I just don't understand why you don't understand this.
Because he's not fighting, CyberAnt. When a "pro-life" politician is attacked for his position and runs instead of fights, that tells me he is timid on the issue. That tells me that he will not fight for the cause when in office, because the political realities that made him timid in the campaign will still be present when he's elected.
But abortion is popular in California, you say? Well, partial-birth abortion is not. Why doesn't Simon respond by attacking Gray Death on this issue? It's politically safe and would advance the pro-life cause in California by forcing people to face the violent and vile nature of abortion. In fact, the congressional PBA debate actually caused a substantial increase in pro-life support nationally, even though no legislation went into force. The mere debate over late abortions changes minds in our favor, but politicians like Bill Simon won't talk about it at all because he is afraid.
As an example of those politicians who fight, I'll offer George Allen of Virginia. In his recent senate race against Chuck Robb, he was attacked on abortion. How did he respond? Why, he launched retaliatory ads that attacked Robb for his extremism in supporting PBA and opposing every reasonable abortion restriction. He won. And, do you know what's ironic about this? Allen wasn't even officially pro-life! He supports legal abortion in very early pregnancy. So, I say, if a pro-life politician won't stand by his position and defend it by turning the tables on a vulnerable pro-abortion extremist, he deserves to be doubted in his claimed pro-life allegiance.