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Recall petitions certified "The last thing she may want is to be part of something as a bystander where you get attacked by the media," he recently told TV Guide. Allegations of infidelity and boorish behavior toward women have already surfaced in several media accounts, as have Schwarzenegger's past admissions of smoking marijuana and taking steroids during his body-building career. Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a University of Southern California political analyst, said all of this would be dredged up in a political campaign, especially one against Davis, the "king of negative advertising." Schwarzenegger has talked often about entering politics, and his interest seemed to grow as he touted his latest movie, "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines." He was well-received as he campaigned last year for a statewide child-care initiative, and generated a surfeit of publicity about his interest in politics on his latest publicity tour. He appeared on the cover of Esquire magazine and was featured in several other national publications. Entertainment Weekly noted that Schwarzenegger's celebrity "gains with this political peekaboo. ... Truth is, he hasn't been this interesting in years. And the timing couldn't be better." While Schwarzenegger and other candidates pondered their options, opponents and supporters of the governor spent the day milling outside the secretary of state's office. In the shadow of the state Capitol, dozens jammed the entrance to an adjacent Mexican restaurant. Tempers rose and fell with the passing hours and shifting summer storm clouds, as all awaited Shelley's announcement. "What's it they say?" remarked a sweating and bewildered David Gilliard, director of pro-recall group Rescue California. "Set up a tent. The circus will come." There was jubilance. "You're a cult hero!" conservative local talk radio host Eric Hogue proclaimed to anti-tax activist Ted Costa, who launched the recall drive in February, during a live remote broadcast. There was frustration. "Get out from behind your sign, you coward!" Democratic Party campaign consultant Bob Mulholland bellowed at a youthful marcher who was advocating Issa as a replacement for Davis. And there was mischief. While Shelley is a Democrat, many of his staff members are holdovers from his Republican predecessor. A handful of them converged at their office windows to wave greetings and give thumbs-ups to recall supporters below. Inside the Capitol, a whiff of smoke still permeated the area known as the "horseshoe," where the governor and his executive staff work. In what some on staff glumly joked was a manifestation of the political Armageddon, a small electrical fire had broken out the night before in the office of Davis' deputy chief of staff, Michael Bustamante. Bustamante is on leave, to serve as communications director for Taxpayers Against the Governor's Recall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About the Writer --------------------------- The Bee's Margaret Talev can be reached at (916) 326-5540 or mtalev@sacbee.com.
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