A Week of Surprises, Changing Tactics

The recall election campaign began in earnest as Arnold Schwarzenegger brought several prominent figures on board and Gray Davis focused on his duties as governor rather than going on the attack. Opponents pressed the movie star to say how he would handle the state’s problems.

Sunday

* With nearly 200 candidates attempting to qualify, state election officials warn that the vote tally could take several days after the Oct. 7 recall election. In some counties with paper-based voting systems, the candidate roll might require three or more cards, making it necessary for election workers to read the ballots by hand to ensure that each voter chose only one alternative to Davis.

* Major candidates slow their frenetic pace of appearances, but it’s a busy day on the Sunday news talk shows as several attack each other. Two Republicans criticize actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, also a Republican, for a lack of substance in his campaign.

“We don’t know where he stands on the issues,” Bill Simon Jr., who lost to Davis in the November 2002 election, says on “Fox News Sunday.” “This is not a time for sound bites, Hollywood scripts.”

“There’s a great deal that I’m sure Arnold Schwarzenegger could teach me about making movies,” state Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) says. “There’s a great deal I could teach him about the fiscal reforms necessary to set this state right, but there’s no time for training.”

* Former Gov. Pete Wilson, Schwarzenegger’s campaign co-chairman, adds a new target, saying the actor backed Proposition 187, the 1994 ballot measure that sought to curb public services for illegal immigrants.

* State Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres says the disclosure will become an issue for Democrats, “especially in the Latino community.”

* Davis’ wife, Sharon, appears at an anti-recall rally and says she expects former President Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), to support her husband’s campaign.

* The California Republican Assembly, a conservative group, bypasses Schwarzenegger and endorses McClintock.

Monday

* Secretary of State Kevin Shelley settles on $66 million as the probable cost of the recall election and says 96 candidates have filed for the ballot, with the nomination papers of 95 others still to be examined.

* Shelley also announces that the order in which candidates appear on the ballot will be rotated by Assembly district and will begin in Sacramento’s 1st District with last names starting with R.

* Democratic Party leaders establish a two-part strategy of urging a “no” vote on the recall while supporting Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante as the best backup should Davis be recalled.

* Schwarzenegger is in New York at an event for after-school programs and refuses to answer reporters’ questions.

“There’s no questions, because this event is about children,” an aide says.

* Schwarzenegger opens an Eastern front, as New York Gov. George Pataki, who has known him through years of political functions, sets up a lunch with heavy hitters from business and the Republican Party. Schwarzenegger tells them he is not yet accepting campaign contributions but may return to New York later.

* Other Republicans in the race continue attacking the actor, and start on each other. Simon says McClintock is a good man, but he “is not going to have the resources” to run a competitive race.

* Appearing at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, Davis says he takes Bustamante at his word that he opposes the recall even though he has decided to run.

Tuesday

* Davis heeds advice from prominent Democratic backers to refrain from his usual campaign strategy of criticizing opponents in ads. Instead, he works to project himself as the sitting governor doing the job the people of California elected him for. In a string of public appearances, Davis signs a ban on toxic flame retardants, endorses an antidiscrimination measure and supports abortion-related legislation.

“People are upset in this state, and the governor understands that,” campaign communications director Peter Ragone says. “While other people are aggressively playing politics, the governor is aggressively governing.”

Davis aides say the strategy is modeled after Clinton’s handling of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and, in fact, was suggested by Clinton, who counsels Davis three or four times a day by phone.

* Less than a week after entering the campaign, Schwarzenegger revamps his staff, strengthening ties to former Gov. Wilson. In the shuffle, day-to-day operations go to Bob White, Wilson’s staff chief, who brings along another top Wilson aide. Sources say the change reflects assertiveness by Schwarzenegger’s wife, commentator Maria Shriver, who was reportedly displeased with his booking on a series of national news shows when he had had little sleep.

“There are tensions inside,” one Republican strategist says of the shakeup. “It’s not as cohesive as it was.”

But Schwarzenegger spokesman Sean Walsh, another former Wilson aide, downplays the moves.

“We are dedicated to making sure that the right people are doing the right jobs at the right time,” he says.

* Arianna Huffington, a nonpartisan, and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo announce an alliance. Camejo says they will campaign jointly on the issues for now and near the end of the race both will work for the one they decide is better prepared to make a strong finish.

Ralph Nader, the Green Party’s 2000 presidential candidate, who has been criticized by Democrats for taking votes from Al Gore, lauds Camejo’s analysis of the state budget mess, then is hit in the face by a cake, previously reported to be a pie. The thrower slips away. “I’m quite sure this attack came from a Democrat,” Camejo says.

Wednesday

* State election officials certify 135 candidates for the Oct. 7 ballot after rejecting about 100 of the 247 who filed papers, most for not having the required signatures.

* Huffington’s tax returns show that she paid no individual state income tax and just $771 in federal taxes during the last two years. She reported expenses for her business, Cristabella Inc., far exceeding its income. Huffington, who kicked off her campaign with a blast at “corporate fat cats” who “get away with not paying their fair share of taxes,” says her small tax bite illustrates no inconsistency between her campaign message and her tax returns. She characterizes her deductions as very conservative.

* Schwarzenegger names noted investor Warren E. Buffett as his senior economics advisor. The 72-year-old Democrat from Omaha, whose net worth is estimated at $30 billion, is expected to advise the candidate on assembling economic and business leaders into a policy team, aides say.

Some Republicans lash out at the choice because of Buffett’s liberal views on taxes and many social issues, among them his criticism of President Bush’s dividend tax cut proposal as a handout to the rich.

“This is more good news for Bill Simon as he emerges as the conservative alternative to Schwarzenegger,” says K.B. Forbes, Simon’s communications director.

But other political analysts say the world’s second-richest man will give the campaign substance. Buffett says: “I have known Arnold for years and know he’ll be a great governor.”

* The governor’s low approval ratings and Bustamante’s candidacy cut Davis’ ability to raise funds from business and labor donors that gave to him in the past.

“The people we are calling are still giving; they aren’t giving as much,” says former Rep. Douglas Bosco, who is helping organize a San Francisco fund-raiser for Davis.

Unions, which had taken a hard line opposing any other Democrats, soften their stance. Jim Hard, a top officer with the California State Employees Assn., says he could see the union’s board supporting Bustamante.

“The difficulty with Gray Davis is that he is the governor and we’ve had to deal with Gray Davis and have not been satisfied,” Hard says. “There is frustration with Gray Davis that doesn’t exist with any other person running for governor.”

Thursday

* Unions, environmental groups and senior Democratic leaders express concern about Davis’ chances of keeping his job. They say they are intensifying discussions over whether to endorse Bustamante as a backup plan for keeping the governor’s office in friendly hands.

“Right now, we’re at the stage of encouraging our members to vote no on the recall,” says Bill Allayaud, political director for the Sierra Club, which has 200,000 members in California. But, he adds, “the Sierra Club is going to consider endorsing other candidates. It’s hedging your bets, really. If this recall is going to go through, the Sierra Club has an opinion on who would be best for the environment.”

* Schwarzenegger attends commencement for an after-school program in Woodland Hills. He announces that George Shultz, secretary of State under President Reagan, will join his campaign team as an economic advisor.

“Both of them, Secretary Shultz and Warren Buffett, will help me pick a team,” Schwarzenegger said. “We want to put together the best, the greatest and the brightest. I need as much input as I can from the business leaders, so I can hear what the real problems are out there.”

* Huffington raises questions about Schwarzenegger’s connections to former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay. She says Schwarzenegger and the onetime energy titan met at a hotel in May 2001, in the midst of California’s energy crisis.

“Arnold Schwarzenegger has positioned himself as the people’s governor, who is not going to be driven by political interests on either side of the aisle,” she says. “Then what was he doing cozying up with Ken Lay, Mr. Special Interest himself?”

Schwarzenegger says later in the day that he does not remember the meeting.

Friday

* Just three days after being named Schwarzenegger’s economic advisor, Buffett suggests in a Wall Street Journal interview that Californians pay too little in property taxes, a situation caused by Proposition 13. Rivals -- Democrat and Republican alike -- seize on the comments to criticize Schwarzenegger. His campaign attempts to distance the actor from Buffett’s comments.

“I think it’s time for Arnold to come out from behind the curtain,” Simon says. “I guess apparently he stands for higher taxes, based on what his chief economic advisor said today.”

“I could not disagree more” with Buffet, Davis adds. “The people spoke, and all of us who have held office since then have honored the will of the electorate. Lord knows we have some things that cost a lot of money in this state. Our property taxes are not one of them, and no one is about to change this.”

“Arnold Schwarzenegger has supported Prop. 13 for 25 years,” says spokesman Rob Stutzman.

* A federal judge says he may put the Oct. 7 recall election on hold because four California counties have not complied with the Voting Rights Act. U.S. District Judge Jeremy D. Fogel in San Jose gives officials two weeks to resolve the problem and, in the meantime, orders Monterey County not to send absentee ballots to voters living overseas.

If the issue is not resolved by Aug. 29, Fogel says, he could order a complete halt to preparations for the vote -- which state officials say would force the election’s postponement.

* California Republicans acknowledge making efforts to clear the GOP field on behalf of Schwarzenegger, in hopes of improving the party’s chances of ousting Davis and seizing the governor’s office. Rep. David Dreier (R-San Dimas), who heads the California GOP House delegation, says that at Schwarzenegger’s request he placed calls Aug. 8 to rival candidates Simon and Peter V. Ueberroth, encouraging them to get behind the actor’s candidacy. Neither has assented.

“I’m not twisting anybody’s arms,” Dreier says. “But I’ve made clear that at the end of the campaign I’m hopeful they’ll be behind Arnold. He’s made some great moves.”

-- Doug Smith