Nice insight on Davis in Matier and Ross (Energy crisis pulled plug on Davis, pollster says / Overpriced energy deals that drained the state budget also cost the governor’s popularity plenty)
Politicians live or die by their defining moment. For George W. Bush, it was Sept. 11. For Gov. Gray Davis, it was the energy crisis of ’01 — and in most voters’ eyes, he came up short.
“No question about it,” said pollster Mark DiCamillo, who has been tracking Davis for the past five years. “That was the trigger. That’s when he crossed the line.
“Look at the numbers,” DiCamillo said. “In January of that year, Davis’ approval ratings were at 57 percent. Four months later they were under 36 percent.”
Davis never recovered.
Neither did California.