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

California: Governor Davis Struggles to Hold His Base

New York Times ^ | October 5, 2003 | JOHN M. BRODER and MIREYA NAVARRO
Posted on 10/04/2003 8:40 PM PDT by John Jorsett

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 4 — It is not hard to find the reason that Gov. Gray Davis is in such trouble.

Recent polls and a string of interviews support the perception that Democrats who might be expected to reject the recall and support Mr. Davis are deserting him in droves and that Mr. Davis is in serious jeopardy of losing his job on Tuesday. Nothing the governor has said or done in the frantic final weeks of the campaign seems to be bringing his base vote home. [Page 25.] ....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995343/posts

Davis Campaigns with Top Demos (Feinstein, Boxer, Pelosi and the Reverend Jesse Jackson)

Yahoo News ^ | 10/04/03 | Sue McGuire
Posted on 10/04/2003 8:53 PM PDT by Libloather

Davis Campaigns with Top Demos
Sat Oct 4, 5:28 PM ET
Sue McGuire for KCBS-740 AM

(KCBS-AP) -- Fighting to save his job in Tuesday's California recall election Governor Gray Davis has been traveling the state by plane accompanied by some big guns from the Democratic party.

KCBS reporter Bob Butler says with Davis were folks like U-S Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Their first stop was a labor rally in Oakland....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995348/posts

Many Democrats Have Turned Against Davis (Davis IS Toast!)

The Los Angeles Times ^ | 10/04/03 | Matea Gold
Posted on 10/04/2003 12:41 PM PDT by goldstategop

As for the allegations that Schwarzenegger groped women, Evans dismissed the reports "as a ploy to get him to lose supporters."

"If it really was a big deal, it would have come out at the time that it happened," he said.

For many of these Democrats, their distaste for Davis has overtaken most other concerns....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995150/posts

Big, bold entertainers -- but different (Jesse Ventura - Schwarzenegger)

Sacramento Bee ^ | October 4, 2003 | Aurelio Rojas
Posted on 10/04/2003 9:31 PM PDT by calcowgirl

Ventura says he was an outsider, but that Schwarzenegger is part of the system.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- They met making movies and leveraged their fame to run for governor -- each vowing to shake up the political establishment in their states.

Jesse Ventura relished his third-party outsider role and shocked better-financed Democratic and Republican candidates in Minnesota’s 1998 gubernatorial race.

Arnold Schwarzenegger flew out for the inauguration. But don’t expect the former professional wrestler known as “The Body” to reciprocate if Gov. Gray Davis is recalled Tuesday and Schwarzenegger is elected.

Ventura argues the recall is an abuse of the process that will beget more recalls -- and he doubts filmdom’s “Terminator” will be able to fulfill his pledge to terminate how business is conducted in Sacramento.

“How can he do that when he says he’s a Republican?” asked Ventura, who also fought with Democratic legislators before deciding not to seek re-election. “They’re part of the system and part of the problem.” ....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995356/posts

Schwarzenegger on offensive, denounces sex harassment claims

Sacramento Bee ^ | October 4, 2003 | Erica Werner
Posted on 10/04/2003 9:35 PM PDT by calcowgirl

MERCED, Calif. - Arnold Schwarzenegger went on the attack Saturday, denouncing the latest sexual harassment allegations made against him as untrue and charging that all of the 11th-hour allegations were an effort to "torpedo" his campaign for governor.

The Austrian-born actor also got a jolt of support from his home country when the man who trained the teenage Schwarzenegger as a bodybuilder dismissed as "absurd" allegations that the actor once expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler.

"The last accusations that I read today are absolutely untrue....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995360/posts

Proposition 54: Racial labels troubling to many

Sacramento Bee ^ | October 4, 2003 | Stephen Magagnini
Posted on 10/04/2003 9:42 PM PDT by calcowgirl

Nadine McMillon, a Sacramento executive assistant, resents being asked her race or ethnicity.

"Sometimes I check 'other,' and sometimes I check both 'black' and 'white,' " said McMillon, who's not satisfied with either option. "My mom is French European and my dad is mixed African American, American Indian and Irish."

McMillon, who has sandy blond hair, green eyes and fair skin, is among a mounting number of Californians who defy categorization. She's annoyed when people ask, "What are you?" -- and even more annoyed when people tell her that because she has African American blood, she must be black. "The country is not black or white -- there's a big gray area in between," she said.

That's the sentiment Ward Connerly hopes to tap into Tuesday when Californians vote on Proposition 54, an initiative to ban public agencies from collecting most racial and ethnic data....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995363/posts

2 lawmakers try to halt new same-sex law

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | October 4, 2003 | Christian Berthelsen
Posted on 10/04/2003 9:48 PM PDT by calcowgirl

Two Republican legislators won the right on Friday to begin circulating petitions to overturn a law signed last month by Gov. Gray Davis that extends many benefits of marriage to same-sex domestic partners.

The secretary of state's office said Friday that the referendum backed by state Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murietta (Riverside County), and state Sen. Pete Knight, R-Palmdale (Los Angeles County), had met with the necessary requirements to begin collecting signatures to place the issue on the ballot. If they are able to gather the 373,816 signatures necessary to qualify, it will probably appear on the general election ballot next November.

The referendum drew denunciations from prominent gay legislators, who said its supporters were trying to legislate morality and viewpoints that are out of touch with a majority of Californians.

"I'm not surprised," said Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, the author of the bill, AB205. "These folks tend to be, even within their own party, pretty extreme on this issue, and they are of the mind that their interpretation of religion should be imposed on everyone else. That's really what they believe. They make no bones about it." ....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995365/posts

Fight to the finish before historic vote - Davis wants criminal investigation

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | October 5, 2003 | Robert Salladay and Zachary Coile
Posted on 10/04/2003 9:57 PM PDT by calcowgirl

Fresno -- Gov. Gray Davis, spending the final days of the recall campaign surrounded by women and prominent Democrats, suggested Saturday that actor Arnold Schwarzenegger committed a crime of sexual battery and should be investigated by law enforcement.....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995368/posts

Actor slams 'puke politics,' blames Davis

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | October 5, 2003 | Carla Marinucci
Posted on 10/04/2003 10:01 PM PDT by calcowgirl

Modesto -- Arnold Schwarzenegger, dogged for a third day by damaging news stories about sexual behavior and comments regarding Adolf Hitler, denounced on Saturday the latest accusations that he sexually harassed women, calling the claims "absolutely untrue" and "part of the puke politics of the Davis campaign." ....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995371/posts

New Recall Poll (Knight Ridder/NBC)

San Jose Mercury News ^
Posted on 10/04/2003 10:12 PM PDT by rocklobster11

I found this interesting:

On the ballot, the first question you will be asked to vote on reads as follows: “Shall Gray Davis be recalled – that is, be removed – from the office of governor?” On that question will you:
Definitely vote yes: 50
Probably vote yes: 4
Probably vote no: 4
Definitely vote no: 37
Not sure: 6

Everyone will get to vote on a replacement in case Gray Davis is removed from office. Will you vote for a candidate to replace Davis?
Yes: 87
will not: 8
undecided/no answer: 6

Who do you intend to vote for?
Tom Mcclintock: 15
Cruz Bustamante: 29
Arnold Schwarzenegger: 37
Peter Camejo: 3
Someone else: 2
No answer/no name: 15

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995373/posts

The Real Gray Davis: Closet Wacko (NTLA Reprint)

New Times Los Angeles ^ | Jill Stewart
Posted on 10/04/2003 10:20 PM PDT by jmstein7

Closet Wacko vs. Mega-fibber; Once again, the California Democratic Party has served up two lousy candidates for governor: Gray Davis and Al Checchi

I have this file, labeled "Gray Davis," that for the last few years I've been stuffing with the bizarre tales quietly shared among journalists and insiders about the man who, though viewed as a blandly pleasant talking head by most Californians, is one of the strangest ducks ever elected to statewide office.

Long protected by the news media, the baby-faced Davis has been allowed to move higher and higher in public office despite his history of physical violence, unhinged hysteria, and gross profanity.

Perhaps you are among the millions never told of Lieutenant Governor Davis's widely known penchant for physically attacking his own staff throughout his career, from his days as chief of staff to ex-Gov. Jerry Brown to his long stint as state controller to his current job.

Davis's hurling of phones and ashtrays at quaking government employees and his incidents of personally shoving and shaking horrified workers--"usually while screaming the f-word with more venom than Nixon," as one former staffer reminds me--bespeak a man who cannot be trusted with power. Since his attacks on subordinates aren't "domestic violence," I need a lexicon that is more Dilbertesque. I propose "office batterer" for your consideration as you observe Davis in his race for the top job....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995375/posts

LA Times Covers Up Davis Violence on Female Staff

jillstewart.net ^ | Oct 4, 2003 | Jill Stewart
Posted on 10/04/2003 10:24 PM PDT by jmstein7

Paper Put Two Hit Teams on Arnold, Zero Hit Team on Davis

I couldn't have been more shocked to see the lurid stories about Arnold Schwarzenegger and the things several women allege he uttered or did to them. But it wasn't over the allegations, which I had read much of in a magazine before. I was most shocked at the Los Angeles Times.

Some politicos dub the Thursday before a big election "Dirty Tricks Thursday." That's the best day for an opponent to unload his bag of filth against another candidate, getting maximum headlines, while giving his stunned opponent no time to credibly investigate or respond to the charges.

It creates a Black Friday, where the candidate spends a precious business day right before the election desperately investigating the accusations, before facing a weekend in which reporters only care about further accusations that invariably spill out of the woodwork.

Dirty Tricks Thursday is not used by the media to sink a campaign.

Yet the Times managed to give every appearance of trying to do so....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995377/posts

Special Order: A Green Hummer

New York Times ^ | October 5, 2003 | JIM MOTAVALLI
Posted on 10/04/2003 10:32 PM PDT by calcowgirl

As a California gubernatorial candidate, Arnold Schwarzenegger has been trying to pull his environmental image out of the shadow of the Hummers in his driveway.

He has embraced hydrogen energy for automobiles and said that he would develop public-private partnerships to install hydrogen filling stations every 20 miles on California interstates by 2010, an inducement for automakers to build fuel-cell cars.

And to counter demonstrators who chant “A Hummer Isn’t Green” at his campaign stops, he said he would convert one of his own 12 m.p.g. Hummers to run on hydrogen. (His campaign did not respond to a request asking how many he owns, although The San Francisco Chronicle says he has five.) ....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995379/posts

Vote Nears, and Themes Are Attack and Defend

New York Times ^ | October 5, 2003 | John M. Broder
Posted on 10/04/2003 10:39 PM PDT by calcowgirl

THE OVERVIEW
Vote Nears, and Themes Are Attack and Defend

FRESNO, Calif., Oct. 4 — Turning up the heat in the already fevered California recall campaign, Gov. Gray Davis today called Arnold Schwarzenegger's reported groping of women "clearly a crime" and said that electing him governor would plunge the state deeper into political crisis.

Beginning a last-ditch, three-day tour of the state before the election on Tuesday, Mr. Davis sharply escalated his attacks on Mr. Schwarzenegger for his behavior toward women, suggesting that some of the incidents constituted sexual battery.

He also called Mr. Schwarzenegger's favorable comments about Hitler during filming of a 1977 documentary "unconscionable."

Mr. Davis added: "Taken together, these things do raise serious questions about his ability to lead the state."

Mr. Schwarzenegger, continuing his bus tour of the state, angrily criticized The Los Angeles Times for publishing the claims of women who said he touched them sexually against their will or otherwise humiliated them. The newspaper reported the accusations of six women on Thursday and on Saturday published accounts from three others.

Mr. Schwarzenegger suggested that the paper was in league with Mr. Davis and other Democrats to destroy his candidacy, which before the accusations had begun to take on an air of inevitable success....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995381/posts

Davis says Schwarzenegger may have committed crimes against women

San Diego Union Tribune ^ | October 4, 2003 | James P. Sweeney and Philip J. Lavelle
Posted on 10/04/2003 10:43 PM PDT by Recourse

By James P. Sweeney and Philip J. Lavelle COPLEY NEWS SERVICE 8:04 p.m. October 4, 2003

OAKLAND – Escalating a controversy that could decide Tuesday's recall election, Gov. Gray Davis said Saturday that actor Arnold Schwarzenegger may have committed crimes against women, while Schwarzenegger launched a spirited counterattack. Sensing an opening in his uphill fight for survival, the governor said voters should carefully assess developments of recent days, reports that former body builder allegedly fondled and groped numerous women and made positive comments about Adolph Hitler.

"There have been some disturbing news stories about disrespect toward women, touching them in inappropriate places," Davis told a women's forum. "Mr. Schwarzenegger has acknowledged doing at least some of that.

"Some of those events are clearly a crime." ....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/995383/posts

The Democrats are playing dirty!

The citizens of California have a right to recall our
governor!

And it's downright criminal the way Bill and Hillary
Clinton are butting into California's election process
to secure a WIN for Hillary in 2004!

People of California

YOU have the Power!

RECALL Davis!

Yes on ARNOLD!!!

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