First of all, I apologize the long silence here.  I’ve been out of town visiting family.  You know how that can be… As for good ol’ California politics, well, don’t worry, I never leave that behind:

When Ahnold was strong, we had two candidates announce for his position.  The logic for the early entry into the race for both candidates was that they needed plenty of time to challenge such a strong contender.  Obviously this is not the case anymore.  But now we still have two candidates.

Their similarities are some of their strengths.  They both had successful business careers.  Both have been involved in Democratic politics for some time.  However their similarities can be their weakness, with less than stellar name recognition being cheif among these.

For the most part, Angelides and Westly have taken similar stands on high-profile issues. Both favor abortion rights, gun control and gay marriage. Both have been forceful advocates of environmental protection. Both have championed organized labor.

Both are also strangers to most Californians: a Times Poll in October found 70% of likely voters knew too little about Angelides to have a good or bad impression of him, and 83% drew a blank on Westly. LA Times 12/27

The worrying thing about this is that the primary could get messy.  A messy fight is the last thing we need when trying to defeat a well-funded, well-known commodity like the Governator.

With big-name Democrats passing up the chance to make a run at ousting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the party’s June primary is taking shape as a race between two virtual unknowns who appear headed toward a harsh campaign that some party leaders fear could benefit the Republican incumbent.

“The Democrats can’t afford a bitter and nasty campaign,” said state party Chairman Art Torres. “The voters will be turned off by that.”

Check out the whole article, but you get the point.  Over the next few days, before I head out of town to Brazil after the new year,  I plan on combing the Internets and building profiles of both candidates.  perhaps I’ll finally be able to settle upon one as my favorite…or perhaps not, but either way, it should be informative.  I hope to have the first one out (on Steve Westly) in a couple of days.  The Phil Angelides one should be a few days after that.  Keep an eye out. 🙂