I'm on the opposite coast, and yet I still don't feel far enough away...
ripped blatantly from ^^^
FREEWHEELING EXCHANGE: FRONT-RUNNERS ARE MAIN TARGETS AS CANDIDATES FIGHT TO STAND OUT
By Dion Nissenbaum and Ann E. Marimow
Mercury News
SACRAMENTO - In a freewheeling forum Wednesday night that swung between near chaos and wonkish debate, the top two candidates in California's recall election sought to distinguish themselves from the pack as they came under fire for accepting special-interest money and failing to offer a clear vision for the struggling state.
Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, appearing together for the first time, both tried to shake off relentless attacks from independent candidate Arianna Huffington and demonstrate their grasp of complex issues.
The nationally televised debate gave most Californians their first, best and probably only chance to see the five major candidates in the Oct. 7 recall square off.
While Huffington tried to raise her standing by going on the attack, conservative state Sen. Tom McClintock and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo kept their sights on the issues and tried for the most part to remain above the chaotic bickering that sometimes overwhelmed the 90-minute debate.
In the only debate in which Schwarzenegger had agreed to appear, much of the focus turned to the actor, who has been criticized as offering simplistic solutions to California's complex problems.
Schwarzenegger tried to portray himself as a no-nonsense outsider who would bring commonsense values to Sacramento. The actor accused Democrats of having a fiscal ``addiction problem.''
``They keep spending and spending and spending. Then, when they realize they made a mistake, and they've spent money they don't really have,'' he said, ``then they go out, they go tax, tax, tax. That's the answer to the problem?
``If you have spend, spend, spend, then you have tax, tax, tax. Then, all of a sudden, you say, where are the jobs? Gone, gone, gone.''
Quip criticizedTrailing in the polls, Huffington tried to distinguish herself with assaults on Schwarzenegger. But she drew boos from the crowd when she tried to silence Schwarzenegger for cutting her off by raising an issue that has dogged him throughout the race -- his history of boorish behavior and insensitive comments about women.
``Let me finish. This is very impolite,'' she said. ``This is the way you treat women. We know that.''
In response, as he did throughout the debate, Schwarzenegger turned to a one-liner. ``I just realized I have the perfect part for you in `Terminator 4,' '' said Schwarzenegger, who played opposite a young female villain in ``Terminator 3'' and has joked in the past about slamming the character's head into a toilet in the film.
After the debate, Huffington called the quip ``offensive'' and accused Schwarzenegger of belittling her as the only woman in the forum.
``I have never in hundreds of debates that I've participated in been treated the way that Arnold Schwarzenegger treated me tonight,'' said Huffington, who urged women to reconsider voting for him.
Schwarzenegger representative Sean Walsh later called her comments ``a sad attempt to get media attention for a person who is but an asterisk in the polls.''
While the list of questions for Wednesday's forum was provided in advance, the topics -- which ranged from the state budget to building a colorblind society -- became a springboard for a wide-ranging debate between the five candidates that sometimes devolved into shouting and sniping as several tried to talk either at once or over one another.
``This isn't Comedy Central, I swear,'' said moderator Stan Statham of the California Broadcasters Association.
Still, the forum cast a spotlight on the differences between the candidates.
As the top elected official on the panel, Bustamante sought to appear like a statesman and for the most part avoided being drawn into the attacks, focusing instead on education and working families. He appeared bemused as both Huffington and Schwarzenegger tried to cut him off.
As California's highest-ranking Latino politician, Bustamante drew applause from the audience when he offered a strong defense of giving health care to the children of illegal immigrants.
``The thing you shouldn't do is take it out on the kids,'' he said. ``It's not their fault that their parents are here.''
Illegal immigrants, he said, toil in California's fields, clean up after hotel guests and build homes across the state.
``For them not to be able to have a driver's license or be able to put their kids into school is just wrong,'' he said.
While Huffington trained most of her fire on Schwarzenegger, she also took jabs at Bustamante, who has been under fire for accepting millions from Indian tribes that run lucrative casinos in California. In one swipe, she played off Bustamante's ``tough love'' budget plan to raise taxes on smokers and wealthy Californians.
``There's tough love for everybody except Indian gaming tribes and the prison-guard union, and that's exactly the problem here,'' said Huffington, who also criticized Schwarzenegger for taking money from big business. ``There's tough love for everybody except your big campaign contributors.''
Focus on issuesWith Schwarzenegger and Bustamante running neck-and-neck in the polls, a growing number of Republicans are calling on third-place McClintock to drop out. While many analysts expected McClintock to go on the attack, the state lawmaker focused instead on the issues that have driven his campaign -- cutting state spending, abolishing the vehicle-license fee and bringing his conservative views to the governor's office. He emphasized his position as the only major candidate who opposes abortion, opposes restrictive gun-control measures and has signed a no-new-taxes pledge.
``There's one thing that everyone -- friend and foe alike -- agrees about Tom McClintock, and that is: When I make a promise, I keep it,'' he said. ``I steer a straight course and I stay that course no matter what the pressure.
``Here is my commitment to the people of California: I will cut spending and balance the budget without a tax increase -- and that is a promise.''
After the debate, he also promised to stay in the race.
Camejo tried to distinguish himself as the true progressive who would fight to make sure the richest Californians pay what he called their fair share of taxes to help solve the state budget crisis.
And, between jabs at Schwarzenegger and Bustamante, Huffington portrayed herself as the real alternative candidate, someone who would avoid business as usual in Sacramento while focusing on the concerns of a mother.
Supporters rallyThe forum was perhaps the most closely watched political debate in California history. More than 500 people packed the ballroom at California State University-Sacramento, and more than 400 journalists -- from ``Entertainment Tonight'' to a Japanese television station -- descended on the campus for the event.
Outside, a microcosm of the recall debate played out on the sidewalk. On one side, Schwarzenegger supporters chanted ``Yes on Arnold, yes on recall.'' On the other, backers of Gov. Gray Davis, whose aides said he planned to watch the debate, lined up alongside members of the National Organization for Women. Less visible were supporters of McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, who shouted to Schwarzenegger backers to ``vote on principle.''