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Dateline: LOS ANGELES[image omitted]
Labor union representatives gathered Tuesday to decide whether to endorse Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's "No on recall, yes on Bustamante" option in the state's referendum on Gov. Gray Davis, or to stick to their "No recall" guns.
Several unions have already endorsed Bustamante's campaign, but the whole California Labor Federation AFL-CIO has thus far flatly opposed the recall and played a leading role in trying, unsuccessfully, to keep Democrats off the ballot.
A change of heart by the politically powerful federation at its convention in Manhattan Beach would be particularly significant.
The state AFL-CIO, an association of more than 1,300 local unions representing some 2.1 million workers, has been especially close to Davis, even co-sponsoring his inaugural festivities last year.
While the labor representatives were gathering, Republican front-runner Arnold Schwarzenegger continued his campaign to shore up his GOP credentials on conservative talk radio, making a Tuesday morning appearance on KTKZ-AM in Sacramento.
"Let's make this clear: I'm a Republican, I'm a proud Republican from the first day I came to this country and I was so excited about getting away from socialism," he told host Eric Hogue.
"I'm a Republican and I'm running as a Republican to be the next Republican governor."
The actor, who is seeking support from Republicans whose votes could be splintered among three major GOP candidates, launched the radio effort Monday and went on the offensive against Bustamante for the first time.
"It's like one newspaper pointed out, Bustamante is Gray Davis with a receding hairline and a mustache. It's the same person. Same philosophy," Schwarzenegger said Monday on "The Roger Hedgecock Show" in San Diego.
Schwarzenegger's appearances came as a Los Angeles Times poll showed him trailing Bustamante 35 percent to 22 percent with the Oct. 7 recall election just six weeks away. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Bustamante consultant Richie Ross said Schwarzenegger was "not being fair or completely honest."
"He chose Pete Wilson to chair his campaign. Does that mean that he agrees with all of the former governor's policy positions, including signing the largest tax increases in the history of California?" Ross said.
Schwarzenegger also used his radio appearances to sharpen his opposition to taxes.
"I would not increase taxes in order to get the financial situation improved because I think it's the wrong way to go," he told Hedgecock.
Schwarzenegger refused to pledge not to raise taxes, but his comment went beyond his earlier statements on tax increases. He told a press conference last week, "We could have next year an earthquake. We could have a natural disaster. We could have a terrorist attack, or something like that. So you can never say, 'Never, never'" to tax hikes.
Schwarzenegger, a fiscal conservative who is moderate on such social issues as gun control and abortion, led two other Republicans in the Times poll, state Sen. Tom McClintock, a conservative, and former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth.
GOP leaders warned that Republicans must unite behind one candidate or risk losing the race to replace Davis.
With businessman Bill Simon's exit from the race, McClintock can claim to be the conservative choice, Schwarzenegger's appearance on the talk shows popular among GOP activists appeared partly designed to keep McClintock from collecting votes that would have gone to Simon.
McClintock finished third in the poll with 12 percent while Simon had 6 percent. Analysts also said that although Schwarzenegger's campaign so far has sought to appeal to a cross-section of Democrats, Republicans and independents, he can't win without the backing of conservatives.
"The arithmetic is such that he understands he can't do it simply by being the moderate guy," said University of Southern California political scientist Sherry Bebitch Jeffe. "He's not going to be able to bring in, I think, as many Latinos, as many Democrats, as they thought they might be able to, so he's got to move his party's base, and he's got to prevent Tom McClintock from looking like a serious opponent."
Schwarzenegger hasn't called for fellow Republicans to clear the field for him, but he told Hedgecock: "I think mathematically speaking it will be much better if they drop out, that's clear."
Ueberroth told reporters in Sacramento that he has no intention of leaving the race, and McClintock has said the same.
Image Caption: California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante talks to reporters during an impromptu news conference after the swearing-in of Los Angeles City Councilman Tony Cardenas, Sat. Aug. 23, 2003, at the new City Hall in Van Nuys, Calif. (AP Photo/Rene Macura)
Schwarzenegger Goes After Bustamante00-00-0000
Dateline: LOS ANGELES[image omitted]
Labor union representatives gathered Tuesday to decide whether to endorse Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's "No on recall, yes on Bustamante" option in the state's referendum on Gov. Gray Davis, or to stick to their "No recall" guns.
Several unions have already endorsed Bustamante's campaign, but the whole California Labor Federation AFL-CIO has thus far flatly opposed the recall and played a leading role in trying, unsuccessfully, to keep Democrats off the ballot.
A change of heart by the politically powerful federation at its convention in Manhattan Beach would be particularly significant.
The state AFL-CIO, an association of more than 1,300 local unions representing some 2.1 million workers, has been especially close to Davis, even co-sponsoring his inaugural festivities last year.
While the labor representatives were gathering, Republican front-runner Arnold Schwarzenegger continued his campaign to shore up his GOP credentials on conservative talk radio, making a Tuesday morning appearance on KTKZ-AM in Sacramento.
"Let's make this clear: I'm a Republican, I'm a proud Republican from the first day I came to this country and I was so excited about getting away from socialism," he told host Eric Hogue.
"I'm a Republican and I'm running as a Republican to be the next Republican governor."
The actor, who is seeking support from Republicans whose votes could be splintered among three major GOP candidates, launched the radio effort Monday and went on the offensive against Bustamante for the first time.
"It's like one newspaper pointed out, Bustamante is Gray Davis with a receding hairline and a mustache. It's the same person. Same philosophy," Schwarzenegger said Monday on "The Roger Hedgecock Show" in San Diego.
Schwarzenegger's appearances came as a Los Angeles Times poll showed him trailing Bustamante 35 percent to 22 percent with the Oct. 7 recall election just six weeks away. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Bustamante consultant Richie Ross said Schwarzenegger was "not being fair or completely honest."
"He chose Pete Wilson to chair his campaign. Does that mean that he agrees with all of the former governor's policy positions, including signing the largest tax increases in the history of California?" Ross said.
Schwarzenegger also used his radio appearances to sharpen his opposition to taxes.
"I would not increase taxes in order to get the financial situation improved because I think it's the wrong way to go," he told Hedgecock.
Schwarzenegger refused to pledge not to raise taxes, but his comment went beyond his earlier statements on tax increases. He told a press conference last week, "We could have next year an earthquake. We could have a natural disaster. We could have a terrorist attack, or something like that. So you can never say, 'Never, never'" to tax hikes.
Schwarzenegger, a fiscal conservative who is moderate on such social issues as gun control and abortion, led two other Republicans in the Times poll, state Sen. Tom McClintock, a conservative, and former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth.
GOP leaders warned that Republicans must unite behind one candidate or risk losing the race to replace Davis.
With businessman Bill Simon's exit from the race, McClintock can claim to be the conservative choice, Schwarzenegger's appearance on the talk shows popular among GOP activists appeared partly designed to keep McClintock from collecting votes that would have gone to Simon.
McClintock finished third in the poll with 12 percent while Simon had 6 percent. Analysts also said that although Schwarzenegger's campaign so far has sought to appeal to a cross-section of Democrats, Republicans and independents, he can't win without the backing of conservatives.
"The arithmetic is such that he understands he can't do it simply by being the moderate guy," said University of Southern California political scientist Sherry Bebitch Jeffe. "He's not going to be able to bring in, I think, as many Latinos, as many Democrats, as they thought they might be able to, so he's got to move his party's base, and he's got to prevent Tom McClintock from looking like a serious opponent."
Schwarzenegger hasn't called for fellow Republicans to clear the field for him, but he told Hedgecock: "I think mathematically speaking it will be much better if they drop out, that's clear."
Ueberroth told reporters in Sacramento that he has no intention of leaving the race, and McClintock has said the same.
Image Caption: California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante talks to reporters during an impromptu news conference after the swearing-in of Los Angeles City Councilman Tony Cardenas, Sat. Aug. 23, 2003, at the new City Hall in Van Nuys, Calif. (AP Photo/Rene Macura)
