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For the more traditional left-wing "Simon can do no right" spin on this story, which seems to be very POPULAR on this forum lately, see San Jose Mercury News:

Posted on Thu, Oct. 10, 2002

ANALYSIS
Simon's latest stumble might be fatal blow to GOP hopeful's campaign
By Dion Nissenbaum
Mercury News Sacramento Bureau

It was supposed to be the ``October Surprise'' that would knock Gov. Gray Davis off his game and give Republican Bill Simon the last-minute momentum he needed to oust the Democratic incumbent.
Instead, it has turned into a devastating debacle that may have sealed the Los Angeles investor's political doom.
In an extraordinary gamble that quickly went awry, Simon charged that Davis had illegally accepted a campaign contribution in the state Capitol. That single now-discredited allegation turned what had been Simon's greatest asset -- his theme that Davis has repeatedly sold out to please campaign contributors -- into the GOP candidate's biggest liability.
The controversy gave Simon the widespread television exposure that he has been unable to get by making news or buying ads -- but it was hardly the coverage he wanted. Four weeks before the election, the incident called into question the credibility of a candidate whose campaign has been plagued with stumbles.
``I don't think one can overstate the damage that's been done by this,'' said Republican political analyst Allan Hoffenblum. ``I think this totally destroys Simon's ability to convince voters that he's a credible alternative to the incumbent.''
For months, Simon has tried to galvanize opposition to Davis by attacking the governor's aggressive fundraising tactics. And he thought he had found the silver bullet when a public safety group told his campaign that they had photographs showing Davis breaking the law in 1998 by accepting a $10,000 check in his state Capitol office.
The photos for the first time gave television reporters the visual evidence they needed to illustrate Simon's main campaign theme. But the photos that aired prominently across California this week ended up illuminating Simon's blunder rather than the governor's wrongdoing.
In 24 hours, Simon's ploy undermined months of relentless assaults on the governor's ethics by trumpeting a baseless charge that Davis had broken the law.
Simon has stumbled numerous times since winning the GOP nomination in March, but many California political analysts viewed the latest Simon misstep as fatal.
``The Simon campaign was sort of dead anyway, but now it's basically a corpse kicking itself,'' said Bruce Cain, a political scientist at the University of California-Berkeley.
With the group that made the claim -- the California Organization of Police and Sheriffs -- retracting its allegations late Wednesday, GOP strategists urged Simon to admit his mistake and try to move on.
``The first thing Simon should do is apologize,'' said Dan Schnur, a political consultant who worked for former GOP Gov. Pete Wilson. ``That shows that he's willing to take responsibility for a mistake. The second thing he should do is fire someone.''
Despite Simon's attempts to blame COPS and distance himself from the controversy, his campaign had planned to use the charge as its ace in the hole.
Republican sources said the Simon campaign had heard about the COPS photographs three or four months ago and had been told by the group last week that they were preparing to make their allegations public.
After weighing the options, Simon agreed to set a trap for Davis on Monday afternoon in the first and only scheduled debate.
``Mr. Davis,'' Simon asked the governor, ``it is illegal to accept campaign contributions in state government office buildings. In your career, have you ever accepted a campaign contribution in the state Capitol or in any of your government offices? Please answer this question yes or no.''
Davis said he has always ``conducted himself within the law,'' and later told reporters he had no memory of ever taking such a donation.
Simon strategists hoped to lure Davis into a lie and then come forward the following day with the damning COPS photos.
But the strategy fell apart right after the debate. Reporters pressed Simon about whether he had hard evidence that Davis had broken the law, as he had implied in the live televised debate.
At first, Simon balked and told reporters to ``stay tuned.'' When reporters persisted, Simon strategist Ed Rollins caught the candidate's attention and gave him the green light to say that he did have evidence.
That sparked an angry demand from reporters for Simon to prove his explosive allegation.
In yet another example of the disarray in the campaign, high-level Simon strategists complained that they had been denied the chance to check out the photos and had to rely on assurances from COPS. Several Simon advisers said they weren't shown the photos until COPS held its news conference on Tuesday.
``A campaign that was doing well would have had a difficult time recovering from such a fiasco,'' said Hoffenblum. ``For one that's already on the ropes, this may well have been the fatal blow.''

Mercury News Staff Writer Mark Gladstone contributed to this report. Contact Dion Nissenbaum at dnissenbaum@sjmercury.com or (916) 441-4603.

From www.EnterStageRight.com:

The "Eleventh Commandment"
By David C. Wilcox
web posted April 8, 2002
During Ronald Reagan's 1966 campaign for governor of California, Republicans established the so-called Eleventh Commandment: "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican."
It was proposed by State Republican Chairman Gaylord Parkinson to help prevent a repeat of the liberal Republican assault on Barry Goldwater that laid the foundation for Goldwater's trouncing in the 1964 presidential election. Just as Nelson Rockefeller and his East Coast cronies had branded Goldwater as an "extremist" who was unfit to hold office, so candidate George Christopher and California's liberal Republicans were leveling similar personal attacks on Reagan. Party liberals eventually followed Parkinson's advice, and the rest is history.
more

I like this one developed and part of the Rat playbook.....

"It is not the accusation that is important, it is the seriousness of the charges that cause us such concern" Use it Mr.Lott. Make them regret the caustic linguistics and lies they spew to an ever increasingly stupid public.

Uh, I don't see any bias. I see Bill Simon acting like a complete horse's arse. I agree with Gay Davis (gag!)- Simon should drop out. He's an embarrasement.

That sparked an angry demand from reporters for Simon to prove his explosive allegation.

There was a similar phrase used in an article yesterday, before the alleged "real venue" was revealed (finally).

Why do the reporters characterize themselves as "angry"??

I find it most illuminating.

After these reports, no one can ever again convince me that I'm seeing things in re. media bias.

Simon's claim further deflated

Photo of Davis raising funds was taken at a private residence.

By Margaret Talev -- Bee Capitol Bureau

Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Thursday, October 10, 2002

In a second day of embarrassment for Republican Bill Simon's gubernatorial campaign, photos that Simon said would show Gov. Gray Davis illegally raising money in a state office building instead were determined to have been taken in the private residence of a Santa Monica home builder.

Bruce Karatz, chairman and CEO of KB Home, on Wednesday identified the den in his former home as the background in 4-year-old photographs circulated a day earlier by the California Organization of Police and Sheriffs.

COPS issued an apology -- but not to Davis.

"We regret the impact this erroneous information has had in the Simon campaign and on the distraction of their message to the voters of California," it read.

In a statement issued early Wednesday, Simon was unapologetic about accusing the governor of a crime without examining the photos himself.

Simon said Davis still should be investigated by law enforcement officials "even if the specific claims made by (COPS) are not sustained."

Late in the day, he issued a second statement acknowledging that the complaint was "unfounded." He declined interview requests.

COPS, in its unsigned statement, said the group released the photos and filed a complaint with the state Fair Political Practices Commission "in good faith," but that "it now appears our original belief was erroneous." COPS said it would withdraw its complaint.

The group also apologized for "questioning the character" of its former director, Al Angele, who was pictured in the photos with Davis.

The Democratic governor, speaking on KGO radio in the Bay Area on Wednesday, described the situation as "just a sorry reflection of a campaign that's just falling apart," and he called on Simon to withdraw from the race.

"He should drop out," Davis told radio host Ed Baxter, according to a transcript provided by the Governor's Office. "His whole campaign has been an embarrassment."

Meanwhile, an attorney for the Davis campaign fired off a letter to the lawyer representing COPS and the state Republican Party, advising that campaign strategist Garry South was considering a defamation lawsuit.

COPS and Simon on Tuesday had unveiled and touted the photos as evidence that on Jan. 31, 1998, while still lieutenant governor, Davis accepted a $10,000 contribution in his state office from Angele.

COPS backed Davis in his first gubernatorial bid but struggled with internal battles. Angele left, and the group's new leadership endorsed Simon. Most other law enforcement groups have endorsed Davis.

Finance records show the Simon campaign and its consulting firm have paid COPS and its lobbyist hundreds of thousands of dollars, for inclusion on candidate mailers. Mailers are put out by various organizations encouraging citizens to vote for particular candidates.

Davis' staff from the outset denied that any money changed hands in a state office in 1998. Initially, South said he did not know where the photos were taken and would not dignify Simon's accusations by tracking the information down.

By Wednesday, the campaign said it had checked unpublished schedules and determined that on the date in question Davis attended an 8 a.m. breakfast event at Karatz's home with supporters and financiers of his first-term bid for governor. COPS' Angele was among them.

When Davis created the Commission on Building for the 21st Century two months after taking office, he appointed Karatz as a member.

Karatz was traveling Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. But a spokesman said he recognized the modern art visible in the shots as "Red Lick," a painting by Los Angeles artist David Amico that Karatz owns.

While the law prohibits politicians from accepting campaign donations in state offices, there is no prohibition on raising money in private homes.

On Wednesday, critics piled on against Simon, a first-time candidate and investment banker who has noted with pride his experience as a former federal prosecutor.

Jim Shore, president of the California Prosecutors Association, said his group would endorse Davis and that Simon had "demonstrated a willful disregard for the facts and exhibited the type of leadership that California does not need."

Trailing the governor by at least seven percentage points in polls taken before Monday's gubernatorial debate, Simon scrambled to redirect questions about his own credibility to that of Davis, who has been dogged for years by reports that he is obsessed with fund raising.

"The location where the governor received this campaign contribution is now in question," Simon said in a statement released before Karatz's home was identified as the site.

"However, even if the specific claims made by (COPS) are not sustained, this outcome should not deter the (Fair Political Practices Commission), other law enforcement agencies and the media from investigating Gray Davis' aggressive and shady fund-raising practices."

The fund-raising allegations were guarded by COPS and Simon strategists for weeks until they were floated Monday during the only scheduled debate between Simon and Davis.

Simon told debate viewers that raising money in state offices is illegal and asked Davis whether he had ever done so. Davis replied that he had always acted within the law.

Badgered by reporters after the debate, Simon let slip, in a stronger fashion than his campaign had planned, that he had evidence showing Davis had taken money in a state office.

He pointed to a complaint COPS had filed that day with state regulators alleging Davis had accepted the check from Angele in his public office.

Angele said he never visited Davis in the lieutenant governor's office and could only recall giving Davis a check at his campaign office, as the law permits. Angele has since said he would meet with a lawyer to consider litigation. Skepticism followed the photos' release, as reporters visited the lieutenant governor's office at the Capitol and saw that windows, doors and artwork there did not resemble the setting in the photos.

Simon, in Wednesday's statement, said he had "no reason to question" COPS when the group approached his campaign about the 1998 check. Sources said he never saw the pictures until Tuesday afternoon.

"They were reporting the charge to the government enforcement agency, and they claimed they had documented proof," he said.

In a final, if tangential, disappointment for Simon late Wednesday, Democratic state Attorney General Bill Lockyer rejected a request by his Republican challenger to investigate Davis for improper fund raising.

Attorney general candidate Dick Ackerman last month presented Lockyer with 21 instances of fund raising, reported in newspaper accounts, that Ackerman argued should be criminally investigated.

Writing on Lockyer's behalf, Chief Assistant Attorney General Robert Anderson said Ackerman had provided no "credible evidence" that Davis' policy decisions were influenced by campaign contributions.