Posted on 02/14/2002 9:56:49 AM PST by Gophack
GOP rivals take aim at Riordan
DEBATE: Jones and Simon turn up the heat on the front-runner, who focuses his fire on Gov. Davis.
LONG BEACH - Republican gubernatorial front-runner Richard Riordan fought off his opponents' attacks in the last GOP debate Wednesday night and assailed incumbent Democrat Gray Davis at every turn.
With the March 5 primary less than three weeks away, Secretary of State Bill Jones, the underdog in funding and polls, went after Riordan and Los Angeles investor Bill Simon.
Simon attacked Riordan and Davis.
Riordan, the former mayor of Los Angeles, avoided engaging with Jones and Simon. Instead he sought to keep the focus on the governor, whom he leads narrowly in polls.
"Gray Davis ought to be in Salt Lake City because he's going downhill much faster than any of the other skiers," Riordan said in his opening remarks. "Gray, you're a disgrace. You get in your office about 11 a.m. every day. You dial for dollars all day long."
As he has throughout the campaign, Riordan fielded questions during the hourlong debate at Cal State Long Beach about his stances on issues such as abortion and his contributions to Democrats.
Riordan continued to insist the only way for Republicans to attract female voters and win statewide office is by supporting abortion rights.
"Pro-life or pro-choice, this is a shorthand way for women to say if somebody is not pro-choice, they are not pro-afterschool care, they are not pro-day care for children, they are not pro-health care," Riordan said. "There is no way that a Republican can win in this state unless they respect women who are pro-choice."
Inland reaction
Don Donnelly of Rancho Mirage, who watched the debate on television, said Riordan erred by equating people who don't support abortion with those who don't care about children.
"Riordan wants to divide our party from that point of view," said Donnelly, a longtime Republican who supports Simon.
"Seems like it's a ridiculous issue when you think the governor has so little to do with abortions," he said. "Abortion is a moot point. This is in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court."
Donnelly saw Simon as "the only one who tried to talk about issues." He said Simon handled himself with dignity and credibility while respecting the other candidates.
Jones derided Riordan as "just another big-city liberal mayor" whose inconsistent stances show he cannot be trusted. Jones, the GOP's only statewide officeholder, focused on his own experience during years in politics and claimed he's the only one of the three candidates who's always been true to the Republican Party.
Shirlee Pigeon of Riverside said she saw Jones, the secretary of state, emerge in the debate as "decisive, aggressive, assertive, all kinds of good traits we want in a governor."
Pigeon, a conservative GOP activist, supports Nick Jesson, a candidate who wasn't included in the debates. But she said, "Of these three, (Jones) . . . would be the best governor if I can't have my Jesson."
Shauna Clark, a Riordan supporter who sat in the front row of the live audience, was surprised at Jones' attacks and saw him as the debate's loser.
Donnelly also saw Jones as the worst in the debate. Jones behaved badly as the state's highest-ranking Republican, Donnelly said, by repeatedly attacking a fellow party member, Riordan, and refusing to take part in a pledge to support the Republican who wins the March primary.
'The only one'
Clark, a former administrator for the city of San Bernardino who now works at Cal State San Bernardino, said she sees Riordan as "the only one who understands no one in Sacramento should be micromanaging cities and universities."
But she came away from her front-row seat in the audience without seeing a clear winner. There weren't enough questions about the real issues: education, the energy crisis and jobs, she said.
Simon criticized Riordan "for being inconsistent on a number of issues." He said he has held consistent stances throughout his career as a businessman and prosecutor, and insisted, "I am the conservative in this race."
It's a position Simon can lay increased claim to in the wake of last weekend's state GOP convention, where he won a nonbinding straw poll of the party faithful.
"It was a long-shot opportunity for dramatic gestures and dramatic mistakes and I don't think we saw either," said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College.
'We're not afraid of anybody'
Davis press secretary Roger Salazar shrugged off the attacks from Riordan, though the unusual barrage of pre-primary ads Davis has launched against Riordan suggest the governor believes Riordan will be his opponent in November.
"We're not afraid of anybody; we'll take any one of these candidate and beat them handily," Salazar said.
Wednesday night's debate was televised statewide, as was the first debate last month. There was another debate at last weekend's state GOP convention, but it was not televised.
The debate Wednesday was produced by the California Broadcasters Association in conjunction with the CSU system.
Staff writer Pat Murkland contributed to this report.
BTW, I hope you check out the postings I made on precisely the topic of your thesis.
California is so big, so vast, and with such different interests, that this isn't just a few thousand conservatives that stay home, but millions. California has thumbed it's nose at conservatives -- people who believe children should be taught abstinence, that gay marriage is wrong, that abortions should be reduced -- and conservatives, therefore, don't vote (many, not all of course!). California is really 6 or 8 different states. You can't compare us to any other state.
Conservatives CAN win, it's more a matter of personality and vision and leadership than any one issue. Riordan could never win, because the Democrats are far more loyal to their party than Republicans are to theirs. There is a small swing constituency among Democrats, and the decline to states, and the fact that REpublicans turn out in higher numbers than Democrats ... that's what gives conservatives the potential.
Not a penny. My time, money, and effort will go to specific candidates instead.
So if we really love children, we'll kill them. Is that right, Slick?
What kind of jerk thinks that "health care" can only come from the government or thinks that abortion constitutes a public good?
Riordan was so insulting to women, telling us, essentially, that while HE believes that abortion is wrong, he'll stand up and fight for all of us to have the "right" to abort (kill) our babies if that's what we want to do. Talk about moral superiority!
Either abortion is murder or it's not. If you believe that an unborn baby is a human being, then either you oppose abortion (murder) or support abortion (justifiable homicide).
The pro-life movement lost the debate when abortion became a "choice" instead of a "baby". Now, as technology has taken advances, women have the opportunity to see their unborn babies at earlier and earlier stages, hear the babies heart, know that the baby feels pain as early as 25 days after conception. That there is brain activity and movement and every day, every hour, every minute, the baby is growing and capable of more thought, feelings, and actions.
Maybe, just maybe, through prayers and God's active intercession, we can touch the hearts and minds of the American people with the reality of what abortion really is: the murder of an innocent human life.
And people like Riordan will be judged harshly.
Too much "conventional wisdom" at work on the part of Carl Rove.
I'll say it again... "Nothing has power like that of an idea whose time has come!" (can't remember who said it first and don't care, cause it will always be true)
Would someone please get ahold of Sal Russo and get him to find someone to better coach Simon on his hand gestures? I know Sal understands how important theatrics are in CA after his successes with Reagan.
I shouldn't say this, cause I sure hope he wins, but Simon reminds me of Dana Carvey imitating George Herbert Walker Bush! At times, though, I see flashes of Reagan, too.
You are making the erroneous assumption that there is a static universe of voters in each election who change their minds and switch back and forth between parties depending upon idealogies.
That is not what happens. That is not how offices change hands. The fact is that just over half of all eligible voters ever bother to vote, half of all conservative, half of all liberals, half of all, gunners, homeschoolers, prolifers etc.
When elections (even landslides) are won by less than 10%, imagine what would happen if every single conservative voted in an election? We would sweep every office on the ballot. That's how you make a difference and that is how governors' offfices and senate seats change hands. A candidate comes along that piques the interest of one or more constituencies. Interested supporters then register to vote and turn out in droves on election day.
What has happened in California in recent years is that conservatives have been disillusioned by the candidates at the top of the ticket. Now imagine what would happen if we had a Reaganesque candidate as our nominee in November. Imagine that.
Imagine that his name is Bill Simon. Imagine indeed. Now wake up. Its not a dream. Lets get him the nomination and the press folks' jaws will be hanging on the floor this fall, as they were in 1994 when Newt took over the House of Representatives. Wouldn't that be nice?
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