strongly supported the recall and been sharply critical of the embattled governor, but said she now believes the "Terminator" star represents a greater threat to California.
"I believe there is a clear and present danger ... that Republican forces are using Arnold Schwarzenegger to get control of the state," she said. "He is a charming man, he's a nice man but really he has no idea how to run the state and he is going to be run by the very forces that basically have destroyed so much of California."
But despite persistent prodding by King, Huffington also refused to endorse Bustamante, who shares much of her ideology but has stumbled in recent days. The flame-haired former Republican had during the campaign attacked Bustamante over his acceptance of millions of dollars in campaign funds from Indian gaming interests, calling the tactic "legalized bribery."
Meanwhile, Davis spent the day campaigning in Los Angeles and, in a conciliatory gesture to business, signed landmark reforms to the state's 90-year-old workers compensation system that all of the candidates have described as broken.
Davis and Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe toured a phone bank on Tuesday set up by the Los Angeles County AFL-CIO. The labor federation is trying to get out a record vote for next Tuesday's recall election.
The script that phone bank workers were reading included cautions to voters that if an unnamed Republican was elected, they would lose paid overtime and other benefits that unions had won for them with Democratic party support.
Times pollster Susan Pinkus said a televised debate last week appeared to firm up support for the recall. Voters dissatisfied with Davis -- and with career politicians in general -- seem to have concluded Schwarzenegger was a viable alternative, she said.
The poll found the central theme of Schwarzenegger's candidacy had struck a chord with likely voters: They see him as the candidate most able to curb the influence of special interests in Sacramento, the state capital.
Xanthippe--5th cent. B.C. wife of Socrates; proverbial for her peevish scolding and quarrelsome temper
If there was ever someone as a prominent speaker regarding "causes" in this nation that truly and wondrously parades the characteristics of an air head, well, it's Huffington. She actually makes Joycelin Elders look and sound smart.
In the recesses where thoughtful people mostly recide there is an uneasy nettle that decency requires most of us to understand without voicing day after day. Being liberal demands the ability to suffer, without the slightest embarrassment, the machinations of fools.
Right, look for her putting in her time and energy right beside OJ looking for the REAL killer.
Was Huffington looking for a new office, or a new husband?
I bet they could sell tickets to that catfight on pay-per-view! ;)
Time and energy ? I wonder if she is going to spend more of her money.
If so, it won't be on taxes.
I think that Arnold zinger really cost her.
Unions are a special interest according to Arnold...he's right.
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