"Terminator" star Arnold Schwarzenegger won prized Republican endorsements for his bid to be California's next governor, a day after emerging successful from his first fiery debate.
Crucial party backing for the novice politician came less than two weeks ahead of the October 7 recall elections aimed at kicking Democratic Governor Gray Davis out of power.
It came after Schwarzenegger took part in his only public debate of the short campaign, in which he traded feisty salvoes with four rivals for the governorship and convinced some observers he was up to the job.
Republican chiefs from California's 58 counties met to restore unity to the party, split between two strong candidates, and voted overwhelming to endorse the socially liberal Schwarzenegger as their official candidate.
The endorsement, voted by 40 county chairmen in the state capital of Sacramento, ended weeks of wrangling over whether the party should back the actor or his right-wing Republican rival Tom McClintock.
"We felt that Arnold is now the best choice for governor," Los Angeles County party chairwoman Linda Boyd said.
"We did not want to risk a split vote ... and wanted to send a very clear message to Californians that if we don't back one candidate, we could end up with (Democratic Lieutenant Governor) Bustamante in power, which would be disastrous."
Almost simultaneously, former gubernatorial candidate and influential Republican Bill Simon threw his weight behind Schwarzenegger, sending another powerful signal to voters.
The multimillionaire businessman urged his supporters to back the Austrian-born former body-builder, saying: "Californias moment of truth is almost here. We have a great opportunity for victory, and we must seize it."
The bid for unity came as Schwarzenegger's campaign began to stall. He lagged behind Bustamante, who wants to replace his boss, while McClintock garners a major share of the vote.
A Public Policy Institute of California poll published Monday showed Bustamante leading Schwarzenegger by 28 percent to 26 percent, while McClintock garnered 14 percent of likely votes.
The party hopes the endorsements will trigger a defection in votes from McClintock to Schwarzenegger and put him ahead of Bustamante.
"These endorsements represent a major boost for Schwarzenegger," said University of Southern California political professor, Elizabeth Garrett.
But McClintock defiantly refused to withdraw from the race, saying it was up to voters to choose between candidates.
"It's not for them (Simon and the county chairmen) to tell the people of California which candidates they should vote for," he said.
Los Angeles-based political pundit John Matsusaka said while Republicans had finally refined their candidate lineup for the looming election, their voters may not tow the line.
"There are a lot of very conservative Republicans out there who like what McClintock stands for and who may well refuse to vote for a social liberal like Schwarzenegger."
There are nearly 1.4 million more Democratic voters than Republicans in the most populous US state.
Things turned Schwarzenegger's way following Wednesday's milestone debate that pundits said he came through well, even though he failed to expound on his vague policy plans.
Candidates, including McClintock, sparred over what measures they would take to balance the state's record 38-billion-dollar budget deficit if they won power and also traded sharp personal barbs.
The stakes in the nationally-televised war of words were high as two thirds of California's 15 million voters were said by a poll to be undecided who they would vote for ahead of the debate.
"Schwarzenegger has put himself in a very good position," Matsusaka said. He had a low hurdle to jump and he jumped it well -- that was to be taken seriously as a candidate and prove that he is not just an actor.
"Nobody expected him to be a policy expert, he just needed people to take him seriously and he accomplished that."
|
|
