Bush is coy, White House cautious in Calif recall strategy

When President Bush arrives in California Thursday for a two-day fund raising swing, he'll likely do all he can to avoid the political firestorm surrounding the recall election of Gov. Gray Davis.

While Bush and his top advisers profess to be little more than curious onlookers to an unpredictable drama, Democrats insist the recall has been at least partly orchestrated by the White House -- an illegitimate power grab, they say, in a state Bush lost by more than 13 million votes in 2000.

As recently as three weeks ago, there was a consensus among the Bush political team -- including powerful adviser Karl Rove -- that Bush's own prospects in California would be better served if the unpopular Davis remained in office during the 2004 presidential campaign.

Recall supporters have blamed Davis for the state's $38 billion budget deficit and his handling of the energy crisis which led to rolling blackouts throughout the state in 2001. Democrats in turn blame Bush for the weak economy and for federal policies that made the energy crisis much worse.

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