Davis’ Wife Starts Web Journal

“Here is the Gray Davis I know.” So begins a new Internet feature, or Web log, by the governor’s wife, Sharon, who writes that she is concerned that newspaper profiles have presented her husband as a bit of a stick figure. The theme of her most recent online journal entry is that her husband is a regular sort of fellow who leads a normal life.

“Like most guys, my husband loves sports,” she says, pointing out that he played on the Stanford University golf team and, today, maintains about a 15 handicap. “Not bad for someone who only gets to play about six times a year.”

She says her husband exercises every day, is careful about what he eats and “is in pretty good shape” for someone who recently turned 60.

“When we have a moment off, we enjoy the same things others do,” she writes. “Our favorite evening is when we rent a movie, pick up some takeout and spend a quiet evening at home.”

The embattled governor’s wife is particularly concerned that her husband is portrayed by reporters as a man with few friends. “They inevitably come to this conclusion by interviewing people we rarely see socially,” she writes, adding that the impression of friendlessness is reinforced by the couple’s refusal to provide the media with a list of their friends.

Obliging the media would mean subjecting friends to harassment or unwanted scrutiny, she states.

“Fortunately, we have many friends in politics,” she writes.

Sharon Davis’ comments can be found at www.no-recall.com.

Democrats Tap Former Clinton Spokeswoman

Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe reported he was sending former Clinton White House spokeswoman Ann Lewis to California this week to head up the party’s communications strategy for the recall.

Schwarzenegger Wants Governor at Any Debate

Rep. David Dreier (R-San Dimas), Arnold Schwarzenegger’s official “debate negotiator,” told reporters Wednesday that Schwarzenegger is “open to one, two or three debates.”

“It may end up being one debate. It may end up being two or three debates,” said Dreier, stressing that Schwarzenegger’s main condition is that the governor be at the debate. “He wants to have Gray Davis there.”

Bustamante Gets a Boost in San Bernardino

Dozens of local politicians, community activists, labor leaders and others gathered in front of San Bernardino City Hall on Wednesday with a three-part message -- vote no on the recall, yes on Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and no on Proposition 54, a ballot initiative that would ban state agencies from collecting many types of racial data.

Beneath a banner that said “Your vote is your voice” in Spanish, speakers vowed to get out the vote in the Latino community.

“This is the time for the hundreds of thousands that became citizens to register themselves to vote,” said Felipe Aguirre, legal counselor to Comite Pro-Uno, a group that registered 100 new voters in Maywood last week.

Though a few speakers praised Davis, the kindest words were reserved for Bustamante.

“Of all the 135 people running, by far he is the most qualified and the most competent to lead this state at this difficult time,” said UC Riverside professor Armando Navarro, coordinator for the National Alliance for Human Rights.

He said that though the rally participants are urging a “no” vote on the recall, that could change based on what happens over the next couple of weeks.

“We will continue to say ‘no’ on the recall. But some of us are very concerned about reports publicized in the media that there is growing friction between Davis and Bustamante,” Navarro said. “For some of us, the priority is Bustamante.”

A priority that all of the participants staunchly supported was defeating Proposition 54.

“This measure sets the civil rights movement back a generation,” said Jesse Valenzuela, a representative from the office of Rep. Joe Baca (D-San Bernardino).