[ElkGroveDan]

Weyrich is one of the sharpest minds in the conservative movement today. He makes a great case for us all to get out there and support Simon.

Finally, there is a reason for conservatives to get excited again. I'm glad I live in California. This is going to be a GREAT campaign. Simon For Governor!

[Gophack]

Wow! Great article. I have always liked Weyrich. He's been a solid conservative up and down ... and I can trust what he says about Bill Simon! It's so nice to have a REAL conservative who knows what he's talking about running for a statewide race! We actually have a chance! Yeah!

[Gophack]

Mr. Simon has that quality that is very rare and valued in a conservative candidate. He has a moral framework but can explain himself in such a reassuring manner that he does not frighten potential supporters as some less articulate conservatives have done. His ability to discuss issues is so down-to-earth that even casual voters can readily grasp what he is discussing.

This says it all ... this is why Simon can and will win with God's blessing and the help of all conservatives starting today. We can't sit back and do nothing ... it reminds me of a poem I read a long time ago, but I don't remember who wrote it ...

I am only one.
But I am one.
I can not do everything.
But I can do something.
And because I can not do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.

Every conservative, every gun owner, every pro-lifer, every small businessperson, every Christian, every mother, every father, needs to do one thing: Vote for Bill Simon and tell convince two people to vote for Bill Simon. That is the SOMETHING that everyone can do.

[poet]

I am registered as "declined to state" here in CA and until someone can tell me the diff between the parties, I will not vote for either party. For example, the senate and house voted overwhelmingly for what I call a GESTAPO Law even though they didn't have a chance to read the law because it wasn't even printed at the time of the vote!

For your info, I went door to door to register repubs back in 1964 and registerd new 55 voters for Goldwater. Except for Prez Reagan, we do not have true conservatives running in the repub party.

Did you notice we gave the elections to clinton by running a tired old man against him in 1992 and then again, we ran ANOTHER tired old man against him.

Bottom line, we really have no say in elections because the power brokers and the families who seemingly have a birthright to "lead us" put the candidates for us to choose.
If you noticed, they don't allow third party candidates to join in the debates. I know, I know, some of the third party candidates are morons, but, by allowing them into the debates they can be exposed for what they are.

The repubs accomplish the same thing as the dems only they do it a slower basis by putting us to sleep, so to speak.
Flame away.

[Gophack]

What makes Mr. Simon's candidacy so attractive is that, put him in the governor's mansion, and it is highly likely that he will become a national leader of the conservative movement overnight.

That would be great -- we need a movement conservative to lead our state ... and our party.

[Saundra Duffy]

I'll stick with Bill Jones, thank you. Bill Jones is the GOP's highest elected official in CA and he is a CONSERVATIVE who has paid his dues. My gripes about Simon: (1) A johnny-come-lately who happens to be rich; (2) It's embarrassing the way conservative Republicans are kissing his butt; (3) Simon gave some money to "GAY" DAVIS for governor last gubernatorial campaign cycle. Need I say more? For victory & freedom!!!

[Dan from Michigan]

I'm pulling for Simon, that's for sure. He's THE LAST chance in California.

I also would REFUSE to vote for Riordan, who has called for a handgun BAN. Not even Davis goes that far. If Riordan was the nominee, I'd vote....for DAVIS.

[homeschool mama]

Simon for Governor BUMP!

Elk Grove Homeschool Mama (nice to meet you, neighbor!)

[phothus]

I would like to see Simon run. A respectable loss that would put him in a good light for a possible senate run would even be better than a Riordan win in my opinion.

[Regulator]

Sigh...yeah, Simon's a great guy, and not perceived as being as much to the right as say, Brett Schundler. Even if such criticsm of Schundler was not merited. But "demographics is destiny", dear soon-to-be-extinct CA conservatives. Davis is down in Mexico right now yapping about California and Mexico having "a common destiny". Yeah. Third world living conditions. But the point is - the swing voters ARE Mexicans in CA. And ain't no way they're going for El Primero Blanco NorteAmericano William Simon (unless he pronounces his name "seemoan").

Riordan is anathema to y'all, but he won - twice - in LA. And I agree that calling him a Republican, considering his policies - is absurd. But he could win. And it would be like Bloomberg in NYC: at least it would get the party points.

If that's not to your liking, I understand. And it might be reasonable to let Simon run and lose (he would), if only for exposure. But don't b.s. yourselves. Davis is down now, but unless he takes the hit for the coming budget deficit (which he can blame on Sept. 11th), or the power debacle, or killing 187 (the repugnants can't bring themselves to mention that), I don't see it. In the long run, Democrats don't blame him for any of that. And since they are the numerical majority, some of them would have to cross party lines to vote for the Republican for him to be elected. They WON'T unless they have a big problem with Davis.

[Arthalion]

Why can't the GOP come up with some winnable candidates for this state?

Riordian~ Classic RINO. He may claim he's a Republican, but all his friends are Democrats, he spends his money on Democrats, and he votes like a Democrat. If he changed that R to a D, I honestly doubt anyone would notice.

Jones~ I've actually met Jones, and he is "uninspiring" to say the least. He's a conservative, but he's got no problem kissing liberal butt to get the job done, and is too careful to avoid "offending" anybody. He's also the candidate with the best chances to win this state (I'll explain below).

Simon~ I like Bill Simon, I'll vote for Bill Simon, and I'll strongly recommend that my friends vote for Bill Simon, but I don't really think he has a bats chance in h3!! of winning. Why? He's too conservative (yeah, yeah, I know, boo, hiss). Fact is, Democrats slightly outnumber Republicans in California. The gap isn't quite as big as many people would have you believe, but it is sufficient enough to allow the Demons to win any statewide office they really care about and put some effort into. This isn't the same equally divided state that elected Reagan way back when, and the Democrats out here are much more passionate and leftist than they were a few decades ago.

The only way to elect a Republican governor in this state today is to convince the Democrats to stay home, giving us the numeric advantage. The only way to do that is to come up with a "non-threatening" centrist-Republican with little for the leftists to complain about (I realize this will be an unpopular opinion, but it's the truth of our politics in this state today). Simon is too conservative for the Democrats to stomach, and they will take serious issue with his stances on returning religion to the public life and education. He'll raise the Democrats hackles, which will get them out to the voting booth en masse and destroy our chances of winning. Jones, on the other hand, is pretty mellow in his views. His clean background and his lack of emphasis on anything particularly conservative won't raise many eyebrows among the rank and file Democrats, and his current tenure may play to his advantage. The Democrat leaders would have a much harder time mounting an effective anti-Jones campaign, giving Jones a much better chance to win.

I'd much rather see Simon win the governorship, and I'll vote for him if he's on the ticket, but reason tells me that the odds of his winning this state aren't very good.

[blake6900]

After all, California is considered to be a trend-setting state. The trend has been against Republicans throughout much of the last decade. If Mr. Simon can win in California, then all eyes will be focused on the West Coast.

While I agree with Mr. Weyrich's choice of Simon, things have changed a great deal since Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California. For example, the number of illegal immigrants in this state has increased dramatically and, since no real identification is required to register and vote here, the number of illegal voters has multiplied. Clearly, the vast majority of those voters vote for Democrats since they are basically instructed to do so by "community leaders".

Until there is a concerted effort to weed out illegal voters in California, the future looks bleak indeed. Democrats will continue to control statewide government and, in the process, ruin the state that much more than they already have. Dismantling the "lock" they've created would require some sense of patriotism on their part and, frankly, the chances of that happening are slim and none and slim just left town...along with many good Republicans who simply can't bear to live here anymore.

Anyone who even mentions the idea of allowing only legal citizens to vote in this state is immediately labelled a "racist" or "anti-immigrant". But if ever there was a time when something could actually be done about the problem, it should be now since America has a newfound understanding of how pervasive the problem of illegal immigration is here. Sadly the Democrats will never give up without a fight since "party" strength and security has always been more important to them than national strength and security. More sadly, it always will be...

[Impeach98]

Cool article by Weyrich. Thanks for posting Dan. You really seem to like Simon. Me too.