Jerry Brown says it’s Arnold’s race to lose

A key California Democrat yesterday all but conceded the gubernatorial race to Arnold Schwarzenegger, while the state’s senior U.S. senator focused on saving the party rather than Gov. Gray Davis.

“I think Davis right now, obviously, is the underdog. Schwarzenegger is basically the incumbent,” said former Gov. Jerry Brown, mayor of Oakland.

“He is on [the cover of] Time and Newsweek. He is the popular man. And with all this flurry, he is on top. It’s his to lose,” Mr. Brown said on CNN’s “Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer.”

Mr. Brown described himself as a loyal Democrat who supports Mr. Davis, a Democrat, but said a “recall is a significant possibility, if not a probability,” and suggested he might even vote for the action-hero actor.

“If Schwarzenegger has an answer to the revenue crisis, and he can get … criminals off the streets of Oakland, [even] I may vote for him,” Mr. Brown said.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein meanwhile told NBC’s “Meet The Press” that it is the recall process that should be defeated.

“My position is very simple: Californians, vote no on the recall. This is not good for the state. The uncertainty, the instability that’s created is not a positive thing. We don’t need to take two months out for a kind of circus of an election. Just say no,” the Democratic senator said.

Mrs. Feinstein described herself as a former “victim” of Mr. Davis’ negative campaign tactics during his failed attempt to defeat her in the 1992 Senate race, during which he compared her to tax-evader Leona Helmsley.

Mrs. Feinstein said she hoped Mr. Davis has learned a lesson and runs a clean campaign.

“I think a negative campaign is a big mistake. People need to see Gray Davis, governor of the largest state of the union, in a positive mode,” she said.

Attorney General Bill Lockyer, a Democrat, issued a similar warning to the governor last week: “Run the kind of trashy, puke campaign you did last year, and a lot of prominent Democrats will vote to recall you.”

Mr. Davis was re-elected to his second term in November by defeating businessman Bill Simon. The Los Angeles Times said it was “a slashingly negative campaign and alienation among blacks and Latinos combined to produce the record low turnout … that gave Gov. Gray Davis the political fright of his life.”

A Time/CNN poll conducted Friday found 54 percent in favor of a recall and 35 percent against if the Oct. 7 election were held today.

Mr. Schwarzenegger received 25 percent of the support among eight candidates included in the poll of 508 registered voters with a 4.3 percentage-point margin of error. Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, a Democratic candidate, received 15 percent.

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