More breaking news: Republican Peter Ueberroth is set to drop out of the California recall race. More on the story as it develops.
FoxNews is reporting that Ueberroth is stating that he will meet with the other Republican candidates and which ever one of the two gives the best plan for California’s future will recieve his endorsement. The 5% that Ueberroth was polling in the most recent polls could put Schwarzenegger in the lead or could give a boost to Tom McClintock. (I’m guessing the latter.)
It wouldn’t surprise me if McClintock is pressured out of the race before election day as well….especially as Arnold-mania continues its seemingly bottomless funk. The California GOP will recognize it needs every possible vote to undo an election and get their party back into the statehouse, and they won’t let McClintock stand in the way of that if it appears the race will be too close. But on the other hand, they may be counting on McClintock’s ballot presence to draw the right-wing fringe out of their Huntington Beach mansions….which will at least increase the likelihood that Davis will be recalled. Even that seems less likely now.
At this point it’s a crapshoot. McClintock certainly has the strong conservative vote, but that could change as many consider that a vote for McClintock could easily be a vote for Bustamante in the end.
I still maintain that the recall will go through. There are more than enough Democrats that view Davis as a liability to their party as well. The Field Poll shows strong support for the recall, and I believe that the fact that the Democrats are rallying around Bustamante rather than Davis show that Gray Davis’ political career is now deader than a doornail.