Davis Taking Steps

Davis has been staging a high number of media events lately, with what the Los Angeles Times says are twin goals of calming Californians´ jittery nerves and polishing his own image as a leader.

After one early mistake, Davis has been everywhere, in the leadership mode established by New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani following the September eleventh terrorist attacks.

In mid-September Davis was considering traveling in a private jet. But he quickly dropped that idea, which could have been seen as avoiding commercial air travel when the public was shunning airlines, and the airline industry was reeling. Now he makes it a point to be using commercial planes as he moves from one end of the state to the other.

To focus on a major side-effect of the terrorism scare, Davis plans to convene an economic summit to gather information on how the state can recover. He´s also asked state agencies to report on steps they can take to 15 percent of their budgeted spending, but one of the most elaborate was the four-hour event that Davis hosted in Sacramento.

Although the September eleventh attacks took place three-thousand miles away, the threat of more terrorism offers the Democratic governor a platform that his potential Republican challengers lack. He can be out and seen often, serving as a leader.