McClintock: "I'm in this race right to the finish line"
 |
State Sen. Tom McClintock says he has no intention of leaving the California gubernatorial recall race.
Story Tools
|
Washington (CNN) -- As one Republican dropped out of the California recall Tuesday, another GOP candidate declared unequivocally he's in the race to the finish. This sets up a potential spoiler situation for Republicans trying to recapture the governor's mansion in the October 7 special election.
Republican businessman Peter Ueberroth, who was running as an Independent, announced on Tuesday he's suspending his campaign, saying he couldn't see how the numbers worked out to get his candidacy "across the goal line."
Ueberroth's exit came the same day as the release of a new statewide poll showing Republican candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger trailing, but within striking distance, of Democratic Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante.
The Field poll shows Bustamante leading the recall field with 30 percent of the vote. GOP frontrunner Arnold Schwarzenegger received 25 percent in the statewide survey, with Republican State Senator Tom McClintock posting 13 percent. Ueberroth received 5 percent in the poll.
An analysis of the polling data after Ueberroth's withdrawal shows that his supporters would be split among the top three candidates -- Bustamante, Schwarzenegger, and McClintock -- with Bustamante still leading Schwarzenegger by 5 percentage points. But the poll does demonstrate that if McClintock withdraws from the recall, Schwarznegger takes a slight lead over Bustamante 33 percent to 31 percent.
State Senator McClintock appeared on CNN's Inside Politics on Tuesday and told me he had no intention of following Ueberroth's lead and ceding the field to Schwarzenegger: "I'm in this race right to the finish line."
When I pushed McClintock about similar statements from Ueberroth up until Tuesday about staying in the race until the end, he bristled: "What is it about the word 'no' that you guys don't understand?"
In a bid to reach out to Ueberroth's supporters and presumably draw contrast with other GOP candidates, McClintock argued he could stand to gain from one less GOP candidate: "Peter Ueberroth's supporters are all very serious voters who were supporting a serious candidate. It's my hope that they will migrate to my campaign. Those are folks who are looking for somebody who is well grounded in public policy," McClintock said.
As the Republican candidates adjusted to a smaller field and a tightening race, Democratic Governor Gray Davis took solace in the Field poll results showing support for the recall has declined slightly from 58 percent in August to 55 percent in Tuesday's survey.
Although McClintock dismissed reports he was under any pressure to step out of the recall field, the Republican state party convention this weekend in Los Angeles could prove a turning point for the divided state party to rally around one candidate or continue splitting the vote between conservative and moderate voters.
Judy Woodruff is CNN's prime anchor and senior correspondent. She also anchors "Judy Woodruff's Inside Politics," weekdays at 3:30 pm ET.
