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Monday, Sept. 29, 2003

The CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey found Schwarzenegger favored by 40 percent of the 787 respondents, well ahead of Democrat Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's 25 percent and Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock's 18 percent.

In addition, a whopping 63 percent favored replacing Gov. Gray Davis, which would open the door for Schwarzenegger.

The poll was the first since last week's debate that featured Schwarzenegger for his only performance in a debate, albeit one in which the participants had the questions ahead of time.

Poll Has McClintock Beating Bustamante Too

McClintock must be wishing Schwarzenegger had never entered the race. In a hypothetical two-man match in this Democrat-dominated state, the poll showed the conservative state senator beating Bustamante 56 percent to 37 percent, statistically indistinguishable from Schwarzenegger's 58 percent and Bustamante's 36 percent in a two-man race.

'War'

Schwarzenegger used a boisterous rally Sunday in Redding to declare "war" against Davis.

Responding to recent attacks by the governor, a fiery Schwarzenegger warned the enthusiastic crowd that Davis's campaign would turn even dirtier.

He vowed to rescind the tripling of the vehicle license fee imposed by Davis (who complained that Republicans wouldn't let him raise taxes even more), audit California's books and create a business-friendly climate.

"This is now hand-to-hand combat," Schwarzenegger told more than 1,000 cheering supporters.

"This is war!" he shouted. "We're in the trenches, because desperate Davis is hanging out there. He knows his days are over, and he's going to run a dirty campaign this week. But come Oct. 7, we're going to take the government back."

He concluded: "Gray Davis has terminated hope. He has terminated opportunity. He has terminated education and he has terminated jobs. Now it's time to terminate him."

Schwarzenegger was scheduled for one of his staged "Ask Arnold" town hall meetings near Fresno today. Davis planned to take part in a similar forum in Los Angeles tonight.

Copyright 2003 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.

Editor's note:
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