LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Several labor unions have already endorsed Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's ``No on recall, yes on Bustamante'' option in the state's referendum on Gov. Gray Davis, but backing by the California Labor Federation AFL-CIO would be particularly significant.þþThe group has thus far flatly opposed the recall and played a leading role in trying, unsuccessfully, to keep Democrats off the ballot.þþOn Tuesday afternoon, the politically powerful group was to decide at a convention in Manhattan Beach whether to endorse Bustamante's theme -- already favored by the state's powerful teachers' union and others -- or stick to its ``No recall'' guns.þþThe state AFL-CIO, an association of more than 1,300 local unions representing some 2.1 million workers in manufacturing, construction and other industries, has been especially close to Davis, even co-sponsoring his inaugural festivities last year.þþAlso Tuesday, Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger was set to make a third talk-radio appearance in Sacramento, as GOP leaders continued to suggest that other Republicans drop out of the race.þþThe actor took his campaign to conservative talk radio Monday in search of support from Republicans whose votes may be splintered among three major GOP candidates. Schwarzenegger went on the offensive, for the first time attacking Bustamante.þþ``It's like one newspaper pointed out, Bustamante is Gray Davis with a receding hairline and a mustache. It's the same person. Same philosophy,'' Schwarzenegger said Monday on ``The Roger Hedgecock Show'' in San Diego.þþSchwarzenegger's appearances on that show and the syndicated ``Hugh Hewitt Show'' came as a Los Angeles Times poll showed him trailing Bustamante 35 percent to 22 percent with the Oct. 7 recall election just six weeks away. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.þþBustamante consultant Richie Ross said Schwarzenegger was ``not being fair or completely honest.''þþ``He chose Pete Wilson to chair his campaign. Does that mean that he agrees with all of the former governor's policy positions, including signing the largest tax increases in the history of California?'' Ross said.þþSchwarzenegger also used his radio appearances to sharpen his opposition to taxes.þþ``I would not increase taxes in order to get the financial situation improved because I think it's the wrong way to go,'' he told Hedgecock.þþSchwarzenegger refused to pledge not to raise taxes, but his comment went beyond his earlier statements on tax increases. He told a press conference last week, ``We could have next year an earthquake. We could have a natural disaster. We could have a terrorist attack, or something like that. So you can never say, 'Never, never''' to tax hikes.þþSchwarzenegger, a fiscal conservative who is moderate on such social issues as gun control and abortion, led two other Republicans in the Times poll, state Sen. Tom McClintock, a conservative, and former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth.þþGOP leaders warned that Republicans must unite behind one candidate or risk losing the race to replace Davis.þþWith businessman Bill Simon's exit from the race, McClintock can claim to be the conservative choice, Schwarzenegger's appearance on the talk shows popular among GOP activists appeared partly designed to keep McClintock from collecting votes that would have gone to Simon.þþMcClintock finished third in the poll with 12 percent while Simon had 6 percent. Analysts also said that although Schwarzenegger's campaign so far has sought to appeal to a cross-section of Democrats, Republicans and independents, he can't win without the backing of conservatives.þþ``The arithmetic is such that he understands he can't do it simply by being the moderate guy,'' said University of Southern California political scientist Sherry Bebitch Jeffe. ``He's not going to be able to bring in, I think, as many Latinos, as many Democrats, as they thought they might be able to, so he's got to move his party's base, and he's got to prevent Tom McClintock from looking like a serious opponent.''þþSchwarzenegger hasn't called for fellow Republicans to clear the field for him, but he told Hedgecock: ``I think mathematically speaking it will be much better if they drop out, that's clear.''þþUeberroth told reporters in Sacramento that he has no intention of leaving the race, and McClintock has said the same. þþ
Source: NY Times
