www.ChronWatch.com
Posted on 11/03/2002 11:50:19 PM PST by RonDog
By Leo Lacayo
Monday, November 04, 2002From the Campaign Trail:
Exclusive for CHRONWATCH.COMAs Bill Simon came down the stairs of his Boeing at the private air field in San Jose this past Saturday, I extended my hand to greet the next governor of the state of California. Minutes before, Mr. Simon had been preceded by a bus full of the saddest people I have ever seen, the press corps that is accompanying him!
Simon turned and walked over to the landing-strip workers who had moved the stairs to his plane, and thanked them for their work. The smiles lit up the faces of the hardworking guys who never get a thank you from the powerful moguls who descend on this particular center. My mind went to last week, when I had greeted President Arroyo of the Philippines at Davies Symphony Hall and watched a dour-looking Gray Davis make a spectacle of himself.
Already on the bus were every major Republican candidate. Bill got on, sat behind the driver, smiled, and asked how we were doing. I sat in the seat immediately to his right. I smiled thinking that if I were on a Democratic bus, I would be lucky to get the back of the bus, and had it been Gray Davis's bus, I might have been pushed out of the vehicle by two black shirts from the unions. That may seem funny, but that's how some Californians must feel these days after four years of Davis!
It had been a busy week. The San Jose Mercury News had interviewed me on the phone for half an hour, but the only thing they published was my call for all Californians to vote, regardless of party, lest we re-enforce the stereotype as spectators in the political arena. Hours of work with Spanish language radio stations and some back-door work with Univision and Telemundo had yielded just enough so that I could get airtime for Alfredo Najera III, my fantastic vice-chair of the San Francisco chapter of the Hispanic Republican Assembly.A week of telephone banking, and precinct walking with Republican legends, had yielded nothing short of good news for us. Constant trips and phone conferencing had produced enough campaign literature and resources to continue the pressure on Gray Davis. Two great news items had arrived. First, studies showed a whopping ten percent more Hispanics are identifying themselves as Hispanic Republicans rather than Democrats, making Latino voters the fastest growing segment of the party.
BILL SIMON LEADING!
The second was a bulletin from Washington D.C. released Friday, showing that with four days left until the election, GOP nominee Simon has pulled to a statistical dead heat with Davis, who is unable to rose above the 45 percent approval mark in the governor's race. My mind raced back to all the news I have seen on Davis's last days. The only people at his rallies were union hacks, and I knew that these guys didn't like Davis anymore than many slaves adored the plantation owner's back in history!
An overnight Field Poll conducted on October 30 by the Polling Company, Inc., used likely voters in their sampling and found that Republican Bill Simon lead Gray Davis by three points, 42 to 39. Even better for Bill and worse for Davis, was that the poll confirmed what all other polls and pundits already have, that Gray Davis has a negative rating of 57% among Californians likely to vote--the highest negative rating of any governor in the United States.
Our bus stopped at the Hyatt in San Jose, and we worked our way into the building. We were lined up by the campaign staff, and walked out onto the stage right behind Mr. Steele, the California State Republican chairman. Immediately behind me were candidates Gary Mendoza, Dick Ackerman, Keith Olberg, Tom McClintock, Greg Conlon, and McPherson--plus Bill and Cindy Simon.
The rousing cheers from the standing resonated on the wall. Simon introduced me and I explained to the San Jose crowd that I had witnessed the results of Bill Simon's work with the poor, the abandoned, and the unrepresented. I explained how his giving had brought new hope to the hopeless and how his investment firm had brought jobs and new opportunities to all Californians.
I expressed my dismay with record high taxes as well as high fees for licensing and bonding renewal for people in my line of business, and how the red tape and red ink continued to flow from Davis's pen in the form of legislature strangulating small business in our state. The crowd responded to the theme, and I slipped away from the stage to greet, and cheer-on the wonderful people who differed so much from the sad faces on Davis's team that I have met along the campaign trail. Declining lunch with the Simon team, and an invitation to continue on with the group to Los Angeles, I shook the future governor's hand. A quick run to the waiting car, and I felt good. I am grass-roots, and felt in my heart the warmth of Ronald Reagan's belief in the little people, people like me, and not the machines that build empires on our backs, but the work that liberates us all, for the better.
Throwing off the tie and jacket, I settled into the back seat of the car to snooze while headed back to San Francisco to continue getting out the vote, and more importantly getting out the message. Next to me the car-fax was delivering a single sheet of paper, which read: ''Dear Friend: America's the greatest country in the world and will remain so, if Americans take seriously their right and responsibility to vote. If you care about our culture, and the values we pass on to our children, about our country, then vote Tuesday and ask your friends and family to vote too. One person can make a difference. Your vote matters. America's future will be decided by those who vote. Sincerely, George W. Bush.'' Warmth overcame me again. Ronald Reagan's legacy lives and we are a part of it.
Other Info & Links:
• Posted by: Leo Lacayo
• Category: ChronWatch Writers and Contributors
18% unknown or undecided is still alot this late in the game.
California Governor's Race: Final Hours for a Failed GovernorPatrick MallonThis article is the latest in the ongoing weekly series on the California governor's race. See previous articles:
Monday, Nov. 4, 2002Vote for Simon, Save Your Job (10/28)
Commissar Davis and the People's Press (10/21)
So You Want to Steal an Election? (10/14)
Davis Slams Property Owners on 9/11 (10/7)
Only Vote Fraud Can Save Davis Now (9/30)
Is Simon Taking a Dive? (9/23)
The Tide Is Turning (9/16)
Davis and Apologists Fooling Themselves (9/9)
The Farce That Is Sacramento (9/3)
A Democratic Party Art Form - Inventing Voters (8/26)
Tammany Hall's Next Target - Simon's Faith (8/16)
California Governor's Race: Defying the Lies as Bombs Fly (8/9)
Stealth Agenda Trumps Academic Success in Schools (8/2)
Simon Survives Attacks, Davis Cons for Cash (7/26)
Paralyzed From Facing Reality (7/19)
California: Wanted! An Ethical Governor. Apply Within (7/15)
A less honorable man than Bill Simon might be asking himself, "How can I win when I'm being so completely outspent? How can I possibly prevail when the LA Times and San Francisco Chronicle take turns smearing me on a daily basis?"
All that money, $30 million spent on attack ads in the last six months, and Gov. Gray Davis hasn't moved an inch in the polls. Running in place, running out of time.
The answer is straightforward, Bill. You are running against the most corrupt governor this state has ever witnessed. It's sickening. And more people in the Democratic Party, those who have traditionally backed Davis, people he once deemed staunch allies, can't stand another day of it.
There's no man more aware of the public's level of distrust and contempt than the governor himself. Last week's focus group test of "the good Gray" TV ads were pulled after they produced howls of laughter from screeners.
It is in these last days of a very sorry four years when the survival instinct kicks in. Whether in manufacturing the appearance of enthusiastic support or being the desperate beneficiary of the Democratic Party's only real tactical advantage, vote fraud, all vital signs of legitimacy have long faded away.
Wednesday morning, Nov. 6, will be "Day 1" of a likely avalanche of reports on ballot stuffing, polling place intimidation, election "irregularities" and outright fraud.
And Bill Simon will be declared the victor. But it won't be for lack of Davis pulling out all the stops.
First-Hand Survivor's Account of a Davis Town Hall Meeting
Monte Sereno businessman Frank Pollifrone, 40, provides a revealing account of how a Republican voter survived, unscathed, a Palo Alto "Town Hall Meeting" featuring Gray Davis.
"So, I'm on my way to what's been billed as a Town Hall meeting with Governor Davis. Granted, I'm a relatively new Republican voter, but I'm living in the Silicon Valley and I want to know what he has to say about the sinking economy and businesses fleeing the state."
Pollifrone had completed an online invitation that read:
"Silicon Valley Town Hall Meeting, Bring your friends, family and colleagues for a visit with Governor Davis about issues affecting Silicon Valley, the local economy, and issues important to you and your family, sponsored by Technet."
When Frank arrived at the event parking lot, he immediately asked a group of men if they knew anything about the Davis event. "Right here. You with UPAG?" (UPAG, an AFL-CIO affiliate, is the Union Painters Association Guild). Pollifrone said, "No, I'm not a member of UPAG."
A neatly dressed young man handed out bright blue "UPAG for Davis" shirts and picket signs to roughly 100 union members. Meanwhile, groups of grassroots demonstrators had brought their own signs: "Gray 'Show me the Money' Davis,'' "Governor for Sale!" and a long "Dump Davis" banner.
Several minutes later Pollifrone, feeling entirely alone, entered the conference room filled with the blue-shirted UPAG union members, ready in their choreographed positions.
"There I stood wearing a preppie sweater and wool baseball cap, not wearing the prized UPAG T-shirt. I stuck out like Opie at a quaint evening with the Hell's Angels," he said.
"At this point I was singled out, not by a hairy 280-pound union worker named Biff, but instead by a neatly dressed young man in a suit. He asked me if I would step outside into the lobby. I recognized him. He was the man outside giving the union boss instructions.
"He asked me if I was an invited guest. I said, 'Yes, I RSVP'd online.' I displayed my Town Hall Meeting printout. He then led me to the front reception desk where the young woman at the desk was asked if I had checked in. She said, 'Yes, he did. I remember him.'
"He then said, 'Check again.' He then turned to me and asked, 'What are you doing here?' At this point I realized that this person was not with the greeting committee.
"I was afraid that the next words to come from his mouth might have been in a thick German accent, 'May I see your papers, achtung!?' I said, I'm here as an entrepreneur and I'm interested in the issues that affect California. I was then released and again entered the large conference room awaiting Mr. Davis.
"As the press corps prepped for that magical moment, I initiated some small talk with a writer from the San Jose Mercury News. No sooner had I spoken to the reporter when I was approached a second time by another young man. He asked, 'Are you with the Simon Camp?' Again I reiterated my mantra about being a concerned Californian. He warned, 'I would appreciate good behavior, being that we're so close to the election.'
"At this point the entire Davis staff consistently whispered as I meandered about, attempting to locate the hors d'oeuvres. Worse yet, it appeared the word had spread through the union staff that I was an intruder. They were not happy with me milling about.
"45 minutes late, Gray Davis entered the room, took to the podium and began to speak of his record on better test scores for kids and his successful track record in promoting business in Silicon Valley and California.
"Perhaps he thought that he was Rod Serling taking us back through a timeless sci-fi dimension of yesteryear. All I could think was if he 'assisted' California any more, the only company that would exist would be my daughters' lemonade stand.
"Incredibly, Davis seemed to blame the audience when he said, 'I didn't build the economy, you did. These are forces well beyond the control of any governor.' ''
Pollifrone had earlier submitted a question and was hoping the governor would hear it, as the Q&A segment started. "The first question began as did most others, 'I must commend you, Mr. Davis for … or 'You've been terrific with. …' After several of these inane commendations, Pollifrone realized his question would not be asked.
"However, the good news was that I went home safely, thankfully without being chaperoned by the secret police. I never would have guessed that the longest walk through a dark parking lot would have taken place outside an elected official's Town Hall."
The Vote Fraud Machine Revs Its Engines in San Bernardino
Engaged, patriotic, concerned American voters are well aware that illegal immigrants and others not authorized are voting. In a state with Proposition 52, the Election Day Registration measure, on the ballot, examining the issue of vote fraud could not be more timely.
It's estimated that for every four authorized, legitimate votes, there's one unauthorized illegitimate vote that undermines and annuls true polling outcomes.
Why the dramatic statistic? Because half of all registered voters don't bother voting at all.
Here's one man's story about what's happening in San Bernardino County, and perhaps in other counties in California.
Frank Vera, 49, a Vietnam-era veteran living in Redlands, describes himself as a "whistle blower and a patients' rights advocate for U.S. veterans." Mr. Vera believes that illegal immigrants are voting and, in essence, determining America's future.
He may have a point. Immigrants' rights groups are relentless and rules seem made to be broken, Republican politicians are too timid to demand that voting procedures be purified, and literally anyone who wants to vote can vote. That includes dogs and cats.
Mr. Vera forwarded to me the entire San Bernardino, Calif., voter registration database for this election cycle. Anyone can do it. It costs about $150 and can be purchased from the county registrar.
Vera says, "San Bernardino is the largest county in the U.S. and one of the most corrupt, with a long history of voter fraud. It is maintained very poorly. They have no quality control guidelines. In many districts two people are required for data entry, then they compare the entries to identify discrepancies. San Bernardino County officials say they 'don't have the money to do it.' "
Here's what was found using basic queries in the current database:
This is not an exhaustive list of queries. We didn't have enough time to identify other duplications and discrepancies. Get the picture?
- Registered Voters in San Bernardino County, CA: 601,765
- No last name: 6
- No First name: 6
- No Gender: 71,130
- No Birth Date: 14,294
- Voters older than 100 on 11/05/2002: 166
- Older than 200 on 11/05/2002: 22
- Younger than 18 on 11/05/2002: 86
- Not born yet on 11/05/2002: 3
- Duplicate address and birth date: 4,750
- Duplicate address and birth date and Perm Absentee (some birth dates are blank): 259
- Duplicate address, last name and birth date: 1,439
- Duplicate last name and birth date: 7,348
- Duplicate first and last name and birth date: 644
Thanks to NewsMax for Fostering the New Media
In closing, this writer has long believed that rational, commonsense voters, both Republican and Democrat, have given up on California. To read the "progressive" newspapers, the cause for conservative Democrats, Christians and others raised in traditions now trashed by the left, is hopelessly lost. They've tuned out, don't vote and distrust all politicians. In many ways, their sentiment is understandable.
However, a sea change is occurring in how people get and use information. With their overwhelming persistence in uncovering more and more cases of vote fraud, real people have made a difference and forced gutless politicians to respond.
In national reports from individual states, it is clear: Democrats are consistently being nabbed in vote fraud schemes.
Former Attorney General Janet Reno obstructs efforts by average Americans to oversee clean voting in Miami.
Democrat Senators Chuckie Schumer and Ron Wyden worked diligently to eliminate the photo ID requirement at polling places.
And finally, our less-than-popular governor, Joseph Gray Davis, has said, and done, nothing about repeated acts of vote fraud, despite mountains of evidence.
Newspapers like the LA Times and the San Francisco Chronicle bask in the absurdity of a world they invent, facts they ignore, and agendas they protect.
More and more people by the day are getting wind of it. Couple the enormous popularity and astounding influence of NewsMax with the convergent explosion of talk radio, and you have an entirely new and powerful dynamic the now dying-on-the-vine media have no answer for: the new Underground Railroad. It's refreshing and a distinct cause for optimism.
It is for this fundamental reason that I pursued writing for NewsMax way back in July. I want to thank Chris Ruddy for giving me the opportunity to do a weekly column on the California governor's race. It's been fun and a privilege.
My prediction back in February is still the same today:
Bill Simon, your next governor of California.You may e-mail Patrick Mallon at patrick@newsmax.com.
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
California Governor's Race
Editor's note:
If You Want to Know Politics ... Learn the Art of Political War
Beautiful. Those people will go home and talk. With that move he probably gained more votes than he got from the rest of the rally.
He's learned a lot, hasn't he?
42% Simon
39% Davis
8% Undecided
5% Camejo
2% Copeland
1% Gulke
1% None
Beautiful. Those people will go home and talk. With that move he probably gained more votes than he got from the rest of the rally.You got THAT right!He's learned a lot, hasn't he?
Bill Simon is MUCH like George W. Bush: a man of good character who GROWS - as you watch!
See also, from:
BILL SIMON ON OLVERA STREET: ONE HOT GOP TAMALE!
Cinnamon Girl
Posted on 11/03/2002 5:53 PM PST by Cinnamon Girl
It was a great day for a FREEP! As the campaign approaches the big day, Bill Simon is looking good and sounding better than ever...-- snip --
THIS is now my new screensaver!more
hmmmm.....
INTERVIEWER: You've been married for all these years ...... do you WANT to stay married to this guy?
ANSWER: Welllll, I'm undecided. (translation-well if I really did I'd say so, but when it comes down to it I'll either refuse to make a decision -not vote - or bail, since I have the chance....but I'm not going to let that scum bum know until I do it)
Big Tent Getting Bigger BUMP
Two great news items had arrived. First, studies showed a whopping ten percent more Hispanics are identifying themselves as Hispanic Republicans rather than Democrats, making Latino voters the fastest growing segment of the party...No surprise here for FReepers!
See also, from:
-- snip --VIDEO: The ROARING SUCCESS of our 10/26 Pasadena Freep, now on Video!
amazing.com (my web site) ^ | 11/03/2002 | David H Dennis
Posted on 11/03/2002 9:46 PM PST by daviddennis
Yes! It's finally here, my exclusive account of last weekend's dramatic freep of Gray Davis! We almost get a SWAT team sent after us, and we manage to intimidate Gray Davis into noticing us -- right on video!
Yes, indeed, this one was a triumph for me - Garry South and Gray Davis in the same video, looking delightfully sleazy!
more
GREAT picture. He's gonna win, you know????!!!!!!No doubt about it.
The ONLY people who have thought OTHERWISE are in the mainstream media, and THEY have either not seen - or have chosen to IGNORE - what WE have seen, posted here on FR......such as THIS, from:
Simon Rally Reports 11/02/02 - Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Jose, Modesto, Fresno
2 November 2002 | Freepers!
Posted on 11/02/2002 4:11 PM PST by CounterCounterCulture
Simon Rally Reports 11/02/02 - Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Jose, Modesto, Fresno
Feel free to post your comments on today's rallies for our California statewide candidates...
SAN JOSE
Freepers NormsRevenge, Mediaqueen, and yours truly, along with many more, welcomed the GOP statewide ticket to the San Jose area headed by (hopefully) our next governor, Bill Simon.
Many camps were at the San Jose Hyatt north of downtown for their candidates as well as many local races such as Linda Rae Hermann (to unseat Congresscritter Mike Honda) and Douglas McNea (to unseat Congresscritter Zoe Lofgren). Signs, stickers, and buttons were in abundance for everybody, especially for Simon. I brought out my FOR SALE: eGray Davi$ sign as well as my Gray Davis mask (Beavis with hair spray-painted metallic silver) which everybody got a kick out of, including the media. Most local television stations seemed to be in attendance and recording the events.
As we awaited the arrival of team GOP from their trek to Monterey, we socialized outside before going inside a packed room for the rally and speeches. Hermann and McNea addressed the enthusiastic crowd. Our local “Simon-ettes” did their most excellent version of “I’m gonna wash that Gray right outta my hair.” I managed to get in a few good chants of “help is on the way” and “Dump Davis.” All those years of Freepin’ paid off, I suppose. ;-)
-- snip --
"Bill Simon, Bill Jones and the slate of statewide candidates were welcomed to the Fresno Victory Rally by Saundra Duffy, Lager (as SuperSimon), me, Chris and several other FReepers and several hundred very enthusiastic Simon supporters. We enjoyed great speeches, chants and singing. Was a great rally! We also enjoyed patriotic songs by a young group of singers from Christian Home Educators of the Fresno Area (CHEFA)." - Jim Robinson
more
From the Washington Times:
November 4, 2002
Calif. GOP predicts Simon upset
By Ralph Z. Hallow
THE WASHINGTON TIMESRepublican pollsters say Bill Simon is poised for a stunning electoral upset by defeating Democratic California Gov. Gray Davis tomorrow.
One poll commissioned by Republicans has Mr. Simon ahead by three percentage points and other Republican surveys have him about even. Such results are starkly different from public polls and Democratic polls, which show him trailing Mr. Davis by seven to 11 percentage points.
"Tuesday promises to be a day of reckoning," a prominent California Republican strategist said privately. "If Simon wins, it's an upset."
But the same strategist warned that if Mr. Simon loses, "major Republican donors will be asking some very hard questions of these pollyanna-ish polls by Republicans."
The White House, which invested heavily in a Simon victory until concluding that he has run the worst campaign of any Republican in this election cycle, discounts the reliability of the partisan poll numbers, Republican sources say.
President Bush, who traveled to California several times to help raise money for Mr. Simon earlier this year, did not include the state in his exhausting nonstop campaign for Republican candidates over the last week of the campaign.
Some Republicans worry that they are being misled and say the Simon campaign has from the beginning switched pollsters in search of the best numbers — a practice known as "pollster shopping."
"Those Republican tracking polls four years ago helped raise millions of dollars for what was supposed to be a photo finish in [Republican] Dan Lungren's race with Davis," said the Republican strategist, who asked not to be identified. "The California Republican Party contributed $500,000 in the final days for this squeaker, which was really a landslide for Davis. The money diverted for Lungren could have salvaged close legislative races in California."
Davis internal polling, meanwhile, claims double-digit leads for the Democrat.
"There are going to be a lot of California Republican pollsters and consultants out of work come Tuesday," said Davis spokesman Roger Salazar, who cited internal polling showing the Democrat ahead by 14 percentage points. "Anybody who believes this race is as close as [Republicans] say should check their medication."
Still, even Republican Party officials and campaign strategists in California who have been most critical of the Simon campaign say that the logic and election history point to defeat for any incumbent who, like Mr. Davis, is viewed unfavorably by more than half — and favored for re-election by less than half — of all likely voters in polls taken a few days before the election.
"It's going to be a stunning victory, given the steady undercurrent of criticism from our own Republicans and given the series of colossal missteps by the campaign and the way it has lurched forward through the summer and fall," said Timothy J. Morgan, a Republican National Committee member from California. "But the voters' moral outrage and fatigue with the ineptitude of the Davis administration have propelled them to seek an alternative and has turned others totally off."
Mr. Morgan noted that only 39 percent of likely voters in a poll taken on Thursday by Republican Kellyanne Conway said they would vote for Mr. Davis, and 42 percent said they would vote for Mr. Simon, with 8 percent undecided.
Many California voters apparently want to see both Mr. Davis and Mr. Simon lose. An unprecedented 57 percent have an unfavorable view of Mr. Davis, and 50 percent have a similarly dim view of Mr. Simon in the Conway poll.
A nightly tracking poll by Republican pollster Jan von Lohuizen showed Mr. Simon leading Mr. Davis by a minuscule 34.2 percent to 33.7 percent margin. Over three days, the rolling sample had Mr. Davis ahead by only 2.7 percentage points — well within the error margin.
But even such public surveys as the California Field Poll, completed on Thursday with an error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, had Mr. Davis ahead by only seven points, with 25 percent undecided — highly unusual in the closing days of an election.
Republicans note that undecided voters usually break for the challenger. So even if many of the Field poll's undecided voters stay home on Tuesday, Mr. Simon can expect to pick up a majority of those who do turn out — which could give him the one point overall victory that Mr. Morgan is predicting.
Maybe another class in grammer.
Barbra Strizand says Welstones plane wreck was not an accident. DUH. (Of course the dumocrats took him out if anyone did . Maybe a little Arkansaside-type Toricelli switch? Hmmmm? Mondale polled real well 2 years ago. Why risk a close race with Welstone when they can have it all with Mondale? If you notice, the memorial was quite the death celebration!)
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