A day after California's recall ballot was set, TV commentator Arianna Huffington attacked rival candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday as a "Bush Republican" with ties to the Enron scandal as she juggled questions about her own tax returns.
Schwarzenegger attended commencement ceremonies for an after-school program in Woodland Hills, saying that George Shultz, the secretary of State under President Reagan, will join his campaign team as an economic advisor.
Bill Simon Jr. took his campaign to Palm Springs.
School location -- An article in Section A on Friday about gubernatorial recall candidates incorrectly located Mulholland Middle School in Woodland Hills. The school, where Arnold Schwarzenegger made an appearance, is in Van Nuys.
A group of broadcasters announced a Sept. 17 debate in Sacramento in which all of the top-polling candidates will be invited. The roundtable debate will be held on the campus of Cal State Sacramento and broadcast on radio and television.
The California Broadcasters Assn. said that any candidate who receives 10% support or more in the Field Poll, the Public Policy Institute of California poll or the Los Angeles Times Poll before Sept. 5 can participate.
On the legal front, a Sacramento County judge denied a request to delay the vote on Proposition 54, which will appear on the same Oct. 7 ballot as the recall. The initiative would prevent public agencies from collecting and using most kinds of racial and ethnic data.
Lawyers for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund argued that rushing the initiative onto the ballot violates state election laws requiring voter information pamphlets to be prepared 100 days before the election.
But Superior Court Judge Lloyd G. Connelly ruled that the state Constitution mandates that the initiative go on the next statewide ballot, even though it violates the election code. The pamphlets will be prepared just 57 days early.
Arianna Huffington
Huffington appeared in a sun-drenched park across the street from the Beverly Hills Hotel on Thursday to raise questions about Schwarzenegger's connections to former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay.
She said Schwarzenegger and the onetime energy titan had met at the hotel in May 2001, in the midst of a California energy crisis fueled by Enron and other companies' market manipulation.
"Arnold Schwarzenegger has positioned himself as the people's governor, who is not going to be driven by political interests on either side of the aisle," she said. "Then what was he doing cozying up with Ken Lay, Mr. Special Interest himself?"
