Simon Leads Davis by 8 in Labor Poll

San Fran. Chronicle - Matier & Ross Column (near the bottom) ^ | June 12, 2002 | Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross

[ElkGroveDan]

FIRST STRIKE: After five days of "positive" ads, Gov. Gray Davis unleashed the first in what will likely be a series of attack ads on Republican opponent Bill Simon -- and with good reason.

There's a new poll floating around Sacramento that shows the embattled Davis trailing Simon by a whopping eight points.

[ElkGroveDan]

The TRUTH shall set you free....and it is clear now that hard working Californians will be free of that corrupt megalomaniac after November

[ElkGroveDan]

CALIFORNIA-WIDE POLL PING

[justshutupandtakeit]

He, he, he, he.

[Dales]

Outstanding.

[NEWwoman]

This is good news. But I think back to the infamous 2000 election. G.W. was way ahead of Algore in the summer and Algore came up from behind and .... we know ... Algore nearly stole the election ...

[ladtx]

Uh-oh. Are the wheels falling off the Davis wagon?

[Gophack]

Only 34 percent of those surveyed gave Davis a thumbs-up -- and 64 percent turned thumbs down.

This is key! Nearly two-thirds of likely voters DON'T LIKE DAVIS AND THINK HE HAS DONE A BAD JOB!!!!!

Go Simon! Yeah, yeah, yeah!

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for the good news!

This is very interesting: Green Party candidate Peter Camejo came in with 5 percent.

Maybe a few $'s sent to Camejo's election chest might be a great investment. It would be great if Camejo got 15 to 20% of the Rat Vote! Nader donations in 2000 were an excellent investment. Every vote Nader got would have been a vote for Goron.

We could have DUMP DAVIS and ELECT CAMEJO stickers on our suv's and garbage toters.

[B Knotts]

EXCELLENT NEWS BUMP!

[Jagdgewehr]

Thanks for the heads-up. Very good news.

[passionfruit]

I love this! I'm frankly surprised that the dems released this one.

[Pokey78]

This thing is gonna get NASTY!

[colorado tanker]

Well, in light of these numbers, Simon should expect Davis to start spending his war chest carpet bombing the state with negative ads. Betcha it'll turn out that Simon is one of them hard right wing stremists who wants to give everone guns, make women have babies and take away grandma's social security.

[ER_in_OC,CA]

Gov. Davis has "operatives" that make Bob Shrum look like a saint. These guys have a boat load of money to spend making Simon look like the devil himself.

I think Davis can make up 8 points by pushing the ol' "Simon will steal kids' lunches and punch old people" fear-mongering. Let's hope my fellow CA residents will see through this. And let's hope GWB and Giuliani make a few trips out here to promote Simon's campaign.

[catch]

Yeah, but...despite Davis' bad approval ratings, Simon still gets only 42 percent. And that's gotta be primarily that he is "inexperienced" and "unknown."

Sooooo - his message from now until November needs to address his substance and capability to govern. He could do worse than site other examples of successful governors who've come from such a background, beginning of course with that "inexperienced" (if not exactly unknown) guy in California a few years back...whatzisname...yeah, RW Reagan.

[Coop]

Gee. This isn't bad for a candidate who stands absolutely no chance at all of defeating Grayout Davis. < / sarcasm >

Now when I argue with all the naysayers, I can say five out of six (instead of four out of five) polls show Simon leading Davis.

[Mama_Bear]

Thanks for the ping, this is VERY good news. But, it is a LONG time until November. I certainly hope this trend holds up. I will be doing everything I can to see that Simon gets elected, it is the only hope for our poor state. California can't take much more of Davis and his liberal cronies. I want my state back!

[Coop]

But I think back to the infamous 2000 election. G.W. was way ahead of Algore in the summer and Algore came up from behind and .... we know ... Algore nearly stole the election ...

No, Dubya was not way ahead. He led slightly in the summer. Both candidates received bumps from their respective conventions, but the race remained close throughout. Gore did close toward the end, compliments of the DWI story, thereby tilting many swing states to him and turning a potential large electoral victory into a squeaker.

We'll never know the true impact of the bogus Florida call on Dubya's final popular vote count.

[Coop]

Yeah, but...despite Davis' bad approval ratings, Simon still gets only 42 percent.

I respectfully think you're looking at this thing backwards. Despite being a powerful, well funded incumbent, Gray Davis only captures 34% of the vote. I can't remember the last time I saw numbers that low. Rod Grams (R-MN), I believe, was about 40% and he was considered DOA. (Turned out to be an accurate prediction, too).

There is still approximately 19% of those polled who are apparently in the undecided category. Plenty of room for either candidate to rise.

[Sword_of_Gideon]

So when was the last time California actually elected a Republican governor?