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Issa's bid to recall Davis simmered, then boiled "I never did any polling," Issa said. "But when you're going to be the standard-bearer for your party, it's something you have to think about. "I'm sitting there, post-9/11, and post those events, and saying, 'Am I going to be effective, or is the issue with Senator Boxer going to become an Arab-Israeli kind of thing?' Every day you'd wonder if someone was going to try to make it an issue." Issa insists the recall wasn't simply a way out of the Senate race. Californians, he says, need him more as governor. "The governor's representatives are going to talk about my ambition," Issa said. "But I took 20 years to build a business. The direction I want to go is not to make a quick buck, but to try to do the right thing. This certainly is a bold move, but I also think it's doing the right thing." Political analysts say it's also a strategic move for a conservative who lacks statewide name recognition. Should voters recall the governor, his replacement would be decided on the same ballot in a plurality election. If Democratic candidates crowded the field, cancelling one another's votes, and if Issa could persuade other Republicans to stay out of the race, he would fare better than in a standard election. "You could win with 30 percent of the vote," said Republican consultant Allan Hoffenblum. James Zogby, president of the Washington-based Arab American Institute, said Issa's ethnic background should not cost him votes in a gubernatorial campaign. "It ain't your grandfather's California," Zogby said. "My sense is more people will look at Darrell Issa in terms of his politics than his ethnicity." Issa's chances are slim, however, said Tony Quinn, a former Republican consultant and co-editor of the nonpartisan elections guide, "California Target Book." "If he's the one who's going to provide the wherewithal to end Davis' career, it doesn't necessarily follow that the public then chooses him to be the successor," Quinn said. "It's much more likely, if they decide to end Davis' career, that they'd choose a known name they're more comfortable with." But Issa can hold onto his seat in Congress during a recall effort that, if it accomplishes nothing else, may help him build a base should he run for California's other Senate seat in 2006. Issa says the governor should worry more about his own low approval ratings, last measured at 24 percent, than about who is challenging him, or why. "If a million Californians feel we're better off with a replacement, he should deal with that rather than focusing on me," Issa said. "And if a million people don't, he's got nothing to worry about."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About the Writer --------------------------- The Bee's Margaret Talev can be reached at (916) 326-5540 or mtalev@sacbee.com. |
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