Davis Avoids Spotlight as Election Day Nears

Three weeks before election day, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon Jr. is scouring the state for votes and Democratic Gov. Gray Davis is ... where?

Davis has kept his profile low throughout his campaign for another four-year term, but he has been especially scarce in the week since his Oct. 7 debate with Simon.

One of the last Davis sightings occurred Saturday -- not at a campaign rally, but at an Anaheim Angels playoff game in Orange County. The governor -- a guest of Disney chairman Michael Eisner, said campaign spokesman Roger Salazar -- was seen stiffly clutching a pair of noisemaking “thunder sticks” at one point.

Davis isn’t hiding from prying reporters or trying to sit on his lead, aides insisted -- merely catching his breath after a busy summer and September’s bill signings. He spent Monday in Los Angeles, finalizing preparations for a three-week campaign blitz, talking with strategists and supporters, and discussing campaign ads, aides say.

“He’s just gearing up and getting ready for the last three weeks,” Salazar said.

Trailing in most polls, Simon on Monday taunted his opponent as running scared.

“We are surging, and Davis is panicked,” Simon said, speaking on the Mark and Marino radio show on KRLA-AM (870) in Los Angeles. “I mean, that’s why he comes out with the crazy comments that he does. That’s why he won’t debate me anymore. That’s why his people won’t allow him in public with the press. Where is Gray Davis? He is the virtual governor. We don’t know where he is.”

Simon sounded understandably eager to share the spotlight with Davis, especially after enduring another disastrous week. Simon was hammered after claiming that he had evidence that Davis had accepted an illegal campaign contribution as lieutenant governor -- only to later concede that the purported photographic evidence didn’t live up to its billing.

Given Simon’s latest self-inflicted wound, and the resulting media frenzy, Davis was wise to avoid the limelight last week, campaign consultants said.

“Granted, most of it was due to his opponent, but [Davis] couldn’t have had a much better week,” said Democratic consultant Richie Ross. “I wouldn’t do one thing to take Simon’s name out of the headlines.”

Davis aides said the governor has no intention of trying to lie low in the campaign’s final three weeks. But exactly how -- and how much -- Davis intends to make his case directly to voters remains to be seen.

In a reasonably close race where voter enthusiasm is low, Davis must fire up his political base to ensure it votes on Nov. 5, Democratic and Republican consultants said.

Davis plans to begin doing just that this week, aides said.

He will devote much of the week to shoring up his support among Latinos, a crucial bloc of voters for Davis -- and a source of simmering discontent as well. The Latino legislative caucus, angered at the governor’s decision to veto legislation that would have given driver’s licenses to some illegal immigrants, has decided not to endorse Davis for reelection.

On Monday, the Davis campaign unveiled a 60-second, Spanish-language radio spot touting the governor’s support for Latinos in policy decisions and appointments. The spot ends with the words, “Gov. Gray Davis -- he’s the best friend of the Latino community.”

“Sometimes you get one or two stories that overshadow all the good things the governor has done the last four years,” Salazar said.

“As the governor always says, his detractors will tell you all the bad news so it’s up to him to talk about the good things,” he said. “He’s got a very strong record of things he’s proud of relating to Latinos.”

Davis also plans to attend a Latino legislative caucus dinner tonight in Los Angeles in honor of state Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), Salazar said.

Davis’ stretch-run campaigning will begin in earnest this weekend, when the governor is scheduled to crisscross the state, attending rallies and meeting with farm workers and other supporters.

At this point in the campaign, Davis is aiming to “give the picture of being upbeat and in command,” Ross said.

“So I think him promoting his record big-time is what he ought to be doing,” he said. “I think people have concluded that Simon is no alternative, and so they are eager to hear what [Davis] has to say.”

Not everyone agrees.

Wayne Johnson, a Republican political consultant, said the Davis strategy throughout the campaign has been to “make sure the election is not about Gray Davis,” because of the governor’s high negatives among voters.

“It really does come down to turnout, and that is a dicey game for Gray Davis,” Johnson said. “If he can’t turn out his base, he’s in real trouble.”

As Davis goes about shoring up his base in these final weeks, his primary aim will be to avoid making a mistake that could give Simon’s struggling campaign a boost -- the sort of cautious approach that has always defined Davis as a politician, consultants said.

“It will be the most measured, disciplined, risk-averse sprint in the history of politics or track-and-field,” said Dan Schnur, a Republican political consultant.

“If no news happens between now and Nov. 5, that would suit [Davis] just fine,” he said.

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Times staff writer Michael Finnegan contributed to this report.