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Issa makes it official: He's running Asked why so many state Republicans appeared to be putting the Davis recall first on the GOP agenda, Parsky said, "I understand why people would be upset with the financial condition in California, but my priority is the re-election of the president and to be sure that there are financial resources within the GOP -- and otherwise -- to make sure that happens." Parsky told the crowd in Solvang that the recall effort appears headed for the ballot, and he urged voters to find a candidate who shares Bush's appeal. Later, Issa appeared at a shopping center in Huntington Beach to rally support for the recall campaign. A parade of voters wandered by a folding card table where Marilyn Hlebo, a retiree from Huntington Beach, was gathering signatures. "It's all about the accountability of a person in office," she said. "If we show Gray Davis, this may strike a little chord of fear into the rest of these guys." Many said they'd already signed the petition but would do so again. "I've already recalled him in my heart," one woman said. Russell Morrissey of Huntington Beach eagerly signed the petition, saying, "What a turkey he is. I'd rather have Congressman Issa as governor myself, but anybody is better than Gray Davis." Mingling with the crowd, Issa said, "This summer is going to be a great summer . . . total recall for California." Asked whether he was clearing the way for other GOP candidates, such as Schwarzenegger, Issa said anyone was better than Davis. Meanwhile, Democratic Party Chair Art Torres, who met Saturday with labor leaders in Oakland to discuss the recall effort, said his party is preparing an all-out war against the campaign to oust Davis. "They're losers," he said of Republicans eager to challenge Davis. "Not a single one of them has won a statewide election." Asked who the Democrats will offer as an alternative to what could be a host of GOP contenders, Torres said: "Gray Davis." He steadfastly resisted the suggestion that a Democrat might challenge Davis. Pressed on whether Democrats might have to offer an alternative -- such as Sen. Dianne Feinstein -- should Davis face a recall, Torres said, "I haven't even come to that bridge yet." Torres said the coming weeks will show Californians that the recall campaign is "a total lynching" of a sitting governor by opponents unable to find any wrongdoing by Davis worthy of tossing him from office. And, he said, Republicans must be reminded of the ripple effect of their effort. "If this goes through here, who knows what (Democrats) will do in other states," he said. Despite Issa's talk Saturday, some Republicans still need to be convinced of the value of a recall -- particularly as the state Legislature and Davis battle to forge a budget. "My concern is that a partisan battle could occur simultaneously with a historic crisis of California finances," former state Assemblyman Brooks Firestone told the Associated Press. He said the recall could divert attention from the state's $38.2 billion budget crisis, which could then be handed off to a Republican should Davis be recalled. The governor's supporters this week launched their own effort to remind California's pro-choice, anti-gun voters that a recall could see Davis replaced with a far more conservative leader.
Chris Lehane, a leading Democratic strategist, said the party will get out the message that, should the recall qualify for the ballot, "the real losers will be the people of California. We had an
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