TIME: Geeky Angelides for gay marriage, driver licenses for illegals, tax

[DeepModem Mom]

hikes for the rich -- and trails Arnold by seven points in a Field Poll.

The Man Who'll Face Arnold
Phil Angelides, winner of the Democratic primary to oppose Schwarzenegger in the governor's race, talks about how he hopes to terminate the Terminator
By JEFFREY RESSNER


(KENNETH JAMES / CORBIS)
California State Treasure and Democratic candidate for Governor Phil Angelides thanks his supporters at his election

Posted Wednesday, Jun. 07, 2006

Phil Angelides calls himself the "anti-Arnold." The California state treasurer, who won the Democratic primary Tuesday and will attempt to unseat Governor Schwarzenegger this November, is a geeky-looking real estate developer who speaks with the voice of a wonky politician rather than in the snappy catchphrases of an action-movie star. And, unlike the moderate Republican governor, the 52-year-old Harvard grad is an unabashed liberal who supports hiking the taxes of rich Californians, legalizing gay marriage and granting driver's licenses to undocumented workers.

Angelides, who has served as state treasurer for seven years and is a longtime foe of the Governator, has an uphill battle ahead of him. Aside from the charisma discrepency, Schwarzenegger's popularity ratings, in free fall for much of the past year, have lately rebounded a bit, thanks in part to $7 billion in unexpected tax revenue. In his favor, Angelides is running in a predominantly Democratic state, has the backing of powerful labor unions and may get some mileage out of the current backlash against GOP president George W. Bush. Still, in a Field Poll of 702 likely voters last week looking ahead to the gubernatorial race, Schwarzenegger beat Angelides by 7 percentage points (with a a nearly 4 point margin of error).

The race could get ugly, with both candidates expected to start hurling mud and spending mega-millions on television ads. TIME.com caught up with Angelides the morning after his primary victory and asked him about the race.

Time.com: How do you see the campaign playing out in the months to come?

Angelides: It will be a great debate, one of the most visible races in the nation, and one of the most pivotal elections of 2006. Governor Schwarzenegger and I have very different visions of what makes California strong .It will be a debate between fundamental Democratic and Republican ideals, and there will be a very clear contrast. Whether you're a Democrat, a Republican or an Independent, it will be the debate over values that will be front and center....

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1201907,00.html?cnn=yes

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

1. THE POLL WAS TAKEN LAST WEEK

This was before the election results were final. Now the party will rally around Angelides. I bet he is above arnie in the polls now.

[aquart]

2. "Geeky"? The snide adjectives begin.

[AndyTiedye]

4. It's Open Season on Angelides in the Press from Now On

Their mission is to re-select Ahnold. Whatever it takes.

[Blue_State_Elitist]

6. Arnold=Ratings

How many people will sit through a CNN piece on Angelides if he becomes governor?

Whores...

[AndyTiedye]

12. If The Media Were Interested in Ratings…

…surely they would be reporting all the Repub scandals.
Like the

WATERGATE

But they don't, because their primary mission is NOT ratings, it is keeping the
Repubs in power at all costs.

[AX10]

25. Bingo!

[JI7]

5. able Geek vs incompetent Buffoon

[B3Nut]

10. He should toss that right back at them

And point out that geekiness is a positive. Geeks keep networks working. Geeks find creative solutions to problems. Geeks are smart. Geeks are more fun! :D

That'll frost 'em.

Todd in Beerbratistan <- geek

[JerseygirlCT]

13. Yeah, I don't know, I thought "geek" had sort of become cool

And if used in the sense of computer savvy, there are a whole lot of geeks in CA, aren't there?

[blm]

11. Hey, they used up aloof on Kerry, and insufferable on Gore - now "geeky"

is the new slam of choice.

[PeaceProgProsp]

21. Next, they'll call him "Greeky."

[walkon]

3. Hope he can

stay away from those "earth tones". What a bunch of bought off ninnies we have for Press these days.

[Awsi Dooger]

7. Not high on my expectation list

I prioritize the governorships and this should be a big Dem year. We'll lose California. Like Chuck Todd said yesterday, California govs are historically re-elected almost without exception including Grey Davis.

Celebrity still matters and Arnold will have tons of cash and most of the new voters from 2003 still in his camp. We might have won this race last November but this year it looks like a narrow loss, same ballpark as Busby failed, maybe 4 or 5 points.

[Le Taz Hot]

14. I'm not so sure about that

Some negatives for Ahnie: He can't ride Bush's coattails because the Shrub's numbers are in the toilet. Ahnie has lost his sheen since the last election -- the special election proved that out. A LOT of people who voted for him the first time are disillusioned and won't vote for him again.

Some positives for Ahnie: There are still lots of people enamored with that "terminator" shit -- including and especially the press. That's about it.

Some negatives for Angelides: He doesn't look like a movie star and he won't have the $$ the gropenator has.

Some positives for Angelides: He's got the support of ALL Dems, including the progressives AND he's a helluva lot smarter than Ahnie and should kick Ahnie's steriod-ridden ass in the debates (provided there ARE debates).

I'm thinkin' it's anybody's game here.

[blm]

16. I'm siding with you on this one, with an edge to Angelides -

people in California have been voting for him for so long, he's a known quantity - known as a serious, competent administrator.

Plus, he'll have something Davis did not - CONVICTED Enron officials. Let the ads begin.

[PeaceProgProsp]

24. He also hasn't really won an election yet.

The total of the votes against the recall and the votes for the recall, but for someone other than Arnold were higher than the votes for Arnold/for the recall.

[MattP]

8. Ads hurt Both Candidates

I'm voting for him, but the way they tore each other up helped that idiot in office more than any ad or anything he could do in the next few months. Maybe if we could be like the thugs and pick out who's going to run first without a hard fight before the primary(in most occasions).

[anewdeal]

9. tax hikes and giving drivers licences will hurt him

if he fixed those positions, he'd have this Californians full support.

[slackmaster]

22. The driver's license thing was a nail in Gray Davis' coffin

Too bad Phil doesn't get it.

[rinsd]

27. I disagree. I think the registration fee tripling was what did Davis in

Though the driver's license certainly did not help.

[FrenchieCat]

15. I've met Phil Angelides....and he IS Geeky!

And unfortunately, the imagery for the general election
will be Clark Kent vs. Superman; The 98 Pound glasses wearing weakling vs. the Incredible Hulk; The wimp vs. the macho; which will denote the weak vs. the strong.

Phil's right on the issues, but earns zeros on charisma and charm.

Westley would have had a better chance against Arnold.

Meanwhile Arnold has rehabilitated himself by playing the center.

Barring a miracle and considering the help the media will give Arnold, California will keep it's current Republican Governor......

[oasis]

19. Angelides will have the endorsement of environmental groups.(n/t)

[CAcyclist]

20. You didn't hear him speak if you think that

Angelides may look a little geeky, but he doesn't sound geeky. Win or lose, this is going to be the fight I've been waiting my whole life for.

excerpt from the Time interview:

Your Democratic opponent's adviser says you're open to attacks, calling you "a walking Achilles' heel" who'll be "torn apart" by Schwarzenegger's "Rove-trained wrecking crew." Are you prepared to take the expected negative campaigning?

No matter what this Republican attack machine throws at me, I'm ready. It's important to remember that Arnold Schwarzenegger has hired lots of the Bush-Cheney team to run his re-election. The fact is, the hits I may take in this election are nothing compared to the hits that students and working families have taken under this Governor. I'm ready for the battle.

[PeaceProgProsp]

23. Angelides beat a Republican in the primary and he's going to

beat another one in the General Election, I predict.

I mean this seriously. Westly ran as a Republican. He was anti-tax, pro-capitalism, pro-Stanford (which is short-hand for anti-public education, pro-elitism), and pro-environment in the same way Arnold has and will run on the environment -- ie, in a way that makes middle class progressives think being for the environment makes all your other conservative qualities unimportant.

I think Angelides showed that he can beat those arguments and he'll do it again in the General Election.

[Cha]

17. Revenge of the Geeks..

It ain't gonna be pretty..the gropenator will wish he stayed in bad movies.

[oasis]

18. What about those sexual harrassment charges Arnie? Is it still "old news"?

Arnie said he would address all questions about the charges "after" the first election. At a press conference following the election, he was asked about when he would answer questions about his misbehavior.

Arnie's reply:"That's old news".

[Retrograde]

26. I'll vote for him (probably) but I won't like it

I voted for Westley in the primary Tuesday because I thought he had a decent chance to win in November. Angelides is too DLC-machine for my tastes.

ETA: the primary election had the lowest voter turnout on record. Bah.

[AtomicKitten]

28. for your information

Why are some of the more strident opinions here at DU not based in fact but rather on rumor and rhetoric?


from DailyKos @ http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/7/22/12462/5624

excerpt:
Democrats have a choice to make -- stand with the DLC, or stand with the grassroots and netroots of the party. It's interesting that Democrats with a strong sense of self -- those who truly know what they stand for and are unafraid to say so -- are those least interested in the DLC's snake oil. Obama twice had to demand the DLC take him off their list. California's Phil Angelides -- the next governor of the Golden State given Ahnold's spectacular collapse -- also demanded to be taken off their list. Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, who's anti-war floor speech made the internet rounds last year, also demanded to be taken off their list. Western Democrats in Montana -- blood red territory -- have shown no interest in cozying up with the DLC.

[CAcyclist]

29. DLC ?

Check out his campaign speech and then tell me if you still think he's DLC? Does this sound DLC to you? The fact is, $36 million and priceless free advertising from corporate media moguls have shamelessly distorted and contorted the real Angelides. We, the real grassroots, saw through that. Now it's time for the rest of you to find out the truth.

Excerpt from Phil Angelides speech:

Now, there are some who will tell you we can't afford to meet our crushing fiscal problems and also invest in our people. There are others who talk a good game, but won't say how they'll get the job done.

So let's look at the facts: the most fortunate Californians, those earning more than half a million a year, and the big corporations are getting 17 billion dollars every year in tax breaks and loopholes from this state and from President Bush. 17 billion, with a "B."

This, at a time when Governor Schwarzenegger is jacking up college tuition, shortchanging our classrooms, cutting aid for the blind, aged, and disabled. It's wrong - and it's got to stop.

As your Governor, I'll roll back some of those tax giveaways so we can fund our schools, and reverse Arnold Schwarzenegger's tuition and fee hikes.

If George Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger think it's fine for young men and women to sacrifice their lives in the sands of Iraq, then their big-money backers can sacrifice to give our young people the best schools in the world.

As your Governor, I'll take on the big polluters to protect our environment and make California the global leader in the fight against global warming.

As your Governor, I'll stand up to HMO profiteering and expand health care for working Californians, starting with all children.

As your Governor, I will do everything in my power to stand up to the Bush administration in Washington - to speak out against a war in Iraq that wounds our conscience as well as our young people - and to give Nancy Pelosi a Democratic President in 2008 so we can bring Democratic values to all of America.

I've been fighting for those values - for each one of you - for too long to back down now.

And when people say there's no difference between the candidates - when they ask you, why even choose one over the other at this convention --

I ask you: who has been there with you, through all the tough battles? Who can you count on, to stop the Bush-Schwarzenegger assault on our values? Who can you depend on, to be a champion for the hard-working families of this state - no matter the politics or the poll numbers?

We have to win this election. But we have to set our sights even higher - on the California of our dreams. A place that rewards hard work and initiative, not back-door lobbying. A place that gives people a hand up, and doesn't just drown corporations in more hand-outs.