SCHWARZENEGGER BY A CALIFORNIA LANDSLIDE: POLLS
New York Post ^ | 8/12/03 | DAVID K. LI
Posted on 08/12/2003 12:57 AM PDT by kattracks
August 12, 2003 -- LOS ANGELES - Two new polls yesterday showed Arnold Schwarzenegger winning the California gubernatorial race by a landslide, as embattled Gov. Gray Davis called the recall an "insult."
In a poll released by KABC-TV in L.A. last night, 66 percent who said they were "certain to vote" in the historic Oct. 7 California recall backed the removal of Davis, a Democrat, while 32 percent opposed it.
Of the replacement candidates, Schwarzenegger beat Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, the ballot's only major Democrat, by 51 percent to 17 percent, according to the phone poll taken on the weekend.
Former Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth is at 6 percent and former federal prosecutor Bill Simon, who lost to Davis last November, at 7 percent....
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Arnold takes most space in spotlight
By Martin Kasindorf, USA TODAY
8.12.2003
LOS ANGELES — Masses of TV news cameras on Monday shadowed the leading candidate to unseat California Gov. Gray Davis in the recall election, even though the candidate was in New York City and was saying nothing about California politics.
"Look at all the press back there," actor Arnold Schwarzenegger joked to children surrounding him in a ceremony at City College of New York to promote after-school programs. "They're all here for you, all of them. ... They love to promote after-school programs. That's why they're here, right? Isn't it fantastic?"
The square-jawed screen hero has attracted international news coverage and heavy support in polls since he jumped last week into the Oct. 7 election. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, is one of 193 who filed as candidates to replace Davis if voters recall the Democratic incumbent.
Schwarzenegger, 56, has yet to comment in detail on California issues. But it doesn't seem to matter. The publicity blanketing him because of his celebrity status is all but burying the messages of his competitors on the ballot.
Republican businessman Bill Simon, 52, and left-of-center independent contender Arianna Huffington, 53, want a share of the spotlight. On Monday, they called for a series of televised debates that would place them alongside Schwarzenegger. If his rivals can't do better at matching his access to "free media," as politicians call news stories, they'll have to spend extra millions of dollars on TV commercials during the eight-week campaign.
Financial disclosure forms filed with state officials show that several candidates will have little trouble financing costly campaigns out of their own pockets. Simon has a $3 million annual income from family investments. Former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth, a Republican running as an independent, reported annual income of at least $670,000 and multimillion-dollar investments in six companies.
Schwarzenegger can buy plenty of commercials, too. Apparently he is the wealthiest candidate and could become California's richest governor. He wasn't required to report the full value of his assets, but earlier estimates of $200 million may be conservative. Among his holdings: a Boeing 747 he leases to Singapore Airlines, an Ohio shopping mall and the Schatzi's On Main restaurant in Santa Monica, Calif. He released tax returns showing $57 million total income for 2000 and 2001.
By contrast, Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, 50, says he needs cash to battle rich Republicans. His tax returns show that he and his wife earn about $124,000 a year.
Election officials will announce Wednesday the list of candidates qualified for the long ballot. Some counties say they'll have to use paper ballots and count votes by hand, which will delay the results.
California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley held a lottery-style drawing of alphabetical letters Monday to determine ballot position based on last names. To ensure that each candidate has an equal chance to be listed first on the ballot — a position that carries an estimated 5% advantage — the order of names is rotated on 80 different ballots, one for each state Assembly district.
The drawing determined the rotation will start with R names. The letter S is 11th. This means that in many districts, before voters reach Schwarzenegger, they'll have to wade through dozens of names that start with higher-ranked letters, including Bustamante, Huffington and billboard model Angelyne. On such a long ballot, the rotation is fairer to Schwarzenegger than an unchanging alphabetical list.
Schwarzenegger is urging voters to dump Davis and to let him "clean house in Sacramento." The governor said on NBC Monday that the recall is "an insult to the 8 million people who went to the polls last November and made a decision that I should be governor."
Still, Davis, 60, said, "I'm doing my best to work harder to solve people's problems. ... I have gotten the message. I understand that a lot of people signed the recall."
Schwarzenegger isn't getting a free ride in this unprecedented election campaign. Democrats criticized him Monday for backing Proposition 187, a ballot initiative in 1994 that would have barred illegal immigrants from receiving schooling and other state social services. It passed with a 60% majority. Appeals courts struck it down.
The measure, opposed by many Hispanics and Asian-Americans, was heavily promoted by the governor at the time, Republican Pete Wilson.
Wilson, chairman of Schwarzenegger's campaign, is still considered a villain in Hispanic communities that Schwarzenegger is wooing by stressing his own immigrant background.
Bustamante, the only well-known Democrat running, is campaigning against the recall but is asking voters to choose him if Davis is ousted. He told NBC on Monday that Schwarzenegger's stand on Proposition 187 is "going to hurt him" because "the immigrant community understood that to be a real attack on them."
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