[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

"In two very important ways, he's moved to the middle," said Bruce Cain, director of the Institute for Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. "And it seems to me if Davis doesn't act on that pretty quickly, by the end of summer Simon will have re-created himself as a moderate."

If Davis, doesn't act?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

calgov2002:

calgov2002: for old calgov2002 articles. 

calgov2002: for new calgov2002 articles. 

Other Bump Lists at: Free Republic Bump List Register

[Vladiator]

Is the era of big government over?

[John Jorsett]

Davis later announced more beach cleanups and another request of President Bush to buy undeveloped Central Coast oil leases. "Hello? Oh, hi Gray. Do you a favor? Why sure, I'll get right on that."

[summer]

This is a very interesting development. If I was a CA voter and fed up with the oil drilling off CA's coast, I'd guess I'd have a better chance of more environmental protection for CA if GOP Simon became gov instead of Dem Davis. I bet Simon will pick up some votes this way... now, where is Simon on education????

[pragmatic]

Wow, 'pro-environment', 'pro-government spending'. Is Simon doing this just as a pre-election show (and will resort to form when elected), or has he decided that what he really wants to be is Riordan? It's a little strange to see a conservative complain about budget cuts (even if caused by Davis's incompetence).

[daviddennis]

I think he's going for the Malibu vote. I attended a Malibu community meeting about a month ago, and Malibu residents are hopping mad about Davis and the Coastal Commission. The Coastal Commission wants to turn Malibu over to the environmentalists and State Parks, and the everyday middle-class(*) residents are trying to fight back.

A Simon rep was there and was applauded conspicuously. The phrase "Gray Davis" evoked loud boos among the audience. Click on the link if you're curious to read my full report.

D

(*) A laughable concept, I suppose, in a city whose median house price is $1,300,000. But I know someone who bought a house on Cliffside Drive for $68,000 in the 1970s. His house is now worth well over $2,500,000. Just the average suburban ranch, you know, probably has the original appliances, no big deal ... except it's on one of the most expensive blufftops in the world. This person's other properties send him straight into the heavily monied class, but there are plenty of people who are rich only thanks to their houses, and probably don't feel rich at all. I met a lot of those people at the meeting.