[daviddennis]

If Bill Simon had the support of the California GOP, he would have won. Instead, they tossed him to the wolves.

As a result, he had no choice but to run an extremely underfunded campaign.

Yes, he did make mistakes, but I think the main reason he lost is that he was seriously underfunded and under-supported by a GOP establishment that actively preferred RINOs.

Contributing to his defeat was the COPS messup - which was a real pity, since it obscured his very real win in the debate.

I don't think the election results prove that a conservative would inevitably lose. I think they proved that (i) the rookie campaigner Simon had a lot to learn (and, I think, learned well towards the end), and (ii) we need to do a lot better at fundraising next time.

D

[marajade]

The reason Simon lost is because of registration advantage pure and simple.

[WOSG]

I agree with you ... it is so easy to let a rookie campaigner crash and burn and then say "i told you so" when in fact Simon needed and deserved help from state GOP to run a winning campaign. The fact remains he got damned close. which blow hue chunks through the theory that conservatives are unelectable... quite frankly if Chris Cox ran, he would have won by 10 points against Davis. And Simon would have won if he hadnt blundered on the photo of the Gov *and* if he had $10 million more....

FOOD FOR THOUGHT!