Bustamante expected to withdraw

[Freddie Stubbs]

Lt Gov. Cruz Bustamante is “highly likely” to drop out of the race to replace Gov. Gray Davis tomorrow barring a last minute change of mind, according to a Sacramento source close to the lieutenant governor’s campaign.

As panic over a looming Republican capture of the governor’s office has spread from the Davis camp through the ranks of Democrat elected officials and donors, Bustamante has been subjected to enormous pressure to withdraw his candidacy. Top level Democrats believe Bustamante now has no hope of overtaking Arnold Schwarzenegger on the candidate portion of the ballot, and that he is, in fact, sinking so fast he could finish third, behind both Schwarzenegger and state Sen. Tom McClintock.

Many Democrats now believe their only chance of retaining the governor’s office is to defeat the recall. They hope Bustamante’s withdrawal will convince enough of the 27 to 30 percent of registered Democrats now supporting the recall to change their minds once they see no chance of replacing an ousted Davis with another Democrat.

CPR Online’s Sacramento source said convincing those Democrats to switch would be “difficult but at least conceivably doable,” in contrast to winning with Bustamante, whose campaign the source described as “absolutely dead in the water and sinking faster then the Titantic.”

more: http://www.cppf.us/OnlineOriginals/News/100103WS.html

[soleft]

1. But if Davis resigned the whole thing would go away?

Is that true?

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[absolutezero]

3. i dont think so

because bustmante would be up for recall instead

[Brotherjohn]

5. No, that deadline has passed. It's in ther recall law.

Once the recall is approved (I forget the actual trigger/date), a resignation by the Governor cannot stop it.

[Freddie Stubbs]

7. It would have if he had quit before the recall petitions were certified

[einsteins stein]

10. No, no, and...uhmm, no?

not that Davis resigning wasn't a workable tactic some time ago, but as has been gone over several times, once the signatures to put the recall on the ballot had been counted and authorized, the recall goes through, even if Davis resigned.

Now, if Davis had resigned during the initial signature gathering, then perhaps this could have been avoided, and Bustamante would be the new gov.

I was flamed for suggesting something like this on another forum, but I still stand by my suggestion, which is too late to enact at this point - though davis is not responsible for California's mess, he should have jumped on the grneade for the party, resigned, and passed the torch to Bustamante.

He would have then been considered a hero, instead of a potential zero.

No one liked that idea. Folks said the recall would never get on the ballot - it did. They said that Bustamante was an excellent candidate, and would win in a heart beat - now it looks like he is sinking like an anchor.

Too late to go back and have Davis resign now...much too late.

I hope this thing isn't as bad as it looks.

[youngred]

4. Cut out the safety net completely?

This is bloody ridiculous. I hope this is a joke

[warrior1]

6. No

This isn't true. He drops out then there isn't a dem running. Someone is pulling you legs...

That link looks like a GOP site. Take everything they say with a grain of salt.

[youngred]

9. That's my thought

it just makes no sense whatsoever

[blondeatlast]

12. Agreed. No way would he do this.

I'm late, but, hey, welcome to DU!

:toast:

[pschoeb]

8. CPR is Republican Magazine, this could be pure crap

nt

Patrick Schoeb

[Jack Rabbit]

11. Too late

For Bustamante to withdraw now is like locking the barn after the horses escape. It would be pointless.

It appears that the GOP is about to successfully steal California. The Democrats didn't know what to do about. Davis blew it, Bustamante blew it, Feinstein didn't run when the situation demanded that she do so and McAuliffe came up with a bad plan.

[buff2]

13. That's a repig site.......

http://www.cppf.us/Info/AboutCPPF.html :puke:

[einsteins stein]

14. I took a look at the source...

Articles by Gary Bauer and George Will, obviously conservatively bent, but both articles were down on Schwarzeneggar, and a third article was questioning the results of the recent poll showing Ahnold getting 40%, pointing out that the entire Republican vote represents only about 35% of all registered voters in the state. 40% for Ahnold would eat up most of the repuke vote, a big chunk of the indi vote, and about half of the Dem vote.

Is that really possible?

Some conservatives dont think so, apparently.

[dkamin]

16. i agree

all of these polls, i believe, are oversampling voters in southern california, which is an easy way to skew towards arnold.

my sense is that voter turnout will be very high, higher than these pollsters expect, and anything goes.

i read somewhere (maybe a link from here?) that internal dem polling showed Cruz back about 1-2%. this was before arianna dropped out. as dem voters start to panic, i think it's a toss up.

incidentally, i don't understand why they didn't go negative on the pete wilson connection harder and earlier. people in california HATE pete wilson, and it would have decimated his latino support, for shizzle.

Recall Arnold.

[pschoeb]

17. It's Republican, and has many pro McClintock articles

That's why they are down on arnie.

Not All articles linked are from CPR, the one you read about recent polls is a Sacramento Bee article and nothing to do with CPR.

Patrick Schoeb

[CMT]

15. this has turned into a circus for the democrats

I think his now getting out, less than a week before the election will complete the stampede to Arnold. It will appear we are the ones who are panicking and that we have no faith that the recall can be stopped or Arnold. He may as well stay in at this point, and fight like hell.

[Brotherjohn]

18. True or not, this points out the main problem with the recall.

(Besides the fact that it's a blatant Repub power grab and they don't give a crap about democracy)

The recall should not be structured as it is, with the question of the recall and the choice of replacement in the same election. If recalling Davis is the question, that should be an election on its own and let people decide, yea or nay, whether to keep him. That would have entailed little of all the campaigning, debates, fundraising over the past few months, and would have been a simple and straightforward ballot/election.

If the recall passed, THEN a campaign could ensue. THEN people like Feinstein and other good Democratic candidates could have chosen to run without, at the same time, contributing to the recall process. Feinstein was absolutely correct in deciding that her entry would only encourage a recall, which in her mind (and most of us agree) was a travesty.

Say all you want that people are smart and they understand that the recall is a separate issue, but when the second issue on the ballot depends entirely on the first, you are asking people to vote for a hypothetical. You are changing the question to MORE than just "Recall Davis or NOT?" You are making the question "Do you want Davis or Arnie or Cruz or Arianna or Gary('what you talkin' 'bout Willis!')...?" Many Dems will, in fact, vote for the recall (when they might otherwise vote against) because they would rather Cruz than Davis. You can say all you want that they would not get Cruz (b/c Arnie is so far ahead), but that's just more hypothetical. They want a chance to vote for their guy. But the election should not be about "their guy" (or anybody's). It should be about the recall alone.

And forget any arguments about "elections are expensive" blah blah blah. Doing the recall alone first would be relatively peanuts, and if it failed, a full-blown election would not be needed. Plus, I thought voting was supposed to determine the true will of the people. Courts have usually determined (Bush-Gore aside) that time and money are trumped by that consideration.

The whole structure plays into the hands of the Repubs, and favors a recall going forward.

[dusty64]

19. Its too late, this is NOT

a smart strategy. Leaving no Democratic alternative insures there will be a repuke as Governor. Of course, there WILL be another recall regardless of who wins so I hope they enjoy their two months in office.

[freeforall]

20. Arnold "expected" to win...

so Bustamente quits beforehand?

Sounds as if you folks do things differently in the US, but up here in Canada, we have the election first to see who gets elected.

Oh right! My apologies! This doesn't apply in the US, where the results don't matter.



<sarcasm off>

[Brotherjohn]

23. But this is a screwed up election.

I think the post is bogus, personally, but (see my other post) the fact that it's "two elections in one", and the first one affects the second, makes this a unique situation.

In fact (if this post IS true), Bustamente is considering that the SECOND election also affects the first. The fact that there are alternative choices on the ballot may lead people to vote for the recall, when they otherwise would not. Democrats who prefer Bustamente over Davis may vote for the recall just for a chance to get their guy in office.

It's a screwed up format.

[kentuck]

21. This is Repub propaganda.... pure and simple

I hope Bustamante and the Dems don't fall for it. If they do, they are doing it because a "poll" shows him not doing so well. The polls are nothing but propaganda.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

22. Screw that

Let's avoid this scene please.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

24. This is bait to divide and conquer us

Sorry, but we're not bitin' :shrug:

[rocktivity]

25. BORG JOURNALISM (Resistance to the GOP is futile)

This makes absolutely no sense. I mean, what if Davis wins the recall--is he still going to leave? I think this, in conjunction with Arnold's "First 100 Days" shtick, is a desparate pys-op meant to depress Dem voter turnout. Don't bother to waste your time voting next Tuesday--don't even bother to get out of bed!


rocknation

[Brian Sweat]

26. Got a better source

Why would Bustamante withdrawal with Arnie on the ropes.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

27. I keep saying, if the Latino/Democrat core vote is out in force

Arnie and the GOP will be terminated.

[realFedUp]

28. So, Freddie....

Are you a liberal?

[TahitiNut]

29. Not LBN.

At the very best, it's an Op/Ed by "Online Contributors" to an arch-conservative organization of questionable veracity. Locking. (Please feel free to post in a more appropriate forum.)

Thank you,
TahitiNut
DU moderator