California Recall: Wild West Politics

The partisan line-up in the California recall is putting up a real barrier for Arnold Schwarzenegger's gubernatorial bid, as the poll data are now showing:

Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante is around 34 percent - an unopposed base he's likely to hold all the way to the Oct. 7 election.

The Republicans, on the other hand, are split -- with Schwarzenegger pulling in about 26 percent, McClintock with his 12 percent to 15 percent and former baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth clocking in around 9 percent.

And Arnold's got another problem: "In the last two weeks, he's become a Republican," said one Democratic pollster.

In other words, the crossover vote that was being talked up early on doesn't seem to be materializing for Schwarzenegger - which means he's going to need a solid Republican turnout to win.

The same article also contains an item unrelated to the recall. The Alameda County sheriff had publicly described the City of Oakland as the "sickest" city in California.

Oakland Mayor (and former California Governor) Jerry Brown responded, "That's a dumb comment. It probably appeals to his redneck friends out in the east part of the county."

But he went on to praise the sheriff for working with Oakland to combat rising gang violence in the city. Jerry gave his typically blunt summary of the problem:

"You've got far more angry people with guns than you have cops," Brown said.

"You have thousands of people who have no job, who will never have a job, who have no intention of getting one. The only way they get work is to shoot their way into it (for drug turf). That's the Wild West scene we have in some quarters."

- Bruce Miller

Hearing: Lucinda Williams, "Six Blocks Away"

Tags: california politics, jerry brown