George F. Will: Political earthquake in California? GOP underdog could win governorship

The Union Leader (N. H.) ^ | Thursday, Oct. 17, 2002 | George F. Will

[heleny]

LAST SATURDAY morning, after another pratfall in a star-crossed, accident-prone and banana-peel-strewn campaign, a nevertheless ebullient Bill Simon, Republican candidate for governor in a state (California) that has not voted for a Republican Presidential or senatorial candidate since 1988 or for a Republican gubernatorial candidate since 1994, said: “We’re close.” Noting the incredulity of his interlocutor, he added: “I swear.”

[Coop]

Word is that the White House is watching this race closely. Two reports in the last two days show Simon within 3-6 points of Davis, even in Davis' own tracking polls. If those numbers hold, President Bush plans to head out there.

[MeekOneGOP]

Dump Davis.....

[Republic]

That is truly terrific news.

Bumping TTT!

[Coop]

I never posted signs before, and when they offered signs at the Simon rally last weekend, I only took two without frames to hang on my apartment -- one in front and one on the opposite side. (so far, they're still hanging nicely despite the liberal environment. And, it's a good thing they're plastic: it rained a little tonight.) On my return after the rally, I saw so many potential sign places near the freeway exits, major intersections, etc. I immediately regretted not taking more signs. Lost opportunities!

I talked to a few college students, and most didn't plan to vote. Many had bought into all the negative news and ads they had seen. Some said they hadn't decided. None were enthusiastic about Davis, but I'm not sure I persuaded them to vote for Simon (or to vote at all).

How do you do that or what do you do there? What do you look out for? I've never even been to the polls. Can one watch without officially volunteering, or can one watch a polling place that's not his own registered polling place?

I applaud all your hard work. Keep following up with those students, imploring them to take part in democracy (but only if they vote Simon!). :-)

Concerning the signs, poll watching, and other volunteer opportunities, contact the Simon campaign at the below link. They'll be happy to put you to work. Click here.

[EternalVigilance]

Good. Tell them to send him to WV while they're at it.

Believe it or not, we are in position to beat Rockefeller.

[HamiltonJay]

I really do hope this is the case... I honestly just don't see how a governor who brought the state, deficites, power outages, corrupt contracts along with all the other crap can win re-election. If the republicans cannot beat Davis, they pretty much can never win a major election in California, IMHO.

[DLfromthedesert]

Can you get the article from townhall.com ?

[GOPJ]

bump

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Good catch!

I'll ping my list.

Memories:

California Power Crisis animations featuring Governor Gray Davis

AND......................

...to see what bad, bad things Davis has done... - CLICK HERE

calgov2002:

calgov2002: for old calgov2002 articles. 

calgov2002: for new calgov2002 articles. 

Other Bump Lists at: Free Republic Bump List Register

[RonDog]

Can you get the article from townhall.com ?

Not yet, but SOON!

It is ALSO posted online at:

The Union Leader (N. H.) - "Political earthquake in California? GOP underdog could win governorship"

JewishWorldReview - "In politics, a picture can be worth a thousand explanations"

The Chicago Sun-Times - "Calif. governor race a matter of who's worse"

San Francisco Chronicle - "Bill Simon's campaign still has a pulse"

The Sacramento Bee - website crashed from Simon overload!

and of course,

The Washington Post - "Close in California"

But since the WORDS are...

© 2002 The Washington Post Company

...Free Republic cannot post its full text here, regardless of the source. :(

[heleny]

I guess that George Will's work is copyrighted by the L.A. Times/Washington Post, so we are NOT allowed to post the full text of it here. :(

Thank you, RonDog! I completely didn't think about all the extensions of the LAT/WP copyrights to Newsweek applying to the columnists. George F. Will's column appears in so many places, I wonder if we can use a different source or if he retains the copyrights? Thanks for helping make sure FR doesn't get in trouble!

[heleny]

My remarks are directed at Davis.

Thanks for the clarification, and thanks for the well wishes for us! I wasn't sure if you were just another of those pessimists at first, and I'm glad to know I needn't have worried!

[heleny]

I like the first two titles better than the others:
"Political earthquake in California? GOP underdog could win governorship" and
"In politics, a picture can be worth a thousand explanations"

The other three look like recycled headlines that might have been the titles of a set of poll results.

[NormsRevenge]

WE NEED A NEW TEAM IN SACRAMENTO!!! VOTE SIMON NOVEMBER 5th


GO SIMON

***

Tom McClintock for CA State Controller



***

Dick Ackerman for CA Attorney General

[Grampa Dave]

Can you modify your bump sign to read Dump Davis?

[ALOHA RONNIE]

...BILL SIMOM should give wall to wall Airings of his new outstanding TV Commercial that defines the Governorship of GRAY DAVIS =

.."You've got to TAKE"..

...and forget about airing any other TV Commercials till Nov. 5th.

California Voters who are holding at a below 50% rating for this sitting and hiding California Governor...

WILL get the message BIG TIME and will carry it with them right into the Voter Booth that day.

[NormsRevenge]

Don't Miss a Chance to FReeP Davi$ TODAY in LA! Thursday Oct. 17 @ Noon at
Staples Center - Cityview Terrace - 1111 So Figueroa Street - Los Angeles
DUMP DAVI$ - FIRE Davi$ - FRICASSEE DAVI$ - BURN BABY BURN!!!!




GO SIMON

***

Tom McClintock for CA State Controller
***

Dick Ackerman for CA Attorney General

[Vision]

The info I've seen has Simon down 10 or 15 points, been like that for a long time. I don't see what this thread is about? What about the other current thread that has Davis stopping the negative ads as he is so comfortable with his lead. And rightfully so.

I want a republican nation, why not a world. But this thread seems out of reality.

[MeekOneGOP]

Can you modify your bump sign to read Dump Davis?

Hmm? Hey, Joe. Do you have the letters D,A,V,I,S already made up in this format/style?:

[Vision]

This is the first Will article I've ever seen that smells.

Good luck Simon, you need it!