No Sympathy for the Devil, er, Governor

Gray Davis has it rough. He thought he had sealed his political future less than a year ago in the 2002 gubernatorial election. Then this right-wing coup attempt surfaced in the form of a recall campaign. Poor Gray. Why doesn't anybody feel sorry for him?

I think the answer is, he is so damned bloodless. The conniving, the dirty tricks, the mismanagement, all of those things other state politicians have been guilty of in the past. Cynics would say those qualities are what define a politician in any state. But his evident lack of heart, or even an ounce of style are what make him seem callous to voters in the midst of the worst fiscal crisis in state history. If he had any of those qualities, the whole recall mess might seem unfair. Or, maybe not. Let's look at those substantive issues that have most of the state wishing Gray Davis would go away.

• The energy crisis.
  Gray didn't create the crisis, but his fellow Democrats helped. The "deregulation" of the state's energy markets was a collective, bipartisan acid trip. Typical of psychedelics, the initial fascination with the universe contained in a snail's trail turned into a real bum trip. Thus he can't pin the whole blame on Wilson and the Republicans, though they certainly bear some responsibility. Worse, the excrement hit the rotating blades on Gray's watch, and he didn't do a great job of managing it. He now points to the fact that Californians didn't pay huge rate increases because he insisted on it. But we just papered over $13 billion of a $33 billion budget deficit, and we've taken huge hits in the programs dear to Democrats, partly because Gray refused to let rates rise. The right-wing argument that higher rates would have meant instant conservation, and an immediate easing of the crisis have some force. The Enrons of the world were only able to game the system because it had no responsiveness to price increases by the ultimate consumers. So, no sympathy there.
• The budget deficit
  In 1998, when Gray Davis was elected governor for the first time, the dot com boom was just starting to shift into high gear. The state's tax receipts were booming too. Taking a superficial look at the budget numbers for 98-99, 99-00 and 00-01 reveals a pattern. Revenues jumped in each year above projections. And in each year, the state spent more than it took in. It wasn't until 01-02 that state spending leveled off - at the same high figure as in the 00-01 budget. I don't think I need to recount what happened to the state budget this year. Now, nobody could have predicted the exact moment that the dot com bubble would burst. But anyone not drunk on the spiraling stock market could have predicted it would burst some time. Also, the energy crisis hit the general fund hard, and the contracts Davis signed to bring the spiking prices under control have led to a long term drain on state coffers. I'm no opponent of government spending as such., but it's clear that the boom in state revenues was mismanaged by the Davis administration. So, no sympathy there.
• The dirty tricks
  Gray Davis has always had a reputation for being a street fighter of a politician. In the 2002 gubernatorial primary campaign, Davis spent $10 million on attack ads aimed at Richard Riordan, the then front runner in the race to be the Republican nominee for governor. The former mayor of Los Angeles, Riordan is a moderate Republican whose positions on abortion and gun control reflect those of the California electorate as much as they infuriate the right-wing core of the California Republican party. So while Davis's ads were credited with tipping the scales toward the eventual winner of the Republican primary, Bill Simon, the fact is, the Republican party was predisposed to being pushed to the right. Still, the result was the same whatever the cause. A true-blue right-wing Republican faced a centrist electorate opposed by a centrist Democrat. It also helped the Democrat's cause that Simon turned out to be a maladroit campaigner, whose missteps were viciously attacked by Davis to considerable effect. So Gray won his second term. But he had done so with the gloves off, thinking that this was the last time for four years plus some that he would have to face the voters. Bzzzzt! The California constitution coupled with an angry electorate means that he must now face those same voters with his low blows fresh in people's minds. So, no sympathy there.

It appears that Davis gets no points on style or substance. It sucks to be him. Posted by hbo at August 8, 2003 12:19 AM