Simon campaign leaders see Bay Area as key

Republican Bill Simon's local campaign leaders say the Bay Area -- especially minority and gay voters -- could help swing November's gubernatorial election away from Democratic incumbent Gray Davis.

"I think we can do 20 percent of the black vote for Bill Simon, and that's all you need to put a dent in the Democratic fabric," said Oakland management consultant Samuel Wallace, Simon's Bay Area campaign co-chair. "The battleground is the Bay Area."

The prizes on that battleground, he and others say, are the votes of Latinos and Asians whose cultural conservatism could mesh with Simon's platform; African-Americans disappointed by Davis' policies; and gay Republicans, who might soon be invited to hold volunteer campaign leadership posts.

Bruce Cain, director of the University of California, Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies, suggested they're over-optimistic. Simon's pro-small-business platform might attract Asian Americans, he said, but Simon hasn't yet chosen between conservatives' or President Bush's stances on immigration issues important to Latinos. "And I think he (Simon) has no hope of getting the African-American vote, you can just write that off."

Wallace insisted Simon's pro-small-business, education reform and anti-crime stances should resonate with all people of color.

"There's not anyone who shakes his hand who doesn't get converted," Wallace said. "He can certainly shake enough hands in the state to let people know the kind of person he is. With that and a little bit of luck I think we can win this election."

Wallace -- a longtime GOP activist who's on the board of directors of the nonprofit business and civic group 100 Black Men of the Bay Area Inc. -- said he wasn't surprised by political newcomer Simon's come-from-behind, 18-point victory over more moderate former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan in the GOP primary.

"The media sort of awarded Riordan the leadership of the party without knowing much at all about how the party worked," he said. "I never thought Riordan would be the nominee."

Wallace backed Simon all along because of Simon's adherence to "the core values of the party," he said. "My preference is always for a candidate that believes in what it is that drives Republicans."

That's "not necessarily the pro-life issue at all," he said, but rather free-market economics, firm stances on crime and leadership ability.

"I'm more of a moderate than a conservative -- I happen to be pro-life but I'm not an activist pro-lifer, ... and I don't believe that's an issue that should be driving the politics of the party or the state," Wallace said. Abortion and other hot-button "social" issues such as gun control and gay rights "might be five to 10 percent of the conversation as to what he (Simon) is really about."

The person is as important as the platform, he contended.

"The party needed somebody new. ... I don't think the party's values are out of step so much as we've offered the wrong kind of candidate," Wallace said. "The party is still a little farther to the right than it should be, but it's moving more in the direction it needs to be."

Simon advances that movement because working as a federal prosecutor in New York City and as a businessman in Los Angeles have attuned him to serving diverse groups, Wallace said. And although getting minority voters to even consider a Republican can be hard, he admitted, Simon will make himself heard via small business groups, churches and community institutions.

"I don't have any concerns or questions about his being a broad-based candidate who's open to minorities and open to women," he said.

The other Bay Area co-chair is Raymond Tittmann, a San Francisco attorney who lives in Walnut Creek. He's coordinating Simon's San Mateo, San Francisco and Marin efforts. Despite very low Republican voter registration -- 27.1 percent in San Mateo, 13.3 in San Francisco and 26.5 in Marin -- Simon will court independents "who are tired of Gray Davis," he said.

"Hispanics and Asians both stand out; they are more culturally conservative," Tittmann said. GOP-backed ballot measures -- like Proposition 209, abolishing affirmative action in public hiring, and Proposition 187, eliminating social services for illegal immigrants and their families -- drove these minorities into Democrats' arms, he said, but "those are far enough behind us now that their cultural similarities with Republicans and Bill Simon ... are starting to weigh in Hispanics' and Asians' minds.

"We're also going to reach out to the Log Cabin Republicans," he added, referring to a gay and lesbian GOP group which endorsed Riordan in the primary. "Bill Simon wants to meet with them, and we'd like to get some Log Cabin Republicans in some important positions in our leadership."

That could be an exercise in fence mending. As the primary campaign heated up, Simon hired longtime anti-gay rights activist Louis Philip "Phil" Sheldon Jr. to send voter-mobilization e-mails including one calling Simon the best candidate to "undo four years of liberalism, homosexuality and anti-family values in California at the hands of Governor Gray Davis."

Cain said "the Sheldon stuff is going to be way too hard to overcome." Yet Tittmann said Simon campaign operatives already are talking with the Log Cabin Republicans, discussions he doubts will cost Simon political capital in more conservative regions.

"Bill Simon has his own vision, and people understand that when they sign onto his campaign -- they're giving Simon support, but that doesn't mean he's endorsing everything they say," Tittmann said. "As long as there's enough in common for them to support Simon, I don't think anyone else will or should hold that against him."

Tittmann also said the Simon campaign seeks Silicon Valley support, with "a couple of people heading up a task force on tech issues" focused particularly on getting female executives involved. "It's one way to demonstrate that Simon is open to female leadership in his campaign, and a number of those people have stepped forward and asked to get involved."

But Cain noted such women often are pro-choice and anti-discrimination, so Simon must better define "what is it that he's offering."

Walnut Creek attorney and Lafayette resident Tom Del Beccaro chairs Simon's Contra Costa County campaign, and said Friday that March 5 seems like a long time ago. "I've probably done more in these 10 days than I did in the month before -- it's just so much activity. I just picked up, this week, another 50 volunteers."

The post-primary burst has let Del Beccaro shift from a countywide team to "captains" in every city. He also has enlisted liaisons to distinct voter blocs, such as Pedro Babiak -- vice president of the county's Hispanic Chamber of Commerce -- for the Latino community.

"They're not natural Democrats, they're skeptical of government," Del Beccaro, also a Hispanic Chamber member, said of Latinos. "They're very self-reliant, hardworking people, incredibly entrepreneurial spirits. ... They just want government out of the way so they can get to work."

Simon's policies should woo them, Del Beccaro said, as should his philanthropy. "If there's a compassionate conservative, this is really it -- he has lived his whole life this way."

Like Wallace, Del Beccaro downplayed Simon's social-issue stances. "Bill Simon is not a preacher -- he believes that ... social issues are largely a matter of private belief. I don't think he believes government should be used to moralize."

The election hinges on "who defines whom," he said. "But if we stick to the issues Californians really care about, Davis is in trouble because Simon has a great message.

"People have to take a hard look at the size of the budget deficit, the immense cost of those energy contracts and how they put us behind the eight-ball for years to come, and whether they want those problems fixed."

or whether they'll let Gray Davis scare them into letting him bungle those things in the future."

The support Simon's been getting in the Bay Area has been amazing, and the Oakland Tribune has been giving him a lot of good press, both in the primary and this. It's really amazing.

Conservative commentary on Berkeley life

Thanks for the ping. Liberals think they are in greater number than they really are in this area. That's because they have traditionally been the biggest loudmouths. Conservative are tired of the Bull Crap and are finally starting to come out of the woodwork. GO SIMON!

Please Email me if you want me to send you some of these. I am having 5000 of them made. A self addressed stamped envelope would be required. Send Email, you will be archived and when the production run is done, you will recieve them. Allow 4-5 weeks total from today.

Crime - and specifically gang crime - is to me the sleeping giant of any California urban election, and one that the Dims have no answer for (don't want to lock up their own supporters now, do they?).

This morning I listened to a KSCO news report about the Salinas high school requesting that children not be sent to school wearing blue or red. Guess that leaves only one primary color to go. The reason is that a 14 year old was murdered last week in a gang hit.

Davis and Lockyer will never go after this the way they should. Simon could definitely make gang crime a major issue. Even in the Bay Area.

Going after allegedly disaffected members of solidly left-wing interest groups in California is a sure loser and a waste of time. Simon Repubs should concentrate on getting out the conservative vote and trying to depress the liberal vote as much as possible. Simon's best hope would be for a popular left-winger like Ralph Nader or Jerry Brown to get into the race as a third party alternative to the widely disliked Gray-out, and siphon off his core support. Otherwise, the Simon campaign will make the Brett Schundler run in New Jersey look like a close call.

He's the Big Boss! The Chief Gangster!

Gang Members:

- Bob "Intimidator" Mullholland
- Art "Mad Chihuahua" Torres
- Cruz "Duh, What'd I say?" Bustamante
- Bill "Ima Thug" Lockyer

I'm impressed that they're putting effort into the Bay Area. Most conservatives would think of it as a lost cause.

But GreyOut probably hurt the Bay Area more than SoCal because a lot of us here in SoCal are DWP types and therefore didn't get the brunt of the power problems.

So we could actually see some interesting activity up there, especially from some rolling blackout sufferers.

calgov2002:

calgov2002: for old calgov2002 articles.

calgov2002: for new calgov2002 articles.

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"And I think he (Simon) has no hope of getting the African-American vote, you can just write that off."

Yeah, just like he had no hope of winning the primary.

free-market economics, firm stances on crime and leadership ability

Yes! Yes! Yes! We'll see if Mr. Wallace can get this message across. I believe it's Simon's only hope against the common wisdom expressed by the Berkeley prof.

Gray Davis is the first Democratic gov. California has had in 16 years. He can be beaten, but he's got to be made to look incompetent on all levels.

Reagan won over the Hispanic vote because of his strong stance on abortion and his support of tax credits for private school tuition (a big deal for Catholic voters) I'm not sure what will swing them this time, and after 30 years it's not the same people. They're not entrepreneurs. They're motor voters. Asians loved Reagan because he was a movie star and supported business.

I hope someone gets the pulse of these voters early-on and does it right!

I think we can do 20 percent of the black vote for Bill Simon,

I thought conservatives didn't use pot.

Even if 20% of the black voters cast their ballots for Simon, the poll workers will make sure they never see the light of day.

Get real. Those precincts are preordained. The hope is that in the less fraudulent suburbs and rural areas that the Democrats will stay home and the Republicans will come out in droves.

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