Davis Responds to Fires as if Recall Never Happened [View All]

SACRAMENTO — Just weeks after voters effectively fired him, Gov. Gray Davis has thrown himself into the fight to contain Southern California's devastating wildfires and console its victims.

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Some longtime critics are praising Davis for setting aside political considerations and for going out of his way to coordinate his response with Republican Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger. Davis and Schwarzenegger have talked by telephone every day this week and administration officials are briefing Schwarzenegger's advisors several times daily on developments, aides for both said.

"It would be very easy for Davis to be bitter and leave this all to subordinates or try to freeze Schwarzenegger out," said Dan Schnur, a Republican political consultant. "It would be the easiest thing in the world for Davis to say, 'It's somebody else's problem now.' But he seems to be putting just as much of himself into this as he would under more normal political circumstances. He's doing the right thing."

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"What we're seeing here is what we've always seen from Gray Davis as a public official," said Darry Sragow, a Democratic political consultant. "It has never been his style — and some would suggest this is why he's getting recalled — to get into a jumpsuit and get into a helicopter and help drop water on the fires, as some public officials would do. That doesn't mean he isn't doing his job."

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