California GOP leaders discuss unity
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Arianna Huffington and Arnold Schwarzenegger confront each other.
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LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Republican leaders from across California were to meet Thursday to discuss a strategy for "uniting" the party ahead of the October 7 recall election to prevent Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante from taking over if Gov. Gray Davis is voted out.
The special meeting of the state's 58 county GOP chairmen comes a day after a debate in which Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock held his own against GOP front-runner Arnold Schwarzenegger -- and vowed not to drop out of the race to clear the field for the actor-turned-politician. (Full story)
"Let me make this as clear as I can. When I entered this race, I made a promise to stay in it to the finish line. And I keep my promises," McClintock told reporters after the debate.
McClintock, who has been rising in the polls, said he believes he has enough momentum to win the election, which is just 12 days away.
The meeting of the California Republican County Chairmen's Association, which was scheduled for 1 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) in Sacramento, was called by the group's chairman, Ron Nehring, after a request from a dozen county chairman, according to a statement for the group.
The purpose of the meeting is to discuss party unity "and the impact this has on the twin missions of defeating Gray Davis and his sidekick, Cruz Bustamante," the statement said.
The chairmen will appear at a news conference afterward to discuss "actions" taken at the meeting.
The latest poll in the recall race, by the Public Policy Institute of California, showed Bustamante with support from 28 percent of likely voters, Schwarzenegger with 26 percent and McClintock with 14 percent. With a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points, Bustamante and Schwarzenegger were locked in a statistical tie.
A number of Republicans have been pressuring McClintock to get out, fearing that a division in the GOP vote will allow Bustamante to squeak through to victory.
Bustamante is the only major Democrat in the race, and California has nearly 1.4 million more registered Democrats than Republicans. However, nearly 3.1 million independents hold the balance of power between the two parties.
Schwarzenegger is set to pick up a key endorsement Friday from Rep. Darrell Issa, the man who used his personal fortune to finance the petition campaign that triggered the recall, sources close to Issa told CNN.
Issa, a multi-millionaire Republican congressman from San Diego County, largely financed the recall initiative and planned to run for governor on the replacement ballot. But he dropped out after Schwarzenegger entered the race.
McClintock and Schwarzenegger didn't engage in any contentious exchanges during Wednesday's event, which was Schwarzenegger's lone scheduled debate appearance during the campaign. But the state senator from Ventura County clearly sought to establish himself as the more conservative of the two. (Related story)
McClintock emphasized his pledge not to raise taxes under any circumstances and his opposition to abortion rights, gun control and providing public services to illegal immigrants.
The more moderate Schwarzenegger, by contrast, supports abortion rights and some gun control measures, and he has said that while he doesn't plan to raise taxes, he won't absolutely rule it out.
In the debate, Schwarzenegger also said he would support making health care available to children of low-income illegal immigrants through an existing state program.
The two Republican candidates also differed on Proposition 54, a controversial measure also on the October 7 ballot that would prohibit the state from collecting information about race. Schwarzenegger opposes it, but McClintock highlighted his support for the measure in Wednesday's debate.
"Proposition 54 simply says that our government has got to stop classifying us by race," McClintock said. "It doesn't matter what race you are. The government should treat everyone exactly the same."
