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Throughout the campaign, even many Republican insiders prematurely wrote Simon off with contradictory deprecations. Peddlers of conventional wisdom argued that the rookie candidate was not moderate enough to win, and yet also said, paradoxically, that Simon's victory against the unpopular Gray Davis should have been a cinch. When asserting the former, analysts cited Simon's primary opponent, former L.A. mayor Richard Riordan, as a more electable alternative. This critique continued post-mortem — the day after the election, Andrew Sullivan wrote that "Riordan would have won" because of his more socially liberal views. But the fact is Riordan lost to Simon by almost 20 points in the primary — hardly a slim margin — and would have had significant difficulty in the general election. His support of abortion rights and, moreover, government funds to subsidize abortion, alienated a significant portion of the Republican party. With no base to draw upon, and the same crushing $70 million onslaught of negative ads, Riordan would have faced even greater obstacles. In fact, moderate Republican candidates lower on the ticket did not fare as well as Simon, who made a competitive showing. Bruce McPherson, candidate for lieutenant governor, for instance, lost by tens of thousands of votes more. And despite efforts to characterize Simon as a member of the hard Right, he is nothing of the sort. He envisioned a balanced role for government, opposing the expansion of offshore oil drilling on the one hand, and advocating energy privatization on the other. When Simon's detractors were not busy disparaging his chances for victory, they were pronouncing that the election should have been a cakewalk. As GOP strategist Arnold Steinberg put it on NRO, "Electing [Davis] was mission impossible." Steinberg's analysis, and that of many others, didn't even mention the practically insurmountable challenges Bill Simon was forced to confront, and nearly overcame. After all, it's been several decades since an incumbent governor has lost a run for re-election in California, and during this time the state has become more liberal. To date, Democrats hold a 9.5 percent registration advantage over Republicans. Topping off these obstacles, Bill Simon faced a very early primary (March), eight months prior to Election Day. This afforded an aggressive, if not compulsive fundraiser like Davis the excuse he needed to discharge his ample war chest to saturate the airwaves, leading a remarkably dirty and expensive campaign. More essential to the Davis strategy than defining Simon to voters, who had not yet begun paying attention at such an early date, was defining Simon to the media — and in the Sacramento press corps Davis found a sympathetic group. Reporters who had worked for years to win their places of trust with the California political establishment resented the maverick Simon campaign for surging unexpectedly into the limelight with a huge win in the primary. The press eagerly took the Davis bait, characterizing Simon as nothing more than a bumbling businessman running for office in an anti-business climate. There was scarcely any mention of Simon's experience as a federal prosecutor and hardly a peep about his extensive philanthropic endeavors. And journalists parrotted Davis ads, selectively discussing the small handful of the Simon firm investments that were not profitable and ignoring the company's overall rate of return, which demonstrated astounding success. The wanton neglect of the facts by California's reporters was tantamount to slander by silence. Rather than reporting on the 16 comprehensive policies announced by Simon, they allowed Davis's media strategy to dominate their coverage. And the Beltway's political pundits followed lock step with Gray Davis and the California media. There has been no shortage of criticism of Simon's insurgent campaign to oust Davis — even from expected allies. Rather than offer his advice discreetly and constructively, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Davis called the Simon campaign the "worst in the country." These men publicly expressed their contempt, violating Ronald Reagan's Eleventh Commandment: "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican." To be sure, many things could have been done differently. But on the evening of November 5, none of that mattered. Bill Simon sat with his wife and four children, quietly watching the returns. His five sisters, his brother, and their 21 children filled the room. Shortly before midnight, when Simon had completed his concession speech, the crowd erupted in applause. Simon came closer to winning than conventional wisdom said he could. The chairman of the California Republican party even fueled rumors of a possible Senate run by Simon against Barbara Boxer. Although Simon has not made his specific intentions know yet, don't count him out of politics — California or otherwise — just yet. If he runs again, though, he'll have a well-fought campaign under his belt — and, hopefully, a not-so-dismissive party with him. — Jaime Sneider was a speechwriter on the Simon for Governor campaign. |
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past Sunday's Los Angeles Times, Bill Simon pledged to rebuild
the California Republican party from the ground up, demonstrating the
same sort of leadership he offered in his bid for governor. 
