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Recall players pair up and square off at state conventions
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Players on both sides of California's recall election greeted audiences at the state's Democratic and Republican conventions on Saturday. Republican candidates Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom McClintock addressed the state Republican convention separately, while at the Democratic convention, Gov. Gray Davis and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante appeared together on stage for the first time since Bustamante entered the race to replace his boss. Davis -- fighting to keep his job in the October 7 recall election -- and Bustamante have avoided each other since early last month. But Saturday, as Davis was in the middle of his stump speech at the Democratic convention, Bustamante stepped on stage in what appeared to be an impromptu act. "Bienvenido, lieutenant governor," Davis said, welcoming Bustamante. The governor said the people had wanted to see when the two men would stand together. Aides to both campaigns refused to say afterward whether the appearance was planned. "We're not getting into strategy," one Davis aide said. Bustamante addressed the crowd and, unlike in earlier speeches, he spoke of Davis' achievements and asked the Democratic faithful to defeat the recall. "I'm not in competition with Gray Davis," he said. "I'm running against Arnold [Schwarzenegger] and Tom [McClintock] to uphold the values of working people in California. "We must protect all that we have fought for and won. We must defeat this recall." Republicans listen to candidates
Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke Saturday afternoon after eating a salad with those attending the GOP convention. Tom McClintock addressed the dinner crowd later in the evening. Schwarzenegger spoke about why he chose to become a Republican after emigrating from Austria. "I am a conservative because I believe in a balanced budget, not in budget deficits," he said. "I am a conservative because I believe money that people earn is their money and not the government's money." He went on to include a list of goals he hopes to accomplish if elected. One would be repealing the recently passed legislation allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. Schwarzenegger also said he would decentralize education to place more power in local school districts and to revise the state's worker-compensation laws. Schwarzenegger did not provide specifics on how he would accomplish the tasks or how much money the changes may cost. Addressing the gathering at a dinner Saturday, McClintock took on the Democrats by accusing the party of misrepresenting the working class. "The Democrats once looked out for their interests [but] are wholly owned by the special interests that comprise the spending lobby," he said. McClintock quoted former California governor Ronald Reagan's characterization of the party's vision 25 years ago, which he said still holds true today: "'The new Republican party I am speaking about is going to have room for the man and the woman in the factories, the farmer, the cop on the beat and for millions of Americans who may have never thought of joining our part before but whose interests coincide with those represented by principled Republicanism.'" Clinton, Gore to stump for DavisSunday, in an effort to boost his prospects, Davis plans to appear with former President Bill Clinton at a black church in Los Angeles. Former Vice President Al Gore plans to be in California next Friday to campaign with Davis at two events -- one in the morning in Los Angeles, and an environmental event in the afternoon in San Francisco, Davis campaign officials said. Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bob Graham of Florida and Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts also plan to stump for the governor in California in the coming week, the officials said.
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