Chronicle Misinformation on Governor's Race

The corporate media's efforts to avoid coverage of our campaign have reached absurd levels. They are now essentially lying about the Governor's race. Read the editorial below from today's paper, which bemoans the sad state of the Davis and Simon campaigns, and then says:

"For those who are holding out fantasies of an independent candidate bolting onto the scene with bold ideas and no baggage, we regret to inform you: It's too late."

We need to blast them for their lie, and call it what it is: a deliberate
act of omission, which witholds from their readers the truth of this
campaign, that there is, and always has been, a candidate "with bold ideas and no baggage".

Some other points:

*Some may say that Camejo shouldn't be covered because he has no chance of winning. He has as much chance as Jesse Ventura had in Minnesota. His
positions will resonate with millions of Californians. Who is to say what chance he has, when the major media has kept almost all mention of his campaign out of sight?

*Lying to Californians about the Governor's race, by omitting any mention of the Camejo campaign, only increases the cynicism and apapthy of voters who already believe that the campaign is nothing but slick TV ads from sleazy politicians.

*We are not expecting front page stories on Camejo every day, simply that he be mentioned alongside Davis and Simon as a legitimate candidate running a serious statewide campaign.

Send your letter to editorial page editor John Diaz, jdiaz [at] sfchronicle.com,

Phil Bronstein, Executive Editor, pbronstein [at] sfchronicle.com, and copy it to

letters [at] sfchronicle.com.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/07/19/ED91622.DTL

THE CALIFORNIA governor's race is currently focused on "the money issue."

Not the $24 billion deficit, the proposed spending cuts and tax increases or the fact that California legislators missed their deadline to pass a budget by two weeks and counting.

No, the issue of the day is how Gov. Gray Davis and challenger Bill Simon have accumulated vast amounts of money.

In the governor's case, the issue is not just the staggering amount of money he has raised for his re-election bid -- eclipsing $50 million, according to

the latest records -- but the way he has raised it. Davis is not subtle about mixing policy decisions and appointments with campaign donations. This is a governor who feels no shame in turning to a teachers'-union leader during an issues meeting and asking point-blank for $1 million.

Simon has been running TV spots about Davis' toll-booth approach to governing, but the Republican businessman has his own money issues. Simon
has refused to release his income tax returns -- a basic requirement of modern politics -- and won't give straight answers to questions about reports he may have used offshore tax shelters. Simon's intransigence is
costing him a chance to make his case that his ethics and private-sector
savvy compensate for his lack of experience in public policy.

Naturally, the Davis campaign is having a field day suggesting what Simon may have to hide.

For those who are holding out fantasies of an independent candidate bolting onto the scene with bold ideas and no baggage, we regret to inform you: It's too late. An independent would have had to declare his or her intention to run last fall and would need to deliver 157,000 signatures by Aug. 9 to qualify for the Nov. 5 ballot.

The bad news is we're stuck with Davis and Simon. The worse news is that
each is loaded with money to accentuate the other's obvious deficiencies.