"Voters know Republican Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger wants a second term in office, but who are those Democrats seeking to oppose him?"
"Polls show Californians just
do not recognize the names Phil Angelides and Steve Westly very well, despite their stints in statewide elected posts. And what they are seeing of them in their bitter TV ad battle and debates is turning off many voters," writes Steve Geissinger in the Oakland Tribune.
"Moreover, Schwarzenegger's popularity — with some help from state Senate President Pro-Tem
Don Perata, D-Oakland, and other Democratic lawmakers — is rebounding."
Voters "'don't pay attention to the primaries until the final weeks,' said
Mark DiCamillo, who directs the nonpartisan Field Poll. 'And even then, some voters just let it pass by."
George Skelton
looks at the Democratic primary and the rise in Schwarzenegger's fortunes. "Treasurer
Phil Angelides has caught up with Controller
Steve Westly, the previous front-runner, in their race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, both sides agree."
"In fact, on any given night in private polling, Angelides may be running ahead. That's the good news for the liberal Democrat."
"The bad news is that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been yanking the running track out from under him in a potential general election matchup."
"Actually, some people are getting very excited about this dismal Democratic duel: They're the Schwarzenegger strategists."
The two candidates begin dueling bus tours this week, with Angelides beginning today in Santa Monica. The "Westly Wagon" tour begins Wednesday in Chico.
Carla Marinucci
profiles Westly's wife,
Anita Yu. She says Yu "has a life story that could be the antidote for the critics who say her husband, the former eBay executive, is just a rich guy trying to buy the governor's seat."
"She's a Chinese immigrant who came to the United States from Hong Kong as a child, whose father died when she was just a teen, and whose family of five kids went on public assistance at one time to make ends meet. Through it all, as the eldest daughter, she assumed a role helping her single working mother, who, to this day, works on an assembly line."
The Bee's Judy Lin looks at
Sheila Kuehl's
effort to incorporate prominent gays and lesbians in textbooks. "
Senate Bill 1437, a state measure recently approved by the Senate that will now be vetted in the Assembly, seeks to change that by recognizing the contributions of the LGBT community in the social science curriculum in the same way the state has come to recognize the achievements of women and minorities."
"Supporters say passage of the bill could perhaps prompt teachers to expand a class discussion on literary greats like [
Walt] Whitman and
Oscar Wilde, who was convicted and jailed for homosexuality. They say history books could teach about the gay rights movement and California politicians like
Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to serve on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors."
"Opponents argue that the bill is unnecessary and carries an ulterior motive -- to force schools to promote homosexuality and alternative lifestyles.
Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for Children and Families, calls SB 1437 a terrible infringement on a parent's rights because it teaches about something they may not support."
"'It's a deceptively written bill that would do tremendous harm to our children,' Thomasson said."
Alex Dobuzinskis of the Daily News
checks in on the race for AD 43. "After a long day of campaigning recently for the state Assembly seat he seeks as the capstone to his political career, Democrat
Frank Quintero sat down to a debate and, when asked if he supports school vouchers, gave what he later called a "halting, feeble yes."
"The one-word response and his mention of vouchers later in the evening forced Quintero's campaign for the 43rd Assembly District into damage control. He retracted the comment later that week, saying he opposed vouchers - government funding to help parents with private school tuition."
The Chronicle's Christopher Heredia looks at
the race to replace Wilma Chan in Oakland's AD 16.
The Stockton Record's Hank Shaw preview's
Dick Cheney's appearance in California to raise cash for
Richard Pombo with a
look at Pombo's money from energy companies.
"Eleven cents of every dollar Pombo, R-Tracy, has collected for his re-election campaign has come from the oil and energy industry, a Record analysis has found. That's more than $212,000, and more is expected when a new set of federal campaign-finance reports becomes public this week. Pombo's campaign featured his efforts to increase oil shale production on the invitation to a fund-raiser headlined by Vice President
Dick Cheney scheduled for today; Cheney's former employer, Halliburton Co., is one of the world's leading energy-services corporations."
"The FBI revealed Sunday that Rep.
William Jefferson, under investigation for bribery,
was videotaped accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from an FBI informant whose conversations with the lawmaker also were recorded. Agents later found the cash hidden in his freezer, according to a court document released Sunday."
"As for the $100,000, the government says Jefferson got the money in a leather briefcase last July 30 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Arlington. The plan was for the lawmaker to use the cash to bribe a high-ranking Nigerian official — the name is blacked out in the court document — to ensure the success of a business deal in that country, the affidavit said."
We think we received an offer for the same business deal in our e-mail yesterday.
"All but $10,000 was recovered on Aug. 3 when the FBI searched Jefferson's home in Washington.
The money was stuffed in his freezer, wrapped in $10,000 packs and concealed in food containers and aluminum foil."
Five pounds of old meatloaf were also seized.
"
The Naked Guy, whose au naturel jaunts through Berkeley spurred a nudity revolt in the early 1990s and earned him national fame,
died in a San Jose jail cell, apparently of suicide.
"While many chuckled at the exploits of
Andrew Martinez, friends and family of the 33-year-old talked Saturday about a troubled man who struggled for years with mental illness."
"After his days as the Naked Guy, Martinez spent the next decade bouncing among halfway houses, psychiatric institutions, occasional homelessness and jail, but never getting comprehensive treatment, his family said. His life ended in an apparent suicide Thursday morning."
"'It was an endless cycle of trying to get answers but never getting any,' said his mother, who requested that her name not be used. 'It was endless, endless, endless.'"
