SACRAMENTO, CA - When he was inaugurated, many pundits compared Gov. Gray Davis to successful “centrist” Democrat Bill Clinton. But instead of becoming Bill Clinton, Davis has become California’s Jimmy Carter. Consider the many similarities.

In terms of leadership style, Davis, like Carter, is a bright, detail-oriented micromanager who has trouble with big-picture concepts. Also, like Carter, Davis has trouble making tough decisions when the pressure is on. When times are good, these leadership problems are hidden. But when crisis hits, these problems can quickly sink a politician. Compare Carter’s mishandling of the 1978 oil crisis with Davis’s mishandling of California’s electricity crisis.

The parallels are astonishing, both in terms of the nature of the crises and the policy and leadership responses. Back in 1978, the United States faced an oil-supply shortage because of production cutbacks in Iran. The federal government had made things worse by controlling the price of domestic oil, which dried up domestic oil production, but kept consumer demand high. Long lines at gas stations developed. Carter’s policy response was economically confused. He demonized the oil companies and refused to fully decontrol domestic oil prices. Instead, he urged greater government intervention into the marketplace.

In terms of leadership, Carter became paralyzed in his decisionmaking. As the crisis worsened, Carter retreated to Camp David and talked to dozens of liberal notables, virtually none of whom was an energy expert. Rather than discussing energy policy, they discussed Carter’s leadership style and the mood of the nation.

Today, Gray Davis faces a similar situation with a shortage in electricity supply caused largely by California’s refusal to build new power plants. State government has made the electricity shortage worse by decontrolling wholesale prices for electricity, but continuing to control retail prices, thereby keeping consumer demand artificially high. Rolling blackouts are the result. Davis’s policy responses mirror Carter’s.

Like Carter, Davis ignores elementary economics by refusing to decontrol retail prices, scapegoating private power companies, and urging massive government intervention into the energy market. A recent statement signed by prominent economists, including two Nobel-prize winners, urges decontrol of retail prices and criticizes Davis’s actions saying they will make matters worse and increase the burden on taxpayers. Davis’s vow to keep retail prices low, says UC Berkeley regulatory expert David Teece, “may be good politics, but it’s bad public policy.”

And like Carter, Davis’s leadership has been marked by indecision and procrastination. Although the state’s utilities have faced high wholesale prices since last May, Davis refused to meet with industry officials. Says Stephen Bergstrom, head of the influential energy company Dynergy, Inc., “We have tried since late May, June to meet with the governor. The whole industry. We have tried and tried and tried.” Davis didn’t meet with Bergstrom until last month. Indeed, the Los Angeles Times says that Davis spent most of last year isolated, aloof, and more concerned with avoiding political blame than in solving the state’s energy problems. Indeed, finding political cover is a continuing Davis strategy. A power company executive declares, “To say we’reappalled is an understatement.”

With apologies to Oscar Wilde, the morphing of Governor Davis into Jimmy Carter should be called, “The Picture of Dorian Gray Davis.” For Californians, it’s not a pretty picture.

- Lance T. Izumi