Four years ago, California elected Gray Davis by a landslide 20 points, ushering in a golden era of state well-being that lasted for a good two years. His term has seen more than its fair share of stumbling blocks — the bursting of the Silicon Valley bubble, the energy crisis and California’s budget deficit — but through it all, he has maintained an aura of confidence and calm.
Davis is stiff, meticulous, efficient and demanding of his staff — a modern George Washington of sorts. On the other side is the GOP nominee for governor, Bill Simon, a grinning businessman whom the Los Angeles Times terms “”The Accidental Candidate”” and the polar opposite of Davis in both demeanor and ideals. Certainly his biggest obstacle will be the sheer success of Davis’ term in office.
The power crisis, while not caused by Davis, was his problem to solve — and solve it he did, as well as anyone can solve such a complicated and far-reaching problem. The cornerstones of his solution are conservation and the accelerated licensing of power plants; the former a liberal approach that’s working wonderfully, and the latter a conservative approach, one that a Republican would have instituted in Davis’ position. Together they have worked to effectivly deal with a potentially devastating problem.
This year alone, Davis has signed numerous bills that control greenhouse emissions, negligent gun manufacturers and protect employees and victims of sexual assault. The greenhouse gases bill, AB 1493, regulates harmful emissions without hiking vehicle or gas taxes or putting limitations on miles driven or vehicle ownership.
While business leaders like Bob Epstein of Sybase applauded the signing of the bill, Davis signed it in the face of oil companies and the auto industry that can’t look beyond immediate profits. Davis’ courage in the face of pressure from these enormously wealthy and powerful forces show that he’s not a panderer and is capable of working toward solutions to benefit both the environment and business.
Davis has also failed to be intimidated by another Goliath — the gun industry. According to press releases, SB 682 and AB 496 “”make California the first state in the nation to repeal the special immunity privileges granted to gun makers.”” Under current law, gun manufacturing is the only industry that is exempt from product liability lawsuits, meaning that even if a gunmaker is grossly negligent, it can’t be held accountable. No matter how tightly people cling to their right to bear arms, they cannot deny the sense of holding a gun manufacturer responsible if gross negligence causes the death of a loved one.
In the realm of issues directly relating to UCSD, Davis has been a friend of stem cell research — but not too friendly, since it’s important to set regulations on a powerful technology with a large potential to be taken into the realm of the creepy and unnatural. The White House limited stem cell research so dramatically it crippled biotech research in California, but SB 253 authorizes stem cell research from any source, including human embryonic stem cells, that is reviewed by an approved institutional review board. Rather than indiscriminately limiting the sources of stem cells, this bill allows intelligent decisions to be made about potential sources for research that could help 128 million Americans battle ailments ranging from cancer to Parkinson’s disease to arthritis.
Contrast the courage Davis has shone in 2002 alone with his Republican opponent, Bill Simon, who, despite being a rich businessman, is running a bumbling, cash-strapped campaign.
He reversed in a heartbeat his promise to back gay marriage when his conservative supporters objected. The pressure of conservatives to oppose equal right for gays is understandably constant and intense, but it’s a politician’s job not to cave to this kind of pressure, just like it’s a judge’s right to rule according to the law and the law only. Simon simply doesn’t have the morals or the will to go against special-interest groups and follow any sort of meaningful agenda. As stated by the Los Angeles Times, his entire campaign is marked by the fact that, “”wherever he was, whomever he talked to, whatever questions were asked, he would smile and repeat, over and over again, two things, without getting into details: He was going to cut taxes and fix the budget, education and infrastructure.”” Well, any moron can say that — detail and vision are what counts. And the man with the vision and the details is Davis, a man who is much more in line with California values than Simon.