http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=442888Gray Davis's chances of clinging to his job as Governor of California improved yesterday when the latest opinion poll showed voters were locked in a dead heat over his future. A federal court of appeal also gave a strong indication that it might delay the recall election, set for 7 October, because of unreliable voting machinery in six counties.
In the latest twist to a race in which nothing has turned out as expected, a Los Angeles Times poll challenged the conventional wisdom that Governor Davis was history. Fifty per cent of respondents said they would vote to recall him, with 47 per cent against and 3 per cent undecided. The difference between the "yes" and "no" camps is, for the first time, statistically insignificant.
Although the governor, a Democrat, remains deeply unpopular for his handling of everything from California's electricity crisis to last year's unprecedented $38bn (£24bn) budget deficit, he appears to be benefiting from growing voter disillusionment with his would-be replacements and from an energetic campaign to humanise his robotic, colourless public image. Some of the biggest names in Democratic Party politics have either campaigned for him already or are about to. Bill Clinton is arriving this weekend, to be followed by Jesse Jackson, Mario Cuomo and many others.
Mr Schwarzenegger, meanwhile, has been struggling on all fronts because he has refused to be drawn on the specifics of his platform, has so far refused to debate with his fellow candidates, and has had to fend off a flurry of unflattering accounts of his colourful sexual history, many of them provided by himself in old magazine interviews. Mr Bustamante remains the front-runner with 30 per cent, with Mr Schwarzenegger running behind on 25. The conservative Republican Tom McClintock, who has been articulate and clear on his policy positions, was at 18 per cent in the LA Times poll.