Davis trying to spin out of energy crisis 
Energy advisers have ruthless reputation 
Ken Garcia
Saturday, June 23, 2001 
,2001 San Francisco Chronicle 
URL: 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/06/23/M
NN116485.DTL 
No matter how much you try to spin the facts, the truth usually topples out. 
This will explain why Gray Davis is suffering from a reality blackout, 
because no one spins harder or faster than our opaque leader, who, quite 
equitably, is suffering his own power crisis. 
Why Do You Think They Call Him Gray has an unrelenting black-and-white 
problem. How can he explain away his indecision in grappling with the energy 
crisis sooner, his inability to hammer out a deal with the utilities and 
power suppliers before they had the state handcuffed and his frantic response 
to spend $40 million in public funds to purchase future electricity without 
offering consumers the details of the pact? 
The truth is, he cannot, although he has tried mightily. And to that end he 
made one of his biggest mistakes yet -- no small feat when you consider he is 
at the center of one of the sharpest economic tailspins in California's 
history. 
Rather than tackle the issues head-on, Davis did what he has always done: use 
consultants and polling data to try and navigate the minefield of public 
opinion to put himself in the best possible light and blame others for his 
problems. It's a game Bill Clinton perfected but at which the governor is a 
mere weekend hobbyist. 
Davis' decision to hire two former Clinton-Gore spin doctors to explain away 
his role in the energy crisis has been as predictable as this summer's threat 
of rolling blackouts. If only, in this case, he could have kept his critics 
in the dark. 
While the state's taxpayers were hit with record electricity bills, Davis was 
pointing his finger at every official in the federal government who might 
conceivably have played a role in the crisis and especially those power 
suppliers in the Lone Star state who have been soaking California ratepayers 
dry. 
It is obviously true that the Bush administration has been reluctant to help 
the nation's most populous state because it voted for Al Gore in November. 
And time will probably show that the power companies in Texas and beyond were 
being Snopes-like in their dealings with the Golden State. 
But there is no getting around the fact that Davis severely exacerbated 
California's energy plight through his own inaction -- as evidenced by our 
sweltering soul mates in San Diego who were experiencing blackouts and 
spiraling electricity costs early last summer. 
Yet why suffer the facts when it's so much easier to just scramble them? 
When the energy crisis hit its peak this spring and Davis' popularity ratings 
began short-circuiting, he brought in Chris Lehane and Mark Fabiani, who had 
been as ubiquitous in the scandal-ridden Clinton administration as the stain 
on a certain intern's dress. 
The pair became so adept at parrying the thrusts of truth directed by the 
press each day that they earned the label "masters of disaster" -- which may 
be why Davis thought of them when he considered the calamity beginning to 
envelop him. If only he had considered the accompanying stink. 
Lehane and Fabiani are considered by the political cognoscenti as nothing 
less than ruthless, partisan hired guns, happy to attack anyone standing 
between them and a monthly paycheck. 
Unfortunately for Davis, the rhetorical hit men's salaries are being paid by 
California taxpayers, who are none too happy that they will be socked with 
billions of dollars in extra energy charges as a result of Davis' lack of 
leadership. 
So although Lehane and Fabiani's $30,000 monthly consulting fees may look 
paltry to a governor who has contributed to California's lost billions, it 
looks quite a bit different to those little people in the bleacher seats, 
sometimes known as California's 30 million-plus residents. 
The hiring of the disaster duo has led to a lawsuit by an anti-tax group from 
Sacramento that alleges Lehane and Fabiani are violating the state Political 
Reform Act because the gunslingers have also worked for Southern California 
Edison as consultants -- a generally accepted no-no for public officials, 
even those who worked in Washington. 
And State Controller Kathleen Connell, a fellow Democrat, has rightfully 
refused to pay state funds for the Clinton-Gore castoffs, because she said it 
is inconceivable that the two men are working on state policy -- not politics 
- - as required by law. 
Until obfuscation and misdirection become part of the official state code of 
ethics, it's fair to say Connell is on pretty firm ground. Or as one member 
of a tax protest group put it: "We are adding insult to injury to have the 
governor who feels the pressure of this crisis to spend this kind of dough 
for damage control." 
Damage control is not supposed to incite more damage, but right now Davis is 
a metal helmet in an electrical storm. His arrogant treatment of state 
voters, his refusal to shoulder responsibility and his efforts to spin his 
way out of trouble has left even die-hard Democrats searching for a more 
palatable replacement. 
That decision will come next year when Davis is up for re-election. And the 
millions of people who chose him because he seemed a safe but dull choice 
will now realize that there is little solace in gray areas. 
Since the governor is involved, it seems apt to call it a cautionary tale. 
But by the time the spin doctors are through, it may start to sound more like 
an urban legend. 
You can reach Ken Garcia at (415) 777-7152 or e-mail him at 
kgarcia@sfchronicle.com. 
,2001 San Francisco Chronicle   Page A - 13