Come back Gray! All is forgiven!
The biggest ovation at Thursday evening's Democratic primary debates went to former California Gov. Gray Davis.
Art Torres, the state Dems' chair, was introducing the state party's A-list at the beginning of the program. When he got to Davis, there was a smattering of applause as the bigwigs on the floor craned their necks to see where the ex-guv was. Then they spotted the shock of white hair way upstairs, in the first balcony, in the back. The smattering turned into affectionate cheering, which turned into a standing ovation in his balcony, then the other two balconies, finally the floor.
Torres jumped in: Which governor had the biggest deficit? (Hint: Not Davis). More clapping. The warm reception outdid even Hillary's big applause line of the night -- the one about needing a Clinton to clean up after the second Bush, just like the first.
At the GOP debate in Simi Valley the night before, the reception for the man who ousted Davis -- current governor Arnold Schwarzenegger -- was polite enough, no doubt in part because he escorted Nancy Reagan into the room.
It might be, just might be, that Aahnold is paying the price for Davis' refusal to push the prop 187 litigation to its logical conclusion, i.e. a Supreme Court showdown. Had the proposition been upheld, (and remember, Plyler v. Doe was a 5-4 decision of a very liberal court), it is likely Cali's bill for schools would be much less, there would be less call for massive infrastructure spending, &tc &tc.
If you really wanted to bring back a successful government, Pete would be the man. Remember when they brought this supposedly pariah gov back during the Summer of Swelter to tell us all to do laundry at night or whatever? Pete was the greatest.
Posted by: Mitchell Young | February 03, 2008 at 10:06 AM