George Skelton
offers the Angelides campaign some unsolicited advice. "As fall approaches, Treasurer Phil Angelides seems to have only two accessible paths to reach the governor's office, both of them steep.
He must wrap President Bush so tightly around Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in voters' minds that they "send a message" about the botched war and other Bush blunders by rejecting the governor's reelection bid. Schwarzenegger, after all, did play a significant role in reelecting Bush.
Angelides must remind voters of Schwarzenegger's inconsistencies in rhetoric and behavior since being elected and get people seriously thinking about whether this governor should be trusted again."
Aren't those the two messages he's used all summer, to no avail?
"Beyond that, Schwarzenegger could stumble badly, embarrassing and disgracing himself. But forget it. That's every losing candidate's fantasy and it almost never happens."
The Bee's Kevin Yamamura looks at the Democratic bench team waiting to be called up in 2010. "At the Capitol, early talk has Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom on a short list."
"Just last week, state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi told The Bee he wouldn't rule out a potential run in four years. Some of state Sen. Jackie Speier's closest friends have suggested she could run, as well. And even one of Angelides' most active Democratic supporters, Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, said he'd consider a bid."
"O'Connell, who has appeared at 10 events to support Angelides, said Wednesday he would consider running in 2010 if Schwarzenegger wins this year. A former state senator, O'Connell will be termed out in 2010. He first mentioned his aspirations in the Ventura County Star before talking to others."
The current guv is set to sign Villaraigosa's LAUSD bill today, but Rick Orlov reports Villaraigosa is starting to get a bit angry with the press. "The mayor also appeared to be somewhat in a pique - particularly with the press - about what he sees as a failure to give him credit for what he is trying to do."
Pacifier, check. Diaper bag, check.
"During a summit on affordable housing, Villaraigosa had his audience buzzing with his repeated references to 'these guys always second-guessing. They are going to second guess because ... that's the role of the media.
'(But) I didn't get elected to take up space. So let them second guess, let them say we thought too big, let them say we dreamt too big. These guys in the back, they get their opportunity to kind of hit, and I get my opportunity to hit back.'"
Harrison Sheppard and Steve Geissinger take a look at the growing clout and size of the Black Caucus in the Oakland Tribune. " The current caucus has six members — all from Los Angeles County — but three to five new members could hail from the Bay Area, the Inland Empire and San Diego. Such growth would make it larger than the caucuses for Asian and gay legislators.
Not to mention the Armenian Caucus, since Dario Frommer is going to be termed out.
'Just at the point that pundits were suggesting that African-American political influence was waning, here we have a scenario where it is increasing some 50 percent in the state Legislature,' said Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles, a member of the Black Caucus."
"Three months ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called on state legislators to take 'swift and dramatic action' to fix what he called a 'dangerous situation' in California's jam-packed prisons," writes Mike Zapler in the Merc News.
We're sure CCPOA has nothing to do with it.
"But lawmakers adjourned for the year at the end of August without passing a single measure to address the system's myriad problems. And while the legislators have gone home, prison officials warn they will run out of beds by June. Already inmates are stacked on double- and triple-bunks in gymnasiums and day centers."
"'There's a general sense of caution on anything involving crime and prisons'' in California, said Robert Weisberg, director of Stanford University Law School's Criminal Justice Center. But time is running out. 'The state has about a two-year window to do something, but not much more and maybe less than that.'"
The Chron's John Wildermuth looks at Arizona's public finance system and California's Prop. 89. "Backers of California's Proposition 89, which would provide $200 million a year for public financing of California candidates, point to the success of the Arizona system as an example of what could happen in California. But many of the political pros who work every day with the system have curbed their enthusiasm."
"'On the whole, it has opened up the political process to a new pool of candidates,' said Michael Frias, campaign director for the Arizona Democratic Party. 'But we need to look and see where it can be improved.'"
"Some Republican leaders have harsher feelings about Arizona's public financing system."
"'There are a lot of good things California and other states could pull from Arizona, but this isn't one of them,' said Glenn Hamer, executive director of the Arizona Republican Party."
The LAT's Jenifer Warren gives the treatment to Prop. 83, which "would lengthen prison and parole terms for the most violent sex offenders and make possession of child pornography a felony."
"In addition, its most controversial provision would ban all released sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park. Local governments could declare additional locations off-limits, and sex offenders would be monitored for life with an electronic tracking device."
"If passed, the measure would cost the state at least $200 million annually within a decade, according to the nonpartisan legislative analyst, largely because of the satellite tracking and police needed to enforce it."
"'When a child walks to school, he or she shouldn't have to walk by a molester's home to get there,' said state Sen. George Runner of Lancaster, lead proponent of the proposition with his wife, Sharon, an assemblywoman."
"State Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter), whose farm-belt district in the Central Valley is one area where sex offenders could legally live, said the measure would legalize 'predator dumping.' The Bakersfield Californian newspaper agreed, and editorialized against it under the headline 'Our children deserve same rights as city kids.'"
The LAT's Evelyn Iritani looks at legislation on the governor's desk that would restore the state's foreign trade officers. "Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) successfully pushed legislation requiring the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency to develop a strategy for attracting foreign investment and trade. That bill, which was passed by a wide margin, has been sent to the governor's office."
"Schwarzenegger has not taken a position on the legislation, said Darrel Ng, a spokesman for his office."
"The state once staffed a dozen trade offices abroad, including in Tokyo, Shanghai and London. But during the budget crisis of 2003, the Legislature shut down the California Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency, which had a $13-million budget and 91 employees, and closed 11 of the 12 outposts."
"'We have been flying blind in California,' [Romero] said. 'We don't have a trade policy.'"
And no plum, oversees appointments for political pals, either.