[ElkGroveDan]

He said many of his achievements were overshadowed by last year's electricity crisis and the hundreds of thousands of dollars in Republican-financed attack ads

It costs a million dollars a week to do statewide TV properly in California. Does anyone really think that "hundreds of thousands of dollars" worth of so-called attack ads over the course of a year is the source of this nut case's problems?

[ElkGroveDan]

"I KEPT THE LIGHTS ON" PING

[Clemenza]

Donna Summer should provide Gray Davis's Campaign song:

"Dim all the lights sweet darling, 'cause tonight its all the way..."

[GoreIsLove]

TRANSLATION:

"I promise to run a clean campaign against my inexperienced, right-wing, fundamentalist maniac of an opponent who wants to steal your money and give it to the rich, and execute latinos on sight."

Gray Davis is a schmuck. In hindsight, it seems ludicrous that this guy beat even Dan Lundgren.

[Liz]

bump and ping

[BibChr]

"My-opponent-is-unfit-to-serve-because-visions-of-butchered-babies-troubles-him" PING

[John Jorsett]

"Do you want him to govern the state, the [world's] fifth-largest economy?" Davis asked.

Well somebody has to do it, Gray.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

promising to shun "over-the-top" personal attacks against the businessman and neophyte candidate.

Obviously his attacks will not be 'over-the-top', this piece of slime couldn't get that far out of the gutter to get 'over-the-top'. What a weasel!!

[antaresequity]

Get your free bumperstickers here: FR post link

[John Jorsett]

There was a story in the San Diego newspaper a couple of days ago, talking about how California got $135 million from the feds to reimburse it for all the special-ed money that the local governments have had to pay out to meet federal mandates. Davis seized that money and stuck it in the general fund to help balance his huge budget deficit. The local schools that laid out the money in the first place got squat. That's the kind of governance we've been getting and that Davis thinks we should have more of.

[Dog Gone]

[Zathras]

"I'm not going to go negative, however my personal stooge, Bob Mulholland is working on the problem"

[Thud]

I am told that the California Democratic State Central Committee pays an annual retainer of at least a hundred thousand dollars a year to a professional political "consultant" named Mulholland to keep him from ever working for GOP candidates. They assign him to critical campaigns which pay him the really big bucks.

This guy purportedly makes Jim Carville seem like Mother Teresa.

You guys should brace yourselves.

[nickcarraway]

"Do you want him to govern the state, the [world's] fifth-largest economy?" Davis asked,could he do as good a job as I have?'"

[gohabsgo]

Show me some GD respect. Does your garbage disposal work? How about the latte machine? And that automatic cat box sifter, I kept these friggin things running you idiots!!!

[mafree]

Gov. Gray Davis vowed Thursday to run a civil campaign against Republican Bill Simon, promising to shun "over-the-top" personal attacks against the businessman and neophyte candidate.

Still, Davis foreshadowed a rough election season. Offering a highly selective portrayal of his opponent, he criticized Simon's lack of political experience, his spotty voting record and the involvement of his family investment firm in a failed savings and loan.

Hmmm...no personal attacks, then criticizes his family's business? Davis, you're a hypocrite and I should move back to Cali just to vote against you.

[Buckeroo]

Some of these authoritarian ass***** actually think they govern.

[daviddennis]

I noticed something strange about this article - it was distinctly slanted against the incumbent. The writer clearly doesn't like him.

Example:

Davis hailed his accomplishments on issues including education, transportation and health care, using superlatives such as "remarkable" and "groundbreaking" to tout his record.

The implication here is that the accomplishments he cites are not even worth mentioning, and that he's puffing them up absurdly to make them look good.

So why does the reporter dislike Davis? This might offer a clue:

The governor, in turn, praised himself for running "a straightforward, relatively transparent, above-board administration."

But he turned aside a request that he permit access to his fund-raising events, saying he saw no reason "to change the practice I've had my entire career."

Davis, who has raised roughly $1 million a month since taking office in 1999, keeps his fund-raising schedule private and bars reporters from the events.

That makes him look a bit like a transparent, above-board hypocrite, no?

I think it's very intriguing that our center-left paper doesn't think much of Davis. If he keeps on getting this kind of press, the guy's in big trouble.

"I'm not asking people to marry me," Davis said. "I'm asking them to make a decision as to who they want to govern this state."

Well, yes. And we will. I don't think our decision is going to make him happy, though.

D

PS Why does he want to keep his job, anyway? It's not like he's had a particularly good time at it.