I betcha the rafters really shook, Ya.. We Got A New Unity in The GOP.. Woo Hoo!!
DUMP DAVI$ & the Den of Socialists
GO SIMON
Posted on 06/27/2002 7:19:52 AM PDT by ElkGroveDan
A supposedly 'fragmented' GOP is proving surprisingly unified.
News flash: Last weekend liberal Republican leaders threw their support behind conservative GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Simon. His message of improving education, reducing crime, and eliminating the state's budget deficit played well with this crowd.
In fact, the 300 people attending a weekend retreat at former Assemblyman Brooks Firestone's ranch delivered a standing ovation to Simon, although few of them supported him in the primary. As Simon's campaign hoped, the more people see of their candidate, the better they like him.
Anyone having read the endless string of major media editorials, op-eds, and news analyses about the state's "fragmented" GOP may be excused for being surprised. What Simon is doing was supposed to be impossible.
Abortion Ð to which Simon reiterated his opposition Ð remains a sticking point for GOP liberals. But most attendees decided to work to elect Simon because of their loathing of his opponent, incumbent Governor Gray Davis. As California Republican League President Mark Herrick said, "I can only think of one issue that I disagree with Bill Simon on and 5 million I disagree with Gray Davis on."
It has become a media mantra to say Simon can't win because he's "an extremist" - without bothering to define what that is. Liberals have a weakness for this sort of meaningless, nondescript slur. Every day, some major California newspaper carries another piece of such blather, proof that few pundits do any thinking for themselves.
Yet most polls still show Simon either tied or leading the race, proving there's more independent thought in the dining room than the pressroom. Even Davis's own polls show the contest to be a dead heat. If rank-and-file "moderates" follow the lead of those at Firestone's ranch, Simon will have defied conventional wisdom again by uniting his Party, taking a giant leap toward winning November's race.
His next challenge will be to garner the support of "Reagan Democrats," generally consisting of blue-collar workers disgusted with their Party leadership's obsession with pushing their immorality on others. Given Democrat leaders' embrace of death, decadence, and depravity, this may not be the impossible dream that press parrots believe it to be.
Much of the state's large Hispanic population in particular may be up for grabs. After being repeatedly poked in the eye by GOP Governor Pete Wilson, Latino voters flocked to the Democrat Party. However, polling data indicates many Hispanics Ð most of whom are socially conservative Catholics Ð may be ready to return to their natural home in the Republican Party. (While Republicans only managed 23 percent of the Hispanic vote in 1998 and 2000, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan regularly received up to 40 percent.)
President Bush is wildly popular with Latinos and Simon's use of Spanish ads to reach out appears to be bearing fruit. Even the Los Angeles Times, which usually functions as a Democrat Party house organ, admits Simon may be making significant in-roads into this vital constituency. If that happens, November 4 may be exceedingly gray for Davis.
It shouldn't escape attention that the governor's "too smart by half" campaign advisers poured $10 million into influencing the outcome of March's Republican primary election, believing beating a novice businessman would be easy. Davis may yet rue the day he helped defeat Richard Riordan in order to face "simple" Simon in the fall.
Go Simon!
Assuming you mean ads, Simon has started. Assuming you mean bad press, Grayout can have them. ;^)
That's for sure. What we'll see in the mainstream media is more of "The Grey Area" Davis' media attack-dog commentaries....
...Not surprising, really, I will never forget that the Fraternal Order of Police endorsed George Bush in the presidential race...not only didn't the mainstrean media report that, but Al's Pals kinda intimated that it was AL who got their endorsement. The FOP was forced to resort to sending out an email newsletter in an attempt to get the word out.
Now, NOTHING the left-wing media pulls surprises me. (and I thought I was a certified cynic BEFORE)
In addition to the Spanish ads mentioned above, Simon has several other ads out, including a couple of parodies of Gray's corrupt org. They sound quite amusing.
Is he? As I recall, in 2000 Bush actually won the Hispanic vote in Florida (remember the Cubans!), but nationwide the vote went 2 to 1 for Al Gore.
In addition, just subjectively based on a few comments here, Simon is starting to annoy conservatives with his "reaching out" to the middle and possibly compromising principles.
Greyout is a left-wing shill. The media, in general, is run by left wing shills. Grey's left-wing co-shills are NOT going to give equal time OR objectivity to Simon.
That is fine with me, it will make Simon'd victory all the more sweet when the libs are crying in november. Go Simon!!
Simon is a conservative who appeals to moderates and independents because of his common sense approach to communication and politics. This is great news ... we need a Bill Simon to keep our party together, keep our party right of center, and focus on fixing four years of Davis failures ...
Go Simon!
I looked for a Simon picture at the AP photo site through Yahoo and they had this one with Simon surrounded by Hispanic supporters.
Davis has got to be getting that sinking feeling that this race is already lost for him!
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