Michael Finnegan
reviews the first debate between
Phil Angelides and
Steve Westly for the Times. "In the debate, Angelides portrayed Westly as a wobbler who often acts on political expediency, not principle. Over and over, he chided Westly for forging close ties with Republican incumbent Arnold Schwarzenegger when the governor was popular. '
When young students of immigrant background were being turned away from college by Gov. Schwarzenegger, I stood up,' Angelides said. 'Mr. Westly stood by.'"
"Westly said he had, in fact, 'stood up to Arnold Schwarzenegger' when the governor tried to withhold money from colleges and universities. He also went on the attack, describing Angelides as too quick to support higher taxes, a topic that offered one of the debate's sharpest contrasts."
"'
The difference between myself and the treasurer is that the treasurer has never seen a tax he doesn't like,' Westly said. 'He supports raising the income tax, the sales tax, taxes on alcohol, [the commercial property] tax, taxes on farm equipment. And, my friends, the list goes on.'"
Which, by the way, is a list that's very attractive to Democratic primary voters.
"'On the tough fights that have faced this state, too often Steve Westly cuts and runs,' [Angelides] said."
"'He does what's easy, not what's right.'"
"After the debate, Westly told reporters: 'It is too bad my opponent has kicked off the negative campaign season,' adding that 'desperate candidates do desperate things.'"
"'Voz y Voto' will air at 10 a.m. Saturday on Univision stations statewide except for Los Angeles, where it airs at 10:30 a.m."
John Wildermuth and Carla Marinucci
talk to Bruce Cain about the change to a more aggressive campaign tone. "With recent polls showing Angelides and Westly running neck and neck, 'we've been waiting for the other shoe to drop,' said
Bruce Cain, director of UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies."
"Those same polls have shown Westly doing surprisingly well among the party faithful -- a segment that Angelides, who enjoys the backing of big labor, the teachers' unions and most big-name Democratic officeholders, had long expected to dominate."
"'You would have thought he would have caught fire with the party base more than he has,' Cain said of Angelides. So the Angelides team has "decided the party base doesn't understand where Steve Westly is, and that's what their strategy is: (to remind those Democrats) 'Hey, do you remember this was a person who supported Arnold?'"
The Bee's Kevin Yamamura reports "Angelides has
taken his commercials off the air indefinitely. His campaign has more than $14 million in cash, but it likely cannot spend dollar-for-dollar with Westly, a Silicon Valley multimillionaire who has largely self-funded his effort.
"'The thought is, should we really be spending a million and a half dollars a week on television right now when voters don't seem to be paying attention, vs. waiting until after the holidays?' said
Cathy Calfo, Angelides' campaign manager."
The Merc News' Edwin Garcia has "
Angelides' take: 'I'm doing what the electorate should expect anyone doing for office to do: Here's where I stand, here's where my opponent stands, nothing personal, just facts.'"
"State Controller and gubernatorial candidate
Steve Westly steered California's giant pension system to invest in a fledgling venture capital fund whose politically connected partners helped him raise campaign cash," report Evan Halper and Dan Morain in the Times.
"Before Westly's involvement, the pension board's outside advisors had rejected the fund as ill-suited for its portfolio. After the investment was made, one of the partners became enmeshed in an unrelated pension-fund scandal in Illinois, pleading guilty to attempted extortion."
"As New York-based Healthpoint Partners LP lobbied the California Public Employees Retirement System in 2003 and 2004 to invest in their fund, two managing directors, including the one in Illinois, raised money for Westly at events in New York and Chicago. One partner had run for governor of New York; the other had been a finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee."
"CalPERS spokeswoman
Pat Macht said everything about the Healthpoint investment was done by the book. She said venture capital firms regularly direct their pitches to CalPERS board members, who then take the proposals to staff."
CW's Shane Goldmacher takes a look at the big spending starting in the
fight to allow phone companies into the cable business. "On the air and in the Capitol, a battle is brewing between the giants of the cable and telecommunication industries. In the last quarter of 2005, AT&T spent a company record $1.6 million in lobbying fees. All the money they spent on lobbying the Legislature was tagged for "future legislation"--and it was all spent while state legislators were on vacation.
Before detailed legislation even has been introduced, the multi-million dollar media and lobbying campaign to ease access for phone companies to California's burgeoning broadband market has begun."
The speaker is scheduled to unveil the legislation at a press conference today.
Martin Wisckol checks in on Tuesday's
special election in Senate District 35.
Diane "Harkey is campaigning hard as the "real" Republican, touting the endorsement of [
John] Campbell and dozens of other elected Republicans. There are two points in particular where they part ways.
"[
Tom] Harman, who as a Huntington Beach councilman fought for less development near the Bolsa Chica wetlands, opposes the current 241 Toll Road extension plan, which he says jeopardizes the San Onofre State Park. Harkey supports the plan and says it won't hurt the park."
"And Harman has supported day-labor centers, saying they keep laborers from soliciting on the streets and provide a way to check for residency status. Harkey opposes the centers, saying they attract illegal immigrants."
"But the rest of the debate goes largely to marginalia. Both oppose tax increases in most cases. Both oppose guest-worker programs and want more border security. Both want to ease transportation woes, and want more restrictions on state spending."
CW's Malcolm Maclachlan checks in on the
special election to replace Duke Cunningham, and wonders if Democrat
Francine Busby doesn't have a fighting chance.
"Democrats now are looking to the special election as a potential bellwether. If Busby pulls off an upset next week, it may be a harbinger of a rough political season for congressional Republicans.The race in San Diego's 50th District has been watched closely because of Cunningham, who resigned his seat after he was caught taking bribes from lobbyists. Cunningham's legal troubles, along with those of several other San Diego-area Republicans in recent months, have Democrats thinking Busby might be able to win the seat--even though Cunningham walloped her by a 62- to 36-percent margin in 2004."
The Pasadena Star-News' Gary Scott reports on a
debate among the Democratic candidates for the 44th Assembly District. "Distinguishing between the four Democratic candidates for the 44th Assembly District is like choosing between similar shades of blue: They all have a similar tone.
"Speaking Wednesday at a forum sponsored by the liberal political group ACT, the three lawyers and one production designer talked about strengthening environmental protections, strengthening education and strengthening health care."
Meanwhile, with all of the state's problems solved, "[t]he state Senate will consider a bill that
would require California schools to teach students about the contributions gay people have made to society -- an effort that supporters say is an attempt to battle discrimination and opponents say is designed to use the classroom to get children to embrace homosexuality," reports Aaron Davis for the Merc News.
Don't they know that
history is being phased out in schools?
The bill, which was passed by a Senate committee Tuesday, would require schools to buy textbooks 'accurately' portraying 'the sexual diversity of our society.' More controversially, it could require that students hear history lessons on 'the contributions of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender to the economic, political, and social development of California and the United States of America.'"
"'We're not suddenly going to say, 'So and so was gay' when they never said that,' Kuehl cautioned. '
But if you're teaching Langston Hughes poetry, you get a twofer because he was admittedly gay and he was black. So you could say he was a gay, black poet and talk about that.'"
If only he were in a wheelchair.
Capitol Weekly has launched its new
state salaries database demo. The new database contains legislative and executive staff salaries.
With the governor out of the state today, the governor's campaign team is opening its Sacramento office for a Washington-style "pen and pad" briefing with campaign manager
Steve Schmidt. CNN was devastated to learn they would not be allowed to carry the briefing live.
We send heartfelt best wishes to
Doree O'Connell, the wife of Superintendent of Public Instruction
Jack O'Connell, who was
diagnosed with a brain tumor earlier this week.
Where the candidates areGov. Schwarzenegger has left the state. He has no public events scheduled.
Phil Angelides attends a rally outside the headquarters of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), demanding that the $130 billion pension fund divest its holdings in five companies with reported business ties to the Sudanese government. CalSTRS headquarters, 7667 Folsom Blvd. Sacramento. 10 a.m.