Garry South is no expert on energy policy. But he understands voters, and a few weeks ago he dropped off a piece of intelligence at Gov. Gray Davis\u2019s condominium that helped change California\u2019s response to the crisis over electricity.<\/p>\n
Mr. South, the governor\u2019s top political strategist, gave Mr. Davis an 80-minute videotape of focus-group discussions with residents of San Jose and Torrance. Its conclusion: Though Californians were miffed at the governor over energy, they responded to arguments that blamed Republicans for enacting utility deregulation and out-of-state power generators for profiteering. And \u201cyou didn\u2019t have to tell \u2018em twice\u201d that some of those generators were Texas companies with ties to President Bush, Mr. South recalls.<\/p>\n
After that, Mr. Davis\u2019s public approach changed. The first-term governor escalated his attacks on energy \u201ccowboys\u201d for engineering \u201ca massive transfer of wealth\u201d from California to Texas and elsewhere. He ramped up pressure on the Bush administration to cap electricity prices; by pushing price caps, analysts from both parties agree, Mr. Davis scored public relations points at the president\u2019s expense when the two met in Los Angeles late last month.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, as Mr. Davis prepared to testify in favor of price caps at Senate hearings this week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission moved in his direction by broadening California\u2019s wholesale price controls to apply around the clock there in 10 other Western states and Mr. Bush ended up acquiescing in the move.<\/p>\n
Whether any of Mr. South\u2019s input will speed the end of California\u2019s energy woes isn\u2019t clear. Critics have blamed Mr. Davis for being longer on spin than solutions, saying he delayed necessary steps such as long-term electricity contracts and higher rates for consumers for fear of damaging his standing with the public. But the change in tone represents another victory for Mr. South as a top political gunslinger in the nations largest state \u2014 and a sign of his influence in a crisis of national significance.<\/p>\n
\u201cGarry South may be giving the best political advice in California, but the last thing Gray Davis need now is political advice,\u201d says San Schnur, a former aide to Mr. Davis\u2019s Republican predecessor, Peter Wilson. Even former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, who now runs a public-policy institute at California State University, faults Mr. Davis along with the White House for \u201cplaying politics\u201d on the issue.<\/p>\n
Officially, Mr. South isn\u2019t a part of the Davis administration. After piloting Mr. Davis\u2019s 1998 gubernatorial victory, he eschewed the governor\u2019s office in Sacramento to become a private consultant to Mr. Davis and business clients. But the lanky, quick-tongued strategist retains more influence with the governor than anyone else \u2014 not only on energy, but all other issues with the potential to shape Mr. Davis\u2019s political future.<\/p>\n
At a party to celebrate the strategist\u2019s 50th birthday recently, Davis aides poked fun at Mr. South as the \u201cpuppet master\u201d manipulating the governor. Joking aside, \u201ceverybody on the governor\u2019s staff views him as the most trusted advisor,\u201d says Phil Trounstine, until recently Mr. Davis\u2019s communications director.<\/p>\n
That is a remarkable amount of influence for Mr. South, who was a political vagabond in search of a job when he moved to the state 10 years ago. After directly Jimmy Carter\u2019s 1976 presidential campaign in Mr. South\u2019s native Montana, Mr. South jumped between jobs at the Democratic National Committee, Mr. Carter\u2019s Agriculture Department, The National Association of Realtors and the office of Ohio Gov. Richard Celeste.<\/p>\n
In the early 1990s, he struck out for California, landing jobs with unsuccessful candidates for Los Angeles mayor and county supervisor. But in the process he met Mr. Davis, then the state comptroller, who himself was looking for a fresh team to guide him to higher rungs on California\u2019s political ladder. Since then, the two men have forged an unusually close partnership.<\/p>\n
First, Mr. South helped Mr. Davis capture the lieutenant governorship in 1994, not withstanding that year\u2019s national Republican sweep. Four years later, he steered Mr. Davis to an upset victory for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and a landslide 58% to 38% general election win over Attorney General Dan Lungren, working through a bout with bleeding ulcers that sent him into intensive care for four days.<\/p>\n
Colleagues and rivals say Mr. South\u2019s distinctive feature as a strategist is his ability to frame a broad campaign message \u2014 and to zero in mercilessly on the vulnerabilities of rivals. When wealthy business executive Al Checchi dwarfed Mr. Davis\u2019s spending in the 1998 Democratic primary, Mr. South derided Mr. Checchi as \u201cGordon Gekko\u201d \u2014 the ruthless corporate raider of the film \u201cWall Street\u201d \u2014 and stalked Mr. Checchi\u2019s campaign events as a form of \u201cpsychological warfare\u201d against an inexperienced rival.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s like the fire ants showing up at the picnic,\u201d says Bill Carrick, whose client, Jane Harman, also lost in that 1998 Democratic primary. When actor Arnold Schwarzenegger flirted with a 2002 GOP gubernatorial bid, Mr. South promptly disseminated copies of unflattering articles of Mr. Schwarzenegger. He delighted at subsequently receiving a letter from a lawyer representing Mr. Schwarzenegger, which he viewed as confirmation that he had unsettled the \u201cTerminator\u201d of movie fame. Mr. Schwarzenegger later announced that he would make another movie instead of challenging Mr. Davis.<\/p>\n
Outsiders \u201clook at what I\u2019m saying and say, \u2018What a lout,’\u201d Mr. South acknowledges. But he boasts that his tactics often make Mr. Davis\u2019s rivals \u201ctake the bait\u201d and veer from their own campaign plans. More-over, he says \u201cover-the-top\u201d rhetoric is sometimes necessary to cut through the fog of political ennui that shrouds much of California\u2019s vast electorate.<\/p>\n
Some Republicans think they can turn Mr. South\u2019s tactics and his influence into ammunition against Mr. Davis\u2019s re-election bid. GOP operatives, with financing from Texas-based Reliant Energy Inc. and other energy companies, have launched a $2 million ad campaign blaming the governor for \u201cpointing fingers\u201d and causing power \u201cGray-outs\u201d by failing to lead. Republican legislators have targeted the governor\u2019s decision, orchestrated by Mr. South, to hire two senior aides to Al Gore\u2019s 2000 presidential campaign, Mark Fabiani and Chris Lehane, as taxpayer-funded communications consultants. Secretary of State Bill Jones, who is seeking the 2002 GOP gubernatorial nomination, has called on Mr. South to reveal his sources of income.<\/p>\n
Mr. South has declined to do so. He allows in an interview that he has done \u201ccommunications consulting\u201d for Sony\u2019s Corp.\u2019s Sony Pictures and for a group that is seeking a new National Football League franchise for California. He said, \u201cI\u2019d rather not say\u201d beyond that. \u201cI don\u2019t lobby the governor\u201d for anyone, he adds.<\/p>\n
Though the energy crisis has taken a toll on Mr. Davis\u2019s poll ratings, Mr. South shrugs off predictions that it will derail the governor\u2019s bid for a second term. \u201cCome around in November of 2002 and talk to me,\u201d he says confidently.<\/p>\n
The same focus groups that showcased GOP vulnerabilities on energy, Mr. South notes, showed Californians are \u201cclose to being astonished\u201d when they are told what Mr. Davis has done to solve the problem, such as speeding approval of new power plants to buttress supply. Mr. Davis had banked some $26 million toward his re-election bid in which he can get that point across.<\/p>\n
Nor does Mr. South accept that Mr. Davis\u2019 potential as a 2004 presidential candidate has been dashed. After matching wits with White House political ace Karl Rove at the Bush-Davis summit, he muses, \u201cI wonder whether this team is really as good as we thought they were.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Garry South is no expert on energy policy. But he understands voters, and a few weeks ago he dropped off a piece of intelligence at Gov. Gray Davis\u2019s condominium that helped change California\u2019s response to the crisis over electricity. Mr. South, the governor\u2019s top political strategist, gave Mr. Davis an 80-minute videotape of focus-group discussions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134,"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions\/134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}