Davis
signs bill, Arnold marches under cloud
SACRAMENTO
(AP) -- As the number of women claiming
they were sexually harassed by Arnold Schwarzenegger
grew to 15 Sunday, he marched on the state
Capitol while Gov. Gray Davis signed a law
making California the largest state to require
employer-paid health care.
Their
campaigning came as the race appeared to
tighten, as a Knight Ridder poll published
in Sunday's newspapers found support for
recalling Democrat Davis at 54 percent in
favor while 41 percent were opposed. Republican
Schwarzenegger continued to lead among potential
replacements in Tuesday's election.
In
Los Angeles Sunday, Davis signed a law he
predicted will provide health insurance
to nearly 1.1 million working Californians
currently without job-based coverage. Though
it exempts small businesses, the measure
requires most employers to pay for their
employees' health care.
''Today
we take a bold step to reform health care,''
Davis said before signing the bill at a
ceremony attended by the Rev. Jesse Jackson,
actor Danny Glover and labor leaders.
Four
more women surfaced in a Sunday Los Angeles
Times report to accuse Schwarzenegger of
groping, spanking or touching them inappropriately.
The
latest group included an unidentified 51-year-old
woman who said Schwarzenegger pinned her
to him and spanked her repeatedly three
years ago at a West Los Angeles post-production
studio.
Three
other women named by the Times said Schwarzenegger
fondled them in separate incidents outside
a Venice gym in the mid 1980s, at a bar
in the late 1970s and on the set of the
movie ''Predator'' in 1986.
Schwarzenegger
spokesman Sean Walsh dismissed the accounts
of three of the women as untrue. He said
the actor had no recollection of the alleged
gym incident.
As
he thanked supporters who prepared to march
with him to the Capitol, his only scheduled
public appearance Sunday, Schwarzenegger
said nothing about the latest allegations.
Instead,
he appeared confident he would win Tuesday
and told supporters the ''people saw there
was hope that yes, we can make changes in
California,'' before he climbed aboard his
campaign bus, ''Running Man,'' for the one-mile
drive from a West Sacramento stadium to
the Capitol.
Of
Davis, Schwarzenegger said, he ''has terminated
opportunities and now it's time to terminate
him.''
At
the bill-signing ceremony, Davis said the
latest allegations indicate ''serious problems''
with Schwarzenegger's behavior and his ability
to govern effectively. He said Schwarzenegger
has offered only partial explanations in
response to the allegations and voters are
faced with one question.
''Are
all 15 women and their families lying?''
Davis said.
On
Thursday, the Times reported that six women
claimed Schwarzenegger groped or sexually
harassed them between 1975 and 2000. After
that story, five other women made similar
allegations; two said the actor harassed
them on the set of the 1988 film ''Twins.''
Four more women made their claims Sunday,
bringing the total to 15.
During
interviews aired on morning television news
shows Sunday, Schwarzenegger called the
harassment allegations and reports that
he praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler as a
young man the desperate, last-minute attacks
of a losing Davis campaign.
''This
is campaign trickery and it is dirty campaigning,''
he said on ABC's ''This Week.'' ''Like,
for instance, I despise anything and everything
that Hitler stands for.''
Of
the Times' ''Twins'' story, he said, ''It's
just mean-spirited, and it's just trying
to derail my campaign.''
While
Schwarzenegger didn't all of the women's
accounts, he said none of the women told
him at the time that, ''You went over the
line now.''
In
a separate taped interview with ABC's ''This
Week,'' Davis said voters face a choice
now between Schwarzenegger and voting against
the recall.
''If
people don't want him to be governor, then
the alternative is to allow me to complete
the term,'' Davis said.
Though
the Knight Ridder poll found a majority
of voters support recalling Davis, it suggested
a shift. The poll was conducted Wednesday
through Saturday, with the percentage of
people saying they would definitely vote
to oust Davis declining among those surveyed
Friday and Saturday.
If
Davis is removed, the poll showed Schwarzenegger
leading among potential replacements with
36 percent support, to 29 percent for Democratic
Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante. The poll of 1,000
registered voters, conducted by Elway/McGuire
Research and published in the San Jose Mercury
News and Contra Costa
Times, had a margin of error of plus or
minus 3.2 percentage points.
Such
polling results led to a new anti-recall
ad in which U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein says,
''This recall is turning around.'' The new
ad from Californians Against the Costly
Recall is set to begin airing in major markets
Monday.
Though
she names neither Davis nor Schwarzenegger,
the popular senator cites the recent ''serious
allegations'' against Schwarzenegger while
asserting that, ''People are beginning to
see how unfair it (the recall) is, and how
harmful it is to California's economy and
to our people.''
But
those who gathered for Schwarzenegger's
rally at the Capitol called the latest round
of accusations a last-minute sideshow aimed
at derailing what was a popular movement
to clean up Sacramento.
Stephanie
Minietti, 55, of Sacramento, a graphic artist
and member of the Capital City Motorcycle
Club, said Schwarzenegger would bring a
''change in all-Democratic leadership in
California. I think Arnold has the ability
to inspire people.''
''I
could care less,'' Minietti said of sex
allegations. ''Everyone I know could care
less. It's totally meaningless. If anything,
it's probably helping him.''
Associated
Press writers Erica Werner, Beth Fouhy,
Paul Chavez and Seth Hettena contributed
to this story.
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