"Campaign fund-raising has been the great passion -- indeed, the only passion -- of Gov. Gray Davis' career. From his days in the Assembly until today, he has been a tireless, even obsessive, solicitor of funds who has amazed friends and foes alike with the energy he brings to most politicians' least favorite task, the schmoozing of the rich and powerful.Also from the LIBERAL Sacramento Bee, on Friday, May 4, 2002:So when the governor's office and his campaign say that Davis knew nothing about a botched, hurry-up $95 million software contract with Oracle Corp. that led the company's lobbyist to hand over a $25,000 contribution personally to the governor's e-government director five days after the contract was signed, pardon us for being skeptical...
...In short, there's a disturbing pattern of an administration that is more transactional about political money than any in recent memory.
Because the Oracle contract is so nakedly a giveaway that was rewarded so immediately with a political donation delivered to a member of the governor's staff involved in the contract, it needs to be investigated as a possible criminal matter. And because Davis has been so directly involved in micromanaging his administration, that investigation must look into his role.
Attorney General Bill Lockyer is investigating the Oracle contract, but this is a case for the U.S. attorney's office..." - The Sacramento Bee (lead editorial, saturday, May 4, 2002)
