Schwarzenegger Hears It From Both Sides Over ‘Scripted’ Debate

In a pincer move, Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock and Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante teamed up against a common foe Thursday, threatening to boycott the only debate Arnold Schwarzenegger has agreed to attend.

Both candidates demanded that the format of the debate set for Wednesday in Sacramento be changed, saying it was inappropriate that questions had been provided in advance.

At the same time, Indian tribes stepped up TV advertising and direct-mail campaigns in support of both Bustamante and McClintock, moves that also have the effect of targeting Schwarzenegger.

The actor responded angrily, lashing out for the first time against McClintock, the conservative Republican whose candidacy threatens to split the GOP vote in the recall election.

“I think that as far as Tom McClintock is concerned, the question for him is: What side is he on?” Schwarzenegger said. “Is he on the side of the Republicans? Does he represent the Republicans? Or does he represent Bustamante? Because he’s getting money from the same Indian tribes that are financing his commercials and his TV spots.”

The Morongo Band of Mission Indians plans to begin airing a TV commercial today in Los Angeles in support of McClintock, featuring him speaking about his experience in government.

John Stoos, McClintock’s deputy campaign director, scoffed at the attempt to challenge the Thousand Oaks senator’s Republican credentials.

“Tom’s been laboring for 20 years in the Republican vineyards,” he said. “That’s going to be a tough charge to make stick.”

He dismissed suggestions that the Indian tribes were backing McClintock merely to torpedo Schwarzenegger and boost Bustamante, noting that the Morongos could have run an ad simply attacking the actor.

“We have been supporters of the Indians and sovereignty longer than Cruz Bustamante has been in office,” Stoos said.

“In other developments Thursday in the campaigns to replace Gov. Gray Davis:

* Schwarzenegger, who is spending nearly $3 million a week on a lavish campaign, chose a symbolically rich setting to propose a new political reform package, speaking in front of a locomotive at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. The scene was meant to evoke the Southern Pacific Railroad barons, whose grip on California’s political process in the early 20th century sparked a series of Progressive-era reforms, including the recall.

* Reports filed with the state Thursday show that two Indian tribes spent $454,852 Wednesday for a mailer supporting Bustamante’s gubernatorial bid. The Pechanga Band of Mission Indians and the Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Indians made the expenditure through an independent committee, First Americans for a Better California. The committee, formed last week with a $2-million donation from the Pechanga, previously spent $100,000 on printing for Bustamante.

* Breaking from some other Democratic officials, Bustamante voiced hope that the courts will allow the recall election to continue on Oct. 7, as planned, saying voters are suffering from “recall fatigue.” The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to decide today whether to reconsider this week’s ruling that delayed the election. But the bulk of the action centered on the debate about next week’s debate.

McClintock and Bustamante demanded that the California Broadcasters Assn. change the format of a debate set for Wednesday in Sacramento. Schwarzenegger, however, has agreed to appear only at that forum, and has not responded to invitations to appear in several other debates, including one jointly sponsored by CNN and the Los Angeles Times scheduled for Sept. 30.

“This should not be called a debate -- it’s a scripted forum,” said McClintock campaign director John Feliz. “The only one he is attending, he has to have the answers ahead of time. That’s not right.”

McClintock and Bustamante plan to send a letter today to the California Broadcasters Assn., which is organizing Wednesday’s debate, saying they will not participate unless the format is altered, their campaigns said.

Jaime Regalado, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles, said the cooperation between the two candidates is indicative of their mutual interest in beating Schwarzenegger.

“They probably consider Arnold the 400-pound gorilla, so it’s probably smart politics on both ends to try to cut away at him,” Regalado said.

The Green Party’s Peter Camejo and independent candidate Arianna Huffington have also called for an unscripted format, but as of Thursday evening, they had not committed to signing the letter. Stan Statham, president of the broadcasters association, said the group would not change its format, adding that he would be disappointed if some candidates decided not to attend.

Schwarzenegger’s campaign, which unsuccessfully sought a change in the format two weeks ago, said the actor would be happy to have the stage to himself.

“If they’re not willing to join him, he’ll talk to California all by himself,” said spokesman Rob Stutzman.

All five prominent candidates on the recall ballot had agreed to participate in the evening debate at Cal State Sacramento. Under the terms laid out by the group in an Aug. 14 letter to the candidates, the organizers would provide the questions in advance to create a “conversational give-and-take” environment.

However, the candidates will not know which questions they will be asked, Statham said. And the bulk of the hour-and-a-half debate will be devoted to letting the candidates quiz each other about their answers.

Statham said an advisory panel of journalists and academics came up with the format, which he said is designed to force the candidates to provide substantial answers to policy questions. “If we give them their homework in advance, we hope to get more meat and less pabulum,” he said.Bustamante proposed boycotting the event during a debate Wednesday night sponsored by the Los Angeles Press Club, the third candidate forum that Schwarzenegger has skipped.

A debate in which “you can then formulate your answers so you can then come in with some movie star-like answers is not a real debate,” Bustamante told reporters during a news conference Thursday morning in West Hollywood. “When you’re in the middle of a crisis, there’s no script to follow.”

The lieutenant governor suggested that if the format is not changed the candidates should hold their own debate the same day at another location.

“We’re not going to be bit players in one of Arnold’s movies,” said Bustamante campaign strategist Richie Ross.

McClintock, quizzed Thursday evening about the letter at a fund-raising dinner in Santa Monica, called the push for an unscripted format “a very good idea.” He added that surprising candidates with questions helps demonstrate how they deal with pressure, as opposed to how well they can recite lines. “One is a debate, and the other is a movie,” McClintock said.

Two weeks ago, as Schwarzenegger came under fire for agreeing only to a debate in which the questions are provided in advance, his campaign sent a letter to the broadcasters association asking it to change the format to one in which the questions are spontaneous.

The organization declined his request. On Tuesday, it released a list of 12 questions from voters to be posed to the candidates, on matters ranging from charter schools to services for seniors.

Schwarzenegger said Thursday he had not yet seen the questions, but added that he is looking forward to what he called the “Super Bowl of all the debates.”

“I will prepare for the debate,” he said. “I don’t think about there would be no one there. That’s not the way I think.”

Times staff writers Mark Z. Barabak, Daryl Kelley and James Rainey contributed to this report.