Posted on 03/25/2002 8:57:00 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
Gray Davis has a little problem facing him in his race to win a second term as California's governor: the voters don't like him.
"He's not exactly 'Mr. Congeniality.' A lot of Californians just don't like the guy," wrote the San Francisco Chronicle's political writer Carla Marinucci.
"Even some people who should like Gray Davis -- like Susan Barnes, a small businesswoman, a Democrat -- are turned off," she adds. 'What's alienating, for me, is his naked ambition,' says Barnes, who has a public relations consulting firm in Cotati. 'That prevails over everything. He's not out to solve problems. His first issue is: How much money are you going to give me?' "
Marinucci quotes San Francisco Democrat loyalist Marc O'Hara as telling her "Gray Davis wants to be president of the United States. He's lost me. And I voted for (Michael) Dukakis. Twice."
Just how deadly these opinions are to Davis's re-election hopes is illustrated by the fact that both Barnes and O'Hara are not only members of his party but also members of the American Association of Political Consultants -- "people who make their living selling political candidates and causes to the unwashed masses. These two are in business to elect Democrats."
The two were attending a convention of political consultants is San Diego where much of the talk was about the difficulty of selling the man Marinucci called "Mr. Un- Congeniality" to the voters in November.
That the task is daunting is reflected by Davis' poll numbers, which are dismal for a man with a four years term as governor under his belt.
Thanks to the state's $14 billion defect racked up under Davis, and his miserable response to the energy crisis that wracked California last year an astonishing 53 percent of Californians say they disapprove of Davis' performance. "Worse, the governor's approval has waned with Democrats," Marinucci reports. "A year ago, three-quarters of them liked the job he was doing. Now, it's about half, and his disapproval ratings among his own party have tripled.
Susan Pinkus, who directs the Los Angeles Times Poll, told Marinucci that Californians "don't like Davis because they don't think he's improved education, energy and the economy."
"Energy is really a bad thing for him," Pinkus added. "People blame him for the crisis."
Davis strategy for dealing with the fact that voters don't like him will be to go after Bill Simon, the GOP candidate hammer and tong.
Said Davis attack dog Garry South: "I guarantee you, by the time we're done with this guy, there are going to be a lot of people who don't like Bill Simon," he told Marinucci.
"It doesn't matter what a nice smile he has, or what a nice wife or how many sisters he has. That does not tell the voters where he stands on the issues. . . . Bill Simon is an unelectable extremist."
To date that strategy hasn't worked, and experts, noting that Simon, unlike Davis, is both genial and likeable, say it could backfire and cause even more voters to turn their backs on Davis than now express their dislike of the governor.
Noted Susan Barnes, that even with exceptionally low voter turnout in the March 5 primary, "grassroots GOP conservatives were motivated to go to the polls for Simon. Davis didn't get that kind of passion." "Democrats may not want to get actively involved. They could sit on their hands," says Barnes. "And that could make the difference."
Hate might not be too strong a word.
(Hate crime?)
In the 2000 election Ashcroft ran on a theme called "Missouri Values" which was highly popular here in the midwest and the state where he had a 10% lead before Mel Carnahan died. Literally every candidate in the state has copied/cannibalized this motto from Congressmen down to the local mayors. Hell, even people across state lines have copied it like "Kansas Values".
Gray Davis:
...as popular as Frank Burns
...as suave as Barney Fife
...as charming as 'Newman'
...as trustworthy as Eddie Haskell
South has a long way to go to get people to poke their chads for Governor Dufus.
Yes, it is. Check out his website at: Simon For Governor
FreeRepublic is a good antidote though, isn't it?
How about: If Simon wins, proof that far more people are willing to vote for a conservative than the establishment folks would like to admit.
He won't have to. All he has to do is what liberals do best: lie, accuse, demonize. And on election day, stuff the ballot box with five times the number of registered voters in the state of California (not to mention the illegal voting block) and you've got a landslide for Davis.
Media lead-in on election night: Victory over hate. Davis defeats Simon.
Pre-election bombshell: A Bill Simon love-child surfaces from a liaison (he never had) from the wild years of his youth.
Can you say Jesse Jackson?
"It doesn't matter what a nice smile he has, or what a nice wife or how many sisters he has. That does not tell the voters where he stands on the issues. . . . Bill Simon is an unelectable extremist."
Just the opening salvo in yet another Rat down-and-dirty campaign. They're revving up the smear machine, and once it gets rolling, I don't think anything will stop it. I hope I'm wrong, but, while Californians may say they don't like Grayman, I think they'll still vote for him in greater numbers than Simon. The Rats will just whip out their magic talisman, the A-word (abortion). Remember, we're talking here about the state that elects FineSwine and Brainless Boxer in election after election. I know, I know, its the Land of Reagan, but that was a long time ago (politically speaking) and those who hold to the enduring values of RWR have been swamped by libs and immigrants. The demographics just aren't there. Like I said, I hope I'm wrong...:-(
Now there's a blast from the past. What ever happened to Pete?
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