Governor's race disenchants Calif. voters
URL: usatoday.com
By Martin Kasindorf, USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES — If "none of the above" were an option on the Nov. 5 ballot, it might well beat California Gov. Gray Davis and his Republican challenger, Bill Simon Jr.
Voters are so disenchanted in the nation's premier governor's race that two-thirds of those queried in statewide polls say they wish they had different choices. Identical 51% majorities in a Los Angeles Times poll last week held unfavorable opinions of the moderate Democratic governor and the conservative GOP nominee, a political neophyte.
With 25 days to go, an observation that Sal Russo, Simon's campaign strategist, made in August about voters' views still applies. "With Davis, they know him and don't like him," Russo said. "With Simon, they don't know him and don't like him."
Davis, 59, once touted as presidential timber, holds a lead ranging from 7 to 11 percentage points in polls. But in predominantly Democratic California, he hasn't been able to put the underfinanced Simon away. Working against Davis in the nation's largest state are perceptions that he mishandled the 2001 electricity blackouts, which caused a 30% hike in monthly power bills for many Californians. An icy public image, a spat with Latinos in the Legislature and an economic downturn that plunged the state from a budget surplus to a $24 billion deficit don't help.
"Whatever traction Simon has, he owes to the fact that Gray carries so much baggage," says Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a senior scholar of policy planning at the University of Southern California.
A win for Davis would frustrate President Bush's hopes of getting help in 2004 from a Republican governor's machine in the state that Al Gore won by 1.2 million votes in 2000. The conservative-dominated California Republican Party would suffer a further setback after a long string of defeats. And Davis, who doesn't rule out a try for president or vice president if he is re-elected, could resurrect his chances to appear on a Democratic national ticket.
Simon, 51, a soft-spoken investor, is the son of William E. Simon, Treasury secretary under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He won a surprise victory in the GOP primary in March over former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan, the White House's preferred candidate.
Prodigious fundraising is Davis' major weapon against wealthy newcomer Simon. Davis has raised nearly $60 million since his 1998 election and has $21 million left to spend. However, accepting money from companies that need favors from Sacramento has opened Davis to charges, which he denies, that he has traded policy decisions for contributions. Simon calls him a "coin-operated governor."
Simon, who is often told that he resembles Clark Kent of Superman, has loaned his campaign $9 million. But he can't match Davis' budget. "TV, boy oh boy, is that expensive in this state," Simon says.
The race is one of many races nationally in which candidates' ethics have come into play. Simon admits that he has been damaged by months of virtually unanswered TV ad attacks on his business ethics. Davis' ads cite multiple lawsuits involving the Simon family investment firm. "If we can't trust his business practices," the Davis ads ask, "how can we trust him in the governor's office?" The ads are "totally false," Simon says.
Campaign stumbles also have hurt Simon. After he endorsed certain gay rights proposals and then reversed himself when conservatives squawked, veteran GOP campaign consultant Lyn Nofziger, who had advised Simon briefly, publicly called him "too dumb to win."
Simon stumbled again Monday. After a televised debate with Davis here, he told reporters he had evidence that Davis had illegally accepted a $10,000 campaign contribution in 1998 from a police group in his Capitol office. Davis and other witnesses to that meeting denied it. The police group, which has switched its support to Simon, released photos that it said provided proof of criminal conduct. Instead, the photos established that the check had been lawfully delivered at the home of a prominent Davis supporter. Simon was forced to back away from the allegation. News commentators deluged him with accusations of recklessness.
TV advertising is indispensable in a state with 34 million people, and last week, Simon at last went on the airwaves daily. He's seen in a spot in which he asks, "Do you know me?" He defines himself as a former federal prosecutor under Rudy Giuliani, who has campaigned for him, and as a charity-minded family man.
"It's a little late in the game to be introducing yourself," Jeffe says.
Simon's staff pins hopes for a breakthrough on how voters graded Monday's debate. The polite but barbed encounter showcased both men's familiar lines of attack.
Davis won easily in 1998 against another conservative, Dan Lungren, who shared Simon's anti-abortion, pro-gun views. Davis said in the debate that Simon is "out of step with the values of most Californians." The governor recently signed legislation establishing paid family leave and mandating reduced greenhouse gas emissions from autos. Simon said he would have vetoed the bills.
Creating those stark contrasts, while pleasing labor and women's groups with the bill signings, was part of Davis' strategy to attract turned-off Democrats and independents. "The question is, will the base turn out for him?" says Ricardo Bernal, a Republican National Committee spokesman.
Asked in the debate why people don't like him, Davis said, "My job is not to win a popularity contest. It's to lead this state. I would like that people like me, but as long as my wife likes me, I'll live with that."Continued from |
