Posted on 11/06/2002 6:35:44 AM PST by bonesmccoy
California Election results for governor
It appears to me that the GOP is consistently losing the statewide offices because of voting in three counties. Virtually the entire state went for Simon with the exception of Oakland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles counties.
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1998 results
From the standpoint of the number of counties taken, Simon did better than Lungren (though the popular vote was much different).
A corrupt disasterous democrat was just reelected to the top spot and swept others in with him. The ex-mayor of LA might have won, but he'd be a democrat in any other state.
It will take a miracle or ressurection to beat the democrats in the next Cal election.
If Davis runs against Bush in 2004, he'd be crushed, because he has plenty of skeletons rattling around, and Bush could exploit them ruthlessly. And Davis can't use the experience card against the hyper-experienced Bush.
One thing I found very interesting about this race was how small a role ideology seemed to play. It was all about experience and track record. On that basis, I don't think Simon was rejected by the voters because he was too conservative. I think he was rejected because the Davis attack ads convinced people he was worse than Davis. I find that remarkable considering how bad Davis was, but, well, those are the numbers.
I think Simon ran a fine campaign in light of the resources he had. The decisions he made that were obviously poor in hindsight - such as not running many ads early - were clearly made because he didn't have the money. Obviously he is not a master fundraiser like Davis. If he was, I think he would have won. If he'd had more help from the California Republicans - and this lack is something that genuinely upsets me - he would have won.
There is, however, one place where I would definitely criticise him, and that is in the organization of his events. Until I got wired into the network with RonDog and friends, I would never know where or when Simon was speaking until after the event. In my opinion, they should have sent a weekly schedule in their email newsletter and had clear contact information for all their events. Then I would have been more likely to be active, and much more likely to donate money if I could have handed it over to the candidate personally.
I also think Simon would have won if the check fiasco hadn't occured. I was absolutely amazed how many people that turned off. It didn't affect me, since I know mistakes happen, but most voters apparently aren't quite that forgiving.
From what I saw of the results, it looks like Los Angeles County alone was enough to tip the balance of power Davis' way. Without LA, Simon would have won. I would therefore try and figure out why he was so unpopular here, and do something about it. I don't think of LA as a major Union town, or a major government worker town; why do so many people here support Davis?
Simon spent a lot of time in the more remote areas of the state, and it appears to have paid off with overwhelming support in those areas. But I wonder if a few more appearances in LA would have helped. The more people saw Simon in action, the more they liked him. I know this is true of RonDog, Tony in Hawaii and myself; and probably many others I haven't asked.
Anyway, I leave this election season with a certain sadness, since it was so much fun to spend my evenings and weekends in support of Bill Simon. It's hard to believe that there will be no more rides on the campaign bus, no more interesting events to go to in strange places, and no more political fun and excitement. I hope all the friends I've met during this campaign will stay in touch, and we'll find some new cause to interest us soon.
And I want to emphasize something: I have no doubt that many of the friends I've met on the trail will feel a depression, a letdown, a sense of failure. I'd like to tell them that I've loved working with them, and I look forward to doing so again. It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game - and I have yet to find finer partners in playing the game.
As a final tribute to the campaign and all the fun I've had on the trail, check out Gray & Me, my last Simon campaign video.
D
There simply isn't enough state revenue to support the types of programs and spending that were already in place. I haven't seen a post about the bond elections in California yet, but I assume they passed as well.
The Democrats can lie to Californians about the condition of the state finances, but they can't lie to Wall Street. Economic reality is what killed the Soviet empire, and it's going to kill the California Democrat empire.
From the ashes of that collapse, California conservatives will arise. It's not going to be fun there in the meantime, though, and I wish California residents (which include all my relatives) the best.
Why? Davis is the Christi Todd Whitman of 2002. Davis got less than 50% of the vote statewide running for re-election in a year with low turnout in his state. He is down almost 11% of the vote from 1998.
Compare that with W. in Texas. In 1994 he won 54% to 46% against a very well known opponent (Ann Richards) who had lots of out of state friends especially in the entertainment and media industries. She often got lots of free national media usually in the form of cushy interviews on "The Late Show with David Letterman", "The Larry King Show", "The Today Show (Katie Kouric), "The Early Show" (Bryant Gumbel), etc. When W. ran for re-election in 1998 he got over 70% of the vote state wide and even carried the traditionally RAT areas of the state along the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso.
Davis gets little media outside of Califoria and adjacent states. The population of his own state dislikes him enough not to give him a majority vote to re-elect him. And this happened despite having enormous amount of money to bury his opponent. Considering his advantages in money and party registration Davis should have blown Simon out of the water.
You don't get it do you? You just don't have a clue.
It was the coastal liberal millionaires that put Davis over the top. For crying out loud, California is the 5 largest economic power house on the planet. Third world my butt. There is more money and wealth in California than *any* other state. How do you think Davis got all those millions?
I always said California was it's own seperate planet.
Maybe you should suggest, like others do, that more conservatives run away and flee, to states that offer nothing but desert barren wastelands or rainy fridged states, and leave the crown jewel of this great country to the political enemy.
Not me, no thanks. I will stay and fight it out. The best is always worth fighting for.
Third world? LOL! Our economic wake alone, would swallow your tiny state.
I see the California political scene as a no win for the GOP. I think we would have lost no matter the candidate or campaign.
Your jealousy for California is clouding your vision and thinking, as you type to a conservative California based website. California has been through many tough political changes, disasters etc, and survived, in spite of out of state, big mouths like you. And we will survive this too.
We need to stop them. We cannot prevail forever against longer and longer odds. Thirteen million illegals already in the US are a clear and present danger.
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