Last ditch effort to save Davis

Bustamante pressured
to withdraw

from CPR Online contributors

Lt Gov. Cruz Bustamante is “highly likely” to drop out of the race to replace Gov. Gray Davis tomorrow barring a last minute change of mind, according to a Sacramento source close to the lieutenant governor’s campaign.

As panic over a looming Republican capture of the governor’s office has spread from the Davis camp through the ranks of Democrat elected officials and donors, Bustamante has been subjected to enormous pressure to withdraw his candidacy. Top level Democrats believe Bustamante now has no hope of overtaking Arnold Schwarzenegger on the candidate portion of the ballot, and that he is, in fact, sinking so fast he could finish third, behind both Schwarzenegger and state Sen. Tom McClintock.

Many Democrats now believe their only chance of retaining the governor’s office is to defeat the recall. They hope Bustamante’s withdrawal will convince enough of the 27 to 30 percent of registered Democrats now supporting the recall to change their minds once they see no chance of replacing an ousted Davis with another Democrat.

CPR Online’s Sacramento source said convincing those Democrats to switch would be “difficult but at least conceivably doable,” in contrast to winning with Bustamante, whose campaign the source described as “absolutely dead in the water and sinking faster then the Titantic.”

The lieutenant governor is said to remain concerned about how withdrawing would affect his future: whether he is damaged more by staying in the race and losing badly next Tuesday, or by withdrawing five days before the election, thereby conceding he is too weak to win.

CPR Online’s source said Bustamante is notoriously slow to make up his mind about tough decisions. He characterized a Bustamante withdrawal as a “nine out of ten” chance, but said the lieutenant governor could change his mind “as he walks to the podium tomorrow.”