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Schwarzenneger muscling his way into Governor territory
Los Angeles, June 22: California`s beleaguered governor Gray Davis could be facing a new threat to his job, as Hollywood action star Arnold Schwarzenegger looks poised to muscle in on a bid to end his leadership.
Los Angeles, June 22: California's beleaguered governor Gray Davis could be facing a new threat to his job, as Hollywood action star Arnold Schwarzenegger looks poised to muscle in on a bid to end his leadership.
As a drive to force early elections to end Davis's mandate just five months after he began his second term gathers momentum, the "Terminator" actor is emerging as a serious candidate to replace him, analysts said.
"The effort to recall the governor has suddenly got very serious, and Davis and the democrats are now treating it as such," said University of Southern California political expert Sherry Bebitch Jeffe. "And as this happens, I think Schwarzenegger is looking very hard at (running). He's got what it takes: money, name recognition, and the media seem to love him. "It's certainly not an impossibility that he'll be a serious candidate, and quite frankly, looking down the road, he probably can't see him self going on to make 'Terminator 22,' anyway," she told reporters.
The so-called recall vote movement began slowly in February, when a group of republicans filed papers claiming the state's ballooning budget deficit and its 2000-2001 energy crisis made him unfit to govern.
But while the drive for early polls started slowly, Davis is a very appealing target for political foes as the state budget deficit hits 38.2 billion dollars and his popularity rating plunges to an all-time low. Recall organizers say they have already gathered around 795,500 of the 900,000-odd signatures needed to force a referendum on whether to hold fresh polls.
Bureau Report
As a drive to force early elections to end Davis's mandate just five months after he began his second term gathers momentum, the "Terminator" actor is emerging as a serious candidate to replace him, analysts said.
"The effort to recall the governor has suddenly got very serious, and Davis and the democrats are now treating it as such," said University of Southern California political expert Sherry Bebitch Jeffe. "And as this happens, I think Schwarzenegger is looking very hard at (running). He's got what it takes: money, name recognition, and the media seem to love him. "It's certainly not an impossibility that he'll be a serious candidate, and quite frankly, looking down the road, he probably can't see him self going on to make 'Terminator 22,' anyway," she told reporters.
The so-called recall vote movement began slowly in February, when a group of republicans filed papers claiming the state's ballooning budget deficit and its 2000-2001 energy crisis made him unfit to govern.
But while the drive for early polls started slowly, Davis is a very appealing target for political foes as the state budget deficit hits 38.2 billion dollars and his popularity rating plunges to an all-time low. Recall organizers say they have already gathered around 795,500 of the 900,000-odd signatures needed to force a referendum on whether to hold fresh polls.
Bureau Report