| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
LOS ANGELES (AP) For Gov. Gray Davis, the final stop Tuesday of his two-and-a-half month campaign to keep his job was the downtown Los Angeles hotel where he celebrated his election as California's governor.
Five years later, Davis was returning to the Biltmore Hotel as the least popular figure in modern California political history and the target of an unprecedented bid to oust him from office just a year into his second term.
Where crowds had swarmed in previous years, there was silence. In the hotel's Crystal Room, where the governor was expected to address the crowd later Tuesday night, reporters outnumbered Davis supporters.
``I've been at a lot of functions at the Biltmore where everybody is upbeat but not tonight,'' said Paul Bechley of the Laborers' Union.
Davis was having dinner with his mother, wife and two family members, said Peter Ragone, a spokesman for the governor.
Even if their boss wasn't ready to concede defeat, some of his loyal supporters were.
``Being a Democrat, we've had a lot of successful nights here,'' said Bob Mulholland, state Democratic party spokesman. ``This is not one of those nights.
``As the governor said, `We've had worse days in Vietnam,' Mulholland said.