Gov. Pounds Away at Prop. 66

Buoyed by new poll numbers, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used a daylong bus tour Saturday to drive home his opposition to a ballot measure that would change the state’s three-strikes law, arguing that its passage would cause crime to spike and free thousands of prison inmates.

A Field Poll released earlier in the day showed the persuasiveness of a recent television advertising blitz in which the governor urges voters to reject Proposition 66.

In early October, only 18% of those polled wanted the measure to be defeated. That number nearly doubled in a poll conducted between Oct. 21 and 27, suggesting that two 15-second ads that feature Schwarzenegger are turning Proposition 66 into a close contest. Now, 55% of respondents support the measure, a 10% drop from polls of only weeks ago.

“Child molesters, rapists and killers” would go free if the measure passes, Schwarzenegger told hundreds of supporters at the Anaheim Convention Center, the middle stop of a three-county swing that ended in this San Joaquin Valley city.

Proponents of Proposition 66 slipped into the governor’s campaign events, first at the Del Mar fairgrounds and then in Anaheim. A heckler in the Anaheim crowd shouted at the governor: “You’re a liar.”

The three-strikes measure would change the law to require that a criminal’s last strike be for no less than a serious or violent felony. Backers accuse the governor and several leading law enforcement officials of exaggerating the effect it would have on prison inmates convicted of lesser crimes.

“I have a son who is serving a 25-year-to-life mandatory minimum sentence for watching someone sell drugs,” said Sue Reams, 56, a proponent of the measure from Orange County. “The guy who sold the drugs got a four-year sentence.”

Schwarzenegger spent the third day before the Nov. 2 election driving from San Diego County to Bakersfield in a two-bus caravan dubbed the “Road to Reform Express.” He played chess with a friend along the way and watched Fox News, according to an aide. Automated telephone calls by the governor to hundreds of thousands of voters boosted the Southern California crowds, sprinkled with men and women in Bush-Cheney T-shirts with “Don’t be a Girly Man” on the back.

The Schwarzenegger rallies at times had the flavor of tutorials. As visual aids, the governor’s political team displayed placards showing the governor’s stance on some of the 16 measures that voters will consider Tuesday. Holding up signs indicating his position (“No on 66”; “Yes on 64”), the governor laid out reasons for his endorsement and urged voters to follow his lead.

“The special interests are spending millions of dollars to pull the wool over your eyes and build huge gambling casinos,” Schwarzenegger said in opposition to two measures that would change restrictions on Indian gaming. “They’re going to continue shakedown lawsuits that hurt small business and spending millions of dollars to drive jobs out of the state, and spending millions of dollars to let violent criminals out of jail.”

Even the governor seemed confused by the long sequence of ballot numbers. He stumbled when telling the Del Mar fairgrounds crowd about passage earlier this year of a $15-billion bond issue and a balanced budget amendment, Propositions 57 and 58 respectively.

“You voted for proposition, er, the proposition for the thing that we -- the balanced budget initiative, the $15-billion property bond you voted for,” he said.

As revealing as what the governor talked about Saturday is what didn’t get a mention. He did not speak at all about the presidential race at the Del Mar fairgrounds, a day after he campaigned with President Bush in Columbus, Ohio, and beseeched voters to work “day and night” for Bush’s reelection.

And he spoke little about the president in Anaheim and at a nighttime rally attended by more than 2,000 people at Cal State Bakersfield.

Leading up to the election, Schwarzenegger has been muted in his support for the president, wary of offending his Democratic and independent supporters and mindful of polls that show Democrat John F. Kerry leading comfortably in California.

Schwarzenegger was silent on two ballot measures he is backing that have been opposed by the Republican Party: one would underwrite a major stem cell research effort; the other is the open primary election initiative.

Had he called Saturday for passage of the stem cell measure, he would probably have heard some boos from the partisan Republican crowds.

Jean Ann Dumas, who had gone to the fairgrounds event with her husband, Buck, said: “He should oppose that [Proposition 71]. It’s murder, as far as I’m concerned. Never mind the fancy talk.”

Schwarzenegger also made little mention of candidates for legislative races, though he has endorsed 48 Republican candidates. Earlier in the campaign season, Schwarzenegger’s political team hoped to cut into the Democratic majority in both the Senate and Assembly. But a member of the governor’s camp conceded Saturday that it’s possible the GOP could emerge from Tuesday’s election with a net loss of one seat.

After the Bakersfield rally, Schwarzenegger flew to Las Vegas to address thousands of bodybuilding enthusiasts attending the Mr. Olympia contest at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

During the awards ceremony, the governor told the crowd that he had just returned from campaigning for Bush in Columbus. The audience seemed evenly split in cheers and boos.

Nineteen heavily muscled men from around the world were competing for the annual title. One bodybuilder, Ronnie Coleman, was vying to equal Schwarzenegger’s own tally of seven titles.

Baca Speaks at Rally in Support of Measure A

At a small rally in San Pedro, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca called on voters to approve Measure A to give law enforcement officers the upper hand over gang members. The measure would raise the county sales tax by half a cent and generate $560 million a year to hire up to 5,000 more police officers and sheriff’s deputies.

“If there are no police to be seen in the neighborhood, for sure gangs will flourish because they believe the turf is theirs to control,” the sheriff said. “There are more criminals in this county than there are police. This a formula for more murders on the streets of Los Angeles County.”

Baca said current polls suggest the measure is supported by 59% of county voters. But because passage requires at least a two-thirds majority, he said he hopes undecided voters will add their support.

Jim McDonnell, first assistant chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, said the city has about 9,000 police officers trying to keep an eye on an estimated 54,000 gang members.

LaWanda Hawkins, who heads a victims’ advocacy group called Justice for Murdered Children but spoke only as an individual, said her 19-year-old son, Reginald Reese, was shot to death in San Pedro nine years ago. “I believe in my heart if we had more law enforcement, we wouldn’t have his case unsolved.”

Hawkins said, “Measure A is very important for public safety.”

Times staff writers Sue Fox contributed to this report from Los Angeles and David Pierson contributed from Las Vegas.