July 31, 2003

Richard Riordan is going to allow as little time as possible for Gray Davis to launch a trademark smear campaign against him -- hence his delayed announcement in the race to replace the sitting governor. So reports the NY Times:

A former top aide to Mr. Riordan said there was a fascinating dynamic playing out between him and Mr. Schwarzenegger. "Riordan is being heavily pressured by Schwarzenegger," the aide said, "to get in as early as possible," feeling that as more time passes without a commitment from either, both are made to look bad. "But nobody in the Riordan camp thinks getting in right away is a great idea. They want to wait until the 11th hour so he can't be attacked."

In other words, rather than being undecided, Schwarzanegger is simply waiting for the Riordan campaign launch before he goes before the cameras to announce that he won't be running -- and that he's back Riordan for governor. That's pretty close to what Daniel Weintraub was reporting several days ago.

Posted by Greg Ransom