TIME: How to Beat Schwarzenegger

[DeepModem Mom]

How to Beat Schwarzenegger
Democratic challenger Phil Angelides, facing the governor's rebound in the polls, tries to cast himself as a Clinton populist
By SONJA STEPTOE/HOLLYWOOD
Posted Thursday, Aug. 17, 2006

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has built his re-election campaign on a platform of "protecting the California dream." But this week his challenger, Democratic State Treasurer Phil Angelides, laid out his own dream theme, with a populist bent.

Trailing Schwarzenegger in the latest statewide Field poll by 8 points, Angelides signaled in a speech Wednesday that his strategy for catching up will include attacking the incumbent's record, tying Schwarzenegger to George W. Bush and positioning himself as a champion of the beleaguered middle class, in the Bill Clinton mold. "The promise of California was a birthright of the many, not a privilege of the few," Angelides said in his speech at the gymnasium of the Boys and Girls Club of Hollywood, flanked by union members and various Democratic officials. "That dream is in jeopardy because hardworking, middle-class families are working longer for less stagnant salaries, soaring gas prices, higher tuition for their kids and higher healthcare costs. We need a governor who will restore the promise of middle-class opportunity... and put hardworking families first."

Angelides appears to be heeding advice from party strategists about how to counter the gains Schwarzenegger has reaped from his recent shift to the political center. Last fall, voters had tagged the Governor as too extremist and rejected several of his special-election ballot proposals. His job approval ratings plummeted to 36%, before rebounding this summer to 49%. The consultants have said Angelides should outline for voters his rationale for rejecting the incumbent while articulating a vision that inspires his base and resonates with the state's big block of moderate voters.

"We're going to make a strong case that this election is a choice between a special-interest, status-quo governor and someone who will stand up for hardworking middle-class people," said Bill Carrick, media strategist for Angelides. He said the Democrat would also continue to link the Republican Governor to the unpopular Republican President, even though Schwarzenegger has made a show of distancing himself from Bush. "When Bush needed Schwarzenegger during his re-election campaign, he was happily at his side. And the Governor has followed the same high-deficit budget policy as this White House," Carrick says. "We are going to connect them in terms of politics and policies."...

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1228640,00.html?cnn=yes