In many elections, "a win is a win" -- it's not terribly important whether you win by 2% or 6%. That's not the case here. BIG wins on the recall question and on the election were of vital importance.
If the recall had passed 51-49, and Arnold had edged Bustamante 37-36 (and don't forget, some news outlets were saying "too close to call" over last weekend), all Hell would be breaking loose. Idiotic suits by Jesse and others alleging insufficient voting accommodations, confusing ballots, and "disenfranchisement" may still happen, of course, but they've had the legs cut out from under them. Ditto for stonewalling and obstruction by Dems in the Legislature. And the same for the already-threatened "Recall Arnold" movement.
Even with substantially fewer votes in the Gubernatorial election than in the recall vote, and even given the fragmentation of the Gubernatorial vote, Schwarzenegger will rack up substantially more votes than "No" received in the recall question. Thus Davis's backers can make NO plausible case that he garnered more votes than Arnold, however indirectly.
Bingo!
Total Davis Votes in 1998: 4,860,702
Total Davis Votes in 2002: 3,533,490
Total Arnold Votes Today {projected} 5,200,000
Keep in mind this was a 142-way ballot!