08/18/2002 Archived Entry: "CA Dreaming Was Just That for Bush/Rove"

KPIX is reporting on a poll that shows Davis way ahead now of Simon. That's bad news, which is piled upon by the Simon campaign cutting their campaign staff:

GOP candidate for governor Bill Simon is slashing his campaign staff to free up money for TV ads. About 30 people on the staff of 70 will lose their jobs, the Simon organization says. Simon has only $5 million dollars in his campaign coffers, compared to some $30 million for incumbent Democrat Governor Gray Davis. Simon has not aired TV commercials for weeks. Meantime, a new poll shows that the governor is also building a huge lead in the polls. A survey by Democratic pollster Jim Moore found Davis had 47% support, compared to 30% for Simon

The WA Times has a longer take on the story: Support for Simon slips amid fraud case. Moore's poll in July showed the contest in a statistical dead heat, with Mr. Davis at 41 percent and Mr. Simon at 40 percent.... Mr. Bush was scheduled to appear in California on Aug. 23-24 for three separate Simon fund-raisers. His earlier appearances in the state on Mr. Simon's behalf accounted for more than half of the money the Simon campaign has raised.

Bush will probably still show up for this event, but they are basically throwing away their money & resources by contributing to the Simon campaign. The Green's Camejo could have a significant draw from the left of Davis, if the Simon campaign does not recover enough to make it semi-competitive.

Replies: 2 comments

Another party poll that should be taken with a grain of salt. However, it is safe to assume that Davis has a solid lead...perhaps a new Field Poll may confirm this over the next few weeks.

Posted by G.C. Raj @ 08/18/2002 12:38 PM PST

I guess we can all write off California as safe Democrat.

Posted by Ced @ 08/19/2002 06:07 AM PST