NY Times article For those of you who wouldn't be caught dead registering with such a liberal rag, here's the story: Dubya went to California today to stump for Simon, the GOP candidate for governor, and failed to even mention the guy in his speech. This is as serious gaffe in politics. I mean, why bother even showing up if the candidate can't get the sound bite for the evening news? It's like Bush knows that Simon (who is already saddled with some investor lawsuits) is dead meat and wants to avoid him without it looking like he's avoiding him.
This displays everything wrong with the primary system. If the California Republican party had any brains and balls (and they don't) they would dump Simon right now and bring in Riordan.
Unfortunately, Simon actually won, so California Republicans are stuck with him until Davis reams him November. It didn't help that Davis starting campaigning against Riordan before the primaries, thus helping Simon get the plurality he needed. The moderate vote was also split between RR and Bill Jones, similar to Sonny Bono and Tom Campbell in the '92 Senate primary, thus giving us Bruce Herschinson as an actual candidate for a public office. And the damned Open Primary thing couldn't have helped either.
President Bush shakes hands with GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon before making remarks at a fund-raiser luncheon Friday, Aug. 23, 2002, in Stockton, Calif. (AP Photo/ Rick Bowmer) Copyright 2002 Associated Press http://apnews1.iwon.com/image/20020...0823172312.html?date=20020823&docid=D7LJBPG04
Please note that the lunch was after the Stockton speech, thus after the news media was able to note just how detached Dubya was for the public reason for the trip in the first place. Dubya likely got reamed by his handlers on the drive to lunch. Other than this mini-trip, the White House and this campaign are going to be oil and water through November.
Just so that it's clearly not a New York liberal media bias showing, here's the AP report on this non-campaign stop: Dubya acts like his father did while eating broccoli
Democratic Dan isn't laughing about this, because Gray Davis belongs in a minimum security prison yard doing calisthenics. It says a lot about the California GOP that an empty suit like Davis is able to hold the statehouse - and about the California Democrats that they'd let this weasel hold their standard, although at least they sent two senators to Washington before settling on this guy. If Davis isn't Exhibits A-ZZZZ of why this country needs election finance reform, I don't know who is. Sigi Schmid for Governor.
> Unfortunately, Simon actually won, so California > Republicans are stuck with him until Davis reams > him November. Why are they stuck with him? The primary is nothing more than just a way to chose a guy from your party to run. They could use any method to chose. I don't think they even printed the ballots yet - they can still get Riordan's name on there.
Why would you liberals want us to put Riordan back on the ticket? As Dan mentioned, Gray Davis isn't exactly carrying the banner of truth and justice. Many democrats would've considered Riordan over Davis in November. What good would it do the democrats to have another republican governor? Unless it's because, as the grass roots republicans have known all along, Riordan is a democrat in republican clothing. However, even I would rther have Riordan over Gray Davis. As for Bill Simon, I still think he's capeable, but he has got a lousy campaign staff, and they are doing everything they can to mess things up for him. As ripe as Davis is for the picking, they haven't yet been able to turn the campaign to focus on Davis, which should have been so easy for anyone with half a brain.
Dude, if you're going to provide a link to a copyrighted news article, perhaps you should go with the article title rather than writing your own biased headline. Just a thought.
Ding ding ding ding ding! We have a winner! There's a reason why LA Dems who would never in a million years vote for Simon but voted for Riordan. Just because someone calls him/herself a Republican does not make that person inherently evil to Democrats. (Though, oddly, most GOPers don't seem to have a Dem they've ever liked. A bit more closed-minded, perhaps?) And Ian, "Dude", I think you need to learn to take a joke. Besides, the AP does not require that its headlines be used for its stories.
Interesting. I went to high school with his sister. Lots of drugs because the parents were never around. Rich people often make lousy parents. Murf
Not so fast. In spite of what hard-liners (putting it lightly) like Ian and my fellow Eric B. say, Dick Riordan is plenty conservative enough, especially in this state. He's just been willing to work with the prevailing power structure in LA politics. He also's spent the last few years kissing the collective ass of the Latino powerbase (endorsing Villaraigosa in 2000). He would have beat Davis, or at least made it thisclose, which is why Davis went after him first to begin with. Maybe because all Dems are the same? Anyway, if Bill Clinton the Candidate would have talked like Bill Clinton the President acted (still the best Republican Prez in years), I MIGHT have voted for Slick Willie in '96. In Ian's GOP, humor, like separation of Church and State, is not part of the party platform.
> Is sex allowed? You didn't know? Studies have shown that conservatives have way more sex than liberals, and are more likely to partake in kinky activity like swinging and bondage. I think I chose the wrong side.
Exactly. I think it has to do with conservatives being more aggressive and just plain sick fokkers (Hey, I'll admit it...) Come, join the dark side...
I think Bush came out just to show his face to the troops in hopes of not getting his ass completely kicked (again) in the '04 California presidential race. He badly needs to mobilize the California GOP. And completely ignoring even a no-hoper for governor is not the best way to foster good will. Because, like him or not, the same Republican apparatchiks who are working for Simon now will be working for W in two years. That said, Simon is a boob. I listened to the the Republican debates (why, I'm not quite sure) and it was a car wreck. He can actually "speak" better than Riordan or that corpse Bill Jones, but he says less than nothing and uses terms like "the best and the brightest." Gray Davis, however, is a devil one shade lighter than Pete Wilson. It turns my stomach to think of him having four more years. But I don't think even Riordan's pockets were deep enough to beat Davis, who has a few dollars less than God at the moment. Yet I don't think I could have voted for Riordan. In fact I may actually abstain, which would be a first. Excuse me while I wretch.
No third party candidates there who made the ballot? You could always write in Mickey Mouse. After all, he is a California resident ...