Carrying the GOP Banner, Simon Seeks Wider Appeal

SAN DIEGO--Bill Simon Jr. set off on his first tour of California as the Republican gubernatorial nominee Thursday, visiting schools around the state to tout his education proposals and assail the record of Gov. Gray Davis.

In Sacramento and the suburbs of San Francisco and San Diego, Simon offered no new details about his education plans. But his immediate focus on schools in his race against the Democratic incumbent made it clear that he views education as a key to winning back the voters--particularly women--who have abandoned Republicans in recent California elections.

It also reflected Simon’s effort to undercut Davis on an issue the governor has made his top priority. At a magnet school in Sacramento, Simon suggested that Davis deserves little credit for the rise in test scores on his watch.

“If you look at the test results that he says have improved, I think that ignores the fact that still--nationally--we rank in the basement,” Simon said.

But California does not need to increase school spending, said Simon, who is pushing for tax cuts at a time when the state faces a $17-billion budget shortfall. Government, he said, should be kept “as small as humanly possible.”

Simon’s schools agenda, although somewhat vague, includes a breakup of California’s largest school districts--including Los Angeles--a rollback of state education mandates, state intervention in failing schools and more clear student performance standards.

Garry South, the governor’s chief political strategist, dismissed Simon’s school visits as an attempt “to divert attention from all his right-wing views on social issues.” Among them, South said, are Simon’s opposition to abortion rights and gun control and his support for privatization of some public services, including highway construction.

“I wonder if these are schools that he wants private companies to take over,” South said, referring to Simon’s support for a takeover of some public schools by commercial corporations.

South also criticized Simon for supporting vouchers that would allow public school students to attend private schools, a concept rejected by California voters in a November 2000 referendum.

Notably, Simon has not included vouchers in his education agenda. “The people of California have spoken on vouchers,” he said in Sacramento after a class of first-graders read to him from a book called “Mr. Lee.”

Simon’s focus on schools had two goals--to appeal to the chief concern cited by voters, and also to broaden his political base beyond the conservative Republicans who powered his primary victory.

Women have been a particularly difficult target for Republicans in recent California races. They were key to Davis’ landslide victory in 1998 over Republican rival Dan Lungren, whose positions on abortion and guns were similar to Simon’s. Although men favored Davis over Lungren 53% to 42%, women backed Davis over the Republican by 62% to 35%, according to the Times poll of voters on election day.

GOP strategist Tony Quinn said education is perhaps the best issue available to Simon to mitigate the problem of his unpopular position on abortion among women.

“He has to identify himself strategically with issues that women are concerned with,” Quinn said.

A Times poll last month found education to be the most important issue to California voters, but most of all among women. In the survey, 46% of women named education as the issue they most wanted candidates to address. Among men, 29% held that view.

Since Simon won the GOP nomination on Tuesday, he has made education his most visible priority. His first campaign stop Wednesday was at a school in Los Angeles. On Thursday, all three of his public events were at schools.

At the same time, Davis has tried to keep the campaign agenda on abortion and other issues on which his positions--Davis favors abortion rights--are more closely aligned with most Californians. Simon, though, has steadfastly avoided them.

On the front steps of Burlingame High School in an affluent area south of San Francisco, Simon responded to a question on abortion by saying he was concerned about the economy, schools, roads, water and power. He said he believed most voters share those concerns.

Inside the school, some students had greeted Simon with banners saying: “Guns Kill” and “Women’s Right to Choose.”

“We don’t believe what he’s advocating,” said Sara McNamara, 17. “Women are going to go back to using coat hangers.”

Several dozen more friendly students mobbed Simon as he tried to make his way down the hallway in a cluster of television cameras and microphones.

“OK guys, it’s not the Beatles,” Simon joked.

Simon said he was impressed that the school had raised private money to replace its football field and fix its swimming pools.

“It’s a perfect example of private solutions, public-private partnerships,” he said.

In Sacramento, Simon deflected questions about his conservative profile by talking about Davis’ job performance as governor.

“The campaign ought to be about Gray Davis’ record with respect to the issues that he’s dealt with,” Simon said, then again ticked off his agenda. “First and foremost, you talk about the budget, then you talk about schools, and then you talk about our roads, our water, and our power.”

“It’s not really a matter of left or right,” he added. “It’s a matter of moving forward.”