October 2, 2003

5 DAYS...

By MORGAN GREEN
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

The latest campaign information and tidbits:

CAMEJO WINS ONE: Peter Camejo's showing in the latest Los Angeles Times poll was good enough to persuade the League of Women Voters and its media co-sponsors to invite the Green Party candidate to participate in the last televised debates before Tuesday's recall election.

Mr. Camejo, whose performances in earlier debates have been widely praised, publicly protested last week when it seemed that the eligibility criteria set for the two debates would exclude him.

At the time, candidates needed to have garnered 3 percent in a mid-September Times poll to take part in today's debate organized by KNBC and Telemundo, and 10 percent to be in the San Diego Union-Tribune debate scheduled for Sunday. Mr. Camejo was polling at 2 percent when the invitations were extended to candidates. Based on his 3 percent support in Tuesday's Times poll, however, the league has agreed to let Mr. Camejo in and convinced the Union-Tribune to lower its threshold as well, Eric Wooten, the league's advocacy aide, said Wednesday.

SHADOW CAMPAIGN: At least two dozen gubernatorial candidates you've likely never heard of have decided they won't jump on the Arnold Schwarzenegger bandwagon; instead, they will follow it around.

The candidates, who are chartering a bus, plan to shadow front-runner Mr. Schwarzenegger's bus tour across California today through Saturday.

Each time the actor stops to greet supporters they'll stop and try to buttonhole reporters. They say it's the only way to get their message out.

"We have not been given a forum because we have been called non-serious candidates,'' said Jim Vandeventer, a Republican from Los Angeles who is getting on the bus.

AARP GUIDE: The American Association of Retired Persons announced Wednesday that its online Voter Guide is now available to the public at www.aarp.orga. Top gubernatorial candidates in the special election were invited to respond to four questions on the topics of nursing home reform, funding for state healthcare services, heath coverage for California workers, and age discrimination in the workplace. Four candidates responded: Governor Gray Davis, Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante, Peter Camejo, and Arianna Huffington. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom McClintock declined to submit responses.

— STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

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