WATCH HIS PEN

Now YOU Know For Sure: Gray Davis Is A Solid Democrat

GOV. Gray Davis signed a bill granting farmworkers additional bargaining
power because he feels they are the state's most vulnerable workers.

Davis signed bills establishing paid family leave and raising workers
compensation payments because he wanted to make life better for working
families.

He signed a bill that would limit greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles
and another that requires more use of environmentally friendly renewable
energy sources because he thinks climate change is a threat.

The above sentences are true about the governor's actions. I have no idea
if any of them is true about his motivations.

I do know those sentences sound odd in a political commentary column.
Political analysis usually goes as follows (also true on the facts,
speculative on the motivations):

Davis vetoed a bill requiring a recycling fee on computer monitors because,
having signed a greenhouse bill, he felt he had sufficiently satisfied his
environmental supporters and needed to shore up his support in business
circles.

Walking a tightrope on Latino issues, Davis signed the farmworker bill, but
citing security concerns heightened by Sept. 11, vetoed a bill that would
have allowed undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses.

No journalist -- and no voter -- should accept uncritically a governor's
explanations for signing or vetoing a bill. There are always undercurrents:
what bills the governor arranges to have brought to his desk, what deals
he's making on the side as he signs or vetoes bills, and how he's trying to
position himself politically.

But too much ink is wasted speculating about what's going on behind the
scenes and too little goes into looking at what the scene itself presents.

Rather than guess about Davis' motivations, why not just decide whether you
like what he's done in a month of signing and vetoing bills?

Whether by calculation or conviction, Davis now sits solidly in the
Democratic camp, a month from the day voters will choose between him and
Republican Bill Simon. Davis has endorsed a host of positions that contrast
sharply with those of Simon, who persuaded Republicans to back him as the
true conservative among GOP candidates in the primary.

Start with the environment. With one exception, the e-waste bill,
environmentalists won on every major bill that landed on the governor's
desk. On greenhouse gases and renewable energy, Davis' signature put
California ahead of the rest of the nation, where it ought to be.

The governor underlined his credentials as a social liberal, signing bills
that guaranteed abortion rights in California whatever the U.S. Supreme
Court does, established the inheritance rights of domestic partners and
supported stem cell research. More good work.

Davis was friendlier to labor than in years past. Mid-year he raised the
workers compensation payments after vetoing similar bills in previous
years. Despite business opposition, he approved the first paid family leave
program in the nation.

Where Davis differs noticeably from most Democrats in the Legislature is on
crime. On that issue, he continues to be indistinguishable from his
Republican predecessors. On the illegal immigrant driver's license bill,
security concerns took top priority. Davis also vetoed a bill that would
have made it easier to sell hypodermic needles. AIDS activists supported
it, figuring drug addicts would be using fewer dirty needles. The
war-on-drugs crowd didn't. For anyone who has followed Davis' career, his
decisions were no surprise.

Read the scorecard for this legislative year. Democrats run the show in
Sacramento and Davis has been keeping only a loose hand on the reins. If
he's re-elected, expect more of the same.