Target Practice - LA Weekly thinks Davis invincible [Barf Alert]

This article is a bit of a whitewash, putting it mildly. Some examples:

It quotes Don Norvey of the State Prison Guards union saying nice things about Davis, without mentioning what Davis did to get the praise - back down on prison privatization and increase guard salaries. No mention of the substantial union donations to the Davis campaign, either.
Can you believe the article mentioned Davis meeting Jesse Jackson, without a word on the reparations issue? I guess even the Weekly thinks that's a bit over the top.

Instead, it speaks approvingly of how Davis is able to get both the prison guards union and Jackson to play nice with him. The article implies this is brilliant politics instead of barf-inducing pandering to powerful interest groups. Sad.

But the following excerpt has interesting implications which I haven't seen in articles posted here:

Simon had been claiming a sizable lead, in purported polls touted in a faux political newsletter actually sent out by his campaign consultant(*). The 43-29 Davis lead in a real poll, the Field Poll, is a further blow to Simon's credibility, already reeling from a growing sense of his evasiveness setting in among the press, whom Simon dodged for four weeks after a bad news conference where he couldn't answer hard questions on abortion and energy deregulation. After foolishly reacting to Davis' criticism of his refusal to release his tax returns -- now a customary practice for major candidates -- by telling a San Francisco radio interviewer that Davis sounded "like Karl Marx," he was literally forced to again talk to the press. It hasn't gone well for him. It's not that Davis is getting more popular; rather, Simon's ratings have gone down.

First, how many of you feel the Simon campaign's newsletter is "faux"? Surely it is no surprise to any of us who subscribe that the letter is written by Simon's political consultants; that's what we signed up for, the Simon spin on the campaign. Anyone who thinks otherwise has no business in politics! But judged on its merits, the newsletter is very well done, and includes articles that focus on Simon's flaws as well as his strengths.

More seriously, I'm wondering if the Weekly is accurate about Simon's relationship with the press or more Davis distortion. Seems to me most articles posted on FR about Simon have been pretty positive towards the man, but we could be looking at this through rose-coloured glasses.

I'll be very curious to hear what other people think of the article. I can't help but notice that it soft-pedals Davis himself, focusing on his wife, and concedes that he has massive negatives. In other words, they don't even like their man, so they're grabbing desperately at straws to make him seem less revolting.

The Weekly usually doesn't do this blatant a hatchet job; their attacks on Riordan seem almost friendly by comparison. I'm not going to predict a Simon victory in Novemer, but I am going to predict this election will be a lot closer than the Weekly seems to think. We may be putting on our rose-coloured glasses at times, but so is the enemy.

If we're not as complacent as the other side, I think we could win this thing ... in the mean time, this campaign should be one of the most entertaining around.

D

Ping to you all!

Gay Davis, invincible?

Thanks for the ping!

What do you think of the Weekly's allegations of evasiveness on the part of Simon?

I searched the LA Times archives for clues, and it seems like Simon gets to comment on most major issues, although I get the feeling it's mostly through prepared statements.

But I don't see any stories leading with "Bill Simon says ..."

I think he should start talking directly to the press, if he's not already. He has to get in practice so that his early mistakes can be forgotten.

D

You gave an excellent summary of the article. I think it was written by one of Davis political consultants! It gave no crdit to Simon.

We will see how well Davis does with the current scandal's flowing around his administration!

I'll tell you one thing for sure: We have some brain-dead Oracle salespeople around. It was absolutely absurd to sell California more licenses than they had people willing to use them.

Of course the real fault is with some incredibly dumb state officials who were willing buyers!

My guess is that the now-infamous department that did the buying was under pressure to show some results, anything, for all the time and money spent. So they grabbed any deal, even a lousy one, when offered.

D