Davis downplays cracks in Democratic unity on recall

[Freddie Stubbs]

Gov. Gray Davis insists he will enter the recall election "with virtual unanimity in Democratic support" despite Democratic defections from a party strategy of unifying against the recall.

Davis withstood pointed questioning at numerous public appearances Wednesday, fielding questions about three California congressional Democrats who have called on Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the state's most popular politician, to put her name on the Oct. 7 recall ballot.

"I'm very proud of all the Democrats that are standing by my side and particularly Senator Feinstein," Davis remarked during an afternoon stop at a battered women's shelter in San Francisco's Chinatown. "I think it's highly unlikely there will be any prominent Democratic candidates in the race. They understand it is a Republican cabal."

Arnold Schwarzenegger's chief political adviser, George Gorton, said late Wednesday that the actor still had not made a decision about whether to run for governor and that he did not expect an announcement to come Thursday.

Davis' comments in Los Angeles and San Francisco came as Reps. Cal Dooley of Hanford, Loretta Sanchez of Garden Grove and Brad Sherman of Sherman Oaks said Democrats need an alternative on the ballot in case Davis loses.

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