[djreece]

The only reason there isn't an R in the governorship now is because of the R's putting a foolish canidate up last election... the only person on the planet who couldn't beat davis, and by God the California Republican's found him..

You are grossly underestimating Davis' abilities as a candidate to trash and burn his opponent. He has NEVER been elected because people liked him or thought he was best for the job. He is elected because he is able consistently to paint his opponent as the Devil personified. Also, he wields enormous influence among opinion makers, and the media here act as cheerleaders for all things liberal.

IMHO, the worst part of the recall is that the media who were complicit with Davis in covering up the severity of the budget crisis and in painting Simon as a corrupt, "silver-spoon" rich kid are now benefiting from the boost in ratings from the recall coverage. The media have helped destroy the state, and it is too bad there is not a way to hold them accountable.

[Publius]

I had lunch Saturday with a Democratic state senator (Washington State) in connection with my freight and passenger rail work. The state senator in question is a moderate Democrat and very sharp: I've never had to educate him on rail issues because he "knows his brief", as Margaret Thatcher would have phrased it. He had some pithy comments about what was going on in California.

• Gray Davis is a very effective fundraiser.
• Gray Davis is an effective campaigner because of his innate viciousness.
• Gray Davis doesn't know a damn thing about governing.
• The entire California political class, particularly the Democratic side, has no creative ideas because there has been no genuine competition in that state for years due to gerrymandering.
• California needs a "political enema."
• Arnold Schwarzenegger is a shoo-in.

I don't get that kind of candor very often from politicians, especially when they are conducting a peer review. It was refreshing.

[Thud]

Davis was also often lucky in having feeble opponents. Lundgren was a disastrous GOP gubernatorial candidate in 1998.

[HamiltonJay]

The media are guilty the people funding the recall effort are guilty and Davis is guilty, the whole things a fiasco. However I am not underestimating Davis... Simon was a JOKE at every level, he was the absolute worst canidate in recent memory, he had no business being the canidate... he was the only Republican who could manage to lose to Davis and by god the Republicans of California put him up as their canidate.. they have NO ONE, NO ONE TO BLAME BUT THEMSELVES FOR THAT!...

Davis' bashing of Simon didn't cause him to make wild accusations and claim proof when he had none, Simon was taken to the shed like a red haired step child, and should have never been there in the first place.

Davis didn't beat Simon because Davis is a masterful politician, he beat Simon because Simon was a complete boob. Davis beat Simon because Simon really was THAT DARN BAD!! No wonder the Republicans in the golden state can't win a statewide office, they still can't bring themselves to accept the responsibility of their actions.