"An energized Phil Angelides
brought his underdog campaign for governor through Stockton on Monday, part of a two-day tour of the state that the Democrat hopes will shift political momentum his way," writes Hank Shaw and Michele Machado in the Stockton Record.
"Angelides' rhetoric has grown fiercer in recent days. Monday
he called Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a liar and a wolf in sheep's clothing, a man who will resurrect the proposals California voters rejected in the 2005 special election."
Angelides
also stopped in Oakland, writes Josh Richman in the Oakland Tribune. "Joining Angelides in Oakland were state Democratic Party Chairman
Art Torres, controller nominee
John Chiang, secretary of state nominee
Debra Bowen and insurance commissioner nominee
Cruz Bustamante. Their presence either belied reports that Democrats fear Angelides could drag down the rest of his ticket, or marked their resolve to toe the party line at any cost."
"Democratic treasurer nominee
Bill Lockyer spoke at the rally
but left before Angelides arrived. He, too, berated Schwarzenegger for standing by his special-election agenda, and he praised Angelides' defense of privacy rights and the environment."
"Offstage, Lockyer said Angelides faces a Republican who's 'willing to act like a Democrat' to keep office. But just as Democratic lieutenant governor nominee
John Garamendi told a Los Angeles television news show Sunday, Lockyer on Monday said he long has thought
Angelides' plan for tax increases on corporations and the state's richest residents 'is not the right central message' with which to win."
Angelides says there's still time to turn the race around, Scott Martelle
reports in the Times: "'
Thirty days is a lifetime — look at what's happened to the House Republicans in one week,' Angelides said Sunday as his campaign bus went from Los Angeles to the Central Valley. 'We will begin to now reach people through the … media, and we will also be able to go on TV and tell people where we want to take this state.'"
House Republicans? Holding out hope for some scandalous IM messages?
"
Barbara O'Connor, a political analyst at Cal State Sacramento, said Angelides' task has been made more difficult by Schwarzenegger's recent success in breaching Sacramento's partisan wall — including signing ceremonies with prominent Democrats such as Assembly Speaker
Fabian Nuñez and Senate President Pro Tem
Don Perata."
"'
If the Democrats think it is a lost opportunity, they are partially to blame,' O'Connor said. 'Nightly pictures of the governor, the speaker and the Senate pro tem are not good reminders of why we need a Democratic governor.'"
The Chron's John Wildermuth reports
voting is already underway. "California's four-week-long election day opens today as millions of absentee ballots go out to early voters."
"Monday's Columbus Day holiday delayed the start of the multi-week voting season by a day, but county mail bins across the state will be full for the rest of the week.
'We'll be sending out 60,000 absentee ballots Tuesday, another 60,000 Wednesday and the remaining 5,000 or so on Thursday,' said
John Arntz, San Francisco's election director. "Those 125,000 permanent absentees are up from 119,000 for the June election, and the number just keeps going up.'"
"It's the same story elsewhere in the state. Santa Clara County, for example, will send out about 209,000 absentees this week, while Alameda County will put 292,000 in the mail."
"About 47 percent of the 5.2 million votes in the June primary were cast by absentee ballot, and absentee voters could outnumber those who go to their polling places this November, said
Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll."
Meanwhile, public employee allies of Angelides were
trying to relive last year's special election fight. "Public employees supporting Democratic gubernatorial challenger Phil Angelides sought Monday to hang last year's special election around Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's neck, saying the Republican incumbent still thinks his failed initiatives contained 'good ideas.'"
"Representatives of firefighter, police, nurse and teachers unions gathered outside a hotel where Schwarzenegger was about to give a speech to hold the governor to answer for his comments in Saturday night's debate, when he said "there were good ideas there" in the special election. Voters, however, rebuffed the Schwarzenegger-backed plans on spending control, 'paycheck protection,' teacher tenure and legislative redistricting."
Robert Salladay writes about the
similar backgrounds of the gubernatorial candidates, which led to different political philosophies. "The Austrian bodybuilder and the grandson of Greek immigrants are self-made men, millionaires both, the embodiment of the ambitions of most who venture here. But as they seek the governorship, the personalities and experiences of
Arnold Schwarzenegger and
Phil Angelides have led them to far different views about the appropriate role of government in Californians' lives."
If you want to learn more about Angelides, turn on your TV, reports the AP's Michael Blood. "Trailing in his bid to unseat Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Democratic challenger Phil Angelides
will begin airing a biographical TV ad Tuesday in a late-hour bid to tell his story to voters who may know little or nothing about him.
"The ad, to run in markets statewide, entwines family footage of the candidate with details skimmed from his resume as a Sacramento businessman-politician. Opening with chiming guitar chords from the Bellamy Brothers’ 'Let Your Love Flow,' it alludes to his political awakening in the Nixon era and later features a shot of Angelides with U.S. Sens.
Dianne Feinstein and
Barbara Boxer."
"'
The nature of the campaign has been such that people haven’t gotten to know much ... about Phil,' said
Bill Carrick, Angelides’ media consultant."
Hmm, where have we
heard that before?Daniel Weintraub, who was out of town and missed the debate,
gives a run-down after revving up the TiVo. "Political debates, like the campaigns they highlight, have become largely irrelevant to the voting public. They are conducted in a political dialect few people understand and at a pace that is out of step with the rhythm of everyday conversation. Anyone who really tries to follow the discussion risks getting a headache or falling asleep."
And, on Saturday afternoons.
"Saturday's debate was in this mold. The two candidates, even though they didn't face any time limits, spoke far too fast for the average voter to follow what they were talking about most of the time. They referred to past actions or new proposals in a shorthand that probably eluded any casual observer of politics who happened to be watching. And they attacked each other's character in a way that probably struck many viewers as childish."
Speaking of TiVo, the Bee's Aurelio Rojas has the job of actually watching those campaign spots. He gives the treatment to
Steve Poizner's
ad criticizing Cruz Bustamante's fundraising.
Just in time for the ballot, the Merc's Mike Taughter reports on
alleged misuse of bond money. "Millions of dollars from voter-approved state bonds meant for parks, water and wildlife have been
vulnerable to waste and misuse because of faulty controls at state agencies, according to a series of recent audits."
"While agencies say the problems account for only a small fraction of the $10 billion from four environmental bonds voters passed between 2000 and 2002, auditors have flagged questionable spending on public relations, lobbying and even yoga classes, documents show."
"In addition, some groups that received grants from the bond funds failed to properly document expenses, claimed unallowable costs and went over budget because of inconsistent monitoring by state agencies."
Meanwhile, the Bee's Laura Mecoy watches the
new Yes on 87 ad featuring Al Gore. "With both campaigns spending record amounts on television advertising, the 'Yes on 87' campaign is hoping to capture voters' attention with a 30-second spot featuring a former vice president who is popular in the state and has enjoyed favorable publicity since the acclaimed documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth' hit theaters around the nation earlier this year."
"The "Yes on 87" campaign is touting this ad as Gore's first political spot since his 2000 election, and national pundits are questioning whether it's a sign the former vice president is readying for another presidential bid."
"It's the kind of buzz relished by campaign consultants, especially when their initiative is losing support in the polls. Proposition 87 has dropped from 52 percent to 44 percent support in the most recent Field Poll."
You know you're in trouble when your ace in the hole is Al Gore.
Finally, from our
Egging Them On Files is your co-worker looking a little extra fine in a short little skirt?
Maybe it's because she's ovulating, according to Reuters. Women dress to impress when they are at their most fertile, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday in a study they say shows that signs of human ovulation may not be as mysterious as some scientists believe."
"A study of young college women showed they frequently wore more fashionable or flashier clothing and jewelery when they were ovulating, as assessed by a panel of men and women looking at their photographs."
"'They tend to put on skirts instead of pants, show more skin and generally dress more fashionably,' said
Martie Haselton, a communication studies and psychology expert at the University of California Los Angeles who led the study."
