http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=3&u=/nm/20031005/ts_nm/politics_california_dc
California Recall a Referendum on Schwarzenegger
Sun Oct 5,12:14 AM ET
By Gina Keating and Adam Tanner
SAN DIEGO/PLEASANTON, Calif. (Reuters) - California Gov. Gray Davis charged into the final stage of the state's wild recall battle on Sunday energized by charges of sexism and Nazi sympathies against Arnold Schwarzenegger, his chief rival for the state's top job.
What began as a grass roots protest over Davis' handling of the state's ailing economy has become a referendum on the bodybuilder turned Hollywood star, dogged by allegations that he repeatedly groped women and admired Adolf Hitler.
Davis stopped short on Saturday of calling for a criminal investigation of the former Mr. Universe, but warned a women's forum in Oakland, California the state may be on the verge of saddling itself with a governor with a criminal past. Groping is viewed as criminal sexual assault in California.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has accused Davis and others of waging "puke politics" and trying to "torpedo my campaign."
Davis appeared emboldened by an internal poll suggesting support for the recall -- though still just above 50 percent -- is slipping as the heat remains on Schwarzenegger, with 48 percent opposed in the poll of 500 registered voters.
"I feel good about this campaign," Davis told Reuters in an interview in San Diego on Saturday evening. "Elections are always a leap of faith. ... This has been a crazy election. There have been some wild swings."
"Mr. Schwarzenegger ... got in trouble because of his own behavior and he shouldn't look to anyone else to blame."
A separate poll released on Saturday by the San Jose Mercury showed support for the recall at 54 percent, with 35 percent favoring Schwarzenegger to replace Davis and 27 percent backing Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.
SURREAL BARN-STORMING
Schwarzenegger finishes a four-day bus tour on Sunday in Sacramento after a tumultuous and often surreal barn-storming trek across the state characterized by revelation and rumor.
One highlight of his Sunday rally will be a performance by the lead singer of Twisted Sister of "We're not Going to Take It," the campaign's official rock anthem.
Amid sporadic protests following reports he had groped at least 11 women, Schwarzenegger brought his wife, television journalist Maria Shriver and niece of President John Kennedy, to add some star power as he battles the wave of bad press.
The Hitler revelations stem from remarks Schwarzenegger made to a friend in 1975. He was quoted as saying he admired the wartime German dictator "because he came from being a little man with almost no formal education, up to power."
"And I admire him for being such a good public speaker and for his way of getting to the people and so on. But I didn't admire him for what he did with it," he was quoted as saying.
At a late afternoon rally in Pleasanton in the liberal San Francisco Bay area, five women shouted out protests throughout his last speech of the day. "No groper for governor," they said. "No Nazi for governor."
In Tuesday's vote, Californians will decide whether they will oust Davis in the second such recall in U.S. history. The second part of the ballot lists 135 replacement candidates.
The Austrian-born actor, whose father was a member of the Nazi party, recently said he has always despised Hitler and the Nazis. He has also been a major benefactor of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish foundation dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism and spreading a message of tolerance.
