Christopher Ruddy
Friday, Sept. 5, 2003

Gray Davis might just pull a rabbit out of a hat.

In a recent column, I wrote that Davis was "toast" – threatened more by his Democratic “friend” Cruz Bustamante than any Republican.

As I noted, Bustamante’s hard-left supporters and Mexican brothers will no doubt want him to replace Davis, so much so they will even vote for the recall.

What I reported has now become accepted wisdom.

NBC anchor Tom Brokaw's interview of Gray Davis ran Tuesday night, and Brokaw asked: ”Governor, who's the greatest threat? Lieutenant Governor Bustamante, who's a member of your party, or Arnold Schwarzenegger?”

Davis avoided a straight answer to Brokaw, but Bustamante has to be among his biggest worries.

Like Brokaw, the Davis camp must be reading my columns.

Since I complained that Davis was too stiff, not affable and not candid about mistakes, a new Davis has suddenly emerged.

As the press notes, the new Davis is now less stiff, more affable and admitting his mistakes.

But still, Davis is only going halfway.

He somehow forgets that when he is governor of California, he is governor of all the people, Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals.

But when you hear Davis, his rhetoric often sounds like James Carville on Xanax, cutting without the rage.

You get what you give, and Davis appears to have so much animus toward Republicans he may have unwittingly sown the seeds of this recall himself.

If Davis was smart he would have divorced the recall issue from partisan politics and appealed to the public as a whole about the fairness of the recall. Everyone wants to be fair, Republicans, Greens, even Democrats. On what basis should Gov. Davis be recalled?

This brings me to the rabbit still left in Davis’ hat.

A major radio host in California called me this week to say he may just support a “no” to the recall at the end of this campaign.

This surprised me, as the host had supported the recall hook, line and sinker.

Why a sudden change?

Here’s the host’s reasoning:

The conservative base is just not going to support Schwarzenegger. He’s weak on the issues and on the hot-button issues like immigration he’s bad.

Now there’s talk of orgies and drugs. The straight-laced Republicans in Pasadena will have a hard time pulling the lever for Arnold.

So the conservatives are left with McClintock. He’s a good man and qualified. But with him and Arnold dividing the Republican vote, Cruz Bustamante will be the winner.

The host concluded, “There’s no way we can have Bustamante. Maybe we are better off with Davis and leave things as they are. Let the Democrats handle this mess.”

How ironic this election may turn out be.

Bustamante’s Democrats will defect from Davis and vote for the recall.

And Republicans may cover their bets and vote against the recall – thereby preventing Bustamante from succeeding Davis.

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