Advisers call Davis Demos' only chance

[Shrek]

An excerpt from the full article:

Hoping to win back wayward Democrats in the last days of the recall election, Gov. Gray Davis has begun to portray the race as a partisan, two-man contest between himself and Republican actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

As part of that strategy, the governor's campaign is now publicly discounting Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, a fellow Democrat on the replacement ballot, as a viable candidate.

(Snip)

Paul Maslin, Davis' pollster, described Bustamante as a ``crippled candidate'' who cannot win the election, and said his own polls show it is near certain Schwarzenegger will win the replacement contest.

[Guaranteed]

1. Huh?

As long as McClintock's still in, Bustamante will win.
Has McClintock bowed out?

[Democat]

2. They haven't released the polls after the debate

Some people have said Arnold might have pulled ahead of Cruz in the polls after the debate and the non-stop media promotion Arnold is getting.

[Shrek]

3. Apparently "internal polls" show Schwarzengger pulling away

So says the Governor's pollster in the linked article.

Another article (warning : Fox link) says much the same thing.

I have no way to know whether such polls are accurate, but if they are then it makes sense for Davis to discount Bustamante and go full-throttle towards defeating the recall.