Sen. Tom McClintock, pressed on whether he will drop out of the gubernatorial race, said Wednesday he plans to continue campaigning but acknowledged his supporters might migrate to actor Arnold Schwarzenegger before Election Day.

"There'd be no need to pull out in that case," McClintock said on Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" show. "My support would go to Arnold if it looks like Arnold's the only hope of stopping Cruz Bustamante, and I think Arnold's support would come to me if our momentum continues and they realize they can actually have their first choice and he can win."

Still, he said he will not follow the lead of former Republican candidate Peter Ueberroth, who left the race Tuesday.

Some Republicans are clamoring for McClintock, a conservative Republican with a loyal following, to clear the way for Schwarzenegger, who polls show is the party's best hope of beating Bustamante if the recall against Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, who campaigned Wednesday in Fresno, succeeds in this largely Democratic state.
"The main message I have been giving is that a vote for anybody except Arnold is a vote for the Davis-Bustamante regime," said Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, a Schwarzenegger supporter. "I have just been repeating that over and over again."

At some point, he said, McClintock's supporters are "going to realize their efforts are going to ensure they have someone they disagree with 100 percent."

But McClintock said he is "in this race to the finish line."

Schwarzenegger, meanwhile, convened a 90-minute "education summit" Wednesday in downtown San Jose, where he called for more local control of the state's public schools and stronger partnerships among schools, parents and teachers.

Following a closed-door meeting with a team of advisers, Schwarzenegger said he concluded that "you have to have a great partnership between the parents, between the students and the schools. That's when it works."

Among those appearing with him were former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan; Schwarzenegger's mother-in-law, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who founded the Special Olympics in 1968; and Jaime Escalante, the celebrated former East Los Angeles math teacher who was the hero of the hit movie "Stand and Deliver."

Schwarzenegger spoke in broad generalities about what's wrong with state schools and how he'd propose fixing them.

"The problem with this whole thing," he said, "is a lot of people think it is the students that fail or it is the schools that fail. It is not the students and it is not the schools that fail. It is the politicians that fail the schools and the students, and we have to turn it around."

Independent candidate Arianna Huffington was also on the campaign trail Wednesday, trying to rev up young voters through a short tour of Los Angeles-area college campuses.

She spent the day vowing to rescind fee increases for students at public colleges and firing a rhetorical blast at the state's two top officeholders for accepting large campaign donations.

Speaking before about 1,000 students and professors at California State University, Northridge, Huffington cited Lt. Gov. Bustamante's acceptance of nearly $4 million from Indian gambling interests and a large campaign contribution that Gov. Gray Davis received in 2000 from an oil refiner shortly before the state allowed the company to increase its release of a toxic chemical into San Francisco Bay.

"If you look at Gray Davis, if you look at Cruz Bustamante, they are not bad people," she said. "They are really products of a rotten system. I'm running to change the system."

But later, Huffington did not rule out withdrawing from the race to succeed Davis should he be recalled -- a move likely to aid Bustamante -- if her chances of winning close to the Oct. 7 election appeared bleak and Schwarzenegger's were bright.

"For the next three weeks, we are all going to be running our independent campaigns and then see what happens," she said. "You know, anything can happen in the last three weeks."

Nonetheless, Huffington displayed no lack of confidence in her 40-minute address. Calling it a "real crisis" that millions of Californians fail to vote, the Greek-born author and political commentator quipped, "Basically, we Greeks gave you democracy, and you've screwed it up."

Meanwhile, Davis ventured into unfriendly territory, answering questions on live television in Fresno and deflecting suggestions that his anti-recall campaign might suffer from an apparent shift in strategy from Bustamante. Davis hasn't been too popular at the polls in Fresno County, where he pulled just 38 percent of the vote in the 2002 gubernatorial race.

In a 30-minute broadcast on KFSN-TV, Davis responded to questions about high workers' compensation rates, education reform, the business climate and other concerns. But, during the program and later with reporters, Davis downplayed talk that Bustamante has abandoned the no-recall message in favor of his own bid for governor.

Said Davis: "I consider Cruz Bustamante a good friend. ... He's got to do his thing, but I believe he's against the recall."

Despite poll numbers showing Davis has a good chance of losing his job, the governor remained upbeat throughout his visit. He said that "at the end of the day, people will realize that many of the problems my critics complain about are getting solved." He listed workers' comp among them -- one of the key issues raised by a six-member panel during the broadcast.

During the broadcast, Davis defended his recent decision to sign a bill allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. He said the licensing process will improve safety on the roadways and allow hard-working people to drive legally.