Bill Simon as the New Republican

San Diego Union Tribune ^ | 3/17/2002 | Daniel Weintraub

[dalereed]

Bill Simon as the New Republican

REBUILDING THE PARTY

By Daniel Weintraub

Weintraub writes for The Sacramento Bee. He can be reached via e-mail at dweintraub@sacbee.com.

March 17, 2002

Maybe Bill Simon is the New Republican in this year's race for governor, the one who will redefine his party to make it more palatable to a modern California.

That was supposed to be Dick Riordan's job, but the former Los Angeles mayor stumbled leaving the starting gate. The funny thing is that Simon, who defeated Riordan in the Republican primary, shares his vanquished foe's goal, if not his methods.

Simon is not going to lead Republicans into an era supporting abortion, gay rights and gun control, as Riordan seemed bent on doing. But this Los Angeles businessman has his own strategy for reaching out, a strategy more consistent with his party's principles.

Simon's hope is to erase the Republicans' image as an organization of scolds and moralists, and turn it into a party of economic opportunity. He is trying to build a bridge to urban and suburban voters, entrepreneurs and immigrants in California who believe in individual rights and personal responsibility, and who are weary of the Democrats' devotion to centralized bureaucracy, unions and ethnic identity politics.

"We should try," Simon said on the campaign trail, "to make government as small as humanly possible and as local as possible."

That's a line that might have some appeal with California's libertarian-leaning electorate. But Simon must persuade these same voters that he does not intend to use government as a tool to meddle in peoples' private lives. True, Simon is a deeply religious man who helped found a "family-friendly" television network. But it doesn't necessarily follow that he believes it's the government's job to set the standard for righteousness. He needs to make that point clear.

We already know that Gov. Gray Davis will suggest that Simon, if elected, would try to outlaw abortion, put a gun in every pocket, privatize the schools, rape the environment and let electricity companies loose to prey upon the sick and the poor. The governor's campaign staff will comb Simon's business record for anything that can be used to suggest that he is corrupt or coldhearted.

In response, Simon must find a way to convince Californians that he is not the right-wing monster the Davis ads will depict. Perhaps a photo-op of him surfing off the Los Angeles County coast with his daughter will suffice; or a more prominent campaign role for his wife, who supports abortion rights and until recently was a registered Democrat; or a testimonial from the director of one of the many charities that Simon has helped with his time and his personal fortune.

As he establishes some level of rapport with the electorate, Simon can move onto policy issues, where he will not be lacking for material.

He plans to remind voters that the electricity companies Davis loves to hate are still feasting on Californians, only now they're doing it by cashing in on long-term contracts negotiated by the governor's staff. He can point out that Davis reacted slowly to the energy crisis and then overreacted, locking up too much electricity at too high a price for too long a time, a fact that voters already seem to understand.

Simon also will draw parallels between Davis' tardy response to the energy crisis and his handling of the budget. Simon might be a political novice, but he was ahead of the governor last year in recognizing that the state was in a fiscal tailspin. And, this summer, as Davis grapples with a $15 billion budget gap, Simon will be a shadow governor, offering his views on how he might do things differently.

Where Simon can really challenge Davis, however, is not by playing bean-counter, but by offering his vision for empowering people to solve more of their own problems.

He can stand with the poor parents at Edison Elementary in San Francisco, who fought for the right to have their children's school run by a private company rather than the local school district that had long failed them. That would bring to life Simon's commitment to closing the achievement gap in the schools, a gap responsible for much of the persistent gulf between the rich and poor in California.

He could endorse the cause of low-income housing advocates whom Davis shafted last year when he signed a bill requiring them to pay union-scale wages on their construction projects. That measure, a Davis thank-you gesture to a major campaign donor, will drive up the cost of the homes these nonprofit agencies build for the poor.

Simon also might take a gridlock tour of California's congested urban highways, pointing out that the billions of dollars Davis takes credit for spending on transportation have hardly made a difference to commuters. In that context, Simon could argue that privately built and run toll roads would be a creative way to let people spend less time in traffic and more time with their families.

A Republican candidate who backs the poor, the working class and middle-income folks against entrenched powers protected by the political establishment? That's Simon's definition of being "inclusive." It would be as dramatic a makeover for the party as the image change Riordan had in mind. We'll soon see if it's one Simon is able to sell.

Copyright 2002 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

[absalom01]

Simon's hope is to erase the Republicans' image as an organization of scolds and moralists, and turn it into a party of economic opportunity.

Now, wait just a darn minute there. It's the Dem's who are the stridently moralistic scolds, telling us not to smoke, not to water our lawns, not to eat fatty foods, the list goes on and on and on. And the Rep's have ALWAYS been the advocates of economic opportunity, especially for the less well off. It's the Dems who rob a working family's paycheck to pay for the union pork that they dole out, the Rep's who (generally) try remove the barriers of red-tape to economic growth.

This newspeak really frosts me.

[dalereed]

"Simon's hope is to erase the Republicans' image as an organization of scolds and moralists, and turn it into a party of economic opportunity."

This has always been the basic party platform but the Republicans have let the democraps portray an entirely different view of Republicans with the help of the media, unions, etc.

All Simon has to do is to get the deluded democraps to see what the Republican platform has always been about and they will vote Republican. Pandering to the welfare class that are slopping at the government trough will never vote Republican but the majority that are responsible citizens will.

[ElkGroveDan]

True, Simon is a deeply religious man who helped found a "family-friendly" television network. But it doesn't necessarily follow that he believes it's the government's job to set the standard for righteousness. He needs to make that point clear.

It's the Democrats who want all kinds of PC speech codes. There already is a liberal-progressive friendly TV network, it's called PBS and it's paid-for by everyone's tax dollars.

Simon doesn't need to "make that point clear." Like everything else in his life he has already demonstrated how he thinks things like family-friendly TV should be done. He put up his OWN money and started PAX TV.

What a perfect example for what Republicans stand for -- the free market. If you don't like the way someone is doing something, i.e television, then put up your own money and do it the way you'd like. Liberals, on the other hand, shake down the rest of us to pay for the things they want.

[ElkGroveDan]

PING

[ambrose]

thanks for the ping

[absalom01]

All Simon has to do is to get the deluded democraps to see what the Republican platform has always been about and they will vote Republican. Pandering to the welfare class that are slopping at the government trough will never vote Republican but the majority that are responsible citizens will.

My feelings exactly.

[Sabertooth]

Weintraub writes for the Sacramento Bee.

Is it any surprise that illegal immigration is nowhere on his radar?

[Dan from Michigan]

Simon's hope is to erase the Republicans' image as an organization of scolds and moralists, and turn it into a party of economic opportunity

That's what has to be done, and I think there is one shot left in California. Simon is the last chance.

[Regulator]

Which seems to be part of an overall dismissal of crime as a problem. I guess it's modern liberal dogma that control of entire cities by ethnic gangs is a forgone conclusion, just "one of those things".

Which leads me to point out one more failing of the clueless California Republican Party. The biggest criminal lover of all is none other than the state attorney general, Bill Lockyer. But what have they done to highlight the failures of this far-left thug who managed to end up being the state's top cop? Nothing. They run a non-entity against him, with voting sure to break on party lines.

The real losers work for Shawn Steel.

[dalereed]

That is exactly how the Republicans should be approaching the Mexican voters to gain their support, pandering to their lower class that has their hand in the public till is counter productive.

Go after their responsible citizens, which are the majority, and explain and sell them on the long standing principles of the Republican party. They already agree with it but just don't know it.

[Sabertooth]

That's what has to be done, and I think there is one shot left in California. Simon is the last chance.

You know, I've lived in CA for 40 years, and I just don't agree.

Republicans are like that mean high school teacher you love to hate, but love, because he challenged you. When Republicans stand firm on principle, and shrug off Dems smears ("mean-spirited," "racist," etc.), they do very well with the electorate, even in California, and even with voter fraud.

In the past few years, we've passed referendums against affirmative action, bilingual education, and gay marriage. How'd that happen, if we're such a Leftist, immoral state?

Not with the wimpy RINO leadership we've seen from the GOP. We won those Propostitions in spite of them.

Hardcore Republicans with fire in their belly can still appeal to a majority of California voters.

When we try to be "nice" or "compassionate" by out-pandering or outbidding the Dems (never happens) we get our butts whipped... every time.

[goldstategop]

I agree. The liberal media thinks its OK for the Rats to be moralists and scolds and they don't mind. But its a crime for Republicans to be pro-life and in favor of people owing arms for self defense. Talk about logic turned upside down. Bill Simon shouldn't be afraid to say he's for a society in which every child has a right to life and tell people an armed society is also a polite one. If Gray Davis raises social issues Simon should simply say the above views are mainstream views shared by millions of Americans and now lets talk about what pro-life people and gun owners want along with millions of other Californians: good jobs, good schools, and good roads and a reliable power and water supply. Let's see if Davis' implication that genuine disagreements between people on some issues doesn't mean we can't get anything else done. Indeed, what has he done for us lately?

[TheAngryClam]

I liked this article! Weintraub might be a whiny liberal most of the time, but he's dead on right about this- Simon's brand of conservatism IS attractive to California.

Conservative Commentary on Berkeley Life

[The Vast Right Wing]

You missed the key work 'image'. We know that republicans stand for the individual and individual freedom and responsibility. But the Dem's have done a marvelous job of creating an image of the republican as the scold, it's not true but it is the image that uninformed voters have.

[BOBTHENAILER]

Hardcore Reps with fire in their belly can still appeal to a majority of Cal voters.

After throwing the aborted Riordan support overboard, Bush has endorsed Simon (don't give up on him yet). Yesterdays'polls show Simon in the lead. Personally, if this is played right, I think he will wax Davis. Send me his campaign info and I'll send him some dough.

[Buckeroo]

Contemporary Californians merely want a cheap lunch. I see you advocate this position.

[The Vast Right Wing]

Your point is dead on. I would only add that the messenger (Bill Simon) needs to deliver his message with a bit of honey. That doesn't say anything about the message. Republicans are portrayed as angry white men that don't care about anything but themselves. Nothing could be further from the truth, but in the past republicans have allowed the dems to get away with it. You counter it by explaining how our policies and ideology will help everyone. It also has to be done by a man/woman that is personally charming where the 'angry white man' label just doesn't seem to fit (Ronald Reagan). I think that Bill Simon is that type of a candidate. He needs to be out their pointing to his actions over his life that affirm that he cares about everyone. It is my understanding that he has devoted a large part of his life and wealth to charity and helping the less fortunate. That is the type of information that completely destroys the stereotype of an uncaring angry white man. It only works if the info is out there and voters no it. Go Bill Go.

[hattend]

BTTT for later read

[broomhilda]

We're on our way. Simon is our guy and he is doing a great job. I love his speeches. He puts things in the right perspective and does not get sidetracked.