Traditionally Democratic voters jumped ship Support lagged from labor, Lat

[jamesinca]

Traditionally Democratic voters jumped ship
Support lagged from labor, Latinos, women

Zachary Coile, Chronicle Political Writer Wednesday, October 8, 2003

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Gov. Gray Davis' convincing defeat came as the coalition of union members, Latinos and women that he twice rode to victory abandoned him in Tuesday's recall election.

His soon-to-be replacement, Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, tapped into an energized base of conservatives while also drawing many independents and younger "occasional" voters, according to exit polls and interviews with voters.

Despite allegations that he groped and sexually harassed more than a dozen women, Schwarzenegger drew the largest slice of female voters -- 42 percent -- compared with 37 percent for Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, his main Democratic rival. Of women voters, more than half opted to oust Davis from office.

A quarter of Democrats who voted backed the recall -- a stunning rejection of their party's leader, reflecting their anger with the condition of the state and dissatisfaction with Davis' leadership.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/10/08/MN15570.DTL

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Ok, the message was sent, what do we do with it? How do we respond?

[joeybee12]

1. The message was sent before--Dem leadership refuses to learn

Take 2002--the dems who lost their Senate seats went to great lengths to portray themselves as buddies with Dumbo--didn't work with the base and they stayed home. Davis never worked his base, and they failed to come to his aid when they felt he didn't support them.

Of course, it's obvious that you don't ignore your base, but that seems to be what the Dem leadership is trying to do once again for 2004.

We are so screwed.

[Cha]

2. Welcome back!

A friend of mine saw Davis on tv over the weekend and said he sounded weird. The interviewer was asking him about the election and all Davis could come up with was that he and his wife were Christians and everything would be taken care of. I'm paraphrasing..

I had no idea he would say something like this.

[w4rma]

5. I agree, except I think the Dem leadership is showing signs of learning

It was too late for Gov. Davis, but it's not too late for the 2004 elections.

[jiacinto]

3. You move on

The message was: It was more of a rejection against Davis than support for Arnold.

Face it. Even if Satan had been the only candidate on the replacement ballot Davis still would have lost.

[farmboxer]

4. Democrats Need To Quit Cutting Off Their Noses To Spite

their faces! Democrates need to quit fighting among themselves and start fighting Republicans! We will never win if we keep that up! Democrats don't know how to campaign, Republican do.

[shcrane]

6. Repugs speak to their base and Dems don't

People who vote Democratic want substance, and maybe all these rich, priviledged Dems don't know how to speak with gal working 60 plus hours a week making less than 20 grand a year.

[bvar22]

8. Bingo!

What have they done for us lately????

[library_max]

10. Wait a minute

Gay-friendly, pro-abortion, "I was ashamed to be a Republican," I'm-from-Hollywood Arnold speaks to the Republican base?? Where? In Bizarro World?

The Republicans got Schwarzenegger elected because they were united and the Democrats weren't. The Republican base held its nose in a BIG way and voted for their guy - the Republican guy. But the Democratic base insisted on purity and scorned Gray Davis because he wasn't everything they wanted him to be. And look at the result.

The Democratic base has GOT to get a clue! United we stand, and that doesn't mean united if and only if you get everything you want!

[ColumbusGirl]

13. It's about mobilizing the base...

Just to echo what's been said....

The Republicans have been working to mobilize the conservative base for years. They keep it simple and on message and make decision making easy for their targets.

We need to take a page out of their book. We need to listen to our what is important to our base, address that and work on building our base.

If we don't, things will only get worse.

[diplomats]

9. I agree 100 percent

With an approval rating in the 20s, Davis was doomed.

[mac56]

7. Has Aahnold written his thank-you note to Oprah yet?

"Despite allegations that he groped and sexually harassed more than a dozen women, Schwarzenegger drew the largest slice of female voters -- 42 percent -- compared with 37 percent for Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, his main Democratic rival. Of women voters, more than half opted to oust Davis from office."

[Gin]

11. Arnold was on TV every single day...the whole thing was

orchestrated with the help of the media.

He is a puppet of the rethuglicans, and coming from a state (VA) where the promise to rescind the car tax got a re-thug elected but sunk us deeply in debt...he will fail...unless * bails out CA with all of our tax dollars. That may just happen.

Once the short honeymoon is over, reality will set in and his big head will explode.

[fizzana]

12. As I speak to people I'm finding more and more Democrats

who voted for Arnold. The good news is that when I ask them about Bush I get this, "Are you out of your mind" look.

This election was a perfect storm for the Democrats. Davis was a weak unpopulr governor. The Democrats were far too complacent for too long that the recall wouldn't happen. When it happened they had no clear strategy. Bustamante ran a weak campaign. Davis ran an even weaker campaign. Arnold had the media bending over backwards for him. For too long the Democrats believed that all they had to do was dial it in and they were guaranteed a win in State level elections.

I'm sure if the Democrats had a clear strategy on the recall and had put a strong contender in the election Arnold would never have entered the race. He only entered the race when he saw how wide open it was.