KMAX: News of the West

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) Adapting an old playground taunt to the election to replace Gov. Gray Davis if he's recalled, Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger is turning out to be rubber, while Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante is coming up as glue, analysts say.

Accusations of sexual misconduct are just beginning to plague Schwarzenegger with only several days until the election while Bustamante got hit hard early on with allegations of fund-raising misdeeds.

Throughout the short campaign, Schwarzenegger has mostly brushed off his problems using his star status and a media savvy team, analysts say. Bustamante's problems have stuck as he continues to get hammered with negative attacks.

Acknowledging that Bustamante is struggling, State Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres said he would have told Bustamante to stay out of the race if Bustamante had asked him.

Still, Torres said, ``this was the best opportunity for Arnold and Cruz to run for governor. And it's not fair to judge him (Bustamante) in a typical light.''

Facing a Republican competitor worth millions, Bustamante has lacked the resources and the money to fight back.

``We just don't have the resources, never had the resources,'' said Bustamante campaign consultant Richie Ross. ``We got on TV three weeks after everyone for a reason, and it wasn't a strategic reason.

``But I still think Cruz is close enough that if we can catch a break, one break, things could go the other way,'' Ross said.

The latest survey released Friday by the Field Research Corp. found Schwarzenegger winning support from 36 percent of voters, Bustamante with 26 percent and Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock with 16 percent.

The poll was taken before the latest controversies surrounding Schwarzenegger surfaced.

It's too soon to tell how the accusations of sexual misconduct and allegations that he once told an interviewer he admired Adolf Hitler could affect voter support for Schwarzenegger, analysts say. But so far, he has deflected criticism and redirected it toward his Democratic opponent.

``Schwarzenegger is Teflon. Bustamante is Velcro,'' said Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College.

``The key thing is that if Schwarzenegger understands nothing else, he understands the media,'' Pitney said.

If other stories emerge as they did Friday things could get worse for Schwarzenegger, Pitney said. But hundreds of thousand of absentee votes have already been cast, and they can't be taken back, he noted.

Bustamante has struggled to fight off charges that he skirted campaign finance laws to raise millions of dollars from Indians and unions. Although Schwarzenegger said he wouldn't take special-interest money and then did, he has largely deflected the problems. Bustamante hasn't been so lucky.

``Voters evaluate celebrities differently than they do conventional politicians,'' said Darrell West, a political science professor at Brown University and author of the recently released book, ``Celebrity Politics.''

``They expect them to have led unconventional lives so it's no surprise when personal indiscretions come out,'' West added. ``With conventional politicians, we evaluate them based on what they have done. And Bustamante's problem is he doesn't have a distinguished record that will insulate him from negative charges.''

Ross said it's all about timing.

``Cruz's issues came up at a period in the campaign when there was nothing to cover and the press was under legitimate demands ... to generate stories,'' Ross said. ``I think it's just bad luck. Had these revelations (about Schwarzenegger) come out three weeks ago, I'd have a better chance at being governor than him.''

``But underneath this story,'' he added, ``is two years of dissatisfaction with, and I'm not going to say the governor because that would be unfair, but with the political leadership coming out of Sacramento.''