California voters to decide recall issue

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Arnold Schwarzenegger tried to maintain his momentum amid sexual-misconduct allegations while Gov. Gray Davis pleaded to keep his job Monday as the California recall candidates barnstormed the state in the final hours of the historic campaign.

Looming over all of the day's events were the allegations by 16 women who have come forward over the past week to say Schwarzenegger groped them and sometimes made crude comments during encounters dating from 1970 to 2000. Schwarzenegger has acknowledged that he "behaved badly sometimes" but has denounced some of the accusations as dirty politics.

Schwarzenegger ignored the allegations Monday during campaign appearances in San Jose and Huntington Beach, and he marshaled the support of his wife, Maria Shriver, and mother-in-law, Eunice Kennedy Shriver. The elder Shriver called Schwar-zenegger an "example of a great public servant" and greeted him with a kiss at the San Jose event.

In San Francisco, Davis was greeted by some 2,500 firefighters, mostly clad in navy blue "No Recall" T-shirts, who marched in opposition to the recall.

"If you give me the chance to finish my term, I will do it with all the passion, all the humanity I can muster because my goal is to make your life better," Davis said.

As Schwarzenegger took the stage in San Jose flanked by dozens of beaming women supporters, he said, "To all the incredible women, thank you."

The "Terminator" star then launched into a 10-minute speech accusing Davis of being a politician who only knows how to "spend, spend, spend" and "tax, tax tax."

"Look what this administration has done this last five years to us ... they're chasing jobs and businesses out of the state and now it is time we chase Gray Davis out of Sacramento," the Republican said.

Schwarzenegger later addressed the misconduct accusations briefly during a phone interview with conservative talk show host Sean Hannity, complaining that his opponents were "throwing everything at me plus the kitchen sink." He also accused Davis of sending "surrogate women" out onto the campaign trail to find other women who would lodge complaints against him.

Davis, who has repeatedly denied being involved in the allegations, said Schwarzenegger had only himself to blame, adding he has no reason to doubt the actor's accusers.

"It's frankly hard for me to believe that any of them are lying," Davis said.

At a campaign appearance in East Los Angeles, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante said his internal polls show him closing on Schwarzenegger in the race to replace Davis if the governor is recalled Tuesday.

"Frankly, there's a lot of people who feel he's not fit to be the governor," Bustamante said of Schwarzenegger.

More than 1,000 members of the United Farm Workers union planned to spend the final hours of the campaign knocking on doors throughout the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Coast telling Latinos that the union and Bustamante urge them to vote against the recall, said UFW Treasury Secretary Tanis Ybarra.

Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock, who has been pressured by GOP leaders to drop out of the race so he wouldn't split the vote with Schwarzenegger, said he was skeptical of the harassment complaints, particularly because they came during the campaign's 11th hour. But he also indicated they were boosting his standing among voters.

"People are saying 'Thank God you stayed in the race,"' McClintock told MSNBC-TV.

A poll conducted by Elway-McGuire Research for Knight Ridder from Wednesday through Saturday found the percentage of people saying they would definitely vote to oust Davis dropped from 52 percent Wednesday to 44 percent Saturday. Pollsters surveyed 1,000 registered voters, including 284 people on Wednesday and 200 on Saturday. The poll had an overall margin of error of 3 percentage points, but the margin of error for individual days was not given.

The Los Angeles Times first reported the accusations in its Thursday editions.

Although those definitely planning to vote to oust Davis had slipped to 44 percent, the margin supporting the recall was still 54 percent among overall voters.

"The campaign is not losing momentum," Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Karen Hanretty told CBS' "The Early Show" on Monday.

Hanretty did not answer directly when asked if any of the women had lied. Instead, she accused the Los Angeles Times of not investigating their claims thoroughly.

Schwarzenegger hasn't discussed most of the specific allegations and said Sunday he wouldn't until the campaign is over. He said he cannot remember some of the alleged incidents, which would have occurred 20 or more years ago.

Along the campaign trail, some Schwarzenegger supporters said they weren't bothered by the accusations.

"If we're going to look for politicians who are perfect we aren't going to find one," said Beth Hobbs, 53, who attended the San Jose rally with her family.