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More Parsky Watch Parsky Watch - The Magazine Take the Parsky Watch IQ Test Visit the Parsky Watch Store	Back to Parsky Watch archives Parsky sabotaging Simon Parsky Watch #19 July 27, 2002 DOES GERRY PARSKY WANT TO WIN? As election day approaches the California Republican Party like a locomotive bearing down on a animal caught in the tracks, one has to wonder if Gerry Parsky really does want Bill Simon to beat Gray Davis. It is an astounding question to ask oneself, given that Parsky is President Bush’s political ambassador to California. Still, his odd behavior gives life to such speculation. The pile of Team Cal money upon which Parsky sits grows higher and higher – it is now over a million dollars. Yet he refuses to infuse any of that moolah into state party operations (with the exception of the bounty program). Parsky’s excuse: he is waiting for the Simon campaign to “determine its priorities.” He’s been hiding behind that excuse for more than a month now, and it’s getting stale. The Simon campaign’s priorities are pretty clear – defeating Gray Davis – and his ability to accomplish this goal surely isn’t helped any by the CRP being forcibly sidelined because Parsky refuses to fund the political plan. Ironically, even as Parsky claims his hands are tied until the Simon campaign tells him what to do, he is busily meeting with the lead consultants for the down ticket nominees. This indicates he is indeed planning to spend all that TeamCal dough – but according to Gerry Parsky’s priorities, not the Simon campaign’s (as Parsky disingenuously claims). Which returns us to the question: exactly what game is Gerry Parsky playing? He assures us of his commitment to a Simon victory, yet forgoes opportunities to concretely help the nominee. He claims he is simply waiting for the Simon campaign to decide how to spend the TeamCal funds, yet meets with the consultants for the other statewide GOP nominees in clear preparation for deciding how to spend those funds himself. Is it too farfetched to imagine Parsky would not be disappointed by a Simon defeat that he could self-servingly spin as the fault of an “inept campaign of an extremist candidate,” and leaving Parsky standing astride the remnants of the California Republican Party. To some minds, after all, it is better to rule in hell than serve in heaven.