Hey, what bill do you want passed? Tell me and I will sign it! Davis's pandering knows no bounds. The more you know this man, the more disgusted you get.
Davis Turns On a Charm Offensive
Governor Reintroducing Himself to Key Calif. Voters
By Rene Sanchez
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 18, 2003; Page A01
CARSON, Calif. -- The politically cautious, often aloof governor of California has gone missing. Or at least the newly reinvented Gray Davis (D), fighting to save his political life, no longer resembles him.
Shadowed by the threat of being thrown out of office in a historic recall vote, Davis is constantly bounding into public view these days to court stalwart but disenchanted Democratic constituencies across the state with a relentless, and rare, charm offensive.
Once he could take them for granted. Now, he needs every last one of their votes -- and getting them is the cornerstone of his last-ditch strategy to survive.
Forsaking safe, poll-tested campaigning, Davis is staging almost daily public events to sign or promote legislation that liberal groups cherish. On Saturday, he pledged to sign a bill that would give gay couples many of the same rights and benefits as married couples.
He is reversing position on other divisive issues -- saying, for example, that he now supports giving driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, which delights Latino leaders. He is virtually camped out in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the state's largest media markets and Democratic strongholds. And he is trying desperately at public gatherings to shed his image as a bland manager and political loner.
In an appearance at a college campus in this Los Angeles suburb a few days ago, Davis signed a bill establishing an institute for African American studies. But he spent more time telling his largely black and Latino audience that he had decided to enter politics while serving in Vietnam and noticing that the sons of few wealthy white families had been sent to fight. He also said that the "proudest moment of my life" was working three decades ago on the campaign in which the late Tom Bradley became the first black mayor of Los Angeles.
Davis, who was reelected less than a year ago, but whose political fortunes have plunged amid California's extreme budget crisis, is hardly electrifying crowds. "We're going to beat this recall," he said in a flat tone to the gathering here, which responded with scattered applause. But he is startling some grass-roots Democratic leaders with public hugs, singing with schoolchildren and speaking broken Spanish -- all while pleading with voters to ignore polls that suggest he is politically doomed.
In recent days, always trailed by television cameras, the governor has toured three shelters for rape victims or battered wives and promoted a package of bills enhancing abortion rights, steps that elated women's groups. He has thrilled environmentalists by banning flame-retardant chemicals that are used to coat furniture and electronics but pose hazards to nursing mothers and their babies. And he has appealed to minorities by vowing to add lessons on racial tolerance to teacher-training programs.
"I have an obligation to the 8 million people who went to the polls last November," Davis said during one stop last week. "They asked me to do a job in California. I'm going to do it every day they allow me."
The whirlwind road show is designed to portray Davis to voters as a chief executive too busy and serious to be disturbed by the tumult of the Oct. 7 recall election, which will feature 135 alternative candidates for governor.
It also may be the only hope that Davis has left to keep his job.
"When you have a circus atmosphere swirling around like this," said Garry South, a former top political adviser to Davis, "the best thing you can do is not look like one of the clowns."
The last two times Davis faced voters, he ran against GOP conservatives who were easy to demonize with a multimillion-dollar onslaught of attack ads. He did not need to give bedrock Democrats -- union members, Latinos, environmentalists -- compelling reasons to vote for him; they had nowhere else to go on the ballot. And because California's electorate is far more Democratic than Republican, he did not even need most of them to go to the polls. But the recall has made Davis's old campaign playbook nearly worthless.
Now, in less than two months, Davis has to galvanize an array of Democrats, who are frustrated with his governing style and tempted to dump him, into believing that no candidate in the recall will protect their priorities better than he will.
In a traditional California election, where media coverage is usually scant until the final stretch of campaigning, accomplishing that feat would be nearly impossible. But all the rules have changed for the recall. It is receiving intensive daily coverage. Some strategists say that presents Davis with an extraordinary chance to give voters a new impression of him.
"A governor in California never has much of a sustained ability to project anything to voters," South said. "This two-month period is an exception. He has to take advantage of the hyper media atmosphere. It's a unique opportunity."
But even as Davis takes to the streets to strike a pose as a diligent, caring leader, his political struggle appears to be growing.
Labor leaders have begun thinking out loud about pouring money and manpower into the candidacy of the lone prominent Democrat on the recall ballot, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, who is campaigning as a safeguard for the party if Davis loses. San Francisco Mayor Willie L. Brown Jr., who has been urging Democrats to rally behind Davis, told reporters a few days ago that the governor may need "divine assistance" to survive the recall.
Meanwhile, a survey released Friday by the nonpartisan California Field Poll showed that 58 percent of likely voters favor removing Davis from office -- up from 51 percent a month ago. The survey also reported that only 22 percent of voters approve of the job Davis is doing.
Davis's rivals say the governor's campaign to stay in office is hopeless. "He clearly is doing everything he can to pander to what's left of his political base," said Rob Stutzman, a spokesman for actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a GOP candidate vying to replace Davis. "The paradox for Gray is that the more he reminds people that he's governor, the more he reminds them he is a failed governor."
But Davis is scoffing at the bleak poll numbers, saying that although he expects a "wild and bumpy ride" over the next two months, he has no intention of resigning and still expects to beat the recall.
The two-part recall ballot will ask voters first whether Davis should be removed from office, then will allow them to choose his potential successor. If a majority of voters oppose the recall, the record list of candidates running for governor is irrelevant.
Only one other governor in the nation's history has ever been recalled, in North Dakota in 1921.
"May I just remind you of 1998, when people said we were roadkill," Davis told voters here, referring to his victory when he first ran for governor. "We were in fourth place with eight weeks to go, and we won by 20 points."
Despite growing anxiety among Democrats over his fate, Davis still has two influential allies: former president Bill Clinton and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Party strategists said both of them are urging Davis to be more accessible to voters and highlight his work as governor, not get tangled in sniping with candidates in the recall.
Clinton is planning to travel to California to back Davis, and Feinstein, the most popular elected official in the state, soon may be featured in television ads urging voters to oppose the recall. Davis advisers are also discussing whether he should issue a public apology for some of his actions in office. Davis already has taken a step in that direction, saying a few days ago that he realizes many residents are disappointed with his performance and that he has "gotten the message."
Davis also is taking political risks to rally his base. Last year, citing security concerns, he vetoed a bill to allow illegal immigrants to apply for driver's licenses. Some Latino leaders were so incensed they refused to endorse his reelection. But now, Davis is saying he supports a similar measure pending in the legislature.
In his appearance here, he said that undocumented workers "toiling in the hot sun picking food" are a vital part of the California economy and should be allowed to have licenses because that would force them to be trained and insured while driving. That stand could win Latino votes, but it is likely to anger political moderates.
Davis also is retreating from his position on car taxes. He tripled those fees earlier this summer, which enraged many voters. Now, he is saying he would welcome alternative ideas from legislators. "I never intended for this burden to fall solely on the motorists of California," he said last week.
Davis, 60, has spent nearly three decades working in the top ranks of state government, but he remains a stranger to many voters, partly because in other campaigns he often relied more on attacking his opponents than promoting his core political values. Some Democratic leaders are warning him that a slashing strategy is likely to fail this time, and even voters uncertain about the recall, they said, are tired of his hardball campaign tactics.
That is one reason he came to mingle with voters here in Carson, a multicultural suburb just south of Los Angeles. Most voters in the crowd that gathered to see Davis speak at California State University at Dominguez Hills seemed to loathe the recall. Some greeted him with a standing ovation. But even some of his most loyal supporters said they were worried his political career could soon be over.
"I still think he can pull this off, because the recall is such a bad idea," said Robyn McGee, who runs the campus women's center. "But his base has been disappointed. People feel let down. He has a lot of extra work to do."
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