Oracle puts Simon on the attack, Davis denies impropriety...

With polls in his favor and $30 million in his campaign war chest, Democratic Gov. Gray Davis was angling for a smooth sail to his 2002 re- election -- until this week, when he ran into what Republicans hope will become the "perfect storm" of campaign issues for his opponent, Bill Simon.

Questions about a $95 million no-bid state contract with Oracle Corp. -- which the state auditor said could cost taxpayers $41 million more in unnecessary charges -- an Oracle campaign contribution and possible document shredding by state bureaucrats have put the governor in a political fix.

Simon, seizing the offensive for the first time, charged in a press conference that "the scent of scandal surrounding this administration is growing."

Although Democratic Attorney General Bill Lockyer has begun an investigation of the contract, Simon said more needed to be done, citing the allegations of document shredding connected to the contract and a $25,000 campaign contribution from an Oracle lobbyist to Davis' chief technology adviser -- handed over in a bar while the contract was being negotiated last spring.

"The dots are starting to be connected, and they paint a very troubling picture," Simon said. "Californians have a right and a need to know . . . if their tax dollars are being wasted through gross incompetence -- or worse, being used to facilitate corruption."

The governor denied allegations of impropriety, saying he did not know of the Oracle deal or the company's campaign contribution. And the top three Davis administration officials in charge of the contract have resigned, been fired or placed on suspension.

But analysts say the Oracle deal could reinforce reservations that voters have expressed about Davis' fund-raising practices after stories of potential political favors involving contributors such as the prison guards union, timber companies and energy firms.

"Scandals like this are very serious when they lead into an area where the candidate or officeholder is already perceived to be stretching the rules," says Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo. "That's what this exemplifies: It plays off the feeling that Davis has been doing a lot of fund-raising."

Not only does the debacle have the potential to dramatize Davis' perceived fund-raising mania, but it may also resonate with voters where it counts most - - in the pocketbook.

"Most voters have already decided that Gray Davis spends too much time fund- raising -- but they've never seen how that fund-raising impacts their own lives," said GOP strategist Dan Schnur.

"This Oracle mess is taking place in the middle of a budget crisis. It's easy to see how tens of millions in wasted money could have been spent on programs that Davis is cutting."

Simon -- to Republicans' glee -- made exactly that point when he lambasted the governor.

"Every tax dollar is precious. We have seen accounts that school districts may have to end class size reduction due to funding shortages," Simon said. "The money wasted on this Oracle contract could have paid for thousands of teachers, textbooks or lunches for needy children."

Such an approach, said UC Berkeley political science Professor Bruce Cain, shifts the media's attention from Simon's recent gaffes on such issues as whether he paid state taxes to the growing Oracle scandal.

It "allowed him to go on the offensive . . . and takes Gray Davis off message. At a minimum, this is a godsend" to Simon, Cain said. "Potentially, it's more than that: it's a deal breaker."

Cain said that if investigations reveal "criminal involvement at the highest reaches, or a pattern of shakedown and extortion" with regard to campaign contributions, "it could be what puts people's tepid preference for Gray Davis over the edge."

At the end of 2001, Davis' job approval ratings were at a lukewarm 41 percent, with 46 percent disapproval, according to the Field Poll. That compares with a high of 61 percent approval in August 1999, his first year in office.

Political analyst Tony Quinn says that Democrats -- not only Davis -- have to worry about the ripple effects.

"When the Quackenbush scandal came out, there was no question the Democrats would investigate," Quinn said of former insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush. "Now you have to wonder: Will the attorney general conduct a thorough investigation?"

Davis' campaign says that despite the current feeding frenzy, the issue of the Oracle contract will not resonate with voters -- because Davis has already taken aggressive action to deal with it.

"Everybody needs to calm down," said Roger Salazar, a spokesman for Davis' campaign, said Friday. "When you step back and take a look at it . . . the fact is the governor had nothing to do with these contracts. The people who were responsible for putting this together have either resigned or were suspended."

But Simon's get-tough approach on Oracle coincides with a decision to reach out to some seasoned political operatives with track records on aggressive campaigns.

Simon's group has tapped Sean Walsh, a spokesman for former Gov. Pete Wilson; Rob Lapsley, a former campaign manager for Bill Jones; and researcher Mark Bogetich -- a team that with little money, landed the toughest punches on Davis through the primary.

So Republicans say perhaps the Simon campaign will in the coming months hammer at the issue they have been itching to get at: Gray Davis' leadership.

"Every time that reporters and other people are turning over rocks, there are a lot of cockroaches running -- and they're all running for the center of the Capitol," Walsh said. "And I see Bill Simon holding a big can of Raid."

You gotta love it!

Davis thought it was smart to follow the Clinton play book and it is obvious now that he is a totally corrupt clone of Bubba. Actually, he may be closer to a clone of Hitlery. Just glad I no longer live in Sacramento, because those scurrying cockroaches are huge.

With the energy crisis, budget disaster and now this Oracle tornado, I think Gray Davis IS using the Clintonian-continuous-scandal approach.

The problem is Dim-bulb Davis is no Bill Clinton, and Bill Simon is no Bob Dole.

This is going to get REALLY fun to watch!

There's some remarkable spinning in this article, including the presumption that mean, partisan Republicans are responsible for calling public attention to this alleged scandal. And note this little zinger: "Simon's recent gaffes on such issues as whether he paid state taxes," which puts a negative spin on Simon's legitimate refusal to release his tax returns.

There's every sign that the SF Chronicle has pulled up its socks here and is trying for damage control. But it isn't going to be easy. The energy crisis did permanent damage to Davis; the budget crunch is doing permanent damage; and this scandal is going to do permanent damage.

The press will pull out all stops to smear Simon and rescue Davis, but they will have their work cut out for them, especially if Bush continues to be seen to back Simon.

Apparently even Davis's staff members have not the nerve to claim that they paid off Oracle $95 million in taxpayers' money to get a mere $25,000 campaign contribution in a desperate last ditch attempt to stave off the forces of misogyny and save the most important constitutional right of all: THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE TO KILL BABIES!!!

By the way, show me a politician who takes a mere $25,000 campaign contribution in exchange for $95 million in taxpayers' money and I think I can show you:

1. A politician selling himself very cheap at a fire sale;

2. A governor whose state probably has a wee budget problem since he probably can neither add nor subtract.

Thanks, this is so much fun helping to roast a RAT!

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