Heh. Davis ramps up his charm campaign...rushing to headline-making appearances statewide. Claiming the moral high ground as the "children squabble" over the recall.
Davis' public appearances are part of a strategy to use his official duties as a platform to present himself as the responsible adult amid a playground of squabbling children. Like former President Clinton during his impeachment, Davis has tried to wrap himself in the gravity of his elected position, withdrawing from the political anarchy that surrounds him.
Since Schwarzenegger's entry a week ago today, Davis has appeared with teachers at a union meeting in Anaheim, signed legislation to ban harmful chemicals and announced that he would sign a law requiring teachers to receive training on ``intolerance and hatred prevention.''
Today Davis travels to San Francisco for an unusual event to publicly announce his support for several abortion-rights bills. In his first term, he took vocal stands on pending legislation infrequently and almost never held public events to tout his backing.
That went well:
BUSTAMANTE GAINS CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION BACKING
The state's Democratic congressional delegation and the California Teachers Association threw their considerable clout behind Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante on Thursday, a tacit acknowledgment that Gov. Gray Davis appears unlikely to survive the October recall election.
The endorsements largely end a split among Democrats about how best to fight the recall. Davis had tried to force the party to unite behind him and no one else, but a number of elected Democrats, particularly those in the House, thought it was too risky.
``I think we've all seen the polls and know that currently he has not yet persuaded California that the recall is a bad idea,'' said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, who chairs the 33-member congressional delegation, which unanimously supported the lieutenant governor.
800-pound gorilla
With 335,000 members, the CTA is often referred to as the state's 800-pound gorilla because of its deep pockets and organizational power. The group usually endorses Democratic candidates, who are more willing to spend money on education.
The union chose Bustamante because of his record on education.
``He's been a strong supporter of students and public schools since he's been in elected office,'' said Dean Vogel, the union's secretary-treasurer. ``We believe he will fight and work hard to provide our students, teachers and classrooms with the resources that they need.''
The teachers union endorsed Davis twice but also clashed with him over new testing requirements he imposed, and they have had a bumpy relationship since.
This is hugely bad news for the Davis campaign...his Clinton-style offensive isn't working. Davis has neither Bill's charm or political capital to spend. As this pull quote from a recent appereance demonstrates...it's lifted right from Clinton's 1998 playbook. It's difficult to read this graf without hearing Clinton's distinctive drawl.
"I have an obligation to the 8 million people . . . who went to the polls last November,'' Davis said during the Brentwood stop not far from Schwarzenegger's home. ``They asked me to do a job in California; I'm going to do it every day they allow me to do it.''
Excuse me Guv, but half of those votes were cast against you. Of course the usual suspects weigh in with tepid support and advice.
House Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco called the move to back Bustamante "pragmatic politics." The delegation met by phone Thursday and issued a statement supporting Bustamante's "no on the recall, yes on Bustamante" platform.
"This is about stopping the recall," Pelosi said at a press briefing at San Francisco's Federal Building. "We think his candidacy will draw a large number of Hispanics to the polls."
The strategy, Pelosi said, is about turnout. "The more people who vote, the more Democrats who vote . . . the better the prospect of defeating" the recall.
U-huh...turn out the Hispanic vote? Code for the white guy's toast so we'll turn the election into a racial slugfest. However this story seems to indicate that the GOP may be gaining new voters as Californians express their disgust with the Democrats in Sacramento.
The Oct. 7 recall election is generating not only uncommon interest in California politics, but an uncommon level of participation.
An informal check of several counties throughout California shows that people are signing up to participate in the recall election in unexpected numbers -- and Republicans are claiming the numbers are moving in their favor
Meanwhile there's no joy in Berkeley:
Bruce Cain, a political scientist at the University of California-Berkeley, said the Democrats may have acted in response to Schwarzenegger's media performance Wednesday, when he danced around questions on the budget without letting reporters pin him down, yet managed to appear confident and in control.
``It doesn't look like he's a stumbler,'' Cain said. ``I'm sure that having watched Arnold, there's a sense of urgency that they can't fiddle while Rome burns.''
Panic setting in, Arnold's not self-destructing...it's early days yet...the real sleaze campaign will come in the last two week...that's Davis' style...nasty and too late to rebutt.
Posted by feste at August 22, 2003 10:34 AM | TrackBack