LOS ANGELES -- Trailing in the polls a month before Election Day, Republican Bill Simon accused Democrat Gov. Gray Davis of auctioning his office for campaign contributions in their first and perhaps only televised debate Monday.
Davis defended his four-year record during the hour-long debate, saying he has made the state safer while helping schools even in difficult times.
Simon used their only joint appearance of the campaign to blame the incumbent governor for the state's economic downturn, for alienating businesses and for squandering a record budget surplus.
He called on Davis to apologize for "a disastrous four years in office," particularly the "awful ethical tone that you've set in your administration."
Specifically, he blamed Davis for "failing to act and then panicking" during the energy crisis, and said "he completely mismanaged the state budget."
However, Davis said, "Despite tough challenges ... we've made real progress in California," on education, health care, the environment and public safety.
All illustrate what Davis called his "starkly different vision for California" from Simon. He called Simon "a son of the first family of the far right" who is "out of step with the values of most Californians."
Davis refused to rule out a midterm run for another office, such as president, should he be re-elected.
The governor wants to rebuild voters' confidence after the state's energy crisis last year, while Simon was hoping the debate would give him traction after a series of missteps and controversies surrounding his family business.
Yet statewide polls show neither candidate is popular with voters. And Monday's debate was largely a continuation of the attacks that have dominated the campaign.
"This has been an election that has been so lacking in a discussion of the issues, and the voters have told us that's what they want the candidates to do," said Mark Baldassare, survey director for the Public Policy Institute of California.
Instead, Davis has spent millions on television ads touting his record and bashing Simon, while Simon has sought to tie Davis' record-breaking fund-raising to his actions as governor.
Simon had complained that the single noontime debate, sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, was scheduled to reach a minimal audience as Davis tries to avoid missteps in the final weeks of the campaign.
He had tried unsuccessfully to invite Green Party nominee Peter Camejo to the debate as his guest, sparking a last-day tempest as Simon and Davis each briefly threatened a debate boycott.
Though Camejo and Simon have formed an unusual alliance to bash Davis from the left and right, Camejo said Monday he "is into total disagreement with Bill Simon" on the issues.
Scores of Davis supporters competed for attention with Green Party supporters outside the Times headquarters, at times drowning them out with chants of "Four more years."
A man dressed as Superman showed up supporting Simon, as did a man dressed as a prostitute, wearing a Davis mask and carrying a sign, "Will work for bribes." A third character was dressed as a chicken, accusing Davis of being too "chicken" to agree to additional debates.
Camejo wound up protesting his exclusion from outside the Los Angeles Times building. The newspaper said Camejo was excluded because he failed to gather the minimum 15 percent support of likely voters they said is necessary to prove his campaign is viable.
The Times said that's the same standard that has been used in presidential debates. Camejo received 4 percent of the likely vote in a poll last week by the Times, slightly more than other third-party candidates whom Simon has not asked be included.
The debate before an audience of invited guests was broadcast live on selected television stations in Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento and San Francisco.
It was the first time that Davis and Simon appeared together since Simon won the GOP nomination in March to challenge Davis. Davis skipped an earlier debate during which he was the target of political opposites Simon and Camejo.
-- Associated Press