Now Latinos Are in the Driver’s Seat

Gov. Gray Davis got himself into a recall mess, and only he can get himself out of it. Of course, if the governor wants it, he can get a lot of help from the state’s many new Latino voters. But he’ll have to show less arrogance than he has in the past in dealing with the elected leaders of the state’s largest ethnic group.

For a start, he should make up with Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, who has been on the outs with Davis for most of the time that they have held the top two statewide offices. The estrangement dates from 1999, shortly after Davis was first inaugurated and still riding high. Back then the toughest challenge the governor and his minions could foresee was deciding when Davis should run for president.

That’s when Bustamante had the temerity to publicly criticize Davis for not moving rapidly enough to eliminate a political hot potato from former Gov. Pete Wilson’s tenure in Sacramento -- a legal appeal of the federal court decision that nullified Proposition 187. He urged Davis to pull the plug on the costly appeal, an eminently reasonable position given that Bustamante had been a state legislator from a heavily Latino district in Fresno, where Proposition 187 was a hated symbol of anti-Mexican politics.

Either because they were clueless as to Proposition 187’s significance to Latinos or just because they were full of themselves, Davis and his crew set out to punish Bustamante. They quietly let the Capitol’s press corps know that Bustamante would be “shut out” of the governor’s decision-making process, and they have by most accounts made good on that threat.

That is why Bustamante’s supporters thought he might use the Davis recall as an opportunity for some political payback. Some urged the lieutenant governor to announce that he would be a candidate to replace Davis if the recall succeeds. A few even speculated that Bustamante might allow a recall vote against Davis, but then name himself Davis’ successor instead of allowing voters to elect a replacement. In the end, Bustamante did neither. Ever the loyal Democrat, he joined fellow partisans like U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein in declaring that he would not put his name on the recall ballot. And when Bustamante went on television Thursday to announce Oct. 7 as the recall election date, he added a personal denunciation of the recall effort.

“I am really proud of Cruz,” State Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar) said. “He had the most to gain [by trying to become Davis’ successor] but he decided not to do it, just because it wouldn’t be right.” Still, given Davis’ past behavior toward him, Bustamante needn’t sit by the phone waiting for the governor’s thank-you call.

Another Latino official who deserves an apology from Davis is state Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), the author of the bill that is atop the must-do list for the Legislature’s Latino Caucus, SB 60. That is the bill that would give illegal immigrants who are in the process of legalizing their status and agree to a criminal background check the right to apply for a California driver’s license. Davis vetoed a similar bill by Cedillo last October after his staff negotiated with Cedillo for months. Despite such a public humiliation, Cedillo is back this year with another version of his bill, working at it like the true believer he is.

Davis’ betrayal of Cedillo was a cynical political move, based on preelection polls that showed non-Latino voters did not like Cedillo’s measure. It led several Latino Democrats to withdraw their endorsement of Davis’ reelection -- and still has some of them sitting on the sidelines.

“Oh, we’ll all oppose the recall,” Assemblyman Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) said. “But it will be a bigger step for many of us to campaign for him. He needs to give us something to galvanize [Latino] voters in his favor. And nothing is bigger than that driver’s license bill.”

Ever since it became apparent that a recall might actually take place, Davis has shown a more humble demeanor. But before he can expect significant Latino support to save what’s left of his political career, Davis will have to show the same kind of class, dignity and humility that Bustamante, Cedillo and other Latino officials showed in tolerating his past hubris.

*

Frank del Olmo is associate editor of The Times.