Posted on 07/03/2002 12:55:32 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan
Is This Another Issue Davis Will Ignore?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LOS ANGELES - Gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon today officially called on Governor Gray Davis to participate in a series of debates in order to better inform voters "of the records and ideas of the candidates for governor."
In a letter to Chief Davis Strategist Garry South, Chief Simon Strategist Sal Russo said that with just over 120 days until the election, and Davis' no-doubt heavy fundraising schedule, the two campaigns should begin negotiations on dates and formats for debates as soon as possible.
"We certainly hope Governor Davis actually will have the courage to stand on a stage, look straight at a camera and explain why on earth anyone living in California would want to endure one more day under his complete absence of anything approaching 'leadership'," Russo wrote.
Russo proposed five debates in the state's largest media markets, and an addition debate on Spanish language television. Russo also proposed several debate topics including "How did California go from having an $8 billion budget surplus to a $24 billion budget deficit on Gray Davis' watch?" and "Why do California schools rank at or near the bottom of all schools nationally, four years after Governor Davis promised to make education his first, second and third priority?"
Russo also added that he was encouraged by a Davis' spokesman's statement that the governor was ready to debate. On June 21 Davis campaign spokesman, Roger Salazar, said "we'll debate Bill Simon any time, anywhere."
"Despite the fact the governor broke his word on a hiring freeze, no raids of local government financing, no cuts to public education, no cuts to public safety, no blackouts, no utility bankruptcies, no utility rate hikes, and of course, no tax increases, the Bill Simon for Governor campaign remains optimistic that Gray Davis will keep his word this time and actually debate," Russo said.
Russo also wrote that there should be no question that the debate should include Mr. Peter Camejo, the Green Party's nominee, who has proven his candidacy by registering over 5 percent in the polls to date. Russo further suggested that any candidate who crosses the 5 percent number should also be included.
A copy of the letter is below.
Or the guy who needs to get his message out to the voters, in order to SOLIDIFY his lead, and put his in DIRECT contrast with the incumbant, who everyone already knows.
As well as the sane people in California
Yes, good illustration of the sort of cynical calculation that we'd like to get away from. With the exception of one poll, Simon is either dead even or ahead. Perhaps he'd like Californians to have a clear choice. In any case, if Davis refuses, he'll be revealed as a coward who'd rather display himself to voters through advertising than stand before them in a forum where he can't hide behind his trunks full of campaign cash.
The debates, will be held the way Davis wants them held. Since Simon is asking he will have to do them the way Davis wants them done. Either that or their will be no debates. Likely the debates will feature pro Davis journalists throwing softballs at Davis and hard balls at Simon.
Bull. The pressure will be on the weaker party, Davis. And I wouldn't look to journalists to go easy on Davis; he hasn't been getting any good press lately, and I suspect most of them think Davis has sold out the left.
"We bought the S&L back in 19xx. We participated in a government program to prop up ailing S&Ls by buying (a S&L whose name I have forgotten). We were given certain guarantees of suspensions of capital requirements when we bought the institution. When the government changed those requirements anyway, in blatant violation of our agreement, the S&L went under. We sued the government over this and won a $x million judgement."
I'm sure that if I can say that, so can Simon. And it's easy for the public to understand - if the rules are changed to your disadvantage in the middle of the game, you lose.
If you're ahead, you might or might not want to debate. It really depends on whether you will win. The proposed debate topics show me that Simon is going to have a hard time getting Davis to accept the proposals. I think the proposals were made with the intent of getting Davis to say "NEVER!" Then Simon's staff can say that, well, Davis didn't have the guts to debate us. That's bound to hurt him big-time among the middle of the road types who want to see the candidates before making up their minds.
And if Davis calls Simon's bluff? Almost as good, actually. Simon is a nice guy with a lot of ideas. Davis is, well, a not particularly nice guy whose primary ideas have to do with fundraising. It should play out a lot like Bush vs Gore; Gore may have known more and been the more polished politician, but he also showed himself as a world-class stinker of a person. Davis is going to do the same, so debates would overwhelmingly help Simon.
And don't forget the Green, who will rip into Davis' environmental record. Davis won't want to risk this; his base is shaky as it is. I think Simon believes that if the Green debates Davis, it's going to kill off Davis' base, big time. And I think he's right.
There's no way on this planet or solar system that I'd agree to debates if I were Davis. In fact, I'd say "No debates" right now so the question would have a chance of dying before the election.
But how do I reconcile this with my previous promise to debate Simon? I'm probably going to say "But don't include that pipsqueak Green, he has no realistic chance of winning." I don't think it would work, but it's worth a try.
D
If Simon were to use the debates to kick some fed ass on issues such as medical marijuana, CAFE standards, smog abatement, etc., as they apply to states, he'd make good headway toward appealing to 'State' voters.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Good-ole-USA, but my state is in trouble and as a resident, I'd like to re-assert rights that any state must in order to confront the problems as they exist. A governor's job is to put the interests of the state first, and reckon with the feds later. If they don't like it, screw'em. That's why we have courts.
Before I got into the details of the case, I figured the Simons were simply involved in a venture capital investment that didn't work out, of which there are millions in the world, whether S&Ls or not.
Even if you pretend for a moment that these extenuating circumstances weren't there, I doubt that it matters much. It's pretty obvious by checking out the career of the man that overall he has been highly successful. Bill Simon is an active investor. Active investors have successes ... and failures. End of story unless you can find something really terrible.
D
Thanks for the ping.
If Davis won't debate, the Simon campaign can make it a huge issue that he's dodging in the face of all his failures.
I hope he does try to dodge. It'll be delicious.
You actually believe this?
Gore knows more about taking 6-8 showers a day, that's about it.
I know that I and others on these California governor race threads may end up eating crow but, from the get go, Simon has defied conventional wisdom and the professional punditry. I know, I know, Riordan blew it/Grayout got Simon nominated but mecontinuestothinks that a pleasant surprise may be in the offing.
In any event, I gotta go golfing (*big effin grin*) and a very happy and safe 4th to you and yours and all others who happen upon this reply. God Bless America....
If you wrote this yourself, let me just say that it's brilliant and exactly the letter Sal Russo should send. It's perfect in the way it uses every opportunity to take a dig at Davis and I just visualize Garry South and Gray Davis exploding with anger at every sentence.
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