Simon May Be Making History, but for All the Wrong Reasons

SACRAMENTO

The question political junkies are asking is: Has there ever been a worse campaign for governor of California than Bill Simon’s?

Has there ever been a worse candidate?

That is, a sorrier gubernatorial nominee of either the Republican or Democratic party?

Can’t think of any, is the consensus of political pros I’ve talked to in both parties. Not at this point anyway--this close to Labor Day, the traditional kickoff of the November race.

Election day is still more than 10 weeks off and nobody’s yet declaring Gov. Gray Davis the winner. His unpopularity assures Simon a shot.

The GOP candidate will pick up $3 million and, presumably, some rare favorable publicity Friday and Saturday when President Bush raises money for him in Stockton, Los Angeles and Dana Point.

Anything’s possible, the pols profess. But ....

“It seems to me,” says independent pollster Mervin Field, “that the degree of antipathy held by voters toward Gray Davis is matched by the voter preference he enjoys over Bill Simon.”

That’s a pollster’s cautious way of saying: Can you believe it? How poorly this guy is running against a governor who’s so vulnerable?

Private polls show Davis leading by from eight to 18 points.

Davis’ own tracking poll shows him ahead by 16. Toss in the Green candidate, and the Democratic governor still leads by 13.

Myself, I’ve covered 10 gubernatorial races and never seen a campaign this dismal just before Labor Day.

Let’s quickly review some past losers:

* Republican Dan Lungren in 1998 could be bellicose, but--

unlike Simon--he was never boring. Never bland. He was too right-wing, but voters got the sense Lungren was speaking from heartfelt conviction. Simon hasn’t conveyed a sense of conviction or passion about anything.

* Democrat Kathleen Brown in 1994 seemed unsure of herself and was easily pushed around by another unpopular governor, Pete Wilson. But, like Lungren, she had been elected statewide and locally before running for governor. She’d proved herself to be a capable public servant. Simon has never run for any office and, in fact, only sporadically voted.

* You can go back a half century--Republicans Evelle Younger and Houston Flournoy, Democrats Richard Graves and James Roosevelt. All these losers offered more than Simon. And they were up against popular opponents.

“I don’t know what this guy [Simon] was thinking,” says Democratic consultant Darry Sragow. “He must have clicked his heels twice, closed his eyes and wished he’d get to Oz.”

Simon won the primary largely because Davis pumped $9 million into TV ads attacking Republican moderate Richard Riordan. Davis thus assured himself the weakest opponent in November.

Simon ran as a “proud conservative” who’s “pro-life.”

“If you come out of the primary in California as the right-wing candidate, you’re dead,” observes Tony Quinn, a Republican who co-edits the nonpartisan Target Book, which charts political races. “The Republican Party can no more run ‘anti-choice’ right-

wingers than the Democratic Party can run anti-death penalty left-wingers.”

Nearly six months after the primary, voters still know little about Simon--except maybe that he’s very conservative and has had some legal troubles.

Simon hasn’t just been adrift, he has been smashing up against the rocks.

What else do you call it when a businessman-candidate’s family investment firm is ordered by a jury of 12 registered voters to pay a convicted drug trafficker $78 million in fraud damages? They’d teamed up in the pay-phone business while people were buying cell phones.

Asks a Davis TV ad: “If we can’t trust [Simon] in business, how can we trust him in the governor’s office?”

“The White House was plenty upset about the fact that a jury case was hidden [from presidential aides],” says a Bush insider.

Hardly anyone outside the Simon family knew the trial was proceeding except campaign strategist Sal Russo, who didn’t share the info--or even prepare a political strategy. “We were advised by Simon’s attorneys the family likely would prevail,” Russo explains.

Simon also has other big problems, including an IRS investigation of an offshore tax shelter, and the fact he’s trailing Davis in fund-raising by 6 to 1.

It’s that Davis money-

grubbing--the alleged policy peddling for political donations--

plus his record on energy and spending that Russo believes will propel Simon into the governor’s office.

But he can’t just rely on Davis to lose. Simon needs to show voters he is an acceptable alternative. Or he’ s likely only to win the title All-Time Worst.