KMAX: News of the West

LOS ANGELES (AP) As he sat aboard a plane Saturday flying between four cities to try to save his job, Gov. Gray Davis sipped from a glass of water, closed his eyes momentarily and reflected on why he may be out of a job Tuesday.

``People are not interested in my problems my job is to solve their problems,'' said Davis, betraying a slight hint of fatigue. ``If they give me the opportunity to complete my term I'm going to work my tail off to leave this state better off than I found it.''

How a 30-year veteran of California politics, the winner of five statewide elections, including two as governor, got into this jam isn't something Davis talks about much publicly. But his friends say it stems from an irrational sense of voter anger at forces beyond the 60-year-old Davis' control while others, even his allies, blame Davis' ambition and blindness to his own shortcomings.

``Gray Davis has accomplished some extraordinary things as governor, but he gets no credit for it because of the off-putting nature of his style of leadership,'' said Phil Trounstine, Davis' former communications director. ``There's an element of Greek tragedy about this.''

Davis has never been a gregarious politician in the mold of a Bill Clinton or George W. Bush, plunging into crowds of people or glad-handing. And his campaign to stay governor is no different, as Davis has remained disciplined and focused, his hair never falling out of place.

Few politicians stay ``on message'' as steadfastly as Davis, even when that message isn't working. So far, he's labeled the recall effort a Republican power grab and blamed many of the state's problems including a one-time $38 billion budget deficit on the national economy.

With his career at stake, he's tried to appear more personable through a series of town meetings where he takes questions from voters and listens to people's concerns. Along the way he tries to boast of his accomplishments, which friends say are considerable but little known.

Since becoming governor in 1999, Davis has signed several pieces of landmark legislation, including measures expanding family leave, protecting California's coastline and offering health insurance to millions of low-income children.

But the self-described moderate also angered teachers' groups by pushing for greater school accountability and enraged Hispanics by vetoing legislation giving driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants. Davis reversed his position on the driver's license bill this year, signing it a few weeks ago and sparking charges he did so to pander to Hispanic voters.

``In the first year, the governor vetoed the top priority of every constituency group and alienated them,'' said longtime aide Susan Kennedy. ``We signed great legislation on air quality, water quality, children's health care, raising the pay of teachers, and some major labor bills. But he still ended the year having alienated the entire base.''

That cost him dearly in 2001, when an energy crisis cut power to millions of California residents. At first slow to react, Davis ignored advice from Democrats and Republicans and entered into costly emergency energy contracts that were blasted by critics. In the campaign, Davis has defended his actions and blamed much of the crisis on market manipulation by huge energy companies a claim supported by federal investigators. But energy companies spent over $5 million on ads that year blasting Davis for his handling of the crisis, cementing it as a lasting scar on his legacy.

Along the way, Davis was also becoming a prodigious fund raiser. A man of modest means, Davis faced two multimillionaires in his 1998 campaign for governor and vowed after that race he would never lose for lack of money. But his fund-raising became so conspicuous, critics darkly joked that Davis would shake down a potted plant if he had to.

Republicans called his money raising a sign of flagrant ``pay or play'' favoritism for large lobbyists and donors. Many Democrats also said his zeal for cash cut him off from lower- and middle-income voters who traditionally form the party base.

``If you are going to raise $70 million dollars from big donors, you still have to remember the little guy,'' Trounstine said. ``Gray Davis didn't.''

Davis used the money in 2002 in a rough campaign that started with him spending at least $9 million on television ads that had the effect of damaging former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan while Riordan was a candidate in the Republican primary. After Riordan lost to businessman Bill Simon, Davis pounded Simon as incompetent and too conservative. In the end, Davis won by five percentage points, 47 percent to 42 percent never having told voters what he stood for and what he had accomplished in four years as governor.

``We could have spent 50 million dollars talking about what the governor did, and it wouldn't have worked,'' Kennedy said. ``We tested every positive ad, and the public overwhelmingly said we don't believe it.''

Maybe so, said Republican strategist Dan Schnur, but Davis hurt himself by ``telling voters that Bill Simon couldn't be trusted he never spent a dime saying why he wanted to be re-elected. So it's not surprising that Davis has found himself in this difficult situation and no one came to his rescue.''

That left fertile ground for the recall effort, the seeds of which were planted earlier this year after Davis released a budget plan that predicted a $38 billion if nothing was done. Republican legislators dug in their heels and refused to consider a tax increase. Meanwhile, conservative activists announced their plans to recall Davis in February, and a few months later, millionaire Republican Rep. Darrell Issa started spending what turned out to be $1.7 million to get 1.6 million signatures on recall petitions.

Most polls show the recall leading but with some of that support fading, which leaves Davis and his supporters hoping he may survive.

But just being in this situation is a sad moment for Davis, his friends said.

``He will go to his grave believing that he did the best he could,'' said Joe Cerrell, a Democratic strategist who has known Davis since 1970. ``I think he believes he did the people's work, and I don't think anybody, short of God, could have turned it around.''