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Schwarzenegger wins Simon endorsement as recall race resumes in earnest Instead of seeking to gain advantage by attacking Schwarzenegger as many had predicted he would, McClintock used the debate to play to his conservative base, repeating a pledge not to raise taxes and reminding voters he was the only candidate present who opposed abortion. "I steer a straight course and I stay that course, no matter what the pressure," McClintock said. Schwarzenegger also avoided engaging with McClintock, with whom he said he agreed on issues including what both describe as California's overspending and bad business climate. The actor saved his attacks for Bustamante and Huffington. At times, the sparring between Schwarzenegger and Huffington dominated the forum. At one point, Schwarzenegger took a shot at Huffington for targeting the Bush administration as the source of the state's problems. "If you want to campaign against Bush, go to New Hampshire," Schwarzenegger said. The tension between the two peaked when Schwarzenegger began to cut Huffington off and she said, "This is the way you treat women, we know that. But not now." Schwarzenegger replied, "I just realized that I have a perfect part for you in Terminator 4," getting laughs from the audience. After the debate, Huffington angrily accused Schwarzenegger of treating her badly. She said the "Terminator 4" comment was an offensive reference to a scene from "Terminator 3" in which Schwarzenegger's character stuffs a female terminator's head into a toilet. "That was such a clear and ambiguous indication of what he really thinks of women," she said. Schwarzenegger, by contrast, said the debate was "a fantastic experience" and described Huffington as "entertaining." The stakes were high for the debate, which was carried live on national cable networks including CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel. Questions ranged from how to balance the budget to whether the car tax increase should be repealed to what to do about health care. There were few surprises with the issues discussed as the candidates have all staked out positions on the major issues. But the diversity of views among the major candidates was amply displayed -- from Camejo's demands to tax the rich to McClintock's pledges never to raise taxes; from Bustamante's plea for driver's licenses for illegal immigrants to Schwarzenegger's insistence those licenses endanger California because they don't include background checks. Schwarzenegger's opponents had complained that the debate was overly scripted because questions were known in advance, but the lively forum was so unscripted that the moderator, Stan Statham, repeatedly had to break up verbal jousting and remind the candidates to stay on topic.
Davis was not on stage and was infrequently mentioned, but aides declared victory -- they said the debate highlighted the recall's circus-like aspects.
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