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Posted on 09/13/2003 6:23:16 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -
California Democrats on Saturday embraced a tricky two-step strategy to deal with the Oct. 7 recall election as Arnold Schwarzenegger exhorted Republicans to unite behind him, declaring himself the political heir of President Ronald Reagan (news - web sites).
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Hundreds of Democrats meeting in Los Angeles agreed unanimously to back Gov. Gray Davis (news - web sites) in the recall, calling on Californians to vote no on the question of whether he should be booted from office only 10 months into his second term.
The Democrats also voted 85 percent to 14 percent to back Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante on the second ballot question of who should replace Davis should he be voted out of office.
The two men, whose already frosty relations have been strained further by the recall, appeared at the Democratic meeting on the same stage and Davis said, "People wanted to see if we were going to stand together. Well here we are."
But the two men did not appear to speak to each other on stage and Davis did not directly endorse the two-tier strategy during a brief speech.
As for Bustamante, he said, "I am not in competition with Gray Davis. I'm running against Arnold and Tom (Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock). I believe my name is a positive option for Democrats on the second part of the ballot and I thank you all for embracing my efforts."
Both Davis and Bustamante singled out Schwarzenegger for criticism but across town the actor turned politician ridiculed them as the "twin Terminators" of state politics, terminating jobs by spending and taxing California into fiscal crisis.
Speaking to several hundred delegates to the state party's convention in Los Angeles, Schwarzenegger asked the party to unite behind his candidacy to win back the state house.
The Austrian immigrant dwelt heavily on his hatred of communism and his belief in the free enterprise (news - web sites) system and declared: "I am a conservative."
In a speech interrupted more than 20 times by applause Schwarzenegger said his role model was another actor who led the California Republican party to success -- Ronald Reagan.
"My fellow Californians, drawing upon Ronald Reagan's inspiration and example, we will change California ... I say let's unite for victory ... join me," he said as the audience jumped to its feet to applaud and he flashed a thumbs-up sign.
Schwarzenegger's main Republican opponent is McClintock who is a party favorite because of his unwavering conservative views on both fiscal and social issues.
But several conservative convention delegates said they were backing Schwarzenegger because as one woman put it, "We want to win this time."
Schwarzenegger narrowly trails Bustamante in the polls despite competition from McClintock.
McClintock, according to a new Los Angeles Times poll, has clawed his way from a spoiler's role nearly into contention -- with the support of 18 percent of likely voters, compared to Schwarzenegger's 25 percent and Bustamante's 30 percent.
He was to address the party convention on Saturday night.
Many pollsters, political analysts and Republicans believe that with both Schwarzenegger and McClintock on the ballot the conservative vote will be split and Bustamante -- the only major name Democrat running -- will carry the day.
Therefore a good deal of pressure is being placed on McClintock behind the scenes although he insists he is in the race to stay -- and win.
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