I really can't agree with your perspective.
You haven't mentioned, that the reason Simon ran well in the primary, was the blanket run of campaign ads featuring the Giuliani endorsement, and the $10 million assist provided him (courtesy of Gary South and Davis' campaign contributors).
Bottom Line: If Simon were a true leader, there would have been a consistent, winning, message from his campaign for the general election. There wasn't.
Again, I ask: "If Simon can't manage a campaign, how can he manage the state"???
I can't agree with your perspective. the reason Simon won was because he was running againt Richard Riordan, who didn't even belong in the race, and couldn't even pretend he didn't hate Republicans. When a candidate openly insuolts the voters of his party, you shouldn't be surprised when he loses. Surely CA GOP voters aren't as stupid as you think. The only reason that Riordan was a front runner was because the New York Times and the rest of the media liked him.
Your mantra sounds more like you're a not so subtle Gray Davis shill.