I can, at last, find some reason to feel better about having to vote for my incumbent governor. Gray (the name says it all) Davis is in a tough fight for reelection against William (I am another spoiled rich boy) Simon and has not been a very inspiring leader.

Eureka ! Some reasons to like Gray. He has recently signed bills to codify Roe v. Wade, to insure access to reproductive services, to enhance the Family Leave Act, to allow lawsuits against gunmakers, and best of all, to encourage stem cell research.

All of these bills are part of the reasons why California will be a far more progressive place to live.

One question m1011--will some of the laws recently signed (perhaps not those you listed) by Davis make it more difficult to retain businesses in California? Do you think they'll help Davis in the November election? Has Simon gotten any bump of late? Do you think Riordan would have been ahead by now? Are California voters discussing the stream of news about how businesses like Enron were involved in gouging the state during the 2001 energy crisis? If so, has that changed the perception of Davis's actions on this issue? Just wondering.

They have calculated the costs for the Family Leave Act to be reasonable, so I don't think we will lose businesses. Dubya hates the stem cell research bill, but hey, too bad.

As for a bump, Davis is up by 10% in the latest poll. He is not terribly popular, but Simon is a lousy candidate and his campaign staff is inept. Riordan may well have won this, but the Republican primary voters are right-wing extremists, and they put this buffoon on the ballot. Also, Davis targeted Riordan very effectively in the primaries. Riordan may have been a decent governor- he is liberal on social issues and conservative on budget issues.

As for the energy crisis, Davis is not reaping any reward for the recent evidence of collusion to withhold power from California. The sleazy practices of the energy suppliers, and a flawed deregulation plan, a remnant of another incompetent Republican governor, Pete Wilson,came together to create a disastrous situation in late 2000-early 2001.

Bill Simon has as much chance of winning this race as the Bengals do of winning the Super Bowl.