"Well, we're trying to patch and fix and put a cast on a broken system here. You can call it what you want, but we'll continue to purchase power in a private market"

This quote by Gray Davis is referring to the energy crisis in California in 2000-2001. He is acknowledging that the energy system in California is broken and needs to be fixed. He is recommending that the state must continue to acquire power from the personal market in order to patch and repair the damaged system. This is a recommendation to the deregulation of the energy market in California which enabled private companies to sell energy to the state. Davis is recommending that the state must continue to buy power from these private business in order to repair the damaged system. This quote is a reflection of the difficult situation that California remained in at the time and the requirement to find a solution to the energy crisis.