Patrick Mallon
Monday, July 15, 2002

In the event California’s gubernatorial race ends in November with Bill Simon winning, pundits and voters will ask two fundamental questions.

What took people so long to recognize that Gray Davis was running against the majority of the state’s voters on so many issues?

And why didn’t Davis ever comprehend and respond to a manifest credibility gap caused by his arrogant indifference to charges of unethical conduct?

The answer to the first question is that voters unknowingly suffer from discriminatory news coverage and content deficit. The Old Guard at the L.A. Times and the San Francisco Chronicle select and "correct" news to serve their worldview. Nary a peep about the fact that 25 percent to 30 percent of the state’s prison population are illegal immigrants. Just deafening silence to potential vote fraud: By law, no picture ID is required at the polling place.

To the second, the answer is that Davis neglected far-reaching structural and financial problems to satisfy his obsessive-compulsive fundraising disorder. From telling the California Teachers Association "I’m gonna need a million dollars" before he would meet with them, to operatives picking up $25,000 Oracle checks at bars, Davis has demonstrated either extraordinary arrogance or incredible stupidity in his never-ending quest for money.

Tony Quinn, co-editor of the California Target Book, which analyzes political races, says there is "near uniform belief among those in the know that ‘pay to play’ is the modus operandi of the Davis administration."

This column is an introduction to a series of weekly NewsMax reports from the California governor’s race. The objective is to track the week’s developments, describe how each camp is responding and deliver an authoritative and honest one-stop column every Friday. And when campaign managers pop off to the press, you’ll hear that too.

The central theme revolves around the premise that issues ignored tend to be those that ought to garner the most attention. Yet due to the sensitive nature of these "hot button" topics, both sides have negotiated gentleman's agreements to keep them "off the table." This is patently wrong and dangerous!

It is this continuing cycle of procrastination and breach of duty that forces an ailing patient to eventually seek more dramatic treatment. Simply put, we in California are sick and tired of festering neglect on issues such as:

• Beach closures caused by endless raw sewage spills. The beaches are toilets. Everyone knows it.

• Transportation. Davis has said that there will be no more highway construction. Are you kidding me?

• The border. Islamic extremists enter this country seeking to do us more harm and drug dealers cross into the States with the protective cover of Mexico’s military, and not a word about the sovereign duties of safeguarding our boundaries.

As former Wal-Mart chief operating officer Don Soderquist said recently when discussing the deeper cultural crisis of moral relativism and ethics: "It's not what you do, but what you believe. Behavior will always be governed by what you believe."

The left has developed a consistent formula for discrediting conservative candidates who actually believe in something greater than themselves. Davis will not get a free pass. He will be subjected to the same scrutiny as Simon. The challenges in this state are too huge for partisanship.

California ranks as the world’s sixth largest economy and sets nationwide trends in government policy, education and culture. Yet the state appears leaderless and out of effective control. Both U.S. senators are Democrats, the governor is a Democrat, the legislature is dominated by Democrats. California has been called the Left Coast for good reason.

Unfortunately, the often agenda-driven media seem incapable of exercising resolute moral judgment, congratulating themselves for being "nonjudgmental" as if reaching a conclusion exhibits bias. This rhetorical trick permits them to fail in their duty as government watchdogs and produces a condition wherein voters become angry and confused. If ethics are defined as "the principles of moral conduct governing an individual or a group," then where's the common sense? You will find out here on NewsMax.

It doesn’t take a "lightbulb moment" to acknowledge that, in the larger picture, the entire nation is experiencing an integrity meltdown. On every front – politics, sports, business, entertainment and the church – the appalling scarcity of accountability and subsequent revulsion seem to be converging at a rate that resembles the stock market free fall.

Our dependence on immoral business executives and corrupted political decision makers has resulted in stomach-churning betrayals. Perhaps it’s time to start thinking on our own without the pre-digested spin from the media-industrial complex.

Recently, author Anthony Everitt, in discussing his book "Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome’s Greatest Politician," said, "There may be a concern for the past because the center isn’t holding, and somehow we can retrieve our identity by retrieving the past."

In 1966, Ronald Reagan ran for governor of California. His background in the Screen Actors Guild had transformed his politics from liberal to conservative. He saw something happening in the nation, and he changed, having the temperament to admit that his beliefs on governmental purpose had been flawed.

The nation was at war, divided, culturally pulling apart at the seams, and he won by a million votes. He served the state as a man committed to the traditional American values of individualism and optimism. But he also respected the rights of those with whom he differed. See any similarities to the opportunity Bill Simon has today?

Conversely, Gray Davis may indeed be re-elected, but he won’t do it running on his record. Lately, his behavior resembles a cross between Captain Queeg’s marbles and Nixonian paranoia. One can almost picture Bogie’s "Caine Mutiny" line: "I tried to reason with them, but they wouldn’t listen."

From the start, Davis stunned the press when he said that the legislature’s job was to implement his vision. He has slapped down fellow party members who did their job too well, like Assemblyman Dean Florez, Legislative Audit Committee chairman exercising fiscal oversight on behalf of taxpayers.

Florez demanded that top-level Davis administration officials testify about their role in the Oracle deal. Davis would have none of it, and Florez was removed from the committee. Shades of Nixon’s 1973 Saturday Night Massacre?

Simon, however, does not seem willing to project an identity nor offer an alternative to the current state budget crisis. He, too, ignores the same issues Davis ignores. And voters have reservations about his qualifications since he has never held elective office. He appears to avoid opportunities large enough to drive a truck through.

So, what’s holding him back? Too early in the race? Perhaps. Timing? Timidity? Who knows, but it’s not playing well.

Over the next three-and-a-half months, the stakes in the California governor’s race will get higher. The accusations, outright lies and misrepresentations will be rife. Personalities will overheat. You’ll witness race-baiting and religious bigotry. Nerves will be frayed, and eventually California voters will decide.

Of course, both candidates will try to indifferently ignore huge issues. But with enough public pressure, and with the increasing influence of qualified reportage, the greater the likelihood that Simon and Davis will have no other choice but to address these issues, substantively.

The best reporters possess sharp powers of observation, the ability to empathize with ordinary people, and a fearless and fluent pen. This series will aspire to that lofty goal with a unique impact-filled investigative approach.

So, welcome to the California governor's race. Enjoy the ride!

See first article in series: Paralyzed From Facing Reality

You may e-mail Patrick Mallon at patrick@newsmax.com.

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California Governor's Race