BEVERLY HILLS FREEP!

Yeah, baby, yeah! Just got back from a little lunch time style FREEP on Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills, right across from the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Future Governor Bill Simon is scheduled to debate the Green Party Kook today (and of course, Davis is too busy raising ca$h for himself to debate any issues) at the Hilton so a few of us Freepers gathered across the street (thanks BH police officers for stopping traffic so I could cross) with RonDog heading the crew in his Gray Davis is a Whore outfit.

Also there, Absolom01 as a grim reaper, urging Davis to stop dumping toxic waste, Feinswinesuksass with a "Davis for Sale", and also DoughtyOne, Tony in Hawaii, who should check in with their signs-- and pictures!

I've been to a lot of Freeps, and the big difference here-- all the passing traffic (and there was a lot) read our signs and either gave us the thumbs up, honked their horn, gave the "V" for victory, or nodded in agreement. NOT ONE MIDDLE FINGER OR "F-U!" No angry responses. Why? Because no one likes Davis.

A Channel 10 news truck was there as were some people standing across the street from us watching our protest. Some of the Gray Davis unpaid college intern West Wing wannabe campaign staffers got on their cell phones and started crying that there was no love going on for Gray in Beverly Hills, so a little while after our freep started, some bought and paid for union men showed up with campaign headquarter signs and got busy acting like supporters on the Hilton side of the street.

That's when we all decided to pack it up and go home, so that the Davis crew wouldn't get any attention.

It must have worked, because I went shopping at Robinson's May after the protest (and got myself a nice black peasant blouse on sale) and when I came out, the union guys were putting their signs away and going home. BY THE WAY-- I KNOW THEY WERE UNION: one of them had a union workers sticker on his car under his Davis sticker, and another had an IronWorkers union frame on his license plate. I am not dissing union workers, but I am dissing these phony supporters who get paid to go out in the middle of a work day and hold signs for the worst governor in the history of California.

There actually was a guy in a chicken suit, inside the hotel just outside of the conference room wherein the debate took place.
RonDog was taking notes, so he'll be more able to give us the debate specifics...
I talked to the "Chicken Guy" - he lurks here (naturally!) - and is a friend of ElkGroveDan - isn't EVERYONE? :o)

HE made the AP wire!

NEXT time we FReep smarter - INSIDE!

Side note: I actually talked to the AP reporter-ette (Erika) after the debate.
I saw her typing away MADLY at the back - into an obviously professional-strength laptop, so I asked her, "Are you part of the powerful media elite?"
She told me that she was with the AP, and I gave her one of OUR press releases.
I told her that we had sent a copy to her bureau (I did, yesterday) - and that she had missed a great show outside: OURS!
And I told her that we were going to KEEP showing up any time we could find Simon or Davis in public, so that EVENTUALLY she would HAVE to write about us.
And I got her name: Erika Werner - see below.
I told her that I had seen her stories, and that I was impressed.
It is VERY important that we establish a professional relationship with these wire service reporters, IMHO.

THIS story, which I found on the Press-Enterprise website (goofy registration required to read it there) - will soon be EVERYWHERE - usually quoted verbatim - by lazy newspaper editors ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

We WILL get our future FReeps into these stories.

Simon debates Green Party candidate at minority forum
By ERICA WERNER
The Associated Press
BEVERLY HILLS
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bill Simon on Tuesday confronted the Green Party's Peter Camejo in the first general election debate involving a major party nominee. But both candidates reserved their strongest words for the man who wasn't there, Democratic Gov. Gray Davis.
"I think Gov. Davis' refusal to come today is a disservice, it reflects a taking for granted of minorities," Camejo told the Beverly Hilton forum sponsored by the Greenlining Institute, a public policy instituted focused on low-income and minority communities, and New California Media, an ethnic news media association.
"Gray Davis ought to be here, but as Peter said he takes us for granted and he takes all of you for granted because he thinks all of you have no choice. But you do have a choice," Simon echoed a few moments later.
At a bill-signing ceremony in downtown Los Angeles Davis denied ducking the debate.
"I'm doing the job I was hired to do, working my way through 1,200 bills that must be acted upon two weeks from today," he said.
"When that's over, there will be time enough for debates."
Davis has agreed to one debate to be hosted by the Los Angeles Times on Oct. 7_ and is in negotiations for another.
With fewer than 50 days left before the election, Simon has been seeking to make an issue out of Davis' refusal to agree to more debates. His aides last week began e-mailing reporters daily reminders labeling Davis a "debate dodger" and his campaign sent someone dressed as a giant chicken to Tuesday's forum to make the same charge.
Simon is also trying to get Camejo included in his debates with Davis, who will not agree to that idea, contending in part that Simon just wants to promote Camejo in the hope he'd draw support from Davis.
On Tuesday, under questioning from a panel of journalists, Camejo staked out liberal positions he said demonstrate he's a true alternative to the major party candidates, while Simon responded more cautiously to questions on the death penalty, immigration and other issues.
Simon must win over independents and moderates to unseat Davis, and Tuesday's appearance was clearly designed to broaden his appeal. While stepping carefully around controversial issues, he emphasized his background in community service and said he supported opportunity for all and wanted to be a governor "for all Californians."
Camejo said he supported a death penalty moratorium, abortion rights and reparations to blacks for slavery, and he said he would sign bills currently pending before Davis that would give illegal immigrants drivers' licenses under some circumstances and let mediators intervene in disagreements between growers and farm workers.
Simon said he supports the death penalty and opposes reparations and abortion rights though he pledged to uphold the law. He said he would veto the drivers' license and farm workers' bills.
Davis has yet to make final decisions on the bills, which have strong backing in the Latino community.
The candidates were also asked their positions on the use of "secret evidence" by the government in prosecutions. Both said they opposed it. Asked whether they would lobby the federal government to prevent its use, Camejo said he would.
Simon, a former federal prosecutor, said he did not believe secret evidence was ever used in American courts but in fact in a recent high-profile case in Florida a Palestinian professor spent more than 3 1/2 years in jail on secret evidence that prosecutors said linked him to terrorists.
"Secret evidence flies in the face of principles our country was founded on," Simon said.
Camejo said he would work for immediate legalization for illegal immigrants working in the state. Simon said he supported comprehensive immigration reform including a guest worker program or "another form of regularization" and increased border control.
Both candidates said they opposed racial profiling. Asked their opinions on law enforcement agencies working hand-in-hand with immigration authorities a practice some immigrant-rights activists believe leads to abuses Camejo said he opposed it. Simon said local law enforcement should focus on fighting crime and that resources are too strained to devote to other issues.
In a poll released Aug. 29 by the independent Public Policy Institute of California, Camejo drew support from 4 percent of respondents, Simon had 30 percent and Davis had 41 percent.
Published: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 18:24 PDT

Simon must win over independents and moderates to unseat Davis, and Tuesday's appearance was clearly designed to broaden his appeal. While stepping carefully around controversial issues, he emphasized his background in community service and said he supported opportunity for all and wanted to be a governor "for all Californians."
Erika (AP) got it right, for the most part.

The general tone of the debate was professional, polite.

In fact, at the end, Camejo complimented Simon for his COURAGE in addressing so many Green Party/minority forums in the past, and told him that he (Simon) was FAR more polite to Gray Davis that even he (Camejo) often was to Simon!

The panel of four - which asked MOST of the questions - was a regular "rogues gallery" of the "minority community" - one black, one Asian, one Arab, and one Latina.

EACH confined his questions to, "What is your postion on THIS pet issue of our group?" - i.e., reparations from the black, racial profiling from the Arab, legalization of "undocumented workers" by the Latina.

Simon was right on the money on MOST issues, but he staked out a fairly LIBERAL position on too many issues to suit me personally: he is AGAINST Prop 187, AGAINST racial profiling (Ann Coulter calls it "description of the suspects")...

Camejo, on the other hand, talks like a mild-mannered professor, but he is off the deep end on MANY issues: he is STRONGLY against war with Iraq, against the death penalty, and hates Prop 187 so much that if a NEW version of it were enacted, he would engage in "civil disobedience" to fight it.

Erika also missed several of Bill Simon's FUNNIER lines:

Camejo ask Simon if he would have an "open door" on his office to the Greens, and Bill said that not only would he have an "open door" he would "tear down that toolbooth" that Gray Davis had installed in his office. LOL!
After Camejo got an oddball question about the secession of Hollywood, and he started to say, "I haven't been able to figure that out..."
Simon violated the rules of the debate, and jumped in, saying, "I'm gald you said that! I don't understand it either!"
That unscripted remark brought down the generally negative house - with WARM laughter.

Overall, I'd say that Bill Simon's goal today was to convince the leaders of the "minority community" that was NOT some nasty ogre, and that it would be O.K. for them to vote for him, if the HAD to.

For the most part, I think that he was VERY successful in accomplishing that goal.

And it will be interesting to see if Channel 10 does much on it...interesting they came all the way from Sacramento!
The guys from Channel 10's big truck have a VIDEO - posted online!

Nothing from OUR FReep, but the do show the "Chicken Guy" - and if you look close, you can see me - in the front row, to the left of your screen.
Look for a big guy with short gray hair - in a white shirt.
(I changed out of the hooker outfit, as a courtesy to Bill Simon.)

From http://www.kxtv.com/storyfull.asp?id=2573:

Davis Fails to Appear at Candidates Debate

New Media Groups sponsored the debate and billed it as the first of the fall campaign season and the only one in which a third party candidate was invited. New Media Groups represents minority media outlets in California.

The debate was notable for who did, and did not, attend. Republican contender Bill Simon and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo showed up, but incumbent Governor Gray Davis did not.

Davis' office said he was too busy signing bills to appear. "That's one of the issues, and the other one is that we are not going to engage in the circus that the Simon campaign wants and bring third party candidates into this debate, especially ones that aren't viable," said Roger Salazar, Davis's campaign spokesman.

Republican candidate Bill Simon openly criticized Davis for failing to appear. "I think Davis is generally too busy fundraising," said Simon.

Camejo alse heaped scorn on the governor. "I would call him a political coward, but obviously it's part of his political strategy," said Camejo. "The strategy is not to be before the public. Not to have them question him. To minimize his exposure."

The issue debated gave some insight into what concerns minority groups: immigration, racial profiling, and healthcare. Gun control and the environment were not addressed. There was only one question about abortion, and that was asked at the end of the debate.

Story last updated Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 7:31 PM

And for those who might have missed the pre-FReep thread:

New strategy for "DumpDAVIS" FReeps:
multiple "eGray in a garbage can" MOBILE STRIKE FORCE teams
"Dump DAVIS" FReep ideas: statewide "Super SIMON" street theater puts Davis-in-a-Dumpster, NEW logo ^ | September 1, 2002 | RonDog
Posted on 09/08/2002 1:21 PM Pacific by RonDog

In my PREVIOUS thread, I promoted the concept of "DumpDAVIS" street theater FReeps.
I am now proposing that we modify this concept to form a "Minuteman-style" MOBILE STRIKE FORCE that we can deploy on a moment’s notice – as soon as we find out where Gray Davis will be.
The heart of these mini-FReeps will be the "eGray Davis" prostitute costume, which can be worn by ANY (preferably male) FReeper. Everything else is secondary, IMHO. Nice to have, but not vital.

Davis
.
WILL WORK
FOR...
Bribe$!!!
www.eGray.org
www.FreeRepublic.com
Our message is:
"Gray Davis is for sale to the highest bidder – so you cannot TRUST him."
As we learned from the anti-Bush/Simon rally in Los Angeles last month, ONE good powerful visual image may be all that is necessary to break through the media clutter. The RAT opposition may be able to out-NUMBER us, but we can out-THINK them!
more

Hi, CCC - We need a volunteer to dress as the "eBray Hooker" at FReeps in NORTHERN California, and YOU would be perfect...

Will you do it?

No mention of ANY protests in the Sacramento Bee:

War of Words

Simon, Camejo assail absent Davis

By Margaret Talev -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Wednesday, September 18, 2002
Republican Bill Simon and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo squared off Tuesday in the first major gubernatorial debate of the fall campaign season, opposites on many policy questions but lockstep in their criticism of one notably absent candidate: Gov. Gray Davis.

They accused the Democratic incumbent, who declined to participate in the debate sponsored by the minority and poverty groups New Media Expo and the Greenlining Institute, of running a "pay-to-play" administration and allowing corporations and other large donors to influence his policies.

They blamed him for the state's $24 billion budget deficit.

Most of all, they told the audience of 200 at the Hilton in Beverly Hills, made up largely of ethnic-media journalists, Davis' decision to skip the debate was an insult to minority voters across the state.

"Gray Davis ought to be here -- he takes all of you for granted," Simon said.

"It reflects a taking for granted of minorities," Camejo said. "I think it shows that his approach to this election is to try to win by hiding."

Davis, in Los Angeles for a bill-signing ceremony, told reporters he was "doing the job I was hired to do."

Davis aide Steve Maviglio said the governor had 706 measures to sign or veto before the bill-signing period ends Sept. 30.

Davis has consistently held the lead against Simon in polls, with recent surveys showing him 7 to 11 percentage points ahead. Polls show Camejo as the leading candidate among four minor-party choices, with about 4 percent of voters' support. Both candidates hope to draw on disenchanted Democrats and the one-fifth of voters who say they are undecided.

When the sitting governor was not the target, the candidates' message differed widely in style and substance during the course of the 90-minute debate.

Simon opposes legislation that would grant driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants and force growers into mediation or binding arbitration with farm workers who want to unionize; Camejo supports both concepts. Camejo advocated universal health care. Simon said he favored incentives encouraging employers to provide insurance for workers.

Simon supports the death penalty; Camejo opposes it. Camejo supports abortion rights; Simon opposes abortion but said he would uphold current laws.

Simon advocated lowering the capital gains rate. Camejo advocated increasing taxes on "the upper end" and decriminalizing marijuana.

Both candidates said they opposed racial profiling.

During the debate, which included questions from a four-member panel and the audience, Camejo spoke loudly and offered specifics. Simon spoke calmly and often in generalities.

Asked how they would rebuild trust in government among disenfranchised minorities, for example, Simon said he would "set the right tone" and craft policies "providing opportunities for all of our people." Camejo said he wanted an administration "that's 50 percent women, that's 50 percent people of color."

Simon at first wavered on the question of whether he would support military action in Iraq, saying he lacked the information to make the call. Pressed by panelists, he said he would support President Bush in such intervention. "We need to unite around our president," he said.

Camejo criticized decades of U.S. foreign policy, saying the federal government had a history of supporting terrorist regimes in order to accomplish economic goals. He said he distrusted the motives behind an effort to remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and feared U.S. military involvement would increase terrorism.

About the Writer
---------------------------

The Bee's Margaret Talev can be reached at (916) 326-5540 or mtalev@sacbee.com.

You were right. We needed to be INSIDE.

The NEXT time, we will be!

The "Debate Chicken" (who WAS inside) makes the news again, in a story at the website of the event sponsor:

Heated Debate Opens NCM EXPO & Awards
EXPO EXTRA News Team, Adam Ashton, Sep 17, 2002
The man who wasn’t there took a lot of punches at the state’s first gubernatorial debate for the Nov. 5 election, and the two candidates who did show fielded a host of questions centered on California’s ethnic populations.

Democratic Gov. Gray Davis was invited, but didn’t attend the debate sponsored by New California Media. Republican candidate Bill Simon and Green candidate Peter Camejo politely disagreed on everything from abortion to President Bush’s proposals to invade Iraq but emphatically united in pot shots at Davis.

The “Gray Davis Debate Chicken” circulated among crowds in the hallway outside following the debate while a lectern bearing the governor’s nameplate stood empty nearby in the Beverly Hilton’s Whittier Room.

After the candidates finished bashing Davis, questions from a panel of journalists representing the state’s ethnic media highlighted ideological chasms between Camejo and Simon.

Camejo said he was pro choice while Simon said he was pro life. Camejo advocated an end to the death penalty while Simon said capital punishment should remain. Camejo bemoaned a proposed attack on Iraq while Simon told the audience that terrorism is a real threat to the state.

But panelists representing Asian, Arab, African American and Latino media didn’t allow the candidates to stump sound bites on national issues throughout the debate’s two hours.

Instead, they zoned their questions in on a number of conflicts affecting ethnic communities, including racial profiling of Arab Americans in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, closure of 11 Los Angeles County health clinics and reparations for African Americans.

Candidate’s didn’t have ready-made answers to many of those queries, and at one point, La Opinion Political Editor Pilar Marrero repeated her question after time ran out because she said the candidates failed to answer her sufficiently.

“Even if they didn’t have clear thoughts on what they wanted to say, (the debate is) going to get them thinking about issues that are important to the communities,” said KCSI-TV’s Larry Wong, who participated in the panel.

Camejo, a long-time civil rights activist who ran for president on the socialist ticket in 1976, aggressively attacked money in politics and often shouted his views. Simon, an attorney and a former federal prosecutor, spoke with measured words and seemed polished from his months of campaigning.

The candidates’ answers to broad issues were clear, with Camejo passionately pushing for a makeover of state government and Simon emphasizing law enforcement and accountability in politics as the keys to the state’s future.

Camejo advocated electoral reforms that he said would increase the power of the state’s third party voters. They included same day voter registration and instant run-off elections. As is, Camejo said, voters who might lean toward third parties are often left with only two choices in elections.

“If Bill Simon wins, they’re going to blame me,” said Camejo, acknowledging the common criticism that Green candidate Ralph Nader cost Democrat Al Gore the presidency in the 2000 national elections.

Simon’s vision incorporated specific policy changes that he said would make life easier for the state’s poorest citizens. He said he would encourage higher Medi-Cal reimbursements to doctors who practice in low-income communities and he pressed for a reduction of government involvement in business.

“My policies are going to be premised on providing opportunities to help people with a hand-up instead of a handout,” Simon said.

Event organizers from New California Media and the Greenlining Institute said they wished Davis had attended so the governor could likewise hear from the state’s ethnic press.

“I can’t understand why the guy wouldn’t attend a debate,” said Paul Turner, program manager at the Greenlining Institute, a public policy organization. “We can think of only two reasons why a candidate would not attend a debate. Either they consider the exercise to be inconsequential to the election or they have something to hide.”

Thank you!

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

Simon, Green rival denounce governor

By John Marelius
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 18, 2002
BEVERLY HILLS – Gov. Gray Davis got hammered from the left and the right yesterday as he skipped the first gubernatorial debate of the general election campaign – a forum sponsored by a coalition of minority activist organizations and media outlets.
That left the unlikely spectacle of Republican gubernatorial nominee Bill Simon and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo discussing hot-button issues and agreeing more often than might be expected given the miles of ideological distance between them.
Simon and Camejo differed on a moratorium on the death penalty, reparations for past discrimination, farm labor collective bargaining and driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.
Both oppose racial profiling, enlisting local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws and Proposition 187, the 1994 anti-illegal immigration ballot measure.
Mostly, they agreed that Democrat Davis should have shown up, as did a Simon campaign official who sported a chicken costume for the occasion.
"I think Governor Davis' refusal to come today is a disservice," said Camejo, who theoretically could throw a close election to Simon by siphoning away disenchanted liberal Democrats from Davis. "It reflects on taking for granted of minorities."
Simon added: "Gray Davis ought to be here and, as Peter said, he takes us for granted and he takes you for granted because he thinks all of you have no choice."
Sponsors of the New California Media forum also were outspokenly miffed.
"We can think of only two reasons why a candidate would choose not to participate in a debate. Either they consider the exercise inconsequential to the election or they have something to hide," said Paul Turner, senior program manager of the Greenlining Institute, a liberal urban policy research organization that coordinated the event.
About a half-hour away, at a bill-signing ceremony in his Los Angeles office, Davis said he had too much to do.
"I'm doing the job I was hired to do, working my way through 1,200 bills that must be acted upon two weeks from today," he said. "When that's over, there will be time enough for debates."
Davis so far has agreed to one debate with Simon – Oct. 7 in Los Angeles. A second one is being negotiated.
Davis has not taken action on a top priority of Latino political activists. That bill, Assembly Bill 60, would permit illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses under certain circumstances.
Simon said he would not sign the bill now, but would be open to it as part of national immigration reform.
Camejo said the bill was watered down to secure Davis' signature, but said he would sign it because it would be better than nothing.

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War of Words

Simon, Camejo assail absent Davis

By Margaret Talev -- Bee Capitol BureauPublished 2:15 a.m. PDT Wednesday, September 18, 2002

By Margaret Talev -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Wednesday, September 18, 2002