CW's Shane Goldmacher takes a look at
Phil Angelides's newly honed campaign message, and his efforts to paint Gov. Schwarzenegger as a "flip-flopper."
"Since July 25, the Angelides campaign and the state Democratic Party have sent out twelve missives blasting Schwarzenegger for 'flip-flops,' accusing him of changing his positions on Proposition 187, greenhouse gases, fully funding education, not raising money from special interests and the Minutemen. On Thursday, the California Democratic Party unveiled a Web page dedicated solely to tracking Schwarzenegger's 'flip-flops and broken promises.'"
"In the previous seven months of the year, Team Angelides had never once used the term in either a press release or memo to reporters."
"'It is just too many flip-flops for anyone to ignore,' says Angelides strategist
Bob Mulholland. 'As a public official, Schwarzenegger should be embarrassed. It's like he has an identical twin with different positions.'"
We're looking at you, DeVito...
Speaking of finely-tuned political messaging, "Senate President Pro Tem
Don Perata Thursday
discussed the difficult political climate surrounding illegal immigration and as an example said '
You've got all these crackers ... down in San Diego,'" reports Michael Gardner in the Union Tribune.
"At a briefing with reporters, the Oakland Democrat was asked about the prospects of pending legislation to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Though a similar bill has passed the Legislature before – only to be vetoed – Perata said he was cautious about moving the current bill to the governor's desk in an election year."
"'Immigration is a red meat issue,' he said. 'You've got all these crackers down in Southern Cal – ah, where is it, San Diego, taking on the governor. Even the governor was shocked.'"
Later, he made it clear that only some of the people in the community formerly known as America's Finest City are crackers. "I want to clarify something I said earlier today. While I am concerned about the coarse and divisive tone used by a small minority in the driver's license debate, I believe that the vast majority on both sides are people of good will."
At the same conference, Perata said "
he would back off tying the minimum wage to inflation in exchange for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's support of a flat $1.50-an-hour pay hike for the state's lowest-earning workers," writes Judy Lin in the Bee.
"Perata, the Democratic leader, said he would give up a push for automatic annual increases if Schwarzenegger were willing to improve on his proposed $1 hourly increase."
"'We haven't finalized the deal yet,' said the Oakland senator. 'I think we have some negotiating to do. But that's my boundary, and we could get to that boundary.'"
"
Angie Wei, legislative director for the California Labor Federation, which has more than 2 million members, said indexing remains the most practical approach for the state's low-income families."
"'We're committed to getting the best deal for Californians,' Wei said. If a hike were passed, 'we'd be exactly the same place we are today.'"
The minimum wage bill is one of many that Democrats in the Legislature are
expected to force the governor to act on before the election. The Merc News's Mark Zapler writes that "a number of bills likely to emerge from the Democrat-controlled Legislature in the weeks ahead could test the governor's centrist strategy at a critical point in his re-election bid. On issues from greenhouse gases to children's health care to wages for low-income workers, Schwarzenegger potentially faces a series of thorny decisions just as he reaches the home stretch of his campaign against Democratic Treasurer Phil Angelides."
"'My sense is if there's a governor who's in a tight race in an election year, and who doesn't want to offend independent and Democratic voters, legislators will take advantage of that,' said
Steve Maviglio, who recently took a temporary leave as deputy chief of staff for Assembly Speaker
Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, to help the Angelides campaign. '
It's natural. They did it with Gray Davis; they'll do it with Arnold Schwarzenegger.'"
In the article, Zapler looks at legislative efforts on greenhouse gases, children's health care and the minimum wage.
Meanwhile, at his press conference, Perata took one issue off the table. "President Pro Tem Don Perata
said a redistricting change could wait for a ballot in 2008 and that voters would distrust any attempt by lawmakers to modify term limits. He also said he was wary of tying passage of one proposal to the other," reports the AP's Steve Lawrence.
And yet, even as Perata was speaking, we hear that
Ted Costa,
Fred Keeley and others were huddled in the governor's office talking about a term limits/redistricting proposal.
"'
Term limits, if it is done by the Legislature, will be tremendously scrutinized,' the Oakland Democrat told reporters. '
So I am not looking for the fusion of the two issues at all.'"
However, not all legislative leaders are willing to give up on tying the two issues together this year. "But Assembly Minority Leader
George Plescia, R-San Diego, said Perata might be persuaded to support a deal that would put both proposals on the November ballot."
"'He's shown that he's willing to talk to people,' Plescia said. 'If something could be worked out, he would be all right.'"
"Democrat Phil Angelides
called Thursday for full public financing of California elections, setting up a nasty confrontation with some of the unions that are among his biggest backers in the campaign for governor."
"'
I believe it's time to return to true democracy,' Angelides, the state treasurer, said in Oakland, announcing his support for Proposition 89, dubbed the "clean money" initiative."
True democracy under Prop. 89 would still allow
Angelo Tsakapoulos and family to
independently spend $6 million to elect Phil.
"Success in politics is 'not about how much you can raise, but about the power of your ideals,' he said."
The
Boat Guy looks at the role taxes will play in the gubernatorial campaign. "Taxes will be a major, and perhaps dominant, issue in the duel between Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic challenger Phil Angelides. Even though the state budget continues to leak red ink, Schwarzenegger says he's dead set against raising taxes while Angelides has advocated billions of dollars in new levies, albeit with an irritating lack of detail."
"Whether it's to get around teenage driver's license restrictions, a simple joyride or the only way home in a crowded car,
teens in the state have been climbing into car trunks, sometimes with deadly results," reports the Chron's Lynda Gledhill.
"A fatal accident in Glendora (Los Angeles County) last year has prompted one lawmaker to try to stiffen the penalties for drivers who allow passengers to climb into the trunk of a vehicle, with the goal of educating youth about the dangers of riding in the trunk."
"'These aren't criminals, just young people making poor decisions,' said Assemblyman
Dennis Mountjoy, R-Monrovia (Los Angeles County). 'We want them to be thinking about the consequences.'"
"Under the terms of
AB1850, drivers and those riding in the trunk will face an additional fine of $100 and be assessed one point. For a second violation occurring within one year of a first offense, a fine of $200 will be assessed."
If you have bought a hybrid vehicle but not obtained your diamond lane stickers, you may be too late. "Nearly a year after introducing a program that lets hybrid car owners drive solo in freeway car pool lanes, state officials are
weeks away from capping the 75,000 permits they said they would issue for the exemption," reports the AP.
"As of Thursday, officials said they had received 74,108 applications and issued 62,355 decals."
"'At this point, there's no guarantee you're going to get a sticker,' said
Karen Caesar, a spokeswoman for the California Air Resources Board, which manages the program."
"'The program is not closed yet, but people need to be aware it's very limited and very successful and popular,' she said."
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will
play a game of table tennis with an octogenarian ping-pong champion who said he would only donate to the governor's re-election campaign if he agreed to a match.
First Phil Angelides takes on a 12-year-old in air hockey, and now this.
And yet, the odds appear to be stacked against the governor.
"
Byng Forsberg is a champion ping-pong player in the 75 and over category, having won nearly ever table tennis trophy available to the senior set."
Hey, he didn't say Schwarzenegger had to win...
