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| Poll Places Bustamante In Lead to Succeed Davis |
| 2003-08-16 |
| Schwarzenegger Tops the Other Calif. Hopefuls By William Booth Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, August 16, 2003 LOS ANGELES, Aug. 15 -- Before the first television ads have aired, the race to succeed California Gov. Gray Davis (D) if he is recalled came down to just two men, Republican action star Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz M. Bustamante, according to a nonpartisan statewide poll to be released Saturday. And in other news, California and Louisiana both announced that they would secede from the Union. Given that this was a balance of wacko extremes, neither the Bush Admin nor Congress even noticed. But, according to "sources close to the sources", the Demobrats lost their (free) lunch upon hearing the news. The California Field Poll found 25 percent of registered voters opted for Bustamante followed by 22 percent for Schwarzenegger. Time to move. The other candidates trailed in single digits: State Sen. Tom McClintock took 9 percent; businessman Bill Simon won 8 percent; former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth received 5 percent; all three are Republicans. Independent and columnist Arianna Huffington got 4 percent, and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo received 2 percent. Ralph Nader opined that he would have been able to keep CA on the straight and narrow. Asked if he would join the race, he is reported to have said, "Only if they beg me." The poll also found Davis in deeper trouble. The beleaguered governor earned the dubious distinction of being the most unpopular governor in the 56-year history of the Field Poll, which put his approval rating at 22 percent, the lowest ever for Davis. The survey also showed support for the recall of Davis leaping, with 58 percent of registered voters supporting his ouster, compared with 51 percent last month. So, there you have it: solid proof that at least 22 percent of Californians are totally phreakin’ insane. But you prolly already knew that... The seeming surge for Bustamante despite the avalanche of publicity surrounding Schwarzenegger surprised many. Latino feel-good Donk candidate Bustamante said he had expected to be favored all along. Then his sombrero fell down over his eyes and nose, knocking his lips off. Luis Vizcaino, a Bustamante spokesman, said, "We’re obviously pleased with these numbers. We’re humbled by these numbers, but we realize we have a lot of work ahead of us." "Yes." (giggle) "We’re pleased." (giggle) Bill Carrick, a top Democratic strategist, said given all the media attention devoted to Schwarzenegger, he thought the film star would still be out front, adding that perhaps Schwarzenegger’s reluctance to state his views and his choices of advisers are sending mixed messages to voters. "After the initial entertainment of his announcement there’s been a lot of concern whether he is a serious candidate and where he stands on the issues," Carrick said. "But I’m not casting aspersions on his veracity - I’m just wondering if he’s for real and tells the truth to the voters. We always do, of course." Mr Carrick had more to say, but was unintelligible as his lips had mysteriously fallen off. The Schwarzenegger campaign played down the survey. "It’s the only poll in America this week that shows Cruz Bustamante ahead," spokesman Rob Stutzman said. "Every other poll confirms that Schwarzenegger is leading. We’re confident in Arnold’s position at the head of the field." Polls taken last weekend showed Schwarzenegger leading the field and Bustamanate (sic) a distant second. And Read the rest... |
| Posted by:.com |
| #9 I think a loss for the Republican Party would not necessarily be a bad thing. Davis gets to dig the Democratic Party a bigger hole for 2006, after which the California electorate could decide to throw the Dems out for a generation. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2003-8-17 12:03:53 AM |
| #8 People, people! Out of FIVE polls Cruz has a SLIM lead (out of 488 polled). The rest of the polls have Arnold anywhere from 10 to 25 points in the lead. Cruz is/was little more than a lap dog for Davis and the next Proposition we have out here will be to ELIMINATE his job. Like I predicted the Dems are trying to stop the recall throught the courts. A judge declared that minorities CANNOT vote asentee and must have a polling place open. Since all the polling places were not going to be open, the counties were sending out absentee ballots to those that wanted them. I live in one of those counties and I HAVE VOTED ABSENTEE FOR EIGHT YEARS. Save time and hassles. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) 2003-8-16 11:38:19 PM |
| #7 If you want to stay on top of the recall spectacle in the golden state, I highly recommend California Insider - the Sacramento Bee blog by Daniel Weintraub. He's really informed and unbiased. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-8-16 8:01:45 PM |
| #6 These are great comments, folks, but of course you already knew that. ;-) But for someone who's been out of the loop, like me, they are very helpful to get a handle on this thing. If CA pulls its nuts out of the fire and removes some of the insanity, I might come back. I DO miss San Diego / Del Mar - food, climate, people, beach bunnies - but I don't miss the insane taxes and dumbfounding level of over-regulation and bureaucracy. THANX!!! Please, more! |
| Posted by: .com 2003-8-16 5:28:00 PM |
| #5 Field poll almost always downplays the "Right Wing" position on most items. The Field poll continued inability to accurately predict the results should make it clear that its more often used as a propaganda device for the left. Also note that the media is playing this as "Bustamante Wins in Poll" when the poll shows that the two candidates are both within the margin of error, and that a full 42% are still undecided. Journalism, Where is thy sting? |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2003-8-16 3:31:02 PM |
| #4 Some of my fellow Reps would rather have "ideological purity" than win That right there should be chiseled on the California GOP's tombstone. In fact, it has been, for the last umpty-some years. I think McClintock is the best potential governor. He also has no prayer. He needs to throw the support to Arnold and get out of the way. Simon lost for good reasons already... he is an awful campaigner. I hear the conservative faithful crying about Arnold's opinions on abortion, gun control, etc., which are not only not gubernatorial issues, but also done deals in CA. If they split this vote, they will take their ideological purity to their inconsequential graves. Some Republicans cannot seem to do math, or geography (this isn't Idaho). Handing the office back to Davis or Bustamante for any reason is a betrayal of the resistance. |
| Posted by: Mark IV 2003-8-16 11:17:15 AM |
| #3 Cruz is a lackluster party hack, benefitting from union-directed publicity. Simon and McClintock need to suck it up and drop out, otherwise they could do a "Nader" to the Reps, handing the office to cruz by splitting the vote. Neither of them has a chance to win. Some of my fellow Reps would rather have "ideological purity" than win |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-8-16 10:05:02 AM |
| #2 Whaddaya mean, "could"? |
| Posted by: El Id 2003-8-16 9:48:52 AM |
| #1 California could use a strong dose of Juche. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-8-16 9:02:48 AM |