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53 minutes ago
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By TOM CHORNEAU, Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Gray Davis (news - web sites)' prospects for keeping his job appear to be brightening, according to a new poll that shows growing opposition to the recall movement.
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The Public Policy Institute of California survey, released Sunday, showed 53 percent of voters supporting a recall, down 5 percentage points from the institute's previous poll taken in August.
That was good news for Davis, analysts agreed. But they were uncertain whether the governor could continue to close the gap enough between now and Oct. 7, the recall election's scheduled date.
"The fate of the recall is much more uncertain than it was a month ago," said Mark Baldassare, poll director for the Public Policy Institute. "But it is still going to be difficult for the governor to make the case given that three out of four voters still disapprove of the job he's doing."
Candidates vying to replace Davis were campaigning furiously under the expectation the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals would reverse a ruling delaying the ballot to prevent the use of unreliable punch-card ballots.
An 11-judge panel was to hear arguments Monday on whether a three-judge panel of the court erred when it ruled earlier this month that the election must be postponed.
"I think folks want to get this thing done because they want to get people to start working on problems again," Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante told reporters Saturday night after delivering a speech to the San Diego County Democratic Party. "We've got problems here in California and we need to get off this recall campaign."
During his speech to some 400 fellow Democrats, Bustamante took shots at Republican actor Arnold Schwarzenegger's high-profile campaign.
"I got some pretty bad news for Arnold," Bustamante said. "Governing is not about grabbing some spotlights, it's about rolling up your sleeves and getting the work done."
Among his party's accomplishments, Bustamante said, were Davis' recent signing of legislation expanding financial privacy rights for consumers and legal rights for gay partners.
Davis also touted those accomplishments during appearances Saturday in San Francisco with Sen. John Edwards (news, bio, voting record) of North Carolina, a Democratic presidential candidate.
Former President Clinton (news - web sites) and former Vice President Al Gore (news - web sites) appeared with Davis earlier in the week as allies in the governor's attempt to cast the recall as a Republican power grab.
At one of Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock's campaign stops near San Diego, several dozen Schwarzenegger supporters crashed the rally and held signs warning of a Bustamante victory if McClintock didn't drop out.
"We must be gaining if they're going to the trouble of dispatching hecklers," McClintock said of the Schwarzenegger campaign.
A Schwarzenegger spokeswoman denied the campaign had any role in the disturbance.
Schwarzenegger never mentioned McClintock when he appeared at a Riverside shopping center to urge people to register to vote. The deadline to register is Monday unless the election is delayed.
The latest Public Policy Institute poll showed 28 percent of voters favoring Bustamante to replace Davis and 26 percent supporting Schwarzenegger. McClintock was third at 14 percent.
The poll, conducted over the nine-day period ending Sept. 17, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Although it showed support for the recall fading, only 42 percent favored keeping Davis, with 5 percent still undecided. One in four likely voters approved of Davis' job performance.
"A month ago, he was just looking for some hope," Raphael Sonenshein, professor of political science at California State University, Fullerton, said of the governor's chances of keeping his job.
"Now Davis has hope but he's also got a long way to go in a short amount of time."
