CRUZ JUGGLING BOTH 'YES,' 'NO'.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

Labor and Latino groups threw their support Monday to Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, who planned to offer his own economic plan today to tackle the state budget deficit.

Also, late Monday, the U.S. Justice Department cleared the Oct. 7 election to recall Gov. Gray Davis, three days after a federal judge in San Jose threatened to postpone the election.

Moving to support Bustamante if Davis is recalled, the California State Employees Association, representing 140,000 state workers, and the state Legislature's Latino caucus both adopted a strategy of ``No on recall, yes on Bustamante,'' as did the California Association of Highway Patrolmen.

``Cruz is the most qualified candidate for the job,'' said state Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, chairman of the Latino caucus' endorsement committee.

A third labor group, the California Conference of Carpenters, also announced its support for the Democrat on Monday, adding to the number of traditional Democratic Party constituent groups moving away from an initial strategy of supporting no candidates to replace Gov. Gray Davis if voters remove him from office.

Political analysts say Bustamante finds himself in a tricky position. Although his campaign slogan is ``No on recall, yes on Bustamante,'' they say the more he promotes himself, the greater danger he runs of indirectly supporting a ``Yes on recall, yes on Bustamante'' reaction among Democratic voters who dislike Davis.

Today, in an appearance in Elk Grove, Bustamante plans to unveil an economic plan to address the $8 billion deficit that lawmakers and Davis rolled over to next year's budget. While Bustamante in the past supported reversing the tripling of the car tax that recently took effect, his new plan would be a modification of that view, according to his political adviser, Richie Ross.

The plan, dubbed ``Tough Love for California,'' would feature $7.9 billion in new revenue and $4.5 billion in cuts and savings.

``It's going to be about a very specific plan to get rid of the $8 billion deficit that remains,'' Ross said.

A spokeswoman for Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday that voters should consider Bustamante synonymous with Davis and reject both.

Bustamante has ``basically been a rubber stamp for Gray Davis,'' said spokeswoman Karen Hanretty. ``That will all become very apparent to voters in the coming weeks. I think the dissatisfaction with Gray Davis will spill over to Cruz Bustamante.''

A Field Poll released over the weekend found Bustamante in a statistical dead heat with Schwarzenegger. The poll shows Bustamante preferred by 25 percent of likely California voters, compared with Schwarzenegger's 22 percent. Given the poll's margin of error, the two men are in a virtual tie. The poll also found that 58 percent of Californians support the recall.

Political observers say Bustamante is in a Catch-22 when it comes to defining his policies - he can't go to great lengths to separate himself from Davis because it would be seen as criticism of the governor, while he can't run as a clone of a governor whose popularity is the lowest ever measured for a California statewide officeholder.

``If he runs on a theme of continuity, then if the recall succeeds, people are repudiating the very policies he's pledging to continue,'' said Jack Pitney, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College. ``If he runs on change, people can ask where the heck has he been these past five years.''

Bustamante and Davis don't get along well and rarely speak, so his loyalty is more to the party than the current occupant of the Governor's Office, according to political analysts. The tension increased over the weekend when Bustamante, on a national news show, accused Davis and his supporters of subtly undermining his campaign by intimidating donors.

``He's using words like 'sabotage' and the 'governor's minions,''' said John Syer, a professor of government at California State University, Sacramento.

Davis denied the charge.

Next week, the state's largest labor group, the California Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, which already opposes the recall, will meet to decide whether to back a candidate in case voters oust Davis.

The Justice Department decision announced late Monday clearing the Oct. 7 election is expected to be forwarded to California officials today, several days after the federal judge threatened to halt the election if the government didn't approve it.

Under the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, any changes in the voting process must be pre-cleared by the Justice Department in places like Monterey County, which have a history of low voter participation.

A Justice Department official said the government would provide the clearance. ``This is not a problem,'' Jorge Martinez, a Justice Department spokesman, said late Monday.

Harrison Sheppard, [phone]

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com