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Jewish World Review March 20, 2000 / 13 Adar II, 5760

Chris Matthews

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Bush's California dream vs. reality


http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- GEORGE W. BUSH is California dreaming. It's not the live-and-let-live social attitudes or the state's cultural and ethnic diversity he desires. It's the 54 electoral votes.

Unfortunately for the Texan, that loose-talking strategist who leaked the candidate's November electoral targets made a huge mistake by putting the Golden State at the top of the list.

Try this for a pop quiz, Governor Bush:

Q: What was Bill Clinton's California victory margin?

A: Thirteen percent in 1992 against President George Bush; 13 percent in 1996 against Bob Dole.

Q: What was Democrat Gray Davis' victory margin in the 1998 governor's race?

A: Twenty percent.

Q: Whom did Californians elect as their United States senators?

A: Two pro-choice Democratic women from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Q: Who was the last Republican to win a major statewide election in California?

A: Pete Wilson, running for re-election as governor in 1995.

Q: What was Wilson's position on abortion?

A: Pro-choice.

Q: What is California's fastest-growing voting group?

A: Latinos, who rose from 10 percent of the electorate in 1994 to 14 percent in 1998.

Q: How did this group vote in the 1998 governor's race?

A: Seventy-eight percent for the Democrat.

Q: What percent of the California electorate has identified itself as gay?

A: Ten percent.

Q: Who is the only major candidate of either party who has refused, until recently, to meet with a gay political organization?

A: George W. Bush.

To top Gore in California, Bush needs to surmount the three electoral realities manifested in this Q & A:

California is a pro-choice state, and Bush is a pro-life candidate from a pro-life national party; many Latino voters have not forgotten Proposition 187, which sought to punish immigrant children for the actions of their undocumented parents; gay voters are not likely to back a guy who refused last fall to be seen with them, then through a spokeswoman "clarified" his position by saying last week he would "consider"meeting with Log Cabin Republicans.



JWR contributor Chris Matthews is the author of Hardball. and hosts a CNBC show of the same name. Send your comments to him by clicking here.

Up

03/06/00: Scary Gore vs. hopeful Bush
03/06/00: McCain's appeal to 'Reagan Democrats'
03/01/00: John McCain fits a hero's profile
02/28/00: Grading the American presidents
02/25/00: Clinton remains No. 1 issue
02/23/00: Will Ross Perot aid POW McCain?
02/18/00: McCain faces fury of GOP establishment
02/17/00: Citizen Springer
02/14/00: McCainia and the frisky independents
02/07/00: A prime-time primary for California
02/02/00: Clinton's final campaign: Take the blame
01/31/00: Which GOPer is willing to pay for his positions?
01/27/00: John McCain's gay radar
01/25/00: This time, candidates get 'authenticity' check
01/18/00: AIDS dooms 1 in 4 in tiny Swaziland
01/13/00: Complacency might be the campaign key
01/10/00: A choice, not an echo
01/06/00: The role of a lifetime
01/03/00: Dangers in Gore's dirty war
12/30/99: Churchill's fighting words saved the century
12/28/99: Candidate Gore's separation anxiety
12/17/99: Catch 22: Leading candidates don't lead
12/17/99: New Democratic leader on the horizon
12/15/99: Is Hillary clueless?
12/08/99: Taking Buchananism to the streets
12/03/99: Why are we so obsessed with 'spin'?
12/01/99: Donald Trump, 'Sinatra of Steel'
11/29/99: Why AlGore will be our next president
11/23/99: After the fall
11/17/99: Our conveniently forgetful president
11/15/99: Next president: Male, WASP, self-selected
11/10/99: Backroom Bill
11/08/99: Please don't feed the 'pander bears'
11/03/99: Battle of the Bubba clones
11/01/99: Pat Buchanan, kamikaze candidate
10/27/99: The year of the woman... voter
10/25/99: The Curse of the Bubba
10/21/99: GOP gives Clinton his finest hour
10/18/99: Clinton's last hurrah
10/13/99: Rough seas for Capt. Ventura
10/11/99: Gore targets Bradley's strength
10/06/99: Bradley's got the right Rx
10/04/99: Buchanan, Churchill and Hitler
09/30/99: Who'll spin political gold in Golden State — Gore or Bradley?
09/27/99: Here's a millennial checklist for candidates
09/22/99: The biography battle
09/20/99: Buchanan's new book is a must-read
09/15/99: Don't rule out Beatty
09/13/99: The man with the sun on his face
09/08/99: W. vs. Jr. on dope and the draft
The FALN: Hillary's Willie Horton
08/26/99: Bill's guilt fuels Hill's race
08/25/99: The seemingly inexhaustible strength of America's free enterprise
08/23/99: GOP candidates are weak also-rans
08/16/99: Bubba on Bubba
08/11/99: Hillary's agonizing attempts to understand
08/09/99: With warm regards, Richard Nixon
08/04/99: Weicker: real third party is on the Left
08/02/99: Dubyah's last hangover
07/27/99: Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh; capitalism is gonna win

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