WASHINGTON — With concerns that intervention could create more problems than it solves, the White House appears to be remaining hands-off in the California gubernatorial recall, even as the Republican field narrows to just two leading contenders, GOP sources say.
In Washington and California, many Republican leaders are growing concerned that even if Gov. Gray Davis is recalled, the Democrats will retain the office if both actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and conservative state Sen. Tom McClintock remain in the race, splitting the Republican vote and handing victory to Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.
Despite the concerns, the White House and the Republican National Committee have continued to steer clear of any direct effort to force out McClintock, who is running behind Schwarzenegger in the polls, GOP sources say.
"I haven't gotten any sense that we are participating in it," said one GOP strategist familiar with White House thinking. "We are rightly not engaging in it, and this thing is going to have to play itself out without any opinion from us."
Added Rep. David Dreier (R-Glendora), a top Schwarzenegger supporter: "I've talked to the president about this; I've talked to Karl Rove [President Bush's chief political strategist]. I've made very clear that staying out of this is the right thing for them to do, and they totally agree."
The White House hesitation reflects several factors: fear of handing Davis ammunition for his effort to paint the recall as a Republican "power grab," reluctance to antagonize conservatives by undercutting McClintock, and the ongoing debate among some GOP strategists over whether Bush would benefit from the election of a Republican governor in the state.
"There's still a strong belief in some people's minds that they would rather have a Democrat dealing with" the state's problems, said one GOP lobbyist close to the White House.
Even as the White House stands back, some national conservative leaders are quietly maneuvering to consolidate support for Schwarzenegger and increase pressure on McClintock to leave the race.
At the state GOP convention in Los Angeles this weekend, Stephen Moore, president of the Club for Growth, a leading conservative political action committee, is to meet with Schwarzenegger. Moore's intent is to press the actor to adopt a more explicitly conservative economic agenda and harden his opposition to new taxes -- steps Moore said could lead his group and other national conservative organizations to endorse Schwarzenegger and publicly encourage McClintock to withdraw.
