An Evening With Bill Simon
Republican Candidate for Governor
Sponsored by SPARC-- the South Peninsula Area Republican Coalition
Held at Hyatt Rickey's, Palo Alto, 25 April 2002
The evening began with the DemocRats playing the only card they have
as they bracketed the driveway with pro-abortion pickets.
Later, Simon handled a question about abortion very adroitly. "I'm pro-life, but I respect all
opinions, such as my wife's-- she's pro-choice..."
My own comment: for the moment, that ship has sailed, and there's precious little the governor can do
for the foreseeable future but set the moral tone for the state.
Check out the comely lass on the left, with the fluorescent spiked mohawk.
Her sign: "Bill Simon: Stay Out Of My Uterus".
(I don't know Bill Simon, but I rather suspect he's content to stay the hell away from this one's uterus, if you get my drift.)
The event started with introductory speeches from SPARC officials, who did a great job putting the evening
together. Then a country-western singer (sorry, missed his name) sang an amusing song that poked fun at Gray Davis' many malaprops as Governor. Our candidate arrived almost on-time and in fine form.
Sorry about the blurs... the lighting was very dim (thank you Gray Davis) and I had no tripod.
After his relaxed and upbeat speech, Simon mingled with the crowd for a good long time.
My observation: Simon's positive message and non-politician image serve him very well.
Just today a friend who voted for Gore (and Bradley in the 2000 primary) told me
how eager he is to vote for Simon... "In the debates, Riordan and Jones were so damned
negative. Simon was the only one with a positive message. I don't agree with some of his issues
but there's no question he's the best candidate with the best attitude." A big challenge now, IMHO, is
to retain that positive, upbeat image while addressing Gray Davis' ineptitude and mismanagement.
Judging from tonight's performance, Bill Simon is striking an effective balance!
He hammered hard on education and infrastructure issues, with a good command of facts
and figures, to a very receptive crowd of Silicon Valley movers and shakers.
The skyrocketing California budget deficit (up 30-40% in a matter of weeks! --now $22 billion)
was a matter of obvious concern to the crowd-- and to Bill Simon. He plans to grow the state out of this hole
and promised to not raise taxes-- the evening's biggest applause line!
Bill Simon was more than happy to pose with people. Solid, nice, genuine guy with an easy
sense of humor and lots of good, solid, liberty-oriented and Constitution-respecting
small-government ideas. What's not to like?
