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Posted on 05/10/2002 10:36:58 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
By Will Shuck
Capitol Bureau Chief
SACRAMENTO -- On Thursday, when Gov. Gray Davis said memos detailing Enron's techniques for manipulating the state's energy markets were a "vindication" for Californians, he clearly had one particular Californian in mind -- himself.
And that vindication -- that he had been right all along about California being robbed blind by big energy companies -- couldn't come at a better time.
Because at the same moment Davis was in Sacramento talking with reporters and congressional members about Enron, Republican challenger Bill Simon was in Monterey talking about the botched Oracle deal and the impression the Davis administration rewards big campaign contributors with state contracts.
"These Enron memos come as a long-overdue vindication to most Californians," Davis said during a conference call with Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman and Anna Eshoo. "It's now clear Californians were right."
Simon, meanwhile, focused on the "embarrassing spectacle" of the Oracle deal, calling on Davis "if he has nothing to hide" to "release his fund-raising calendar and let the Legislature and the public decide in the light of day ... whether his campaign fund-raising is directly tied to his administration's policy decisions."
The Davis administration remained mired in a controversy that stems from a hurried, $95 million contract to buy software licenses -- about $41 million more than the state needs -- from Oracle Corp.
Days after the contract was signed, the company sent $25,000 to the Davis campaign via an administration member involved in the contract negotiations. Davis said Thursday he would return the money.
Oracle opens up a frightening can of worms for the Davis camp, prompting legislative and legal investigations. And it has political insiders for the first time talking seriously about the possibility, however slight, of a Simon upset in November.
Enron, on the other hand, is a boost. This week's revelations of systematic price manipulations give the Davis camp a chance to pin the blame for a painful energy crisis on Republican regulators, congressional Republicans, the Bush administration and, by extension, Simon.
So the juxtaposition between the two stories, Oracle and Enron, naturally sets off a public-relations duel, with the Simon camp fanning the flames of Oracle and the Davis camp waving the Enron banner.
Both sides think the right story will set the tone for the public-relations war that will only get more intense as Election Day nears. Will voters be more moved by tales of seeming corruption in the administration or by finding the villains behind last summer's blackouts and sky-high power bills? Will Davis look like a political hack or a hero, ready to take on energy gougers?
Democrats, obviously, hope for the latter. They believe that revelations that Enron energy traders apparently used a series of deliberate ploys to cause false shortages and high electricity prices may blunt the Republicans' long-standing attempts to blame Davis for the energy crisis.
"(Enron) is a Republican strategist's nightmare," Democratic strategist Darry Sragow said. "Because you've convinced everyone that Davis is vulnerable on this, and then you see the vulnerability disappearing before your eyes.
"Because now, the interpretation will be that Gray Davis did the best he could under difficult circumstances."
Not so, Republican strategist Dan Schnur said.
"This gives Davis one more excuse that he didn't cause the energy crisis, but people have already made up their minds," he said. "And they still blame him for not solving it."
Analyst Tony Quinn put it like this: "People already knew they were being ripped off. And so all they're going to say is, 'You knew they were crooks, so why didn't you stop them?' "
Davis and the two House Democrats, though, sought Thursday to blame the White House, saying Vice President Dick Cheney wouldn't listen to their pleas for federal intervention.
"When we were being robbed, the Bush administration and the congressional Republicans sided with the energy companies," Rep. Waxman said.
Democrats hope connecting Enron to the White House will hurt Simon, who has relied on Bush for fund-raising help, said Tim Hodson, executive director of the Center for California Studies at Cal State Sacramento.
But that message easily could be blurred by the governor's apparent need simply to say "I told you so."
Republicans, meanwhile, intend to keep the focus on Davis and his Oracle travails.
It may be working in the short term, analysts said, but it probably won't affect the outcome of the election unless investigators find "the mother of all smoking guns, something like video of Davis ordering the deal to go through even though he knows it's bad," Hodson said.
"It's possible" that Oracle will unseat Davis, Hodson said. "But is it probable? No."
"It appears the key person has already fallen on his sword," University of California, Davis, political scientist Ed Costantini said. "And, if that turns out to be true, (the governor) is home free."
Quinn thinks both camps are kidding themselves, that despite their frantic efforts to focus public attention on either Oracle or Enron, neither will make much of a difference.
"I don't think either of them gets a cigar on this," he said. "People are going to say to both stories, 'We knew this.' "
* To reach Capitol Bureau Chief Will Shuck, phone (916) 441-4078 or
e-mail sacto@recordnet.com
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calgov2002: for old calgov2002 articles. calgov2002: for new calgov2002 articles. Other Bump Lists at: Free Republic Bump List Register |
Dump Davis.
Try tax breaks for insurance companies for 250 large. I'll flag you if I don't see you on the thread....
I was being kind.
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