Bush must come here
Marc Sandalow
Monday, April 23, 2001
©2001 San Francisco Chronicle

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/23/ED113731.DTL

WHICH REPUBLICAN declared during last year's presidential primaries: "I hate California?"

If you said George W. Bush, you are wrong. But who could blame you?

In his first 90 days as president, Bush has told the state to fend for itself in its energy crisis, ignored the governor's request for electricity price caps, spurned U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein's repeated requests for a meeting, demanded that cities buy prohibitively expensive earthquake insurance and proposed a $120 million cut in federal reimbursements for undocumented immigrants who wind up in California jails.

He's also visited 26 states, including 10 of the 12 largest, but has yet to schedule so much as an afternoon in the California, where 1 of every 8 American's reside.

It was actually U.S. Sen. John McCain who badmouthed the state during the primaries. And he was joking. Bush lavished so much attention on California that he actually made Democrats nervous.

Everyone knows that California contains a mother lode of political clout. So Democrats are having a field day by pouncing on what they believe to be Bush's Golden State slights, and perpetuating the notion that the former Texas governor disdains Californians and is punishing the state for its Democratic leanings.

There are more reasonable explanations for Bush's behavior. Indeed, the presence of numerous Californians in top administration posts (including three Cabinet secretaries and the national security adviser) suggest Bush's behavior may be based on ideology rather than geography.

For the most part, Bush is acting entirely consistent with the conservative philosophy that has been the bedrock of his political career. He is too much of a free market enthusiast to support price caps, too much an advocate of states'rights to promote a strong Washington role on energy or earthquake relief, and too committed to tax cuts to worry about spending cuts.

It is true that none of these beliefs are popular in California. That is precisely why Bush lost the state in November by more than 1.3 million votes. Despite all the insistence of the GOP during the fall that Republicans would rebound, Bush and California were never a good match.

But perception is dangerously close to overtaking reality. The Bush White House is quickly gaining a reputation for shunning the most powerful state in the nation out of political expedience. The front page of the New York Times --

the billboard for East Coast conventional thinking -- declared last week: "Bush is Paying Scant Attention to California." The article asserts that Bush "appears to have relegated the state to political purgatory, reflecting his advisers' judgment that he cannot win here in 2004."

Bush cannot afford to let that perception fester. Even if decisions in the West Wing are based on cold political calculations, a GOP abandonment of California will make it almost impossible for Republicans to maintain their majority in the House.

What Bush needs to do is very simple. Follow the playbook from his campaign.

He doesn't have to rescue California from its energy mess, institute price caps, or pledge to keep arsenic out of drinking water. He doesn't even need to answer extended "gotcha" questions from California reporters. He never did any of those things during the campaign. He could at least repeat do what he did last year when his numerous appearances showed he was making an effort. He met with Latinos and talked about improving schools. He toured the Central Valley and talked about exporting the state's crops. He came within throwing distance of San Francisco and talked about Willie Mays, his childhood idol.

California never believed he was one of them, despite his repeated efforts to make a Texas-California bond.

"I was raised in west Texas. It's pretty close to California, in more ways than Washington, D.C., is close to California," Bush said in another one of those scratch-your-head utterances.

Of course California appearances by Bush will open him to ridicule from his opponents, and probably large protests if he approaches the Bay Area. He must nevertheless confront the West before the perception that he doesn't care becomes impossible to reverse.

E-mail Marc Sandalow at msandalow@sfchronicle.com.

-- Anonymous, April 23, 2001

Answers

Which one said "I hate California."?

-- Anonymous, April 23, 2001

"That is precisely why Bush lost the state in November by more than 1.3 million votes."

As far as I know, the absentee ballots were never tallied in California.

-- Anonymous, April 23, 2001

He's getting some good advice now though...

-- Anonymous, April 23, 2001