Davis Is Halting Attack Ads as Campaign Enters Final Weeks

In an abrupt shift in strategy, Gov. Gray Davis is pulling all his television commercials attacking challenger Bill Simon Jr. off the air and plans to run only positive ones in the remaining weeks of the race.

Davis’ advisors said they are making the change -- an early if traditional pivot at the end of a hard-fought campaign -- because they are confident in their lead over the Republican nominee.

Simon has struggled to gain traction since the March primary, only to be set back repeatedly by missteps in his campaign, including a false charge last week that he had evidence of illegal Davis fund-raising.

“We think we’ve reached a point in the campaign where Simon has utterly failed to make his case,” said Davis campaign strategist Garry South in confirming the switch. “Most voters have turned away from him, and they’re waiting to hear from the governor.”

But the move comes at the end of what many political experts say has been an exceedingly negative election season that has left many voters with bitter feelings about both candidates. A recent Los Angeles Times poll found that almost two-thirds of voters are dissatisfied with their choices, and many predict that could lead to one of the lowest voter turnouts ever seen in California.

“When both campaigns are telling you the other guy is a sleazebag, there’s not a lot of reason to go vote,” said David Provost, a professor of political science at Cal State Fresno.

Some said Davis is switching tactics at least in part because he too has suffered from the relentlessly negative tone of his ads.

“I think it’s dawning on even [Davis’] top people that that has been a mistake, because there’s no enthusiasm for Gray Davis,” said Tony Quinn, co-editor of the nonpartisan California Target Book.

Despite their ideological differences, both Davis and Simon have made a remarkably similar pitch to voters: The other guy is worse than I am.

Davis has called Simon a right-wing extremist and incompetent businessman who is not fit to run the country’s most populous state. Simon has said Davis is a failed governor and accused him of trading state policy for political donations.

The mutual derision has dominated their television advertising and political appearances. But they have said far less about why voters should pick them to run the state.

“I think both candidates still have a great deal of selling of themselves left to do,” Quinn said.

The Times poll earlier this month was only the latest to illustrate discontent among the state’s voters.

“They’re both wretched,” said Houston Wray, 51, a registered Democrat who lives in the Bay Area city of Walnut Creek and was surveyed by The Times. “They have nothing to offer.”

Wray, a welfare worker, said he is so dismayed by the lack of solid proposals from either candidate that he is going to vote for Peter Camejo, the Green Party nominee.

Nick Robertson, 27, a magazine editor in Santa Barbara who is not affiliated with a party, said he has been turned off by how Simon and Davis have spent the bulk of their time tearing each other down.

“It’s so apparent that it’s more of a professional game to both of them, rather than how a person should approach public office, which is offering ideas in the public’s interest,” said Robertson.

The aggressive back-and-forth between Davis and Simon stems from more than the usual acrimony that surfaces at the end of a long race. With their ability to float new proposals hamstrung by the state’s financial problems, the two candidates have made concerted efforts to focus on each other’s weaknesses.

From the beginning, Davis sought to put distance between himself and his challengers by running a barrage of negative commercials, starting in the Republican primary, when he took on former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. The governor’s television assault against the moderate Republican helped Simon capture the GOP nomination.

In June, Davis turned his attention to Simon, and began a hard-hitting series of commercials battering the investment manager’s business practices and the oversight of his charitable foundation. More recently, the governor has run ads about Simon’s stances on the environment and abortion, calling him out of step with California.

“Davis’ entire campaign has been about making himself the lesser of two evils,” said GOP consultant Kevin Spillane. “Davis could have been running against the Dalai Lama and he would have made him out to be worse.”

To a lesser degree, Davis has aired commercials highlighting his record on education, the environment and law enforcement. But the governor has not laid out a plan of what he would do if reelected.

South said voters are inherently skeptical of promises made during a campaign, especially at a time when the state is struggling with a budget deficit.

“To put on commercials that have politicians promising the moon and laying out grandiose schemes is not the way you win elections anymore,” he said.

Because Davis is an incumbent, South added, voters can judge by his first term what he would be like in a second.

In a new commercial that will begin airing today, the governor touts what he views as his achievements in improving education and health insurance. And he says there is more work left to do.

“You may not agree with everything I’ve done, but I’m working hard to do what’s best for California,” Davis says, offering no other details.

For his part, Simon has offered some proposals for reforming schools and spurring economic growth. But his policy platform has been overshadowed by his consistent critique of Davis as a “pay to play” governor. The challenger’s ads, which have run far less often than Davis’, have focused extensively on what are portrayed as the governor’s shortcomings.

“Elections against incumbent governors are referendums,” Simon campaign consultant Sal Russo told reporters in September. “The primary issue is, ‘Are you satisfied with Gray Davis’ performance in office, and do you want four more years?’ ”

That philosophy has shaped Simon’s message to voters.

“Gray Davis is a failed governor, and our people know that,” Simon told supporters during a recent stop in Corona. “People want an alternative, and I’m an alternative because I have ideas.”

But some campaign experts said that message -- absent a discourse on what those ideas are -- is not enough to persuade voters to reject an incumbent.

“People don’t just vote against someone,” said Democratic consultant Gale Kaufman. “Challengers must give voters a reason to vote against the incumbent and for them. Bill Simon has not given anybody a good reason to vote for him.”

Last week, as he admitted he erred when he accused Davis of illegal fund-raising, Simon called for a new tone in the race and a focus on issues instead of attacks. “I want to do my level best to raise the dialogue in the campaign,” he said.

His newfound resolve didn’t last long. The next day, his campaign began running new commercials denouncing Davis for his aggressive fund-raising and handling of the state’s energy crisis.

“Had enough?” the spots ask. “Fire Gray Davis.”

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Times staff writer Mark Barabak contributed to this report.