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Davis strategy: attack Issa Just after leaders of the recall-Davis campaign declared Monday that they have submitted nearly twice the necessary signatures to trigger an election, a senior state Democratic party adviser took to the same Capitol steps to deflect criticism of Davis and to assail the recall drive's main financial backer. "I will guarantee you: Darrell Issa will be much of the issue" in the campaign against a recall, Bob Mulholland said of the Southern California congressman and car alarm magnate whose wealth fueled the drive. As the only declared Republican challenger, Issa is drawing additional fire. Davis has beaten the odds before by lighting into opponents, and the 30-year political veteran probably will pull no punches in the all-but-certain recall election, political analysts said. "If he spends all his time simply defending his own stewardship, he has a lot to answer for," said Jack Pitney, Claremont McKenna College political scientist. "A winning strategy is to frame the election (as Davis) versus a Republican demon. If it's Davis versus Davis, Davis loses." Davis has demonized opponents before. He attacked Dan Lungren as a right-wing Republican in the 1998 gubernatorial race and in the 1992 Senate primary compared fellow Democrat Dianne Feinstein to Leona Helmsley, the infamous hotelier jailed for income tax evasion. Attacking hard "is standard operating procedure" for Davis, Pitney said. "It's worked for him in the past and could work for him again." The governor's advisers said Monday his record is nothing to avoid, but the goal now is to raise concerns about the recall's backers and its consequences. Like lawyers for an unsympathetic client before a hostile jury, they want at least to raise enough doubt that even voters who dislike Davis will stop short of voting to oust him. The anti-recall campaign is attacking Issa as a conservative trying to buy a second shot at an election Republicans couldn't win last year and that may cost taxpayers an estimated $25 million to $35 million. Expect an aggressive campaign, Davis advisers said. "This (recall drive) is financed largely by one man, Darrell Issa, who is financing this not for any kind of good-government reason but because Darrell Issa wants to be governor," said David Doak, a Davis media adviser. Recall backers counter that the election cost is small compared to the state's mounting, multibillion-dollar budget deficit. They maintain as well that they have broad political support. "Truly, the people have grown weary of Gray Davis after five years," David Gilliard, of the Rescue California Recall Gray Davis political action committee, said Monday. Davis advisers counter that it is quite another thing for voters to boot Davis without knowing much, if anything, about who might replace him. The peculiarities of a recall election could result in a new governor taking office the next day with a mere fraction of the vote. "Who are these people who put this thing on the ballot? What do they stand for?" asked Paul Maslin, a pollster and Davis adviser.
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Times staff writer Andrew LaMar contributed to this report.
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