FRESNO, Calif. (AP) Adapting an old playground taunt to the
election to replace Gov. Gray Davis if he's recalled, Republican
Arnold Schwarzenegger is turning out to be rubber, while Lt. Gov.
Cruz Bustamante is coming up as glue, analysts say.
Accusations of sexual misconduct are just beginning to plague
Schwarzenegger with only several days until the election while
Bustamante got hit hard early on with allegations of fund-raising
misdeeds.
Throughout the short campaign, Schwarzenegger has mostly brushed
off his problems using his star status and a media savvy team,
analysts say. Bustamante's problems have stuck as he continues to
get hammered with negative attacks.
Acknowledging that Bustamante is struggling, State Democratic
Party Chairman Art Torres said he would have told Bustamante to
stay out of the race if Bustamante had asked him.
Still, Torres said, ``this was the best opportunity for Arnold
and Cruz to run for governor. And it's not fair to judge him
(Bustamante) in a typical light.''
Facing a Republican competitor worth millions, Bustamante has
lacked the resources and the money to fight back.
``We just don't have the resources, never had the resources,''
said Bustamante campaign consultant Richie Ross. ``We got on TV
three weeks after everyone for a reason, and it wasn't a strategic
reason.
``But I still think Cruz is close enough that if we can catch a
break, one break, things could go the other way,'' Ross said.
The latest survey released Friday by the Field Research Corp.
found Schwarzenegger winning support from 36 percent of voters,
Bustamante with 26 percent and Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock
with 16 percent.
The poll was taken before the latest controversies surrounding
Schwarzenegger surfaced.
It's too soon to tell how the accusations of sexual misconduct
and allegations that he once told an interviewer he admired Adolf
Hitler could affect voter support for Schwarzenegger, analysts say.
But so far, he has deflected criticism and redirected it toward his
Democratic opponent.
``Schwarzenegger is Teflon. Bustamante is Velcro,'' said Jack
Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College.
``The key thing is that if Schwarzenegger understands nothing
else, he understands the media,'' Pitney said.
If other stories emerge as they did Friday things could get
worse for Schwarzenegger, Pitney said. But hundreds of thousand of
absentee votes have already been cast, and they can't be taken
back, he noted.
Bustamante has struggled to fight off charges that he skirted
campaign finance laws to raise millions of dollars from Indians and
unions. Although Schwarzenegger said he wouldn't take
special-interest money and then did, he has largely deflected the
problems. Bustamante hasn't been so lucky.
``Voters evaluate celebrities differently than they do
conventional politicians,'' said Darrell West, a political science
professor at Brown University and author of the recently released
book, ``Celebrity Politics.''
``They expect them to have led unconventional lives so it's no
surprise when personal indiscretions come out,'' West added. ``With
conventional politicians, we evaluate them based on what they have
done. And Bustamante's problem is he doesn't have a distinguished
record that will insulate him from negative charges.''
Ross said it's all about timing.
``Cruz's issues came up at a period in the campaign when there
was nothing to cover and the press was under legitimate demands ...
to generate stories,'' Ross said. ``I think it's just bad luck. Had
these revelations (about Schwarzenegger) come out three weeks ago,
I'd have a better chance at being governor than him.''
``But underneath this story,'' he added, ``is two years of
dissatisfaction with, and I'm not going to say the governor because
that would be unfair, but with the political leadership coming out
of Sacramento.''
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)