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No Democrat would run, DNC chairman predicts McAuliffe, speaking at a downtown Los Angeles news conference organized by recall opponents, said the party organized a conference call Wednesday with activists from every state, stressing the importance of supporting Davis. He expects the conference calls to become a daily event in the campaign, similar to what was organized for the 2000 Florida presidential election controversy. "There will not be a Democrat on this ballot," McAuliffe said. "Voters here in California need to understand that. When you go vote in the recall, you will not have a choice to then pick a Democrat, because we stand firmly 100 percent behind Gray Davis. No ifs, ands or buts." This week, proponents of the recall said they turned in the last of 1.6 million signatures, more than the 897,158 valid signatures from registered voters needed to force a recall election. County officials are validating signatures to see if the recall qualifies for the ballot. McAuliffe said he would oppose the recall on principle even if it were against a Republican governor because it seeks to overturn an election that occurred only eight months ago, and allows for the governor to be replaced with a candidate who receives only a small percentage of the vote. Recall proponents responded to the DNC chairman by saying their movement is comprised of California taxpayers and voters. "We're not afraid of anything the national Democratic Party is going to do," said Chris Wysocki, spokesman for Rescue California. "Really, this is a movement about taxpayers. It's amazing that people in Washington continually think that they know what Californians think more than Californians do." Bob Mulholland, campaign adviser to the state Democratic Party, predicted Democrats would muster a united team including former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore, along with some Republicans and chambers of commerce. The party's strategy, he said, will be to pit the Republican candidates against each other, similar to how Davis intervened in the Republican primary to help businessman Bill Simon win the primary over former Mayor Richard Riordan, leading to what many observers said was an easier general election victory for Davis. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, is the only Republican to formally declare his intent to run in the recall election. Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, state Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, Assemblyman Keith Richman, R-Granada Hills, Riordan and Simon are among the Republicans who are considering running. Issa spokesman Jonathan Wilcox laughed off Mulholland's threat. "We are neither intimidated nor impressed." ---
Harrison Sheppard can be reached at (213) 978-0390 and harrison.sheppard@dailynews.com.
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