Poll Places Bustamante In Lead to Succeed Davis

Washington Post ^ | Saturday, August 16, 2003 | William Booth

[DrMartinVonNostrand]

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 15 -- Before the first television ads have aired, the race to succeed California Gov. Gray Davis (D) if he is recalled came down to just two men, Republican action star Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz M. Bustamante, according to a nonpartisan statewide poll to be released Saturday.

The California Field Poll found 25 percent of registered voters opted for Bustamante followed by 22 percent for Schwarzenegger.

[DrMartinVonNostrand]

Keep it up, conservatives, and we'll have Cruz "Mexifornia" Bustamante.

Better start converting your dollars to pesos. Good work.

[The Vast Right Wing]

The only way Arnold is going to win is for him to actually come out with some policy positions. In particular he has to make the pledge that he will not raise taxes to fix the budget. Choosing Buffet as an advisor is going to really drive away voters that don't want to see their taxes raised. The way I look at it, the only difference between Arnold and the Dems is in the fiscal stance they take, but if Arnold is getting advice from Warren "Californians pay to little in taxes" Buffet there is no difference. Why elect a republican that is going to raise my taxes?

[fhayek]

Is it likely voters or registered voters (article wasn't clear) Margin of error 4.1 percentage points. Sample size 448. Sounds like an effort to boost the candidacy of the Cruzer.

[Mr. K]

Lets see, in a poll where we placed the name of one democrat and (at least) 4 republicans the democrat got the most votes. This is a typical liberal poll tactic- put ONE democrap, and MANY republicans, to split all the repub vote.

Or said another way, Bustamove got only 38% and the republican candidates got over 50%.

Why not a simple poll of Arnie -vs- Bistamove?

[Voltage]

If Arnold would just add Bridget Bardot to his team, he could sew up the animal vote!

Why is Arnold missing this opportunity?

[dawn53]

Why not a simple poll of Arnie -vs- Bistamove?

Because according to some California Republicans, they'd rather split the ticket and lose than have Arnold elected.

[EggsAckley]

I'm not converting my dollars yet.

Welcome to FreeRepublic

[Enterprise]

Schwarzenegger could have had the Governorship in a walk had he desired it.

He could have made an initial statement about putting a team together to explore even more tax cuts, preserving Proposition 13, and cutting wasteful spending in Sacramento. He could have addressed the energy needs of Californians and said he would try to get true competition in this State in an effort to lower home energy bills and vehicle gasoline prices. This is assuming, that he already had certain people in mind to be on his team and that he was the messenger, not them.

in what may become one of the tactical political blunders of the Century in California, Warren Buffet tells the Wall Street Journal that property taxes should be raised! This is simply jaw dropping stupidity. I heard that McClintock's team was stunned when they heard of this proposal also. They need to jump on this and RUN WITH IT!!!

[Tallguy]

Arnold will be 'captured' by the dems in the California legislature anyway. Same thing happened to Ventura in Minnesota. Independents -- and that's what Arnold is -- don't have any truly loyal troops that they can call on to advance their agenda. He'll have to throw his chips in with one side or the other. I'm betting that he'll govern as a Dem since the Republicans are too weak in California.

[DrMartinVonNostrand]

I agree that Warren Buffet is a major blunder. But Arnold did in fact quickly distance himself from Buffet's comments. He still needs to come out a lot stronger against tax increases, and I suspect he will. I think he has concentrated too much on trying to appeal to Democrats so far, thinking that this what it takes to win in California.

No matter how bad Davis is, Bustamante is worse.
Davis may want to give California IDs to Mexicans, but Bustamante wants to give California back to Mexico.

Illegal immigration is the biggest problem California is facing, and if Bustamante remains in the lead than we must all vote AGAINST the recall.

[dfwgator]

Arnold is bringing Hollywood to the GOP. This is not what I want. That is one of the main reasons I despise the Democrats, and now Arnold is bringing it to the GOP. Ugggh!!!

[DrMartinVonNostrand]

Why not a simple poll of Arnie -vs- Bistamove?

Because as long as Simon and McClintock both stay in a race they cannot win, it ISN'T just Bustamante vs. Arnold.

[DrMartinVonNostrand]

Arnold is bringing Hollywood to the GOP. This is not what I want. That is one of the main reasons I despise the Democrats, and now Arnold is bringing it to the GOP. Ugggh!!!

I agree with that too. Arnold needs to instead be bringing the GOP to Hollywood.

[Treebeard]

I figured this might happen. Californians, not content with the discomfort of the frying pan, heave themselves 'en masse' into the agony of the fire.

From 1500 miles away, however, it's a hell of an entertaining spectacle. I gotta get more popcorn.

[DrMartinVonNostrand]

They need to jump on this and RUN WITH IT!!!

You are a Democrat operative trying to ensure a Bustamante win, aren't you?

[Enterprise]

At this point, it would be disastrous for him to try to have a meaningful appearance on Meet the Press to discuss the California Budget.

[FairOpinion]

"Keep it up, conservatives, and we'll have Cruz "Mexifornia" Bustamante. "

---

Another article which points this out:

Posted on Sat, Aug. 16, 2003
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/6547453.htm



Division among GOP voters puts Bustamante in the lead

SOME REPUBLICANS WANT SIMON, MCCLINTOCK OUT OF ACTOR'S WAY


By Jim Puzzanghera
Mercury News Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Simple arithmetic adds up to a problem for Republicans in the California recall election -- divide their votes among the top three GOP candidates and none may end up in the governor's office.

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You may also be interested in joining us in the
Live Thread: Arnold Schwarzenegger for California Governor
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/965124/posts

[VOYAGER]

I don't believe "ahnol" will be elected in fact I will go so far as to say he won't even be in the top three at the end of the election.

The screw tail media is out to lunch as usual, on this one.

He does not have anything to offer toward a solution for La La Land's problems let alone any demonstrated(that's visible)ability to govern any thing.

He is just a paper tiger with just enough sex appeal to the silly women who just love his kind of BS to garner their vote which at this time makes him appear to be a strong but in truth is just another Barbra Streisand type"psuedo"wannabe governor.

Caliphony better not play silly with this election but get serious else they will wind up with just another "useful idiot clown" for governor.

Now go flame away!!

[EggsAckley]

if Bustamante remains in the lead than we must all vote AGAINST the recall.

You registered here six days ago to tell us this? Troll???????