LAT's Michael Finegan takes a look at
Phil Angelides and the "charisma question."
For Angelides, a Sacramento insider who toils over bond sales and pension funds in his job as state treasurer, a lack of pizazz would, in theory, have little bearing on his ability to run the state.
But candidate personalities always matter in a race for governor, and the difficulty of vying one-on-one against Schwarzenegger's is one of the most serious challenges that Angelides faces."
Angelides strategist
Bill Carrick "questioned whether likability played much of a role in the victories of California's three previous governors:
Gray Davis, Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian. None of the three was known for wit, charm or personal magnetism. But unlike any of them, Angelides is running against a world-famous muscleman who has devoted much of his adult life to projecting a favorable image on camera for millions of fans."
"Even as the governor's popularity ratings have rebounded this year, women still view Schwarzenegger less favorably than men do, polls show. And the Angelides campaign is trying to turn the governor's knack for showmanship into a liability, calling him a "photo-op" governor who is "all shtick and bravado."
The Merc's Kate Folmar looks at the role
ballot initiatives will play in the governor's race. "Schwarzenegger's advisers started the tit-for-tat over initiatives with Proposition 83, better known as Jessica's Law, which the governor endorsed last year. The governor's campaign then harangued Angelides to follow suit.
'We urge you, as a candidate for the state's highest office, to put the safety of California's children first and join Governor Schwarzenegger in supporting Jessica's Law,' read a letter from police chiefs and district attorneys disseminated by the Schwarzenegger campaign in June.
By mid-July, Angelides startled many political observers and momentarily bucked his liberal image by endorsing Jessica's Law and then some. Unable to criticize Angelides as soft on crime, the governor's aides dismissed the endorsement as a 'typical' reaction from a 'me, too' candidate."
"Schwarzenegger has believed in Jessica's Law 'from the beginning,' said campaign communications director
Katie Levinson. 'It didn't take the governor months of political calculation for him to realize that Jessica's Law is a good thing.'"
As
everyone and their grandmother keeps to a busy fundraising schedule this week, Angelides ran into some problems with his scheduled talent, reports the Bee's Kevin Yamamura. "Democratic gubernatorial candidate Angelides had lined up
Earvin "Magic" Johnson, the former Lakers basketball star, as a special guest for his big Sacramento fundraiser Wednesday.
But
Johnson bailed on the reception hosted by restaurateur Randy Paragary, citing a scheduling conflict, according to Angelides' campaign."
The last-minute replacement? Mrs. D list herself --
Kathy Griffin. Not exactly the message you want to send to $10,000 donors.
The Stockton Record's Hank Shaw takes a look at
Armenian political donations to Chuck Poochigian.
"
A Record analysis of Poochigian's fund-raising shows he has at least 900 Armenian contributors who have combined to pump more than $780,000 into his campaign.
Compare this to Brown, who state records show has just nine Armenian contributors.
It is a tremendous show of ethnic pride: According to a calculation based on population estimates from the Armenian National Committee, only about 500,000 voting-age people of Armenian ancestry live in California."
LAT's Marc Lifsher looks at the
opposition on both sides to the governor's greenhouse gas plan. "Still being debated — in committee rooms and behind closed doors — are issues of which businesses would be regulated, what agency would be charged with enforcement and what restrictions would be imposed on the state's big air polluters.
"We think this is clearly the most important environmental bill of the year and maybe the most important bill of the year," said Linda Adams, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, who would play a key role in making any new law work. As Sacramento negotiations ensue this week,
environmentalists expressed concern that the governor's plan lacked the teeth needed to enforce strict limits on the amount of carbon dioxide pollution from power plants, refineries and cement kilns.
Business groups fear that
imposing mandatory caps on emissions would burden California companies by driving already steep electricity prices higher.
The Bee's Jim Sanders looks at
a bill by Paul Koretz that would
ban smoking in cars with children. "Violators would be subject to a base fine of up to $100, which could rise to more than $350 through penalty assessments for courts, jails, trauma centers and other programs.
'I think we try to
micromanage people's lives to an extent that's getting ridiculous, whether it's health or dietary or lifestyle decisions," said Assemblyman
Joe Canciamilla, D-Pittsburg."
Andy Furillo examines the
contract offer on the table to the state prison guards union. "State labor negotiators have loaded their opening contract offer to the correctional officers' union with proposals designed to reassert managers' control over the California prison system. In an offer dated July 30, the state is seeking to restrict officers' use of sick leave, and the rank and file's ability to leverage seniority to determine work shift assignments.
Most significantly, however, Department of Personnel Administration
negotiators are trying to delete a contract provision that allows the union to challenge virtually any operational change undertaken by prison management -- a prerogative the state contends has inhibited correctional reform in California."
LAT's Evan Halper looks at concerns about
diminishing returns and the state pension system. "
The stakes are huge — especially for California, which has more than $350 billion in retirement funds covering teachers and other public employees. Falling short of the nearly 8% return that state money managers project for those funds could create
deficits of tens of billions of dollars.
Taxpayers would have to ante up; retirees' benefits are locked in by contract. Elected officials could be forced to raise taxes, cut services or borrow money. California's teacher retirement fund already has a projected $20-billion shortfall."
George Skelton says Democrats in California won't be able to capitalize on a potential national Democratic tide. "
California Democrats — especially U.S. House candidates — should be poised to clean up in November because of President Bush's bungling, but they're not. And it's their own fault.
They've gerrymandered themselves out of the action.
It's ironic that the political party most opposed to redistricting reform in California is the party that currently could be reaping its benefit."