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Schwarzenegger declines first debateBustamante criticizes actor's link to former Gov. Pete Wilson
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger won't take part in a debate among the leading California recall candidates scheduled to take place this week, a campaign aide said Sunday. Polls show Schwarzenegger is the leading Republican in the field of more than 100 candidates vying to replace California Gov. Gray Davis in the October 7 recall. The state's Democratic chairman accused the action-movie star of "ducking" rival candidates by avoiding the recall campaign's first scheduled debate. Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, the race's leading Democrat, Republicans Tom McClintock and Peter Ueberroth, independent Arianna Huffington and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo have agreed to take part in Wednesday's forum, sponsored by television station KTVU and the Contra Costa Times. Rep. David Dreier, Schwarzenegger's campaign co-chairman, said the campaign was talking with broadcasters about another debate forum, one sponsored by the California Broadcasters Association. But "it won't be this one that's coming up," the Republican congressman said on CNN's "Late Edition." The CBA debate is scheduled for the third week in September. California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres accused Schwarzenegger of "ducking the debates because he's not prepared. "Every time he's asked questions, he uses the old Reagan trick -- 'Oh, I can't hear you' or 'Oh, I don't know' or 'I don't remember.' At some point, that's going to catch up to him," Torres said on "Late Edition." Californians will decide October 7 whether to oust Davis and choose his successor from a list of 135 candidates. A Los Angeles Times poll last week showed that half of state voters support recalling Davis, with Bustamante topping the list of possible successors. Immigration viewsSchwarzenegger's high-profile campaign has faced questions from left and right. Bustamante tried Sunday to link Schwarzenegger's views on immigration issues to those of former Gov. Pete Wilson, which were unpopular among California's large Latino population. Wilson is co-chairman of the Schwarzenegger campaign, and many of his former aides are working on the actor's behalf. "As far as I'm concerned, Arnold's going back to the same wedge-issue politics that his mentor Pete Wilson suggested to the state of California," Bustamante said on "Late Edition" "It was a time of division in California. He's wrong in doing this, and he's not going to get a pass from me," said Bustamante, who is Latino and was born in California. Schwarzenegger, a naturalized U.S. citizen, said in a radio interview last week that he does not support giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, but he said the question of what services to offer them was "an issue with the federal government." California unions that have endorsed Bustamante have distributed photographs that show Schwarzenegger hugging Wilson. Tax, budget issuesMcClintock, also appearing on "Late Edition," questioned the actor's commitment to low taxes. Referring to the presence of Wilson and his advisers on Schwarzenegger's team, McClintock said the actor "has surrounded himself with the same team that imposed the biggest tax increase by any state in American history right here in California in 1991." Wilson, who served as governor from 1991 to 1999, faced a budget crisis similar to the one that has threatened to cut short Davis' term in office. Dreier said Schwarzenegger -- who was endorsed by the anti-tax Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Foundation last week -- was opposed to new taxes. Budget woes have been blamed for Davis' approval ratings, which polls show have plummeted to barely 25 percent. The state faced a $38 billion budget shortfall earlier this year. A recent agreement between Democratic and Republican legislators in Sacramento eliminated it through cuts and borrowing, but the plan created an expected shortfall of at least $8 billion for the next fiscal year. Davis said on ABC's "This Week" that Schwarzenegger had no grounds to criticize his administration "until he tells us how would he have solved the $38 billion problem. "I think candidates who say, 'No cuts whatsoever' ought to stand up and be strong enough to say, 'And here are the cuts I'm making,' " Davis said. The Democrats did not attempt to make hay out of a 1977 interview Schwarzenegger gave to the now-defunct adult magazine Oui in which he discussed group sex and drug use. Schwarzenegger said Thursday that he could not remember the interview, which was reprinted on the Web site www.thesmokinggun.com. Gambling regulationSchwarzenegger, meanwhile, has been focusing his campaign on Davis, calling the governor's plan to allow Native American tribes with casino interests to recommend candidates for a board that oversees gambling "unfortunate and misguided." Allowing the tribes to recommend board members creates potential questions of conflicts of interest and undermines the board's credibility, Schwarzenegger said Saturday. "This is yet another example of Davis putting his own political interest ahead of the public interest," Schwarzenegger said. "I oppose this decision and I call upon Governor Davis to immediately reconsider and reverse it." Davis has accepted nearly $2 million from casino-owning tribes since his 1998 run for governor but has received none from them since the recall began, his campaign staff said. He said Sunday that any candidates for the regulatory board would have experience in regulating the industry. "There'll be no candidates referred to me who are members of gaming tribes," he said.
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