Dan Walters: Bill Simon: So far, more like Clark Kent than a political Superman

The Sacramento Bee ^ | April 28, 2002 | Dan Walters

[dpwiener]

As businessman Bill Simon launched his improbable campaign for governor, his physical appearance and earnest demeanor evoked to many the image of Clark Kent, the "mild-mannered reporter" of comic books and movies.

Simon's managers rather liked the comparison and boldly predicted that, like Clark Kent, he would metamorphose into Superman. The words seemingly became reality when Simon decisively defeated former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan for the Republican nomination in March, thanks in part to a barrage of Davis-financed anti-Riordan television ads.

[dpwiener]

Dan Walters is the top political analyst of California politics, and his comments are reinforced by today's news about Davis' 14-point lead over Simon in the Field Poll.

[Torie]

It is so sad that Simon is such a flawed candidate. California faces one of the grimest set of choices between candidates in my memory. I suspect a majority of Califonia voters agree, or soon will.

[ambrose]

Yup.. Walters is THE opinion to turn to when it comes to CA politics... looks like the California GOP is going to implode once again.. Let's pray for a long hot summer and another energy "crisis"...

[dpwiener]

In a San Francisco Chronical column about slave reparations in California, Debra Saunders also took Simon's campaign to task for failing to make an issue of Davis' support for reparations:

This could be a thorny issue for Davis in his re-election. A 2001 Fox News poll found that 81 percent of registered voters oppose the U.S. government paying African Americans reparations. (Lucky for Davis, GOP challenger Bill Simon doesn't see this as a campaign issue. Simon spokesman James Fisfis told me, "That's something we probably would not comment on.")

[dpwiener]

It is so sad that Simon is such a flawed candidate.

Everyone was wondering whether Simon's come-from-way-behind huge upset victory over Riordan could be attributed to [1] campaign brilliance on Simon's part or [2] campaign incompetence on Riordan's part or [3] the strategic decision by Davis to intervene against his perceived strongest challenger (Riordan). After two months it's beginning to look more like choice #2 or #3, probably #3.

[Torie]

It was a combo of #2 and #3, with really more #2, and how #2 handled #3. What is gradually emerging is that if Jones had won, he would have been the odds on favorite, and that condition would have obtained through election day.

[GraniteStateConservative]

He could use Bush's trip next week to get a fresh start. Let's see if he takes the opportunity.

[NormsRevenge]

:-? Field Poll ... of Dreams for GraYout DeViou$

Sounds like a mass manipulation of minds psych job sponsored by the man who would be King

GraYout thinks he is half black, and he's pretty sure he's related to the clintoons...

Maybe SIMON IS a little limp at times , but Hey, that beats what we have by a long shot !




DUMP DAVIS


SEMPER FI
Norm

[ElkGroveDan]

Walters is a putz and the Field poll is always inaccurate in favor of the Dems. They poll all adults, not likely voters or even registered voters, but ALL ADULTS. They predicted that every Democrat would win Governor for the past 25 years when only one actually did.

They also had Riordan beating Simon by a wide margin only two weeks before the primary.

Walters is a cranky old curmudgeon who spends his days longing to be able to write for the LA Times.

Just by winning the primary over the media's darling candidate -- not to mention all the pundits -- Simon has shown that he has what it takes to bring on the surprise upset.

GO SIMON!

[Munson]

Yes California Politics is very strange. I have to deal with campaigning in a Democrat district by 18 percent, and Simon down by 14 is going to make it hard, but I'll play with my Republican team no matter if we win or lose. I want to help Simon so he wouldnt have to deal with a sea of Liberal Democrats due to redistricting which created ideological purity. He needs some people on his side when victory happens.

[stimulate]

It's still a long time before the election.However, if Simon listens to the right people,like Dan Walters,he can pull off a major victory.

[stimulate]

If Field polls ALL voters then it will always predict a Democrat as winner for Gov.,or as a U.S. Senator:the majority of voters are of course Democrats,but a lot of them don't vote.Zogby is a much better pollster,because he is only concerned with likely voters. Can't agree with you about Walters,however.I think he's smart and honest,but he's not perfect.

[tubebender]

Who was Walters bumping for during primary ? If Walters wants a REPUB to win he should give Simon advice but not use his soap box to trash our candidate but I suspect he is just another egotistical RHINO.

[Coop]

Yes, you're doing your darnedest to depress Simon supporters, whatever your motivation. But please don't tell me you're just being objective. If you were, you might have found occasion to mention the 3 or 4 other polls showing Simon leading.

[dpwiener]

If Walters wants a REPUB to win he should give Simon advice but not use his soap box to trash our candidate but I suspect he is just another egotistical RHINO.

I don't know what Dan Walters' political affiliation is, but he has excellent sources of information and he writes very objective and fair and incisive columns. Among other things that means that he has been mercilously pummeling Gray Davis for as long as I can remember, ripping Davis over all of his idiotic policy decisions as well as Davis' do-whatever-it-takes focus on getting elected (and extorting vast sums of money to that end).

[dpwiener]

Yes, you're doing your darnedest to depress Simon supporters, whatever your motivation. But please don't tell me you're just being objective. If you were, you might have found occasion to mention the 3 or 4 other polls showing Simon leading.

I would expect Republicans to be somewhat depressed (or at least very concerned) by this news, which does not bode well for Simon. The previous polls I've seen gave Simon a 7 point lead in Mid March and a 6 point lead in early April. This latest Field poll (about 3 weeks more up-to-date) gives Davis has a 14 point lead. The Field poll leans left and should probably be discounted by several percentage points, but then those previous polls were privately commissioned by Republicans and are probably biased in the other direction.

Simon had huge momentum coming out of the primary. It looks like he's squandered it in less than two months, and that's without Davis even dipping into his ample campaign funds to buy negative TV and radio ads. It's not over yet by a long shot: Bush will give Simon a boost, and Rudy will be back campaigning for him. But if Simon's campaign doesn't get a clue, and this trend continues, I foresee four more years of Davis as Governor here in California.

[Coop]

And I guess you're implying, by these polls, that the Simon camp has lost momentum. I personally see a dead heat, subtracting a couple of points for the Pubbie polls and a few points for the IMHO poorly constructed left leaning Field poll.

I'm under no illusions. Simon's got his work cut out for him against a well-funded, nasty incumbent. But Gray-out Davis' re-elect numbers stink to high heaven. Those aren't gonna change much, in my view. I really think Simon can win this thing, despite the media's best efforts.

[Fred]

Picture of Simon, muy malo, like some kind of nostril disease. Get rid of it..