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Davis' budget solution: Appearing on television You mingle with the public and you do interviews. You do, at least, if you're Gov. Gray Davis. The much-maligned, second-term Democrat who is the target of a recall bid has stepped up his public relations offensive in recent days. With budget talks dragging and political opponents close to forcing an election on whether to remove him from office, the 60-year-old veteran of California politics may have little choice. Davis' chief focus is to broker a compromise that can win passage of a spending plan, now five days late, his top advisers said. To do that, he must fan the flames of public outrage, they said. "Now is the time, the phase, where he assumes the bully pulpit to motivate the Legislature to come to an agreement," said Steve Maviglio, the governor's press secretary. It's up to the public to respond, he added. "When a legislator gets 100 calls, that's pretty overwhelming. They stand up and take notice." On Thursday, Davis sat for interviews with the NBC Evening News, CNN, National Public Radio and Time magazine. Next week, the governor plans to visit schools and nursing homes to illustrate the damage being done by lawmakers' tardiness. "I think he has demonstrated the last few weeks, aside from going on the stump, he has done everything he can do to get a budget passed," Maviglio said. "Now the next logical step is to take the message to the streets." For months, the governor could scarcely be found discussing the budget outside of Sacramento, and critics lambasted Davis for failing to lead. Administration officials said Davis expected a budget deal to be worked out with Republicans before Tuesday's deadline, and he didn't see the need to go out and sell his plan. Likewise, Republicans' initial efforts to recall Davis appeared to be going nowhere. Some advisers told Davis to take the challenge seriously from the start, but he demurred. As the recall mushroomed into a formidable threat and budget negotiations faltered, Davis did not sulk, according to those around him. Instead, he renewed his commitment to the job and reconsidered making his case aggressively in public. "I've never seen him more charged and upbeat," said Daniel Zingale, the governor's Cabinet secretary. "Some people are at their best when challenged. I think that's probably true of him." The governor has honed his message almost to a slogan's simplicity, focusing on voter favorites of education and public safety. When he objected to a budget plan proposed by Assembly Republicans on Monday, Davis said it would hurt 100,000 children who would be forced to wait another year to attend kindergarten. When asked in a CNN interview if California overspent during the good times, Davis said the state's education system needed the money. The return to the two themes, which Davis emphasized in his first term, has energized the governor, said Nancy McFadden, a senior adviser. "With the education coalition folks, he knows them well after working with them for five years," McFadden said. "Now they have another fight together, and he is comfortable with that." But the higher visibility comes at a price, and that is unending questions about the recall, which Davis doesn't relish. "The truth is what he wants to be out there about is the budget, but he has to respond to recall questions," McFadden said. "He's caught in that box and decided it's worth it to take those recall questions if he can get his budget message out."
The governor is in an unenviable position.
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