Simon focuses campaign attacks on [CA governor eGray] Davis' fund raising

The Modesto Bee ^ | September 22, 2002 | GARY DELSOHN

[RonDog]

He's been hammering at the same message for months.

Gray Davis, "pay-to-play" governor.

Gray Davis, "coin-operated governor."

Gray Davis, creator of "state government for sale to the highest bidder."

Republican Bill Simon began his campaign by attacking the Democratic governor's handling of the state's energy crisis and budget woes, but Davis' fund raising has become Simon's overarching argument against giving Davis a second term.

[RonDog]

Don't change ANYTHING Bill.

This strategy is WORKING!!!

Bill Simon may just be California's first FReeper governor!

From http://www.pe.com/localnews/statenews/stories/PE_STATE_0921_cancelfundraiser.4148cb2c.html

Fund-raiser canceled in face of criticism

09/21/2002

By ERICA WERNER
The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Gov. Gray Davis on Friday canceled a controversial fund-raiser scheduled to take place with bullet train advocates a day after he authorized a vote on a $9.9 billion high-speed rail bond.

"We've always had a strict line between discussing policy and our finance events ... under the circumstances, the governor didn't think it was appropriate," Davis campaign Press Secretary Roger Salazar said less than two hours before the fund-raiser was supposed to begin.

The fund-raiser was planned at the Santa Clara home of Rod Diridon, the Davis-appointed chairman of the California High Speed Rail Authority.

On Thursday, Davis signed legislation putting a bond measure on the November 2004 ballot that would authorize the state to sell $9.95 billion in bonds to build 400 miles of high-speed rail tracks between the Bay Area and Southern California.

AP photo

Mark Zappa of Gilroy, Calif., holds signs in front of the home of Rod Diridon in Santa Clara. Gov. Gray Davis canceled a controversial fund-raiser scheduled to take place at Diridon's home.

The High Speed Rail Authority advocates the bullet train, and in e-mails inviting potential donors to the event, Diridon wrote that Davis "has been a strong supporter of high speed ground transportation and incorporated that message in his first campaign and in this re-election effort."

The governor would be attending the fund-raiser, Diridon wrote, "specifically to visit with you who will build, operate and maintain the system throughout the nation and especially here in California."

Davis has come in for increasing criticism over his aggressive fund-raising, with critics including Republican opponent Bill Simon alleging that political donations influence his decisions as governor.

Davis aides vigorously refute that. They insisted Friday that they did not authorize Diridon's e-mail and had planned the fund-raiser as a general event, not one geared toward builders or advocates of high-speed rail.

"There was no problem with the event in itself. It was a general fund-raising event. But given the way it was communicated to a smaller segment of invitees, we just don't think that's appropriate," Salazar said.

He said the campaign would not be accepting money from the fund-raiser and would return any checks sent before Friday.

As for Diridon, Salazar said, "He's been talked to, believe me."

Diridon, a longtime Democratic fund-raiser, said that he called the governor's staff and offered to cancel the event after Friday's Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle carried stories about it.

"I didn't want the governor to be embarrassed and I didn't want the people attending to be embarrassed," he said.

He called the timing of the event coincidental and said the fund-raiser was scheduled long before the bill signing and that advocates of the high-speed train were only one of many groups invited.

Simon had wasted no time in attacking Davis over the matter, going on the offensive at a Friday morning press conference in Santa Monica and making plans to go to the fund-raiser himself to criticize the governor and possibly confront him.

Even after Davis canceled the event, Simon went to Diridon's home and set up a podium outside the closed door. The GOP nominee told reporters that Davis' tactics were "corrupt."

"Davis seeks to exploit the power of his signature to further his campaign contributions," Simon said.

"The reason he didn't come here today is because he didn't want to answer your questions," he added.

Simon called for an investigation of Davis' fund-raising.

Democratic Attorney General Bill Lockyer has agreed to "review" some news articles about Davis' money raising but has said he sees no sign of criminality.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Way to go Bill!

calgov2002:

California Laws for Sale

calgov2002: for old calgov2002 articles. 

calgov2002: for new calgov2002 articles. 

Other Bump Lists at: Free Republic Bump List Register

[runningbear]

Ah LOL.... great article you posted, and the Merc!

"He's been hammering at the same message for months."

This is all I had to read, and then I didn't read no more! Already knew how the article was pointing directions at!

Good ol Rod Diridon, still aiming at all the Silicon Valley rail connections, and then some. Former Santa Clara Supervisor, but have to hand it to Rod for his input in getting the ACE train moving. A big plus for the commuters out in the Valley. Yes, I know it wasn't Rod's doing. heehee.. Great freepers on his parade though. Love it when we can put checks and balances on politicians!

[RonDog]

"Dump DAVIS!"

"DumpDAVIS" FReeps are currently scheduled for:

Sunday (9/29) - 6 pm to 8 pm - Kodak Theatre in Hollywood - confirmed
(note NEW times)
Barbra Streisand and Barry Manilow will be raising $4 million for the DNC
theme: "REAL 'Hollywood Hookers' say Davis is 'unfair' compeition"
(Hooker/pimp costumes encouraged, but not required!)

Monday (9/30) - 11 am to noon - Nixon Library in Yorba Linda - confirmed
(note NEW start time) Bill Simon speech/lunch at noon
theme: "Gray Davis: debate DODGER"
(Bring ANYTHING that says "Dodgers" - hats, posters, uniforms!)

Monday - (10/7) - 10 am to noon - Los Angeles Time building - confirmed
Simon/Davis debate
theme: "Dump DAVIS"
("Dump DAVIS" posters, sanitation worker outfits, dump truck?)

Saturday (10/19) - noon to 4 pm - Capitol building in Sacramento - confirmed
state-wide "DumpDAVIS" FReep in SACRAMENTO!
FReepers from all across Cailfornia will gather on the Capitol Steps
Jim Robinson is scheduled to be there.
theme: "Dump DAVIS"
(possible GIANT dump truck, dumpsters - use your imagination...)

Please FReep-mail me for details, and to get on my list for a SECRET FReep - coming soon!

[TatieBug]

This is great news! Talked to Cindy Simon yesterday in Huntington Beach and she's the best...loves her husband more than you can imagine and is, by far, his best cheerleader! Complimented her on their campaign of late and she mentioned if we don't like the hasbeen ads Davis is running, we should call the TV stations and let them know. I am of the opinion that even though the suite was dismissed, the ads are paid for so they have to run them...your thoughts? Plan to attend the Nixon Library event to hear Bill Simon lay out his "major policy address". Lots of Freepers should be there to outyell the Davis rent-a-mob! I know the OC Freepers plan to be there...need many! Can't find a poll on this race anywhere...please help!

[RonDog]

See also from http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/4127930.htm:

Posted on Sun, Sep. 22, 2002

Davis' hobby keeps the fun in fundraising
By Peter Delevett
Mercury News

You're Gov. Gray Davis. You've been dogged by controversy over your lust for fundraising. So with more than

$30 million in the bank and a clear lead over your re-election rival, you should:

A) Take it easy on the money-grubbing for a while;

B) Fly into the teeth of controversy by attending a $10,000-a-person fundraiser in Silicon Valley;

C) Put on a 49ers jersey and hassle a bunch of Raiders fans.

Is this guy a glutton for punishment or what? Despite polls showing voters are turned off by Davis' incessant panhandling, on Tuesday night he plans to drill for dollars at a bash for wealthy techies in Palo Alto.

While the party's $10,000 price tag isn't unprecedented, it's still pretty eye-popping.

``Whoa!'' exclaimed Robert Stern, head of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles, when told about the event. ``That's a big amount of money.''

Which makes me wonder: How much cash does Davis think he needs to beat Bill Simon, anyway?

Officials at TechNet, the Palo Alto lobbying group, won't say how much they hope to raise Tuesday night.

But Reed Hastings, the group's former president and one of the party's co-hosts, says such pricey events typically draw fewer than a dozen people. TechNet had better get at least 10; Davis staffers have been known to set $100,000-per-event minimums for the governor's time and press sponsors to make up any shortfalls.

Hastings estimates the group, perhaps hoping to be on the safe side, invited a couple hundred folks to the gathering, which will be held at Spago restaurant.

Frankly, I don't think the food at Spago is worth nearly $10,000 a plate. But the donors who'll be at Gray's 10-K Partay, as I like to call it, must feel otherwise.

Billionaire boy's lunch

You want bang for your buck? You might want to head to San Francisco, where next month a lunch with billionaire investor Warren Buffett is going up for bid.

Buffett will auction himself Oct. 12 to benefit Glide Memorial Church. The lunch is priced at $25,000, which can be split eight ways.

At a little more than $3,000 a head, that might be a better bargain than the Davis gig.

Just can't get enough?

A cynic might point out that tech leaders have been lobbying Davis to veto a bill that would slap a $10 fee on new computer monitors to help dispose of obsolete electronics.

Roger Salazar, a spokesman for the Davis campaign, insists his boss's fundraisers don't affect policy decisions, despite widespread concerns to the contrary.

``If people come to these events with the impression that somehow it's going to change the governor's mind on a policy issue,'' says Salazar, ``they're sadly mistaken.''

Campaign finance reform advocates aren't so sure. ``My guess is the people who've been invited to the fundraiser assume their contributions will have some influence; otherwise they wouldn't make them,'' says Jim Knox, director of California Common Cause.

On Friday, Davis ducked out of a fundraiser with backers of plans for a high-speed rail system. Davis just last week signed a bill to put the idea on the ballot, and he clearly hoped to avoid embarrassing questions about the timing.

``I just think he loves to fund-raise,'' says Stern. ``It's his hobby. Mine's watching football.''

Salazar says that even with a stockpile of dough, Davis can't take the election for granted. Simon may be way behind in fundraising, but the Los Angeles millionaire could always tap his own fortune again. Last week he lent his campaign $4 million.

The bottom line, says a local Democratic politico, is that cash is king.

``Is it unseemly? Hell, yeah,'' he says. ``But I've run a lot of campaigns, and I'd rather have the money in the bank than worry about the bad newspaper articles.''

---

Peter Delevett's column appears Sunday and Wednesday. If you've got a scoop, e-mail pdelevett@sjmercury. com or call (408) 271-3638. To subscribe to his e-mail dispatch, see www.peterdelevett.com.

[NormsRevenge]

DUMP DAVI$



GO SIMON

[RonDog]

From http://www.insidevc.com/vcs/opinion/article/0,1375,VCS_125_1206787,00.html:

[Cicero]

Very effective strategy.

Everybody remembers the energy crisis and the other crises. No need to bring them up now. They just need to be reminded again and again that Gray Davis is corrupt. "Pay for play." It's especially effective because it buries the original--and very unconvincing--Davis charge against Simon, that Simon is corrupt. This issue finally puts Davis on the defensive. He's going to be too busy wiping the mud off his face to organize an effective attack.

[RonDog]

Officials at TechNet, the Palo Alto lobbying group, won't say how much they hope to raise Tuesday night.

But Reed Hastings, the group's former president and one of the party's co-hosts, says such pricey events typically draw fewer than a dozen people. TechNet had better get at least 10; Davis staffers have been known to set $100,000-per-event minimums for the governor's time and press sponsors to make up any shortfalls.

Hastings estimates the group, perhaps hoping to be on the safe side, invited a couple hundred folks to the gathering, which will be held at Spago restaurant.

Frankly, I don't think the food at Spago is worth nearly $10,000 a plate. But the donors who'll be at Gray's 10-K Partay, as I like to call it, must feel otherwise.

FReep ALERT!!!

Can someone confirm this?

It APPEARS to at the the Spago in PALO ALTO on Tuesday (9/24) - not in Los Angeles.

(Rats! WE wanted to FReep him here!)

[TheSpottedOwl]

Spago. Hmmm, Gray Davis is appealing to the unwashed masses.

Simon should rent a park and throw a bbq. 10 bucks a plate, or whatever you'd like to contribute. There are more people who like bbq than like Spago...

[concentric circles]

There has been a lot of criticism of Simon's campaign and most of it omits two salient details. First, the entire process is colored by those who present the information we all receive about the campaign and the candidates. With the exceptions of the internet and the paid advertising, the news media controls the images that voters carry with them. There is nothing Simon can do about that.

Second, the analysis and hand wringing are coming from people who have a high interest in government and politics and the election will not be decided by these voters. The election will be decided by people who base their decisions on a lot less information and on more superficial impressions than factor into the thinking of your average news junkie. If you look at Simon's campaign with this in mind it will make alot more sense.

[NordP]

Thanks for the ping!

[RonDog]

See also:

Davis lashes back at rival
Mercury News ^ | 9/22/02 | Laura Kurtzman
Posted on 09/22/2002 10:38 AM Pacific by NormsRevenge

Davis lashes back at rival

GOVERNOR EXPLAINS WHY FUNDRAISER WAS ABORTED

By Laura Kurtzman

Mercury News

Gov. Gray Davis lashed out at his opponent Saturday for appearing the day before at the Santa Clara home of Rod Diridon to protest the governor's fundraising practices.

``I don't need a lecture from Bill Simon,'' Davis said angrily after a campaign event in Oakland with the Teamsters.

The governor abruptly canceled a Friday fundraiser at Diridon's home aimed at railroad builders after the event was publicized. Critics, including Simon, accused Davis of abusing his role by scheduling the fundraiser to take place the day after he put a bond measure on the 2004 ballot to pay for $10 billion in high-speed rail projects.

On Saturday, Davis said he regretted the appearance of impropriety but insisted he had done nothing wrong.

``I didn't solicit this event,'' Davis said. ``I have no idea how it got on the schedule.''

In the two days since the fundraiser was made public, the governor and his campaign staff have offered different explanations for why they canceled the event. On Friday, a spokesman said it was because an e-mail message that Diridon sent to high-speed rail advocates was inappropriate and had not been approved by the governor's campaign staff. But on Saturday, Davis said the problem was that the fundraiser was aimed at an interest group.

``We like general events where people of all types are invited, not a specific, targeted event,'' Davis said.

However, the governor frequently holds fundraisers with special-interest groups. For example, while legislators were considering a bill that would force growers to negotiate with farmworkers over pay and working conditions, the governor attended a fundraiser with growers. The legislature passed the bill. Davis has not said whether he will sign it.

The fundraising controversy erupted with the disclosure of the e-mail written by Diridon, who is the chairman of the state's High-Speed Rail Authority.

In the e-mail, Diridon promised that Davis would be ``at my home . . . to visit with you who will build, operate and maintain the system throughout the nation and especially here in California. To help assure his re-election we're asking $2,000 per attending group (two attendees per group) as a donation to the campaign.''

On Saturday, Davis said he didn't know about the e-mail until he read it in the newspaper Friday morning...

more

[RonDog]

And THIS one, from the Slimes:

California: Angry Davis Defends Fund-Raising
Los Angeles Times ^ | September 22, 2002
Posted on 09/22/2002 10:58 AM Pacific by John Jorsett

OAKLAND -- One day after canceling a controversial fund-raiser, an angry Gov. Gray Davis defended the way his campaign solicits donations and said that he does not support events that raise money by targeting specific industries.

The Democratic governor said that was why his campaign had called off a Friday night fund-raiser at the home of Rod Diridon, a Davis appointee who heads the California High Speed Rail Authority, after newspapers reported that Diridon had invited builders and other advocates of a high-speed bullet train.

Davis, who signed a bill Thursday asking voters to approve a $9.9-billion bond to construct the bullet train, said he had not been aware that the fund-raiser at Diridon's Santa Clara home was for people who could financially benefit from the costly public works project.

"We don't have a problem with a general event to which everybody is invited," Davis told reporters Saturday during a swing through Oakland, where he attended a rally with union supporters and signed several bills to protect consumers from predatory lending.

Excerpted - Full Article ^

[RonDog]

And HERE is a good one:

California: 65 million reasons for Davis to cruise. Governor keeps on bringing in the cash
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | September 22, 2002
Posted on 09/22/2002 11:05 AM Pacific by John Jorsett

With just six weeks to go before the election, Gov. Gray Davis is well on his way to raising and spending a mind-bending $65 million in his bid for a fresh four years in Sacramento.

Davis initially had said he needed to raise a $50 million war chest, but apparently the fear of a close race against millionaire Republican rival Bill Simon has the governor (and his friends) dialing for dollars at an even more frantic pace than they had expected.

Why, in one 24-hour sprint alone earlier this month:

-- The governor raised $1 million at a late-afternoon, $1,000-a-head cocktail party at the San Francisco Fairmont co-hosted by lawyer and state Transportation Commissioner Jeremiah Hallisey and Fish and Game Commissioner James Kellogg -- who is also an international rep for the plumbing and pipefitting unions.

(Records show that more than $540,000 of the Fairmont take came from Kellogg's plumbing unions.)

-- The governor then rode over to Fort Mason, where he soaked up an additional $300,000 at a gathering of attorneys hosted by mega-lawyer and state Park and Recreation Commission Chairman Joe Cotchett.

-- From there, Davis jetted down to L.A. for a breakfast fund-raiser at the Beverly Hills estate of mega-grocer Ron Burkle, who had another guest of honor, former President Bill Clinton. We're told the governor raised another $1 million.

Davis money helper Hallisey, ever mindful of hits the governor has been taking over his "pay-to-play politics," told us, "Other than showing up, he made not one phone call."

Then again, considering the connections involved, Davis doesn't really have to.

Take the L.A. event, for example.

One of the event's biggest checks, $40,000, came from Yucaipa Cos. LLC -- a Burkle-controlled company that recently hired Clinton (the event's main money draw) to pitch its investment funds.

Those funds are being backed by as much as $760 million from the California Public Employees' Retirement System.

Coincidentally, one appointee to the retirement system board happens to be Sean Harrigan, who also happens to be vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, whose members happen also to work in Burkle's grocery stores.

The union folks are also friends of the governor, having given him $130,000 this past year.

Which just might help explain why another food worker union exec, John Sperry, was recently appointed by Davis to the California Horse Racing Board.

Sperry breeds horses as well. And from the look of things, he knows how to pick them.

more

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Good comments!

[cousinkoala]

One would expect these things to be exposed by Davis's opponent and our guy Bill simon , but I don't think the public knowing these things will sway them at the voting polls , just as the public ( the Calif left coast )largley did not care about Cinton and Monica .

Other issues need to take the forefront in the Simon campaign against Davis : Things that wrongly affect our pocket books and quality of life in Calif .

[RonDog]

One would expect these things to be exposed by Davis's opponent and our guy Bill simon , but I don't think the public knowing these things will sway them at the voting polls , just as the public ( the Calif left coast )largley did not care about Cinton and Monica...

I hope you are wrong.

I was disappointed that the masses did not care about Clinton's alley cat morals, but that was "just about sex," right?

THIS time, it is about MONEY - taxpayer money - being squandered by a corrupt politician.
Perhaps more people will care now.

Bottom line: With turnout for this election expected to be dismally low, we need to "energize the base," and get the folks on our side registered, and to the polls.
Publicizing eGray's shameless graft may be enough to motivate our ground troops, and help them realize that we really CAN beat this guy...

[jdontom]

Ernest if you are doing the bump list could you add me to it. Thanks...