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<p>Striking back at his Republican detractors, Gov. Gray Davis on Wednesday defended his much-maligned energy policies and argued that the power crisis grew out of an excessive and irresponsible reliance on the open market.</p> <p>The Democratic governor, who spoke before the Sacramento Press Club and the California Newspaper Publishers Association, focused his two speeches on his accomplishments in the areas of education, health care and security.</p>

<p>Enron was formed from the 1986 merger of two natural gas pipeline companies and, with its charismatic chairman, Ken Lay, at the helm, quickly grew into one of the nation's largest firms by concentrating on the financial end of the energy and communications fields.</p>

This is GREAT news!!!!! YIPPEEEE!!!!!! M E M O R A N D U M TO: Sacramento Political Insiders & Interested Parties FROM: Russo Marsh + Rogers, Inc. RE: Simon Closing in on Riordan in Another Poll DATE: January 28, 2002 ____________________________________________________________________ SIMON SURGE CONTINUES IN ANOTHER POLL SIMON NUMBERS JUMP NEARLY 5 FOLD IN JUST 3 WEEKS A new poll released Friday by the non-partisan California Target Book shows that conservative Republican Bill Simon's campaign for Governor continues to gain traction with voters. In three recent polls from January 10 through January 24, Simon's support has grown from ...

<p>Stylistically, two men could not be more different than Gov. Gray Davis and former Los Angeles Mayor Dick Riordan, the front-runner in the GOP primary for governor. Riordan wants to charm everyone; Davis wants to intimidate everyone. Davis sticks to his script; Riordan should stick to his script. Riordan talks about "empowering" people; Davis empowers himself. Riordan is gooey; Davis is brittle.</p>

<p>Irvine -- Richard Riordan emerged as the only top Republican gubernatorial contender to support amnesty for undocumented immigrants when the three major GOP candidates appeared Friday at a Hyatt Irvine forum co-sponsored by Hispanic 100 and the Lincoln Club of Orange County.</p>

Published Sunday, Jan. 27, 2002, in the San Jose Mercury News Riordan campaign decides to stay away from the details STRATEGY INSTEAD FOCUSES ON HIS LEADERSHIP STYLE BY DION NISSENBAUM Mercury News Sacramento Bureau SACRAMENTO -- As Republican gubernatorial front-runner Richard Riordan speeds his way toward the March primary, he has distinguished himself with his unapologetic habit of dodging details, skirting specifics and sticking to stock slogans. It's a novel strategy and, so far, it appears to be working. With the GOP primary closing in, Riordan hasn't told voters how he would balance the $100 billion state budget, whether ...

Davis ad: Riordan fuzzy on abortion By Amy Chance -- Bee Political EditorPublished 5:30 a.m. PST Saturday&#044; Jan. 26&#044; 2002 Gov. Gray Davis, whose campaign aides say he's not going to take it any more, unleashed a new television ad Friday attacking chief Republican rival Richard Riordan's views on abortion. The 30-second ad, scheduled to air heavily statewide, accuses Riordan of funding anti-abortion efforts and candidates despite his professed support of abortion rights. Riordan immediately unleashed a televised reply of his own in which he chides Davis for attacking him personally "instead of outlining his plans for the future." As ...

SACRAMENTO – The National Rifle Association has rated gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon with the highest possible rating, calling him an "A" grade candidate based upon the general philosophical responses provided to the organization, and from input received from their members at the grassroots level. In a letter to the Simon for Governor campaign, NRA Elections Coordinator for California, Carolyn Herbertson commends Simon for his stand on issues related to the Second Amendment. "This is to inform you that you have been rated an "A" by the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund. With respect to legislative or gubernatorial candidates, the ...

THESE ARE BILL SIMON'S WORDS In recent years, I have increasingly tried to incorporate my faith into business, family, and charitable activities as I discovered that success in my work left me strangely empty. At first, I simply tried to incorporate the lessons taught in church during the balance of the week at work and at home. Later, I tried to increase my charitable work by volunteering and serving on BOARDS OF LOCAL CHARITIES such as Children's Hospital, Covenant House, and CATHOLIC CHARITIES, as well as setting up a foundation with my wife to help underprivileged children. http://americanpatrol.com/CATHOLICHURCH/churchmeddlepolitics991020.html CATHOLIC ...

<p>Now that the smoke has stopped rising from the wreckage of California's electricity market, those working amid the rubble are getting a clearer sense of what should be hauled away, what can be salvaged and where the rebuilding must start.</p>

<p>Sacramento -- Despite the energy crisis, California actually spent less purchasing electricity in 2001 than the state's investor-owned utilities did the year before, Gov. Gray Davis said yesterday.</p> <p>"We didn't pretend to be the experts, but we paid less than the experts paid," Davis said in comments to the Sacramento Press Club.</p>

Host: Roger Hedgecock, former San Diego mayor now talk show host and sometime fill-in for Rush Limbaugh. Participants: Simon, Jones. Reardon (apparent) MIA. Listen online here.

<p>CALIFORNIA IS headed into a very strange governor's race.</p> <p>The likely Republican nominee is a man who is more popular in West Los Angeles than he is in the Central Valley. He is a potential nominee whose Republican primary schedule includes appearances before a prominent gay and lesbian group and the Greenlining Institute, an organization devoted to empowering lower-income communities.</p>

TRB FROM WASHINGTON West Wing by Peter Beinart For the media, the dramas of campaign 2002 will be personal: Can George W. save his brother? Can Andrew Cuomo avenge his father? Can Elizabeth Dole match her husband? But the most important race won't be about personality at all--because neither California Governor Gray Davis nor his likely Republican opponent, Richard Riordan, has much of one. It will be about which party can transcend the parity of election 2000 and set itself on the road toward a political majority. Richard Riordan may be the Republicans' last chance. Everyone knows that election 2000 ...

Riordan details possible plans BY DION NISSENBAUM Mercury News Sacramento Bureau Republican Richard Riordan waded into two touchy issues Wednesday, telling a Silicon Valley crowd that as governor he might try to eliminate the state's elected schools chief position and would be open to halting executions if evidence emerged that they were being unfairly imposed. One day after appearing with his two main GOP opponents in the political season's first televised debate, the former Los Angeles mayor told a meeting of the Commonwealth Club of Silicon Valley and the Rotary Club of San Jose that he wants to consolidate educational ...

<p>Showing that he can be just as keen to coalition-building as he is to raising money, Gov. Gray Davis met last week with about 30 activists and lobbyists from California's environmental community.</p> <p>Participants describe the meeting, held Wednesday afternoon in the governor's Capitol office, as cordial, in part because the enviros like what Davis has done and in part because most of those who do not approve of his policies were too shy to say much about it.</p>

<p>This story is taken from AP State Wire News at sacbee.com.</p> <p>Secretary of State Bill Jones: Blames Los Angeles, under former Mayor Richard Riordan, for gouging California with high electricity prices during last year's power crunch. Says he offered Vice President Dick Cheney an energy plan at the height of the crisis.</p>

Yeeehawww!!!! Simon has surged from 4% to 13% in just 2 weeks time as a result of his starting his media campaign and having Giuliani come stump for him. This is the highest ranking I have ever seen for him in a poll and it is clear he is overtaking Jones and is about to make this a 2-man race between himself and Riordan. Click Here for Poll

<p>Conservative Bill Simon cleaned up in the debate last night. The liberals reps in San Francisco liked the more moderate tone of the other two guys.</p>

Finance: The controller fears there will be no money to pay bills and foresees a need to borrow up to $8 billion next fiscal year. A Davis aide scoffs at warning. SACRAMENTO -- SACRAMENTO -- Controller Kathleen Connell, who must track California's cash flow, warned Tuesday that the state will end the fiscal year with virtually no money to pay its bills, and may have to borrow as much as $8 billion next year. Even under Davis' more optimistic view, Connell said, the state could be forced to borrow $2 billion in the new fiscal year that begins July 1. ...