As most Freepers, I read the paper daily, watch local news, and listen to the radio all day, and I always hear it reported "Bill Simon was in Fresno yesterday..."
I never hear it the day before, or the day of his appearance, always after the fact.
Posted on 07/23/2002 11:20:08 AM PDT by ElkGroveDan
It’s been a quite stressful few weeks in Bill Simon’s gubernatorial campaign. The official re-elect Davis campaign has been on the attack on the airwaves. The unofficial re-elect Davis campaign has been on the attack through newspaper columnists and editorials. And the general “business and businessmen are bad” attitude has been developing in the public due to the good folks at Enron and Worldcom, and to the stock market meltdown. Added to this there is the rumored continued unwillingness of Generalissimo Gerald Parsky to honor his funding commitments to the state GOP.
And to think that once upon a time I actually fought to run statewide campaigns! Ah, the foolishness of youth.
The news media has been hammering Simon for not releasing his tax returns, and, most recently, on an IRS lawsuit against a accounting firm of which he has been a client. The largely Democrat pundit class has been working overtime, writing breathless stories about disarray in the campaign, revolving door managers, top-heavy staffing, a huge cash disadvantage vis-a-vis Davis, and a general lack of direction.
So is the S.S. Simon about to do a Poseidon and capsize?
Were I in a position to answer that question definitively, I’d be in residence in Las Vegas earning my livelihood at some casino’s opulent Sports Book. My hunch, though, is that the reports of the Simon campaign’s death are quite premature.
The critiques of — or, in the case of most of the media, wishful thinking about — various problems have, not surprisingly, some basis in fact. Simon fans obviously wish he had amassed millions of dollars early, and could have gone on the air right after his stunning primary win. It would have been wonderful for his campaign had it been able to capitalize on what, at that point, was a wave of favorable — and free — publicity.
But guess what? Campaigns are run on facts, not wishes. The campaign did not have the cash, and so it followed the only course open to it: conserve its resources for the fall, when real, live voters (as opposed to political junkies like you and me) pay some attention to politics. Sal Russo, et. al., made exactly the right decision given the circumstances. To use valuable resources to achieve an ephemeral spring polling lead, potentially leaving them unable to stay competitive on the airwaves in September and October, would have been foolhardy.
Changes have indeed been made in managers (Russo is still chief consultant) and several “senior advisors” have been added. Such re-shuffling can be a sign of disarray. But guess what? It was done at the insistence of folks in Washington, D.C., upon whom the campaign depends for many important favors come the fall campaign. These were not California-based decisions.
Simon would benefit from a more discernible “message” and clear direction coming out of the campaign. But guess what? Of the 14 million Californians eligible to vote in November, at the moment about 150 of them are noticing anything going on in the governor’s race.
The one area of real concern for the Simon folks is this whole income tax matter. They would have been wiser to release them when the issue first arose. Unless they contain some “disqualifying” material, whatever is there would do less long-term damage than the constant pounding and innuendo from Davis and his media accomplices. And I have to believe that if material in the tax returns were of a disqualifying nature, Simon would not have become a candidate or the campaign’s own research would have discovered it. (At deadline I’ve discovered that the returns will, in fact, be released, perhaps by the time you read this. So scratch one area of Simon concern and put another “did it right” check on the list).
Additionally, the campaign would be wise to pay a bit more attention to its base. Clearly, Simon’s main appeal to average voters is going to be that he is not Gray Davis. Equally clearly, he must reach out to Democrats and Independents. However, the candidate himself should occasionally reach out and touch those responsible for his nomination. And if he can’t do it himself, he has a cadre of exceptionally well-credentialed emissaries ready and willing to assuage, inspire, and lead the conservative foot soldiers without whom there would be no campaign today. A lot of mainline conservatives bought Bill Simon on faith in the primary. Though there’s been little grumbling, everyone needs some “care and feeding” now and then.
So — has the campaign been perfect? No. But conservatives should not panic and certainly would be foolish to let the pundits set their agenda for them or drive their feelings about a man and a campaign in which they have an enormous stake.
For all of the buffeting, the campaign is either a bit ahead, a bit behind, or tied, depending on which poll you choose to believe. My beloved Dodgers have been on a terrible streak for the last two weeks or so, but after all that are still only a game and a half out of first place. The Simon campaign, having hit some bumps in the road, is somewhere between 7 percent down (according to the always Democrat-leaning Field poll) or 8 percent up (according to a private survey taken for a Democrat union in Sacramento).
Baseball championships — and elections — are decided in the fall. It is a long way from here to there, and California may still find itself celebrating both a new World Series Champion and a new governor in November. Conservatives should keep the faith.
Scratch that. Since I'm sure that Simon is like all of us here at FR, he's paid more than his share of taxes.
Don't we all? ;-)
Along with your anti-SUV protest--eg. Simon's lost opportunity.
Try the electricity issue. Mr. KABC has been on Davis about the mismanagement. He has been inviting Simon to come on his radio show; no response.
Now maybe Mr. Simon has a secret plan, to emerge from the shadows, with a brilliant last minute touchdown run. Maybe he and his handlers are far more sophisticated, and don't think he needs the free-media exposure we're talking about.
I will vote for Mr. Simon, I agree with his politics, I am a long term Republican. And I predict he will lose, because he has run a dumb campaign. If you feel otherwise, we can agree to disagree.
If ever there was an opportunity to go with both barrels against an incumbent, Davis was the chance. Simon hasn't taken the opportunity.
Not in central California. The only thing on the "airwaves" in the San Joaquin Valley are the Davis attack ads.
Not in central California. The only thing on the "airwaves" in the San Joaquin Valley are the Davis attack ads.
That's what Saracino was talking about. The "official re-elect Davis campaign" IS the attack ads.
As most Freepers, I read the paper daily, watch local news, and listen to the radio all day, and I always hear it reported "Bill Simon was in Fresno yesterday..."
I never hear it the day before, or the day of his appearance, always after the fact.
Running a lousy campaign just like Dan Lundgren did last time.
Let's hope someone can light a fire under him to get him going. This is war. I hope Simon realizes this.
Gray Davis gets all the press time, and running attack ads like crazy. If Davis wins just by attacking Simon (which I think is very possible), it's Simons fault!
Hmmmmm ... wonder about the timing.
Otherwise, he can spend the next few years sitting at home talking about how SHOULD have run his campaign...while Davis is back in sacto.
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