Ueberroth Uberfailure, bails race

Ueberroth Quits California Race
Tue September 9, 2003 07:33 PM ET




By Steve Gorman and Arthur Spiegelman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Millionaire Republican moderate Peter Ueberroth quit the frenetic California recall race on Tuesday after his campaign failed to catch fire despite an impressive civic resume that includes organizing the 1984 Olympics.

Experts said Republican rivals, conservative state Senator Tom McClintock and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, stood to gain the most from Ueberroth's departure as they seek to overtake Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante in the polls as the leading candidate to replace Gov. Gray Davis, should he lose the recall election on Oct 7.

But independent candidate and political columnist Arianna Huffington said she expected Ueberroth's exit to help her more than the remaining Republicans because like Ueberroth, she was running as an alternative to the major-party candidates.

The former baseball commissioner and the man who successfully organized the 1984 summer Olympics in Los Angeles told a news conference it became clear he could not win.

"We can't see how the numbers work for this candidacy to get across the goal line," he said.

Ueberroth added he would meet with other leading candidates, including Bustamante, and discuss their positions on his key demand to create more jobs in California before deciding whom to endorse.

"I feel the calling to enter public service, but I am going to have to find another way," he said.

Ueberroth had been trailing in a distant fourth place in opinion polls and had been criticized for a lackluster performance in the first gubernatorial debate last week.

GIVING BACK CONTRIBUTIONS

Television ads prepared for the campaign never aired, and Ueberroth said he would give back the more than $3 million in campaign contributions he received.

Ueberroth, a registered Republican who was campaigning as an independent, denied that he had come under pressure from rival GOP campaigns or the Republican Party to drop out of the race in order to bolster support for Schwarzenegger, the Republican front-runner.

McClintock told reporters he was in the race to stay and he expected to pick up a lot of Ueberroth's support.

"We're less than halfway through this campaign and I'm the candidate clearly with by far the most momentum. And if that momentum continues through the second half of the campaign, I'll expect to be in the winner's circle on election night," he told reporters in Sacramento.

Schwarzenegger issued a statement commending Ueberroth "for running a positive and principled campaign" and calling him "a force for good."

OTHER REPUBLICANS GONE

Two other prominent Republicans have previously left the race: Congressman Darrell Issa, who paid more than a million dollars of his own money to have recall signatures collected; and Bill Simon Jr., the Republican who lost to Davis only last November in the general election.

A Field poll of 505 likely voters released on Tuesday found Bustamante narrowly leading the field with 30 percent of the vote to 25 percent for Schwarzenegger. Ueberroth was in a distant fourth place with 5 percent of the vote.

The poll also found that 55 percent favored Democratic Gov. Gray Davis' removal, versus 58 percent in the last poll -- a sign that voters may be growing weary of the recall race that has made the state a laughingstock in the eyes of many.

The Field poll showed that the conservative McClintock was in third place with 13 percent support, up from 9 percent last month. The survey has a 4.5 percent margin of error. (Additional reporting by Adam Tanner in San Francisco)

 

Summary:

When polling numbers showed him trailing Ronald McDonald and Sparky the Wonder Pig, he decided to call it quits in the race for governor of California.

 

I just wanted to write Uberfailure. Other than that, he doesn't deserve a thread.

 

don't be an Ubergoober