LOS ANGELES (AP) For Gov. Gray Davis, the final stop Tuesday
of his two-and-a-half month campaign to keep his job was the
downtown Los Angeles hotel where he celebrated his election as
California's 37th governor.
Five years later, it was a far sadder scene at the Biltmore
Hotel as Davis became the first California governor ever recalled
from office, forever tagged as the least popular figure in modern
state political history.
Where crowds had swarmed in previous years, there was a thin
smattering of state government employees, campaign staff and
political operatives. Even the sight of Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz
Bustamante on television celebrating the defeat of Proposition 54
the so-called racial privacy measure failed to move the crowd.
In the hotel's gilded Crystal Room, where the governor was
expected to address the crowd later Tuesday night, reporters
outnumbered Davis supporters. Jesse Jackson was one of the few
prominent Democrats who had showed up early in the evening.
Outside the ballroom, a crowd gathered around the bar where a TV
broadcast baseball's Cubs and Marlins in the National League
playoffs.
``I've been at a lot of functions at the Biltmore where
everybody is upbeat but not tonight,'' said Paul Bechley of the
Laborers' Union.
Davis left the hotel at 7 p.m. to have dinner with his mother,
wife and family members. He returned to his room about 9 p.m., a
campaign aide said.
Even if their boss wasn't ready to concede defeat, some of his
boosters were.
Art Torres, chairman of the state Democratic party, said the
voters had spoken ``They chose charisma over substance, it's very
clear,'' Torres said.
``Being a Democrat, we've had a lot of successful nights here,''
said Bob Mulholland, state Democratic party spokesman. ``This is
not one of those nights. As the governor said, `We've had worse
days in Vietnam.'''
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)