Pat Caddell is not so bad anymore. He was among the first of the "independent Democrats" to call Gore on his attempts to steal the election. Estrich, while reasonable, is also resolutely partisan.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Posted on 02/12/2002 7:02:22 AM PST by dalereed
DAVID S. BRODER THE WASHINGTON POST
Riordan is getting hit from all sides
February 12, 2002
SAN JOSE
The pummeling of former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, who is the front-runner in the March 5 Republican gubernatorial primary and is leading Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in the polls, began an hour before he stepped on stage to face his two opponents in Saturday's Republican state convention debate here.
Former Gov. George Deukmejian, supporting another contender, Secretary of State Bill Jones, told a news conference that if Riordan becomes the GOP nominee, "I would not vote for him. I have no respect for the man." Riordan had loaned and given six-figure amounts to Deukmejian's Democratic opponent, the late Tom Bradley.
Deukmejian's comment triggered the first question from the debate panel of reporters, and Riordan compounded his problem by saying ? in what he later insisted was a joke ? that it was too bad Deukmejian's memory is so bad, "he remembers only his grudges."
The boos from the audience of Republican activists showed how badly Riordan had misstepped, and he offered his apologies in a post-debate news conference.
That was actually his third apology of the afternoon. During the debate, he said he was sorry he had given $1,000 to liberal Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters in an earlier election and regretted having called abortion "murder" in a 1990 TV interview. Davis is using that tape as part of an extraordinary early ad assault on Riordan.
Davis' $1.5 million-a-week effort aims to depict the only avowedly pro-choice Republican candidate in this pro-choice state as a hypocrite on the issue. Pollsters in both parties say it has been damaging. But Riordan is trying to turn it to his advantage in the primary.
His opening statement in the debate was, "My fellow Republicans, Gray Davis is spending millions to beat me in the Republican primary because he knows I will beat him in November." That line drew cheers, but from then on it was downhill for Riordan, as Jones and the third candidate, William Simon Jr., son of the Nixon administration treasury secretary, took turns assailing Riordan for his past financial help to Democrats and his scattershot but suspiciously liberal positions during his eight years as businessman-mayor of Los Angeles.
The remarkable thing about this contest for the No. 1 prize in the No. 1 state is how past actions shadow the chances of all three Republicans ? and of Davis, who could be the first incumbent governor denied a second term in 60 years.
Even Democrats who think tradition and Davis ultimately will prevail concede he looks very vulnerable. Democratic focus groups find he gets little credit for his education efforts, and Republicans say voters overwhelmingly think the economy, transportation, education and especially energy costs have become worse in the last three years. Already suffering from a perceived leadership gap, Davis now faces a budget shortfall that may be much larger than his $12 billion estimate.
His effort to pursue a middle-ground course has cost him support among traditional Democratic constituencies. Davis' consultant, Garry South, concedes that "part of our problem is getting our Democratic base back with us."
Jones argues that he has attracted Democratic crossover votes in his two successful races for secretary of state, surviving the Democratic sweep of other statewide offices in 1998, even though he is a self-described conservative and the author of the three-strikes law. But Jones committed political heresy in 2000, switching his support from George W. Bush to John McCain, and the president's many friends have shut down Jones' money, forcing him to pin his slim hopes on grass-roots support in his native Central Valley and a final-week shot of TV ads.
Private polls say Simon has moved ahead of Jones as Riordan's main challenger, even though the wealthy financier and novice candidate is still unknown to most Republican voters. He matches Jones' conservative positions and has used an endorsement ad from Rudolph Giuliani ? for whom he worked as an assistant prosecutor decades ago ? to identify himself. But with his tight-lipped smile and Dick Tracy demeanor, Simon is anything but a comfortable candidate. And he too has a past embarrassment: Since moving to California, he has rarely bothered to vote in Republican primaries.
All of which should make it easy for Riordan ? were it not that he has been so promiscuous a contributor to Democratic friends (as well as Republicans) and so prone to making comments that require clarification. Almost daily, he provides new openings for his opponents.
Republicans are desperate to defeat Davis, but must swallow hard to nominate a man who ? despite the inroads he might make in Davis' Los Angeles vote base ? has an activist Democratic wife and a campaign team that includes such longtime Democrats as McGovern/Carter pollster Patrick Caddell and Dukakis campaign manager Susan Estrich.
A very strange race.
Copyright 2002 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
That lineup ought to be enough for even the RINOS/moderates to vote against him.
Pat Caddell is not so bad anymore. He was among the first of the "independent Democrats" to call Gore on his attempts to steal the election. Estrich, while reasonable, is also resolutely partisan.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
The creep shouldn't even be attractive to democraps.
I partially agree with you. The weaker candidate should drop out ... that would be Bill Jones.
While Jones has been elected to statewide office, he sure doesn't have much success campaigning. He BARELY won in 1998 over an unfunded Democrat for SOS. In addition, when he was Republican leader in 1991-92, he was the deciding vote for Pete Wilson's tax increase. And how many Assembly seats did we win when he was leader? Oh ... we lost three.
In addition, Jones has a dismal record of raising money. He can't even afford television right now!
I'm tired of career politicians who think they have a right to public office simply because they are there. I'm ready for a change, I'm ready for someone who has worked in the REAL world, who knows what families are up against, and has a compassionate soul with a hard-line business brain. That man is Bill Simon.
Enough said. I was just going off of what the article said about Jones. Thanks for the info.
That was actually his third apology of the afternoon. During the debate, he said he was sorry he had given $1,000 to liberal Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters in an earlier election...WHAT!!!
How could he POSSIBLY spin that as ANYTHING but reprehensible!!!
MAYBE he had to support Bradley to court HIS constituency, but Maxine Waters is ULTRA-left wing slime!!!
There can be no excuse for this DIABLO: "Democrat In All But Label Orientation."
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Something interesting; on NPR Morning Edition yesterday; the California early March 5 primary (which basically consisted of information I had known for months by reading FreeRepublic), there was an audio clip of Deukmajin (former Governor) blasting Riordan as someone "he has no respect for". I believe that the conservatives will go through with nominating Simon, the Califorina GOP is rather conservative in comparison to those in the East.
Oh man, yowza, hard hit!
Riordan clearly not the next Reagan, I wonder if Rove/Bush are having second thoughts at having recrutited Riordan in the first place.
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