Posted on 10/03/2003 4:15:18 PM PDT by Tamzee
Just four days before Tuesday's recall election, Californians by an increasingly wide margin want to replace Democratic Gov. Gray Davis with Republican actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Field Poll released today says.
A survey conducted from Monday through Wednesday showed 57 percent of voters supporting the recall of Davis, while 39 percent are opposed. In the race to replace Davis, Schwarzenegger leads Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante 36 percent to 26 percent, according to the poll, which is the third this week to show the actor gaining momentum and Davis losing ground.
The poll shows that support for the recall and for Schwarzenegger has grown in just the past few days, though voters were surveyed before six women said in reports published Thursday that the actor had touched them in a sexual manner without their consent. Schwarzenegger's lead increased since voters were surveyed by Field on Sept. 25-28, when he and Bustamante were in a dead heat. And during that period, 53 percent supported the recall and 43 percent were opposed.
Jaime Sanders is just one voter, but her opinion appears to be widely shared around the state.
``I don't think Davis has handled the job very well,'' the 26-year-old student from Redwood Shores said. Although Davis touted himself when he first ran for governor in 1998 as ``the best-trained governor-in-waiting California has ever produced,'' his management of the electricity crisis and a weak economy appears to have doomed him.
``The word `politician' isn't acceptable among those of us who don't want to hear what the elites in the government want to do,'' said Sanders, a Democrat.
Instead, she's supporting Schwarzenegger because ``he's not a politician, and the fact that he has a lot of money so he has no reason to be swayed to spend money on things we shouldn't be spending money on.'' She said reports of Schwarzenegger's behavior toward women didn't change her mind, adding, ``It's just rumor and you can't really be sure if any of that is true.''
It's among Californians like Sanders who are age 39 and younger that Davis is doing particularly poorly, with nearly two-thirds of voters in that age range wanting to recall him, according to the poll. He has a majority of support only among voters 65 and older.
The governor's greatest vulnerability comes from his failure to lock up Democratic voters, with 28 percent supporting the recall.
Bustamante, likewise, has limited support among members of his party, with 49 percent of Democrats supporting his candidacy, according to the poll. That's significantly lower than the 63 percent of Republicans supporting Schwarzenegger, despite the fact that a second major Republican candidate, state Sen. Tom McClintock, remains an active player in the race, drawing 16 percent of all those polled.
(Excerpt) Read more at bayarea.com ...
Me, too... I wonder if he will in 2004? :-)
Likely Voters (MOE 3.5%)
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LA Times 09/29/2003 09/12/03 08/00/03
For Recall 56% For Recall 50% For Recall 50%
Against Recall 42% Against Recall 47% Against Recall 45%
Arnold 40% (+15%) Cruz 30% (-5%) Cruz 35%%
Cruz 32 (+2%) Arnold 25% (+3%) Arnold 22%
McClintock 15% (-3%) McClintock 18% (+6%) McClintock 12%
Ueberoth 8% (+1%) Ueberoth 7%
Arianna 3% (0%) Arianna 3%
Camejo 2% (0%) Camejo 2%
Likely Voters (MOE 3%)
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Gallup/CNN 09/28/2003
Recall Davis 63%
Keep Davis 35%
Schwarzenegger 40%
Cruz 25%
McClintock 18%
Camejo 5%
Arianna 2%
MOE 4%
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SurveyUSA
10/01/2003 09/23/2003 09/10/2003
Remove Davis 61% Remove Davis 57% Remove Davis 62%
Keep Davis 39% Keep Davis 42% Keep Davis 37%
Arnold 45% (+6%) Arnold 39% (0%) Arnold 39%
Cruz 28% (-4%) Cruz 32% (+3% Cruz 29%
McClintock 16% (-2%) McClintock 18% (+2%) McClintock 16%
Other 5% (+2%) Huffington 4% (+1%) Ueberroth 6%
Undecided 2% (-2%) Other 3% (0%) Huffington 3%
Undecided 4% (0%) Other 4%
Undecided 3%
Certain Voters (MOE 3.7%)
Hmmm...maybe just maybe more folks might follow suit, now that it's cool to vote Republican LOL (now who ever gave them that idea?)
Field Poll
10/02/2003 09/09/2003 08/15/2003
Yes on Recall 57% Yes on Recall 55% Yes on Recall 58%
No on Recall 39% No on Recall 40% No on Recall 37%
Arnold 36% (+11%) Cruz 30% (+5%) Cruz 25%
Cruz 26% (-4%) Arnold 25% (+3%) Arnold 22%
McClintock 16% (+3%) McClintock 13% (+4%) McClintock 9%
Camejo ? Ueberoth 5% (0%) Ueberoth 5%
Arianna 3% (-1%) Arianna 4%
Camejo 2% (0%) Camejo 2%
Likely Voters (MOE 3.5%)
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