Why the Pessimism on Front-runner Bill Simon?

You may have noticed that there's something missing from the recent spate of reports predicting that California Republican Bill Simon doesn't stand a chance against incumbent Democrat Governor Gray Davis.

In fact, though one media wag after another has stepped forward in recent days to pronounce Simon a political dead duck, the California conservative actually leads his left-wing opponent in the only survey released within the last two weeks.

That's right. Though the California press has buried the news so thoroughly that most of the state's voters are unaware of it, a Survey USA poll commissioned by several California network TV affiliates has Simon leading Davis 46 percent to 45 percent.

Still, the good news didn't do much to quell critics, who inexplicably maintain that Simon doesn't have a prayer. Here's how the San Francisco Chronicle's Debra Saunders reacted after the Republican's lead was reported in the Washington Times.

"Bill Simon should just give up. He's a lousy candidate. He should admit it, bow out of the race, then endorse a good Republican - Secretary of State Bill Jones - who has a shot at beating the otherwise-vulnerable Gray Davis."

Surely, with all the pessimism on Simon's chances, there must be other polls showing Davis trouncing him.

And apparently, neither could the Simon-doom-and-gloomers at the New York Times, who admitted on Saturday that an earlier survey by California's best-known polling operation, Mervyn Field, showed the GOP candidate chopping Davis' lead in half within the last four months.

In June, a survey by the Public Policy Institute showed Davis with a sky-high negative job approval ratings of 52 percent. Only 39 percent, noted the Times, approved of Davis' performance in office.

(Buried in a July 28 Los Angeles Times report on the California governor's poll numbers, the paper noted that only 30 percent gave him a favorable job approval rating, putting Davis in the same polling territory as Richard Nixon just before he was forced to resign over Watergate.)

So, how did the New York Times headline all this good news for the Simon campaign?

That report paralleled a story in Friday's Washington Times, which revealed that the Bush White House was considering yanking its support from what it described as Simon's "troubled campaign."

Quoting an unnamed White House source, the paper said the Bush White House would consider the results of an upcoming private survey by the Republican National Committee before deciding whether the president would publicly campaign for Simon when he visits California in late August.

"The president will have access to the poll by the first of next week and will know whether Simon's candidacy is still viable," the Times' source said, adding, "If not, I expect Bush to walk after Labor Day."

Nowhere did the Times story mention, however, that every recent survey shows Simon either trending up or actually leading his opponent.

What has the GOP spooked is the July 31 verdict by a California jury that found a company with ties to the Simon family guilty of fraud. Predictably, the story received saturation coverage by state media and has been featured prominently in every national report on Simon's bid to retake the Golden State for the GOP - not to mention a tsunami of Davis TV ads.

But overlooked by the White House and other weak-kneed GOP'ers is this: Davis' last attempt to gin up a so-called "Simon scandal" failed royally.

For months the Davis campaign had been trying to make an issue out of Simon's decision not to release his tax returns. Then, to force the issue, the Bush IRS, which is inexplicably still run by Clinton appointees, enlisted itself in the Davis campaign by releasing confidential information from Simon's personal IRS filing.

Davis deployed his $30 million campaign war chest and hit the airwaves with a series of blistering TV ads painting Simon as someone who "won't release his tax returns to show he's paying his fair share."

Not only did Davis' scandal campaign not work - it backfired, and in spades - as evidenced by Simon's lead in Survey USA poll, which was released after he took a month of pummeling on the tax issue.

So, what do more recent polls show since news of the so-called devastating Simon jury verdict broke 10 days ago?

We wish we knew. For some mysterious reason, California pollsters have suddenly fallen silent, leaving some suspicious that numbers showing Simon weathering the storm simply aren't being reported.

Instead of wondering whether it should embrace the Republican front-runner in the nation's largest and most politically important state, maybe the Bush White House ought to see to it that the Justice Department does its job by opening a criminal probe into the suspicious release of Simon's tax files.

"it is fashionable now to distance onself from these nasty corporations and their money."

The pathetic political strategists in the white house haven't got a clue as to how to turn it around. By gum, I've never been hired by one of the "have nots," or one of the so-called "working people!"

This is an eternal load of crap and someone like another Lee Atwater is desperately needed in the Repellican Party that can restore the pride in this country and it's superpower traditions. Where the heck is Jim Baker when we need him?

We're losing the CA and American people with all this destructive pussy footing around with the basic truths of Americanism vs Commonism!!!

This was an uncommon nation "Under God," and people longing to aspire and acheive success without becoming government dependents!!!

Clinton, Clinton & Gore, Inc. have turned us into self-destuctive, guilt ridden, doubters of our own abilities, listening to their mantra of the need to kill off rugged individualism and enlightened self interest.

They deliberately overburdened CEO's with a special million dollar cap on their incomes and the stock options were how they got around it. Bill Clinton pulled this dang trigger and everybody should know it, but they don't even want to see it in the Whitehouse or anywhere else. What a shameful situation we're allowing ourselves to be herded into... God help us all!!!

This is what Liberals & Journalist refer to as "making a difference in the world." Hillary said it all in her commencement speech... "Earth could be fair!" (meaning we should all become equally miserable through Commonism)(/rant)

Well actually, it's a frontal attack on the American tradition of success, the successful and economic progress!!! The "Free Enterprise System" is being subverted by the excesses of Clinton, Clinton & Gore donors and the white hot heat of the politics of envy!

It is strange how easily the American voter can be led astray.. but not surprising. Not since the days of Goebbels and Hitler, have we heard and seen such an orchestrated attack as what we are witnessing today in our own country.

DUMP DAVI$ & the Den of Socialists

GO SIMON

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