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Bustamante Seeks Distance and Support From Davis But in recent days, Davis has appeared to be edging toward accepting Bustamante's candidacy. "His entry in the race, I think, will actually help me by bringing out more people to vote no on the recall," the governor said during an appearance on CNN Sunday. "And clearly, he's the most qualified person." He would not go further. Republicans have seized on the governor's statements. Arnold Schwarzenegger's spokesman Sean Walsh called Bustamante the "Mini Me" to Davis' "Dr. Evil." The Republican actor himself on Monday called Bustamante "Gray Davis with a receding hairline and a mustache." GOP strategist Ken Khachigian said, "The biggest attack point on Bustamante is that he fits right into the Gray Davis mold." The very premise of Bustamante's candidacy places him in an odd situation. By telling voters they should reject the recall question — but vote for him in case it succeeds — the lieutenant governor has positioned himself as the only prominent candidate who is not making a case about why Davis should be replaced. The posture has its risks. "Appearing to be too close to Davis could be limiting his potential vote growth," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. "The trouble, though, is the more he separates from the governor and the more he campaigns for himself, the more he may be perceived as an opportunist." But others believe that Bustamante does not have to do much to distinguish himself from the governor. Unlike former Vice President Al Gore, who made an effort to distance himself from President Clinton during the 2000 election, Bustamante has not been publicly seen as the governor's right-hand man, said Democratic consultant Mark Fabiani, who served as Gore's communication director. "I don't think Cruz is seen as intertwined with Davis," Fabiani said. "People are just not used to seeing these guys as a team." When asked in an interview how he would distinguish himself from the current governor, Bustamante said that he would work well with the state Legislature, with which Davis has often been at odds. "I believe that politics, like good business, is based on relationships," said Bustamante, a former Assembly speaker. "And you need to always cultivate relationships with both sides of the aisle, with all the leaders." But he would not elaborate on what would be substantially different about a Bustamante administration. "I think probably our styles are somewhat different and some of the issues that we've dealt with are going to be dealt with differently," said Bustamante. The lieutenant governor has peppered his recent public remarks with implicit references to Davis' unpopularity. During a news conference last week, Bustamante suggested that the governor needed to show more humility in order to win over voters. "Californians are a very forgiving people," he added. "What they don't forgive is arrogance — arrogance in leadership, arrogance in government, arrogance in people." During a speech Saturday morning in the San Fernando Valley at the inauguration of City Councilman Tony Cardenas, the lieutenant governor did not directly address the recall issue. But, at one point, he did seem to be referring to the governor. "There are some politicians who think they are in charge, and they are wrong," Bustamante said. "Voters have an interesting way of being able to tell people, especially politicians, how they aren't in charge. They just don't vote for them again."
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