| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
LOS ANGELES (AP) Gray Davis was never a beloved political figure, even after five statewide election victories over a 30-year career. Swept out of office on a tide of voter rage Tuesday, he ultimately fell victim to his own aloof personality and his cautious political style.
Much has been made in recent months about taxpayer discontent with the hike in the car tax and the state's gaping budget deficit, but some observers say the state's Democratic majority were ready to dump Davis last November but didn't like the alternative conservative Republican Bill Simon.
The seeds of the recall were planted last year by Davis himself, when he helped Simon beat moderate Republican Richard Riordan in the GOP primary. The move was considered a brilliant political stroke but also deprived voters of any real choice in last year's election and led eventually to the candidacy of a more powerful Republican moderate, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
``I think voters felt shortchanged last year,'' said Ann Crigler, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California. ``They wanted to vote for someone else but just couldn't. This time, they got another moderate Republican and voters made the change.''
A former Assemblyman who also served as state controller and lieutenant governor, Davis has been known as the consummate insider who steadfastly climbed the political ladder carefully weighing each decision and aggressively pursuing the next job.
But he never generated much voter enthusiasm. Devoid of charisma and considered aloof by those closest to him, Davis was forced to rely on raw political skill for victory.
Again and again, Davis was able to size up opponents and tailor a campaign to fit the need. If the approach brought success, it also turned off many voters.
``As far as I'm concerned, Gray Davis is one of the dirtiest politicians I've ever encountered,'' said Ed Troupe, 69.
After serving six years as chief of staff to then Gov. Jerry Brown, Davis won a seat in the state Assembly in 1982. But even before his term was up, Davis was looking ahead.
In an effort to raise his visibility, Davis launched a campaign to put pictures of missing children on milk cartons and grocery bags. Meanwhile, he squeezed campaign contributors for donations at almost every turn.
He won the office of state controller in 1987 and after re-election in 1990, set his sights on the U.S. Senate. The race pitted Davis against Dianne Feinstein and featured attack ads that linked Feinstein with hotel queen and convicted tax evader Leona Helmsley.
The ads played a big part in Davis' landslide defeat. He blamed his campaign managers and vowed to never again allow anyone else to make his key political decisions.
Although the loss led many to believe Davis' career was over, he assembled a new campaign team and was elected lieutenant governor in 1994. Four years later, Feinstein decided not to run for governor, and he saw an opening.
Davis slipped past Democratic rivals in the primary by running a moderate campaign and then defeated Attorney General Dan Lungren, a conservative Republican, with 58 percent of the vote.
He benefited from weak opponents whose values were not shared by the left, but in steering a course up the middle, he rarely received the full backing of his own party.
``Over the course of his career, Davis was never the first choice of his own party,'' said GOP consultant Dan Schnur. Consequently, Davis never felt the need to reach out to his base. ``It's not surprising that once he got to the governor's office, he didn't feel the need to reach out.''
Davis didn't know it but his career probably crested in mid-2000, when California was riding high on the high-tech economic bubble and his name was floated as a possible future contender for the White House.
But the state's energy crisis was just starting and the signs of voter disenchantment were on the horizon. Some say his lack of personal appeal left many voters cold and with little reason to support him when times get tough.
``Gray Davis never related to people and people never related to him,'' said Crigler. ``It's a big part of why he is where he is today.''
Voter frustrations were finally vented Tuesday.
``We've had enough. Call him the governator or the gropenator,'' Jim Hall, 62, said of Schwarzenegger, ``we're going to see some action now.''
A centrist most of his career, Davis had long ago distanced himself from the liberal wing of the party although he did maintain strong alliances with the labor unions and inner city ethnic groups.
Davis worked hard in the closing weeks to specifically embrace those two. He took political risk in signing a bill allowing illegal immigrants the right to obtain state driver's licenses. And he signed landmark legislation aimed at providing millions of low-income workers health insurance.
But in the end even those groups abandoned him. Exit polls from Tuesday show that two key groups Davis needed to survive Hispanics and union members abandoned him. While nearly two-thirds of both groups had backed Davis in his last two elections, about half voted for recall Tuesday.
While there were concerns that Davis would take the loss hard and look to extend the bitterness of the campaign after the election, his concession speech Tuesday night offered yet another side of the complex career politician.
``I am calling on everyone in this state to put the chaos and the division of the recall behind us and do what's right for this great state of California,'' he said.
He promised a smooth transition with Schwarzenegger and has not mentioned whether he plans to resurrect his political career again.