Will the multiplex strategy succeed? In California’s increasingly surreal, 135-candidate race to recall Gov. Gray Davis, nothing seems too far-fetched anymore. (Not even candidates vying for spots on the Game Show Network’s upcoming “Who Wants to Be Governor of California?” Really.) Schwarzenegger’s advisers think that if he can motivate nonpartisan movie fans like Sandoval to become first-time voters, the star can win. But even though Schwarzenegger has buried the other candidates in the media so far, he’s not the clear front runner. A new Field poll of California voters shows Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante leading Schwarzenegger 25 percent to 22 percent among the replacement candidates. Late last week a federal judge in San Jose warned that the Oct. 7 election could be postponed until March to give counties time to comply with the Voting Rights Act. If the campaign stretches another six months, says an opponent, “Arnold is not going to wear well over time.”
This week Schwarzenegger will try to deflect criticism that his flashy campaign lacks substance by appearing at UCLA with members of his newly formed Economic Recovery Council. The actor enlisted legendary investor Warren Buffett (a major shareholder in The Washington Post Company, which owns NEWSWEEK) and former Reagan secretary of State George Shultz as co-chairs to broaden his bipartisan appeal and to give him policy heft. But just a day after joining the campaign, Buffett managed to outrage California Republicans by suggesting in The Wall Street Journal that the state’s property taxes, limited by Proposition 13, might be too low. Buffett’s comments even raised eyebrows among aides to George W. Bush, who did his best to sidestep recall politics during a trip to California last week. “Isn’t there, like, a presidential race coming up?” said the president, mocking reporters who peppered him with questions about the recall.
Because of the unique structure of the recall–the “winner” needs only a plurality of votes–the election will hinge on a candidate’s ability to appeal to a narrow but loyal fan base. While Bustamante gives interviews to Spanish-language Univision and courts labor, Republican Bill Simon, who lost to Davis last year, meets small-business owners in the Central Valley and Orange County. Ultraconservative state Sen. Tom McClintock, meanwhile, appears nonstop on AM talk radio, while former baseball commissioner and L.A. Olympics organizer Peter Ueberroth is working the Los Angeles business community. Meanwhile Davis, facing disapproval ratings of 70 percent, signs bill after bill before hand-chosen audiences of Democratic interest groups. “I guess you could say we’ve got a horse race,” says former Davis adviser Garry South. “But every horse is racing around his own track.”
Schwarzenegger knows he will have to venture beyond star-struck Republicans and testosterone-charged moviegoers in order to win. In a clear play to woo Hollywood Democrats, the campaign is bringing in actor Rob Lowe of “The West Wing” fame as an adviser. And that’s not all. NEWSWEEK has learned that Schwarzenegger is considering an appearance on “Oprah.” An endorsement from Oprah Winfrey, a close friend of his wife, Maria Shriver, could boost his appeal tremendously among women. In the bed California has made for itself, it seems there are no fellows too strange for the man who wants to be governor.
