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A Weblog by
Sacramento Bee Columnist Daniel Weintraub

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July 24, 2003

The Cruz-in-ator

I started out writing a column for today that was highly critical of Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante for his suggestion that the recall election need not include a vote on candidates to replace Davis. In fact, I had that column written and ready to run. But by the end of the day, Bustamante had backed away from that position and was insisting to me that he would only set the date for the vote, while Secretary of State Shelley would decide the questions to appear on that ballot. Bustamante maintained that this was his position all along, but he refused to say that stories in the Bee and elsewhere Tuesday reporting otherwise were inaccurate. I got the feeling that he was trying to somehow engineer the "Cruz for governor" strategy without leaving his fingerprints, but if that was his goal, he was doing a lousy job at it. In the end I decided to simply let events play out and see what Bustamante does today. We should know within a few hours.

So instead of ripping Cruz, I wrote a new column late last night laying out all the questions that still remain as the recall moves forward. You can read it here.

For more on the possibility that the "Commission on the Governship" will intervene, see the Bee's story here.