Posted on 07/07/2002 2:16:11 PM PDT by John Jorsett
SACRAMENTO – They're Gov. Gray Davis' secret weapon: a group of mostly Republican law enforcement officials who publicly testify to the governor's commitment to fighting crime, helping him win over moderate voters during election season.
Now, Sacramento County Sheriff Lou Blanas and his Republican colleagues have become a potent political force for Davis during the budget battle.
After helping round up the key budget votes last year, Blanas and several sheriffs are back at the Capitol, warning conservative Republican legislators that unless they accept a tax increase and pass the budget, they risk making California a more dangerous place.
"We've got to get on with the day-to-day business of keeping the streets safe," Blanas told lawmakers at a news conference Monday.
Davis has lavished attention and money on law enforcement officials, from Republican sheriffs in the Central Valley to prison guards across the state, and now they're returning the favor.
Davis, a Democrat, has also compiled a crime record that puts him to the right of former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson in turning down paroles.
Together, these actions have helped Davis dramatically alter the political landscape, taking away one of the most effective issues Republicans have used against Democrats for more than 30 years.
"Republicans have won office in California in the early 1980s and the 1990s on taxes and crime," said Bruce Cain, political scientist at University of California Berkeley. "Gray Davis learned that if you can neutralize at least one of those issues, a Democrat can win."
Davis does, however, risk alienating his base among liberal Democratic voters and being viewed as too close to prison guards, according to some analysts.
"He's perceived as being in the pocket of the prison guards union," said Vincent Schiraldi, president of the Justice Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. "It's starting to look like the prison guards union says, 'Jump,' and Davis says, 'How high?' "
Davis' Republican opponent, wealthy Los Angeles businessman Bill Simon, doesn't plan to concede the issue, said senior strategist Jeff Flint.
Simon will emphasize his credentials as a former federal prosecutor in New York and pin increases in crime on Davis.
"Tough on crime isn't just a political slogan for him. Bill Simon is someone who has lived it. He's worked with Rudy Giuliani on tough cases," Flint said.
Simon hasn't identified any major crime policy differences with Davis.
As chief of staff for Jerry Brown, the last governor to oppose the death penalty, Davis learned firsthand the perils of appearing soft on crime.
Starting with his first Assembly run in 1982, Davis has gone out of his way to tout his support for the death penalty and to win friends in law enforcement.
During his 1998 election, Davis trumpeted his support from police organizations and went on to defeat conservative Republican Dan Lungren, who ran as a crime fighter. The governor personally decided to scroll his police endorsements on television ads.
As governor of a state with 34 million people, Davis has chosen to spend much of his limited time talking with local sheriffs, prosecutors and police chiefs. In recent weeks, he has attended events honoring Blanas and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca.
Last month, Davis told the sheriffs' association: "You have no better friend than me."
Blanas said the access Davis gives law enforcement is unprecedented.
"Any police chief or sheriff calls him, he returns the call," Blanas said.
In recent years, Blanas and Davis have developed something of a mutual admiration society.
During last year's budget signing, Davis thanked Blanas for help in persuading recalcitrant Republicans to provide the critical votes needed to pass the budget.
Blanas soon reciprocated. At a news conference announcing the capture of a mass murder suspect last year, Davis was the first person Blanas thanked because the governor quickly agreed to put up a $50,000 reward.
Davis' staff has devoted considerable energy to finding new money for law enforcement, including more than $100 million for juvenile justice programs, $14 million to fight technology crime and $30 million devoted to the Central Valley's fight against methamphetamine.
Even though he is a Republican, Blanas said his vocal support for Davis is easy to explain: "Gov. Gray Davis has done more for law enforcement than anyone I can remember."
Davis won a similarly glowing endorsement from Bob Blankenship, president of the California Police Chiefs Association. He called Davis' record on crime "the best of any governor in the history of our organization," which was founded in 1966.
Support from Republican sheriffs and police chiefs could help provide the political cover Davis needs to persuade the four GOP Assembly members needed to approve the budget and end the stalemate.
"If you've got the police and the firefighters helping with the budget, you can usually sell it to the public," Cain said.
Davis has also been generous to the prison guards' union. Despite a budget deficit, his administration negotiated a new contract with guards that could raise their pay 34 percent over five years.
In 1998, the powerful group spent $2.5 million to elect Davis and has donated $251,000 to him this year.
Garry South, chief political adviser for the governor, said the contract is part of a long-term effort begun under Republican Gov. George Deukmejian to raise the professionalism, training and pay of prison guards.
"The governor doesn't have anything to apologize for," South said.
Besides showering law enforcement officials with money and attention, Davis has nearly always come out in favor of lengthier sentences and more punitive policies.
The governor, for example, opposed Proposition 36, a measure that diverts drugs users from jail to treatment. Voters approved the measure 61 percent to 39 percent.
At a speech to the district attorneys association, Davis compared his record with that of Simon, his opponent. "I don't have to manufacture a record on public safety. I've got one, and it's as tough as nails."
Davis claims credit for appointing pro-death penalty judges, signing the toughest gun-control laws in the nation and granting far fewer paroles for violent criminals than his Republican predecessor.
By law, the governor can review or reverse some parole decisions.
During his last four years in office, Wilson agreed to allow the Board of Prison Terms to parole 57 of the 72 convicts it had recommended for release.
By contrast, during Davis' first three years in office, he agreed to release only one of the 96 people recommended for parole, according to statistics released by the board.
South said Davis' record on crime is critical to his success.
"The reason Gray Davis is governor while some Democrats who have run in the past haven't won is that he understands public safety," he said. "To appeal to moderates and independents you have to demonstrate that you understand people's fears about crime."
The governor's single-minded pursuit of law-and-order policies, however, has shut out innovative policies in criminal justice, said Dan Macallair, executive director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco.
Many other states, he said, punish nonviolent offenders in community-based facilities that are less expensive than large prisons.
"Balanced and reasonable policies are casualties of Davis' criminal justice policies," he said.
But Davis' tough stance has helped him earn support from many groups, including the California State Sheriffs Association, the California Association of Highway Patrolmen and deputy sheriffs of San Diego.
So far Simon touts the endorsement of just one main group, the California Police and Sheriffs Organization. The organization cited Simon's record as a prosecutor, saying the Republican has a "real record of actually prosecuting lawbreakers and sending them to jail."
Simon contributed $100,000 this year to a voter guide affiliated with the organization.
South said that Davis' numerous law enforcement endorsements will make crime a non-starter in the election and could help pass the budget.
"The governor has been there for the cops and sheriffs," he said. "Now they're going to be there for him."
Michael
No. With the exception of the one Field poll (which polled only those registered, not those likely to vote) every poll has had Simon dead even or ahead. The last internal poll the Democrats did was leaked. It had Simon 7 or 9 points ahead, I believe.
The law enforcement should be on Simon's side!
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Ok, Mr. Blanas... are you going to let your unprecedented pipeline to this demigog compromise Republicans in this State in perpituity? If that prick signs the anti-driving choice bill, your a$$ is gra$$ and we're gonna form a big lawnmower brigade!!!
Was that the Field Poll that was taken a few months back BTW?
Yes. That poll is the only lifeboat the USS Davis has as it founders in the stormy seas of bad news, and his supporters cling to it with a death grip.
LOL The only republican governor that I recall was the Duke. Did he raise taxes?
I think he did. I was in college there at the time, and my California taxes went from $5 per year to $20 per year.
I don't remember why I remember that.
"Deputy Sheriff's" of San Diego? More like the sheriff of San Diego, Bill "take all the guns away" Kolender. He has never met a gun control law or a left-leaning Democrat yet whom he's never liked or supported.
Personally, I don't give a spit if Davis's record on crime is good or not. He's sh*t on everything else. Most likely Simon can match or exceed Davis's record on crime.
These so called law enforcement officials are nothing more than politicians in uniform who were bought off by Davis's promise to fatten their budgets.
They can kiss my ever-lovin' if those uniformed whores think I'll vote for Davis.
GO SIMON!
This is just bureaucrats looking out for bureaucrats.
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