[frmrda]

Granted Riordan would have been hit w/ ads against him, but unlike Simon they would not have sticked. They would have dented him, but in all likliehood he would still have cruised to victory. The reason is that you can't paint a RINO like Riordan as an "extremist".

Ask yourself this questoin: Why in God's name do you think Davis spent all that money making sure Simon was his opponent. The only logical explanation is that he knew he couldn't beat Riordan.

Further, the fact that a good conservative like Simon is even anywhere near Davis in a place like CA underscores the fact as to how weak Davis is. But this race was blown a long time ago. I pray I'm wrong, but I have a bad feeling about this.

[Coop]

Granted Riordan would have been hit w/ ads against him, but unlike Simon they would not have sticked.

Oh, okay. Well then, it's settled.

[Coop]

I pray I'm wrong, but I have a bad feeling about this.

You have a bad feeling about every race in which the Pubbie isn't up by 20 points. How did you feel about the NJ Senate race two months ago? I can't recall how many arguments like this I had on NJ threads. Torricelli's and Davis' re-elect and approval numbers are quite similar. They stink.

[randita]

The "best" candidate is always the one that's not running. Remember when Dubya hadn't yet announced he was running? He was pulling down 60+% in all the polls, but when push came to shove, he barely eked out a victory. And no wonder--the media spent months telling us that only McCain (the candidate that wasn't running) could beat Gore. Bush was way too extreme, they said.

CA conservatives are knocking themselves out for Simon. I doubt they'd have lifted a finger for Riordan.

[heleny]

Riordan would have been hit w/ ads against him, but unlike Simon they would not have sticked.

In a hypothetical matchup of Davis vs. a noncandidate, the noncandidate always has the advantage of no negative ads or negative press against him because he was irrelevant.

Davis has spent $16 million against Simon, but Davis is only leading by a few points at most among the general population. Davis spent only $10 million against Riordan, and he lost by a wide margin to Simon in the primary. The negative ads would have easily hurt Riordan. Conservatives never liked him, and liberals will stick with Davis.