"The two major party candidates for governor
extended their brawl across California on the traditional Labor Day kickoff to the fall campaign, with Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger paying a nostalgic visit to Muscle Beach in Venice on Monday while his Democratic rival
Phil Angelides dashed to union rallies to rouse rank-and-file Democrats," report Michael Finnegan and Robert Salladay in the Times.
If that doesn't sum up this race in a nutshell, we don't know what does.
"Schwarzenegger's day had the tone of a victory swing. At Republican volunteer centers in San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles counties, he all but ignored Angelides, whose image the governor has sullied in television ads depicting his challenger as being too eager to raise taxes."
"Buoyed by his recent legislative deals with Democrats on global warming, prescription drugs and the minimum wage, Schwarzenegger told campaign volunteers in Carlsbad that Californians elected him on faith in 2003, but he expected more in 2006."
"'This time, I want people to go work for me, and to vote for me not as an act of faith, but as an act of confidence — confidence in what we have accomplished the last three years,' he said."
Or, at least the last three weeks.
The governor
found a particularly friendly audience at a NASCAR race in San Bernardino. "As he prepared to address hundreds of enthusiastic fans in the NASCAR party tent before the races, the governor acknowledged that the 18-to-45-year-old males who were his fans when he was a Hollywood star have maintained their loyalty to him in his role in Sacramento," writes the Chron's Carla Marinucci.
"'My movies have appealed to that crowd,' said Schwarzenegger, who was greeted with cries of 'Arnold' and 'four more years!' as he mingled with celebrities like pop singer
Kelly Clarkson and star chef
Wolfgang Puck, a fellow Austrian. 'That's the background I came from, and it carries some assets.'"
"'This crowd is why I've been successful in my show business career. Obviously, I appreciate that,' Schwarzenegger said. 'And I know this is what I need in order to be on top.'"
What, no mention of Arnold as the NASCAR candidate? How long before that pearl of hard-hitting analysis finds its way into print?
Carla Marinucci and John Wildermuth write in the Chron: "Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides, aiming to energize union members and party activists on Labor Day,
charged that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a 'first-class fraud' whose moderate stands on issues like global warming and a minimum wage increase will disappear if he is re-elected."
"'The fact is, this is a guy who wouldn't know the truth if it slapped him in the face,' said Angelides, who spent the traditional opening of the fall campaign on a four-city fly-around that took him across the state. 'What he's doing, for 90 days before the election, is trying to trick the people of California to save his own job ... (but)
his conversion is as fraudulent as Bush's claims of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.'"
The Bee's Laura Mecoy writes "Angelides also
derided the governor for spending part of his day with bodybuilders."
"'
I have a muscle right here,' Angelides said, pointing to his heart, "that is going to fight for you each and every day.""
Let us just say, for the record, we're so glad he pointed to his heart. We got scared a bit when we read that quote.
"Angelides is expected to pick up an important Democratic endorsement today from Los Angeles Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa."
"An Orange County Register analysis has found that the governor's office
is putting out nearly twice as many policy-related press releases per month in 2006 as it has in previous years," reports the Register's Charles Proctor
"The spike comes as Schwarzenegger battles state Treasurer Phil Angelides for votes in the race for governor."
"Lawmakers are allowed to use tax dollars and taxpayer-funded resources to publicize their activities and positions as officeholders, though they are prohibited by law from using that money to aid a campaign."
"Analysts say the governor's increased appetite for attention is what you'd expect of any public official who's in a fight for re-election."
"'Everybody in every gubernatorial office everywhere knows when their boss is running for re-election,' said
Bob Stern, the president of the Center for Governmental Studies. 'So there is obviously a bias toward making the governor look good.'"
"Were the California Legislature's 120 districts fairly drawn, the end of the legislative session would ignite a two-month frenzy of campaigning for an election that would determine the Capitol's ideological direction," writes Dan Walters in the Bee.
"
The districts, however, are not fairly drawn. Leaders of both parties conspired after the 2000 census to freeze the partisan status quo, and the districts were reconfigured to enforce that agreement -- in effect designating the party ownership of every legislative seat for 10 years. Since then, voters in just three districts have bucked the politicians' decrees."
"That said, there are a few legislative seats in play this year. Their candidates will be receiving inordinate amounts of attention over the next couple of months, even though the outcomes will have virtually no impact on the Capitol's balance of power."
Walters looks at the seats of
Joe Dunn (open),
Jeff Denham,
Shirley Horton,
Bonnie Garcia,
Nicole Parra and
Barbara Matthews (open).
"For the first time, [Orange] County's GOP is
requiring incumbent candidates to join a special party association and pay a $200 membership fee if they want to receive the party's 'early endorsement,'" write Seema Mehta and Christian Berthelson in the Times.
"The designation would give the candidates an early edge against Republican challengers in local races, offering them official GOP bragging rights during the campaign and for fundraising. In local elections, where voters are often unfamiliar with the candidates and media coverage is scarce, a party endorsement is a powerful signal to voters."
"
Allan Hoffenblum, a longtime Republican strategist who publishes the nonpartisan California Target Book, an insider's guide for handicapping state and federal races, said the plan sends the wrong message."
"'It cheapens the endorsement,' Hoffenblum said. 'They should know better.'"
