California Recall Daily Thread (10/4/2003) 3 Days To Go

In just 3 days the people of California will choose a Governor and as a result set a course that will affect the future of the state and our country in profound ways. This thread has been created to keep us all informed of the important developments.

I invite you to post all the major recall stories here or if it has already been posted, then add links to these posts. We welcome discussions of the candidates, the issues, campaign strategy, the polls, etc. Please be civil in your comments.

If you want to be added to a ping list on the recall please freepmail me and make sure you mention that you want to be added to the "recall ping list." I will ping you once daily at the start of the thread and occasionally if there is major breaking news.

FINAL DIRT PUSH TAKES TOLL; CONCERN FOR MARIA'S HEALTH [More allegations against Arnold]

Drudgereport ^ | 10/4/03
Posted on 10/04/2003 12:55 PM PDT by amordei

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SAT OCT 04, 2003 15:01:37 ET XXXXX

FINAL DIRT PUSH TAKES TOLL; CONCERN FOR MARIA'S HEALTH

A late barrage of negative reports directed at Arnold Schwarzenegger and his race to be governor of California are taking a toll on wife Maria Shriver, campaign insiders tell the DRUDGE REPORT.

"She is rail thin and has been suffering bouts of light-headed dizziness... she refuses to address it," one source said on Saturday.

One reporter covering the campaign for a local Los Angeles TV station watched as Shriver appeared on the verge of fainting backstage at a recent event.

"Her physical condition needs immediate attention," the on-air reporter, who asked not to be named, told DRUDGE....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995154/posts

McClintock Campaigns In San Diego

NBC SAn Diego ^ | Oct. 4, 2003 | NBC San Diego
Posted on 10/04/2003 12:48 PM PDT by FairOpinion

McClintock said the allegations against Arnold Schwarzenegger should be treated with skepticism. If the allegations prove to be true, McClintock said Schwarzenegger should get out of the race.

McClintock said he will not drop out of the race despite the fact some believe he is committing political suicide. "I've seen all of the preliminary threats," he said. "'If you don't get out of the race, we'll end your political career.' My response is, I don't negotiate with terrorists." ....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995153/posts

Reaction from the road: New bumps on Schwarzenegger campaign trail

Sfgate ^ | 10-4 | Sfgate
Posted on 10/04/2003 1:04 PM PDT by ambrose

www.sfgate.com
New bumps on Schwarzenegger campaign trail
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Saturday, October 4, 2003
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback
URL: sfgate.com/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/10/04/MN261815.DTL

On Interstate 5 -- It's a long way from "Total Recall" to "I don't recall," and Arnold Schwarzenegger is learning the detours, twists and turns on the road this week.

From minute to minute, from hour to hour, Schwarzenegger's "California Comeback" tour is morphing, as news breaks, media react, the campaign team spins and the candidate makes his sound bites. The voters -- remember them? -- show up, hoping for inspiration and answers with the election just four days away.

It was Day 2 on Friday of Schwarzenegger's bus tour, Day 2 of media eruptions about past sexual behavior, past political philosophies and whether it would really be "Hasta la vista, baby" to the car tax on what the candidate has taken to calling "Judgment Day" -- Tuesday....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995156/posts

Latest MOVEON attack on Arnold...nationwide, volunteer phone bank

Posted on 10/04/2003 1:12 PM PDT by Gopher Broke

Tell California voters the truth about Arnold Schwarzenegger. Join the MoveOn phone bank:

Forward this email!

Dear MoveOn member, 24 hours ago, we launched an emergency ad campaign to tell California voters the recent revelations about Arnold Schwarzenegger's life and character. As of 2pm, more than 12,000 people have contributed and enabled us to reach our goal of $500,000. The ad will begin playing throughout California on Sunday. It's appearing on at least 10 national news programs today. Incredible.

Yesterday, there were revelations about Arnold Schwarzenegger's physical harassment of women -- charges which he has refused to deny. Today he is struggling to explain statements he has made throughout his life regarding Adolf Hitler and another Nazi war criminal.

As the Schwarzenegger campaign reels, it's clear that the outcome of this election is up in the air. Today, we're asking you -- no matter what state you live in -- to do something this weekend to ensure that Schwarzenegger is defeated. We're asking you to participate in MoveOn phone banking to California to make sure that voters know the truth. Every Californian deserves to know the truth about this man who will be elected unless they vote No Recall on Tuesday. To sign up to help, click here: ....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995158/posts

Schwarzenegger confident of victory

CNN ^ | 10-4-03 | CNN
Posted on 10/04/2003 1:36 PM PDT by ambrose

ARCADIA, California (CNN) --Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger expressed confidence Friday that he would become California's next governor, shaking off allegations about his character that have rocked his campaign in the last days of the wild and unprecedented recall race.

"I will stay focused," he told a crowd of supporters in Arcadia on the second day of a four-day bus trip that is taking the front-runner candidate, his entourage and a pack of reporters from San Diego to Sacramento. "I will stay focused, because the fight continues. ... It is time that we chase (Gov.) Gray Davis out of Sacramento." ....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995162/posts

Recall Revolution (Arnold Supporters, Explain Yourselves!)

The New American ^ | 10-6-03 | William F. Jasper
Posted on 10/04/2003 1:49 PM PDT by inquest

The recall of Governor Gray Davis gives California residents a historic opportunity to vote for genuine reform, but voters must look beyond the media favorites for real change.

Californians go to the voting booths on October 7th to decide a very simple question. The bilingual ballot asks, in Spanish and English: "Shall Gray Davis be recalled (removed) from the office of Governor?"

If 51 percent or more of the votes cast are "No," Mr. Davis retains the governorship. However, if 51 percent are "Yes," the second part of the ballot comes into play, in which voters choose a replacement for Governor Davis from a long list of candidates. Whoever gets the most votes wins.

Procedurally this is all very simple. But the matrix in which this civic exercise will take place is anything but simple. The outcome of this special election defies prediction. Nothing like this has been done before, and rarely has an election been so loaded with imponderables and cross-cutting dynamics....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995168/posts

(Conservative CA Assemblyman, R. Whip) Rick Keene gives Arnold (Schwarzenegger)thumbs up

The Union.com ^ | Oct. 3, 2003 | Jamie Bate
Posted on 10/04/2003 2:10 PM PDT by FairOpinion

Although Assemblyman Rick Keene identifies more with the conservative politics of his Republican Party colleague state Sen. Tom McClintock, the Chico-based politician announced Thursday that he is backing gubernatorial hopeful Arnold Schwarzenegger....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995178/posts

California: Schwarzenegger Running Strong Amid Shadows

Reuters ^ | October 4, 2003 | Adam Tanner
Posted on 10/04/2003 2:19 PM PDT by John Jorsett

CLOVIS, Calif. (Reuters) - Like a film superhero who survives knife, gun and grenade attacks, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger keeps going strong in his campaign to become California governor after battling anonymous allegations of sexual misconduct and a report of Nazi sympathies.

Bolstered by the presence of his television journalist wife, Maria Shriver, at a farm rally in the center of the state, the Republican front-runner accused Democratic Gov. Gray Davis Saturday of fighting a dirty campaign to save his job.

"They try to tear down your character; they try to tear down everything you stand for," he told a crowd of about 750 loud and enthusiastic supporters. "They have started a puke campaign. Davis knows how to do a dirty campaign. But he doesn't know how to run a state."

In Vienna, an Austrian magazine reported Schwarzenegger helped break up a neo-Nazi rally in 1964 when he was a young body-builder,

In the latest issue of NU magazine, prominent Austrian politician Alfred Gerstl said the then 17-year old Schwarzenegger and fellow body-builders "chased away the Nazis" during a neo-Nazi protest against the anti-fascist director of a teaching academy in Graz, Austria....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995180/posts

TV presenter 'groped' by Schwarzenegger may sue

The Independent (UK) ^ | 05 October 2003 | James Morrison and Andrew Gumbel in Bakersfield, California
Posted on 10/04/2003 2:21 PM PDT by John Jorsett

California election: Three more women come forward to add to tide of harassment allegations against actor-turned-politician

The British television presenter who alleges she was sexually harassed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in a London hotel is threatening to sue him for libel over his claim that she invented the incident....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995183/posts

California effect : How great a shadow will the recall vote cast?

Saint Louis Post-Dispatch ^ | October 4, 2003 | Jon Sawyer
Posted on 10/04/2003 2:27 PM PDT by John Jorsett

WASHINGTON - What if it's just the beginning?

The California recall campaign is supposed to end on Tuesday, with recent polls suggesting that Gov. Gray Davis will become the first incumbent governor of modern times tossed from power and that actor Arnold Schwarzenegger will seize the seat in his first bid for public office.

Davis might make a startling comeback, salvaging his job thanks to late-breaking disclosures that question Schwarzenegger's character and fitness for office, but most analysts don't think so.

Political operatives say the ripples from Tuesday's vote are likely to spread, with repercussions not yet certain but potentially far-reaching - from the shape of next year's presidential campaign to the incitement of further
outbursts of voter rage like that in California....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995188/posts

California: Loopholes doom donation limits in recall. Law easily circumvented

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | October 4, 2003 | Christian Berthelsen
Posted on 10/04/2003 2:39 PM PDT by John Jorsett

In the first test of California's most restrictive political contribution limits to date, six- and seven-figure donations have continued to pour into campaign accounts, with the total approaching $70 million.

Despite limits in Proposition 34 that curtail the maximum donation to $21, 200 per donor to a campaign, candidates have been using a range of methods to get around the controls -- primarily through the use of ballot measure committees, which are not subject to contribution limits that exist for individual candidates.

Already, the race has seen what may be the largest donation in the history of California politics, when the Viejas Tribal Government gave Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante $1.5 million. But even though much has been made of Bustamante's large donations from Indian tribes and labor groups, large donations have been given to virtually all the major candidates in the recall race, and come from a wide variety of interest groups -- from corporations with business before the government to public employee unions....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995193/posts

California: Actress, politicians express support fo Schwarzenegger

Ventura County Star ^ | October 4, 2003 | T.J. Sullivan
Posted on 10/04/2003 2:58 PM PDT by John Jorsett

BAKERSFIELD -- Faced with scandalous accusations of sexual misconduct, actor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger shot back Friday with some of the oldest weapons in show business -- confetti cannons, balloons, celebrities and recycled movie lines....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995207/posts

Win One for the Groper (Dowd alert)

The New York Times ^ | 10/05/03 | Maureen Dowd
Posted on 10/04/2003 3:19 PM PDT by Pokey78

WASHINGTON

Well, there goes the Jewish women's vote.

Twin revelations of Arnold Schwarzenegger's groping and goose-stepping are not going to play well with some Californians. The androgynous Gray spent the weekend hissing at Arnold's excess testosterone, as Arnold tried a rope-a-grope strategy.

The governor had to be singing "Danke Schön" over tales of the Austrian's 70's foolery: playing Nazi marching songs; clicking his heels and pretending to be an SS officer; clowning as Hitler with comb as mustache; and praising the dictator's ambition and oratorical skills. A Davis aide slyly wondered if Mel Brooks was Arnold's campaign manager....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995222/posts

Davis, Schwarzenegger will miss final debate

San Diego Union-Tribune ^ | October 4, 2003 | Bill Ainsworth
Posted on 10/04/2003 3:30 PM PDT by Roscoe

SACRAMENTO – The last debate before Tuesday's unprecedented California recall election will take place this evening at 5 p.m. at the KPBS studios on the San Diego State University campus.

The debate, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of San Diego County, KPBS and The San Diego Union-Tribune, features three of the four major replacement candidates – Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo. Gov. Gray Davis' wife, Sharon Davis, is scheduled to represent the governor.

Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has emerged as the front-runner to replace Davis – should he be recalled – has declined to participate....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995230/posts

LATE HITS ON ARNOLD PROBABLY WON'T WORK THIS YEAR.

Here's why. Many people are discounting the late attacks because they were expecting them. The Hitler comments are nonsense and have been partly taken back and modified by the producer of the film Pumping Iron. ABC got the quote wrong and did not correct, the New York Times did correct but did not follow up much.

The bad behavior toward women is just that and is not admirable and goes back many years. Still, the LA Times is a joke when they say that no politcal rival dug up the story. The LA Times itself is a political rival to any Republican or conservative candidate. They ARE the rival and their motives are far more suspect than behavior that Arnold made a sincere apology for.

So will the late hits boomerang? They could. The SurveyUSA overnight tracking poll on Thursday night showed no down turn in Arnold's numbers and when they asked people if they thought the attacks were dirty politics, two-thirds said yes. Arnold is still drawing large and entusiastic crowds on Friday and Saturday that none of the other candidates can draw.

But for anyone who worries about the womanizing charges, the bottom line is this. Do you give the benefit of the doubt to a guy who was immature as a young man but has grown and has apologized, or do you not give him the benefit of the doubt and let the most corrupt governor and lt. governor combination stay on to do still more damage to the state for three more years. That is not a close call at all for most people and I just don't think people will again pass up a chance to get rid of Davis.

Wasting Time [Rats Claim Internal Polls Show Arnold
Plummeting, Recall Within Margin of Error]

Sac Bee ^ | 10-4 | Dan Weintraub
Posted on 10/04/2003 4:13 PM PDT by ambrose

California Insider
A Weblog by
Sacramento Bee Columnist Daniel Weintraub
« The Republican nominee |
October 04, 2003
Wasting Times

On the bulletin board in my office I keep a large white political button with black writing that reads: “I don’t believe the Los Angeles Times.” I bought it several years ago when I worked for that paper and saw the pin at a Republican Party convention. That sentiment, long descriptive of the Republican view of the media, has now become the mantra of the Arnold Schwarzenegger for Governor campaign.

With The Times having published two articles since Wednesday quoting nine women claiming that Schwarzenegger groped them or otherwise made unwanted physical advances, the campaign is trying to turn the newspaper stories to the candidate’s advantage by capitalizing on Republican voters’ distrust of the media....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995251/posts

Barbra Streisand, Pierce Brosnan Buy Full-Page Ad Against Arnold

September 4, 2003 | nwrep
Posted on 10/04/2003 2:44 PM PDT by nwrep

Saturday October 4, 2:28 PM

Washington, Oct 4 (ANI): A number of Hollywood stars like Oscar-winner Barbra Streisand and 007 Pierce Brosnan have come out against the effort to recall California Governor Gray Davis.

They even took out a full-page ad in Daily Variety headlined, "On Tuesday, October 7th, join us. Vote no on the recall," reports music.com....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995197/posts

Wasting Times (Democrats claim their internal polls not looking good for Arnold)

Sacramento Bee ^ | 10/04/2003 | Daniel Weintraub
Posted on 10/04/2003 4:14 PM PDT by amordei

On the bulletin board in my office I keep a large white political button with black writing that reads: “I don’t believe the Los Angeles Times.” I bought it several years ago when I worked for that paper and saw the pin at a Republican Party convention. That sentiment, long descriptive of the Republican view of the media, has now become the mantra of the Arnold Schwarzenegger for Governor campaign.

With The Times having published two articles since Wednesday quoting nine women claiming that Schwarzenegger groped them or otherwise made unwanted physical advances, the campaign is trying to turn the newspaper stories to the candidate’s advantage by capitalizing on Republican voters’ distrust of the media.

There’s no other way to explain why Rob Stutzman, spokesmen for the campaign, spent 15 minutes this morning aboard the campaign bus (nicknamed Predator One) railing against the Times. The women’s stories in the latest article, he said, were untrue. He added that the paper gave the campaign only minutes to respond to the specific charges Friday night, and thus didn’t carry any reaction from the candidate in the first edition.

“It was irresponsible journalism. If you’re truly interested in the truth it’s unconscionable that you would not provide ample opportunity for response,” Stutzman said....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995252/posts

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