Tag Archives: angelides

A vote for Angelides is a vote FOR Angelides!

If you’re a California voter, and you’re considering _not_ voting for Phil Angelides for Governor, or (even worse) voting _for_ Schwarzenegger, please read this. It’s a brief guide on why Angelides is worth voting for. I will post a second diary, in a day or two, on why Schwarzenegger is worth voting against!

*WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE FOR ANGELIDES*
He is not sexy, and he is not charismatic, and he is not running the greatest campaign, but Angelides _is_ a smart, forward-thinking policy wonk. Haven’t we had enough of the “cult of personality” candidates? How about one who knows what he’s doing? These examples of Angelides’s leadership are not of the headline-grabbing variety, but they amply demonstrate his knowledge of complex issues, and the people-first approach he takes to politics.

*Leadership During the California Energy Crisis*
While then-Governor Gray Davis was struggling to figure out what to do, and Schwarzenegger was meeting with Ken Lay, who was trying to preserve the deregulation that had caused the crisis, Angelides was taking the lead in proposing a state power authority, and flying to New York to calm financial markets:

Packed with reporters, the press conference was a high-energy affair. Burton, the pugnacious San Francisco liberal who once employed Angelides’ wife, Julie, on his legislative staff, insisted that Angelides’ proposal for a state power authority to build new generating capacity, finance energy conservation and alternative energy and possibly take over utility transmission lines, was the key to any long-term solution for California’s energy woes, repeatedly deferring to the younger man for the details on what had become the Senate leader’s bill. Later, Burton, who has often criticized Davis for moving slowly and not far enough, said of Angelides, “Phil is doing what a leader does.”

It’s not what a state treasurer has usually done, though, as was apparent that afternoon when a reporter and news photographer met up with Angelides at the meeting of one of the nine financial authorities his office oversees. Meeting in muted light and hushed tones in a small amphitheater-style state auditorium, the Debt Limit Allocation Committee seemed surprised to see someone snapping pictures. One staffer came up to ask who we were. The intense Angelides had come and gone by then, deciding to go back to his office to work on the power authority proposal and prepare for a trip to New York to calm financial analysts who were worried about the state’s economy. A deputy toiled on in his stead.

*Fought to Save State Budgets*
In February 2002, with state budgets collapsing nationwide, Angelides, along with Felix Rohatyn, “the financier who helped save New York City from bankruptcy in the ’70s,” New York Comptroller Carl McCall, and University of Texas professor James Galbraith proposed to Congress a “revenue-sharing block grant to prevent” state budget cuts in “schools, health care, roads, and mass transit and environmental safety.”

*Fought to Shut Down Corporate Tax Havens*
As Peter Meade wrote, in the August 14, 2002 Boston Globe (it doesn’t appear to be still online):

California Treasurer Philip Angelides, a board member of the California Public Employees Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, is proposing that the nation’s first and third largest pension funds divest holdings in tax-haven companies.

And he made good on his promise:

Arianna Huffington in Salon, in March 2003:

Reeling from the most severe state fiscal crisis since the Great Depression — it’s a tossup whether 47 states will be able to balance their books next year — state officials across America are also taking up the anti-tax haven charge. North Carolina has already passed legislation banning government contracts for expatriated companies. Similar bills are currently pending in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and California — where treasurer Phil Angelides is refusing to invest any of the state’s money in companies incorporated in tax havens.

*Fought for Mutual Fund Transparency*
In August 2002, Arianna Huffington wrote in Salon about the danger to investors when large mutual funds are conflicted by the revenue they generate from large corporate contracts.

Mutual funds are now among the largest owners of American corporations, controlling close to $3 trillion in stock. The 75 largest mutual fund companies control 44 percent of the voting power at U.S. companies. So there are enormous consequences for all of us when the owners elect not to act like owners but like timorous lackeys desperate to please management.

But that’s exactly what’s happening because of a gargantuan conflict of interest: The giant mutual funds are serving two masters. As owners of huge amounts of stock, it is their job to hold incompetent or self-interested management accountable. But there are massive fees coming their way when corporate executives award them 401K and pension fund assets to invest.

———————————————————————————–

Those running the mutual funds know that if they create controversy they jeopardize their chances of getting the contracts for these services. And it’s definitely controversial to make a stink about excessive CEO pay packages, blank-check loans to senior executives, or abusive accounting strategies. That’s why the whistle they should be blowing seems stuck in their throat.

So they hold their tongues, don’t ask the tough questions, and time and again refuse to disclose how they vote on proxy ballots. And as California Treasurer Phil Angelides told me: “That silence speaks volumes.” Angelides is at the forefront of demanding that mutual funds be more transparent, but, so far, to no avail.

*Opposed Bush’s Cuts on Corporate Taxes*
Schwarzenegger likes to pretend he’s a moderate (more on that later), but one thing he’s never spoken out against is tax cuts that favor the wealthy and powerful. He _is_ wealthy and powerful, and enjoys its benefits. Angelides immediately recognized the danger from Bush’s tax cuts, and his criticism was cited by the New York Times (firewalled):

Phil Angelides, the California treasurer, said, “there is no question” that the Bush plan would cost states more and drive investors “away from bonds that broadly benefit the public at a time we have enormous infrastructure needs.”

*Opposed Schwarzenegger’s Hypocritical First Budget*
When Schwarzenegger campaigned against Gray Davis, one of his major points of criticism was Davis’s attempt to solve California’s budget deficit by selling bonds. Immediately upon taking office, Schwarzenegger began developing his own bonds proposal. Most Democrats cowered before Schwarzenegger’s star power, and instead of calling him on his obvious hypocrisy, supported it. Steve Westly was Schwarzenegger’s Democratic point man, when it came time to sell the plan to the public. Angelides?

From the L.A. Times, in January 2004:

Few Democrats could top state Treasurer Phil Angelides in crafting a nasty description for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first budget: He called it “morally and economically bankrupt.”

—————————————————————————————

He faulted Schwarzenegger for proposing billions of dollars in new debt to extract California from its fiscal crisis without raising taxes. The burden of interest payments in the years ahead, Angelides argued, would siphon sorely needed money from schools, transportation and other areas vital to California’s economy.

as the San Francisco Chronicle editorialized:

In fact, some Democrats observed Friday that some of the dodge-and-defer approaches in the Schwarzenegger budget were reminiscent of those attempted by his predecessor, Gray Davis. Treasurer Phil Angelides, who was critical of Davis’ gimmicks, noted that Schwarzenegger proposes to close the $14 billion gap with about $8 billion of “one-time fixes,” such as deferring certain spending commitments in education and transportation.

“It does not, in my mind, meet the test of truthfulness, economic soundness or fairness,” Angelides said.

*Opposed a Major HMO Merger*
According to the Associated Press, in September of last year, Angelides led opposition to the merger of two major health insurers, a deal that would have provided over _three hundred million dollars_ in payments, bonuses, and stock options to the companies’ executives! He is also investigating whether a similar merger, the year before, was responsible for subsequent premium hikes charged to the merged corporation’s policy holders.

*So, What Does It All Mean?*
As State Treasurer, Angelides’s portfolio has had a very narrow, but very important focus. And if you look at his actions, a pattern becomes obvious: Angelides puts people first! He isn’t afraid to take on big corporations when they put profits ahead of the common good. He’s fiscally responsible, and doesn’t believe in budget gimmicks that defer problems to the future. He believes it is government’s role to provide good schools, adequate health care, reliable infrastructure, mass transit, and a healthy environment. Sounds like a Democrat!

As Harold Meyerson put it, when the L.A. Weekly endorsed Angelides in the primary:

In short, like New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (now running for governor in his state), Angelides has used his power to try to curtail the excesses of winner-take-all capitalism, and to establish a more socially responsible capitalism in its stead. For that matter, Angelides and Spitzer are just about the only elected officials at any level of government to have taken on the culture of boardroom chicanery during the past decade, and Angelides stands alone, alas, for the magnitude of his efforts to put capital to remunerative but also socially necessary purposes.

*What Else?*
Angelides’s website offers detailed stands and plans on a host of issues, but I’ll briefly describe a few of my favorites:

-Supports NET NEUTRALITY.

-Supports gay marriage. The legislature passed a bill legalizing it, but Schwarzenegger vetoed it. Given the chance, Angelides will sign it! This section, from
Angelides’s website, honestly explains the evolution of his thoughts on the issue:

Angelides’s personal struggle with the issue prepared him for a lunch meeting with state Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) in the winter of 2004. Leno had introduced his first gay marriage bill in Sacramento that February 12 – the same day San Francisco began marrying same-sex couples – and he was looking for support from the state’s top Democrats.

At that point, the only statewide officeholder to support his bill was then-Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, a liberal Democrat from San Francisco. Unsure what Angelides’s response would be, Leno had a hunch he could convince him to support the legislation. As he would find out, it didn’t take much arm-twisting.

“It took a while for us to build universal support. He was one of the first people I went to see,” said Leno, who said Angelides’s response “was unequivocal at that point.”

Angelides has not wavered on the issue since, despite some Democrats’ contention gay marriage was responsible for the party’s defeat in the 2004 presidential election. In fact, when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed Leno’s marriage bill last summer, Angelides publicly pledged if he were to be governor, he would sign the measure into law.

He did so, he said, “because I thought it was the right thing to do. I always want to see my state on the right side of history. If you look at the long march where this country’s been, it’s been a society that has moved toward more inclusion, more civil liberties, not less. I know this is where we will be and the sooner we get there the better. It is interesting to see how all our attitudes are changing.”

-Recruit, train, and support 40,000 new teachers during his first term.

-Roll back Schwarzenegger’s obscene college tuition and fee hikes

-Provide fellowships to up to 10,000 undergrads who pursue degrees in science, math, and engineering.

-Expand by 50% career and technical academies.

-Provide health insurance for all California’s children.

-Strictly regulate HMOs, including enforcing the existing law prohibiting excessive CEO salaries, and a law (unenforced by Schwarzenegger) ensuring that HMO subscribers are able to get the care they’ve paid for in a timely fashion.

-Guarantee maternity coverage by all insurance companies- the legislature passed such a bill, but Schwarzenegger vetoed it.

-Create a state website explaining how to buy cheaper prescription drugs from out of state (as many states already provide); Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation creating such a website.

-Prohibit the charging of excess premiums on prescription drugs for those uninsured or under-insured.

-Push Congress to repeal Bush’s law that banned states from providing free prescription drugs to Medicare recipients, which forced about a million Medi-Cal recipients to either begin paying for drugs they can’t afford, or do without them; and by buying in bulk, Medi-Cal was able to negotiate much cheaper prices than are allowed by Bush’s law.

-Declare a state of emergency for California’s prisons, which a federal judge has taken control of, due to Schwarzenegger’s mismanagement.

-Improve and expand rehabilitation, education, job training, and mental health and substance abuse treatment for state prisoners.

-Institute lobbying reform, including the creation of a rule requiring the governor to disclose personal gifts from corporations and other special interests; Schwarzenegger has taken millions of dollars worth of gifts, such as lodging, personal promotion, personal events, and expensive foreign junkets, and has refused to disclose who paid for them.

-Require registration and disclosure of all lobbyist contacts with the Coastal Commission.

-Close the loopholes on conflict-of-interest rules and penalties for statewide office holders that apply to the legislature.

-Prohibit state employees from simultaneously working for another employer, which both Schwarzenegger and his staff have done, thus creating more than questionable conflicts-of-interest.

-Oppose Diebold certification; Republican Secretary of State Bruce McPherson made the certification, but his opponent, State Senator Debra Bowen, will de-certify, when elected. Side note: send her money! She’s the real deal!

-Invest $5.5 billion of Prop. 87 and pension fund monies to develop and sell clean, renewable alternative sources of energy.

-Require that auto and oil companies give California drivers clean fuel choices.

-Enact “enforceable greenhouse gas emissions limits and create an enforceable, market-based cap and trade program to drive greenhouse gas emissions lower.”

-“Convert all state and local government fleets to clean, efficient vehicles.”

-Create a comprehensive plan to fight urban sprawl.

-“Identify, purchase, and protect key undeveloped portions of the coast.”

-Fight for a permanent ban on off-shore oil and gas drilling.

-“Restore funding for the Coastal Commission and other coastal protection agencies that have been cut under Schwarzenegger’s watch.”

-Middle Class tax cuts.

*And a Final Note To Former Westly Supporters*
The primary was ugly, and _both sides_ flung a lot of dirt, but it is now over! We have a Democratic nominee! We all respected Ned Lamont for announcing that he’d support Lieberman, should Lieberman win their primary; and we’re all pissed at Connecticut Democrats who now _won’t_ support Lamont, their party’s nominee. The same should apply, here. Angelides won. Westly lost. Angelides is the only Democrat on the ballot. Had Westly won, I would be writing a diary supporting his election. The experts say that, despite the polls, if Angelides can improve his standing by just _ten percent_ among California _Democrats_, he can win this race. It’s time to come home!

*If you’ve read this entire diary, you now know something critically important about Phil Angelides: he’s a _real_ Democrat! He gets it!* Gray Davis was a quisling DINO. Angelides has progressive ideals, and has the guts to fight for the common good! We haven’t had a _real_ Democrat in the Governor’s chair since Jerry Brown, a generation ago! It’s time!

(_crossposted to DailyKos_)

CA-Gov: Help Phil Angelides Get on The Tonight Show

(I’m into the quick one word judgments these days. So Jay Leno: BAD! – promoted by SFBrianCL)

Update: Wow – over 3600 people have sent messages!  Our mobile network friends are making phone calls (click here to sign up for text messages).  Can we get to 4000 today?  Click here to tell your friends!

Update: This afternoon the campaign sent a letter to the station managers at California’s 11 NBC affiliates demanding that they pull tonight’s broadcast of the “Tonight Show” featuring Governor Schwarzenegger and to halt promos for tonight’s broadcast, or provide Phil with equal time.

In December of 2003, 32 NBC affiliates pulled an episode of “Saturday Night Live” that featured then Presidential candidate Al Sharpton due to equal time considerations.  Click here to read more

Some additional news for our Calitics friends:

Several minutes of exposure on one of America’s most popular late night talk shows? Worth millions.

Not having to answer tough questions from reporters? Fantastic.

Having the taxpayers foot the bill for The Tonight Show jaunt? Priceless.

Tonight Arnold Schwarzenegger will receive from NBC and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno what can only be described as a free multi-million dollar infomercial when the Governor appears (in violation of FCC equal time rules) on The Tonight Show.

As if being handed what amounts to millions of dollars worth of free exposure on national television four weeks from Election Day and as Californians are already casting absentee ballots weren’t enough, it has now come to our attention that the taxpayers of California get to foot the bill for The Tonight Show visit.

That’s right folks. The Governor’s own spokesperson has confirmed that the Governor’s jaunt to hang with buddy Jay Leno is “official,” which means taxpayers get the bill for this trip.

It is an insult to the people of California that Governor Schwarzenegger has time to pal around on a talk show but doesn’t have the time to debate his opponent and defend his record.  After spending $35 million in his campaign of mass deception, the last thing the Governor needs is a gift from the network.

Schwarzenegger should reimburse the state for this trip.

Click here to get Phil on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Update: 1:33pm – 2417 messages. 1:03pm – 2205 messages.  As of 12:42pm, 2054 messages have been sent to NBC and The Tonight Show!

 

We’ve always thought the Schwarzenegger Administration is a joke.  And apparently so does Jay Leno.

Perhaps that’s why Leno invited Schwarzenegger to appear for a few laughs on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno alongside supermodel Heidi Klum and a Las Vegas circus act on Wednesday night.

There’s only one problem with that – it appears to violate the FCC rules and regulations regarding equal time for candidates during campaign season.

This is where you come in. We’ve already contacted The Tonight Show with Jay Leno about Phil appearing on the show, but we think they need a little extra nudge.

Click here to get Phil on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Governor Schwarzenegger’s exclusive appearance on The Tonight Show constitutes a violation of the equal time rule – an appearance by a candidate on a program that reaches all of California’s voters and provides favorable treatment to that candidate.

In order to remove the appearance of any bias, we’ve asked The Tonight Show to have Phil appear or – even better – invite both candidates for Governor to appear for a second mini-debate.  So far, NBC has not responded to our request.

We’re not the only ones concerned about Governor Schwarzenegger’s appearance. Yesterday, Congressman Xavier Becerra also sent a letter to the FCC, noting NBC’s violation of the law. But we need more people to speak out!

Click here to get Phil on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The only thing that’s not funny is the Governor’s contempt for California voters: No time for more than one hour-long debate, but plenty of time to pal around with his Hollywood friends.

Cross posted on MyDD, DailyKos, and Voices of CA.

Help us fight the Schwarzenegger special interest money!  Click here to make a contribution.

Outrage over Schwarzenegger’s Debate Remarks

(Did he learn a lesson in politics or policy? He attempts to obfusicate it, but he let down his guard here. He thinks the policies of the special were sound policy. They weren’t. At all. – promoted by SFBrianCL)

We just put out a press release about Arnold’s comments about the special election that he made during the debate.  It was the key point in the debate, making a clear contrast between the two candidates.  Here are some excerpts from the press release and a YouTube clip of Angelides and Schwarzenegger addressing the special election.

Sacramento – Today the Alliance for a Better California, the coalition of firefighters, teachers, cops and nurses that came together to overwhelmingly defeat Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s damaging Special Election agenda, called on the Governor to renounce the remarks he made during this weekend’s debate saying his policies attacking working families were “good ideas.”

“It’s clear that not only has Arnold Schwarzenegger learned nothing from his disastrous Special Election last year, but that he is arrogantly defying the will of California’s voters by saying those rejected, failed policies were good ideas,” said Lou Paulson, President of the California Professional Firefighters. “This Governor cannot be trusted – there is not a doubt in my mind that he will continue to attack our public education system and to eliminate secure retirement for public safety employees, including for the families of those killed in the line of duty.”

In addition, Schwarzenegger used much of the same campaign rhetoric during the debate that he used during the Special Election to sell his damaging initiatives. In particular, Prop. 76, dubbed by the Schwarzenegger campaign the “Live Within Our Means Act,” was resoundingly defeated by 25 points. Yet Schwarzenegger repeatedly used that phrase several times during this weekend’s debate to talk about current policies, setting off alarm bells to those concerned about further drastic cuts to education.

“There is no question that this Governor has broken his promises to California’s students time and again, especially when he tried to cut billions from our schools,” said Barbara E. Kerr, President of the California Teachers Association. “California voters soundly rejected his proposal to eliminate our minimum school funding guarantee and to give him the power to cut school budgets without asking anyone. So now, to call those good ideas shows he didn’t listen at all last year. I have serious concerns about which Arnold Schwarzenegger would show up after Election Day – the one who makes promises to our schools, or the one who repeatedly breaks them?”

Schwarzenegger also attacked Angelides by claiming he didn’t come out of his office during protests of the Davis Administration. But Governor Schwarzenegger never once came outside of his multi-million dollar fundraisers to acknowledge those who had come out to make their voices heard.

The failed agenda that Schwarzenegger appears to be embracing anew as “good ideas” included:

  • Destroying the minimum school funding law approved by voters and permanently slashing school funding by $4 billion, approximately $600 per student.
  • Giving the Governor the power to cut funding for education and public safety without consulting anyone.
  • Punishing new teachers by extending their probation period and eliminating their right to a fair hearing.
  • Denying public employees, including firefighters, teachers, cops and nurses, a voice in the political process.
  • Allowing 3 retired judges to redraw district lines based on outdated census data.

CA-Gov: Live Blogging from the Debate

Hi, Hilary and Lola here from Angelides 2006.  We’re going to be live blogging from the CA Gubernatorial debate.  We hope you’ll join us and leave your comments.  Remember, you can watch it streaming starting at 6pm PST on www.abc7.com or on the stations listed here.  We will also be posting updates on DailyKos, MyDD, and of course, the campaign blog, Voices of CA. 

Check out Voices of CA for Reality Checks.  There are a lot…

We’re at Sacramento State now and Phil just arrived.  We just got the report that there were over 100 people outside to greet him (with not a Schwarzenegger supporter in sight) and he stopped to speak before he went in.  He thanked the crowd and talked about tonight as the start of our march toward election day and taking California forward.

Stay tuned.  Our supporters are fired up, Phil is fired up, and we hope you will all be watching.  Lola and I will be live blogging throughout the evening so leave comments and how you think we’re doing!

The debate starts at 6pm and you can watch it streaming at www.abc7.com or click here to see the list of stations.  We will be cross-posting on DailyKos, MyDD, and Calitics as well.

Update: If you want to find out a little bit more about Schwarzenegger’s rhetoric at tonight’s debate before it begins, click here for a handy guide.

Visit Angelides.comClick here to contribute!

CA-GOV Angelides, Passion and Poetry

(true that. – promoted by SFBrianCL)

Went to a private fundraiser last night at the home of one of Sacramento’s wealthiest Democrats.  The local and some of the state party leaders were there, major donors and union representatives.  About 100 people. 

Small talk and short speeches, until Phil Angelides came on to speak.

I am a deeply cynical person who is rarely moved to passion especially by or about politicians.

Angelides spoke with true clarity and passion. Real poetry.

He gets it and he gets California.  If every Californian could hear the Phil Angelides I heard tonight he would get 70% of the vote.

Unfortunately California is a hugely expensive media market and it is almost impossible to reach voters without huge amounts of money. Cash.

While he was speaking I even thought the campaign should start running ads with him speaking directly to voters.  I know that that is usually bad politics, but he really gets it and would connect with voters on a deeply emotional and passionate level.  (Unfortunately he stiffens up a little when there are cameras around)

When politicians can talk like poets, with clarity and passion, on issues that matter, it just moves me, and I want them elected.  I heard a good man tonight wax eloquently and passionately about his vision for a better California, for everyone, and it made me proud.

A true progressive? yes. Can he win? absolutely (call me an optimist). Will a contribution make a difference? yes. Worthy of our support? yes. Will EVERY Californian be better off if he wins? without a doubt.

Angelides Campaign page
http://www.angelides…
ActBlue Page
http://www.actblue.c…

past posts of mine that I like:
30 Second Gas Price Ad
TV’s New Reality Show: Survivor: DC Island
When Diebold becomes a verb, and it will,

CA-Gov: Governor, it’s time to set a date…

(Repeat of the Angelides diary.  Comment preservation. – promoted by SFBrianCL)

from the Diaries, by the Angelides camp – Neutron

We’re not planning a wedding, but you can help with some  “invitations”…

Have you heard? Governor Schwarzenegger has only committed to one appearance but no traditional debates with Democrat Phil Angelides this Fall.

What’s the difference between what the Governor wants and a traditional debate? In a traditional debate, the candidates stand at podiums and answer tough questions from a panel of journalists. Governor Schwarzenegger hasn’t agreed to that – he’s agreed to have a casual chat with Phil moderated by a former Republican legislator on camera.

Click here to send Governor Schwarzenegger’s campaign an “invitation” to at least debates on critical issues facing California!

You can help, here’s how – we want to send Governor Schwarzenegger’s campaign as many invitations as we can to a series of traditional debates with Phil on critical issues facing California!

There are 54 days remaining in this critical election and so much is at stake. A series of debates, not just a single joint appearance, will be a great service to the people of California.  It is our hope to have at least two debates. Such a series of debates would provide California’s voters with the information that they need to cast an informed vote this November.  The voters of California deserve a full and open debate between the two candidates for Governor regarding the critical issues facing our state.

Click here to send Governor Schwarzenegger’s campaign an “invitation” to at least debates on critical issues facing California!

Let’s show Governor Schwarzenegger what the people expect from him!

Visit our blog www.VoicesofCA.com, make a contribution!

Governor, it’s time to set a date…

(Welcome Angelides peeps. – promoted by SFBrianCL)

We’re not planning a wedding, but you can help with some  “invitations”…

Have you heard? Governor Schwarzenegger has only committed to one appearance but no traditional debates with Democrat Phil Angelides this Fall.

What’s the difference between what the Governor wants and a traditional debate? In a traditional debate, the candidates stand at podiums and answer tough questions from a panel of journalists. Governor Schwarzenegger hasn’t agreed to that – he’s agreed to have a casual chat with Phil moderated by a former Republican legislator on camera.

Click here to send Governor Schwarzenegger’s campaign an “invitation” to at least debates on critical issues facing California!

You can help, here’s how – we want to send Governor Schwarzenegger’s campaign as many invitations as we can to a series of traditional debates with Phil on critical issues facing California!

There are 54 days remaining in this critical election and so much is at stake. A series of debates, not just a single joint appearance, will be a great service to the people of California.  It is our hope to have at least two debates. Such a series of debates would provide California’s voters with the information that they need to cast an informed vote this November.  The voters of California deserve a full and open debate between the two candidates for Governor regarding the critical issues facing our state.

Click here to send Governor Schwarzenegger’s campaign an “invitation” to a series of one-on-one, traditional debates with Phil Angelides!

Let’s show Governor Schwarzenegger what the people expect from him!

Visit our blog www.VoicesofCA.com, make a contribution!

Time for Phil to be the Hero

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced he will veto the universal health care bill recently passed by both houses of the CA legislature. His announcement, said the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, reads “like a health insurer’s advertising dream, full of catch phrases that twist the truth in order to frighten consumers…”

FTCR also noted that the health industry boosted Schwarzenegger to nearly $100 million in campaign donations with a $125,000 burst of contributions in August alone. The industry has given him $4 million overall.”

The universal health care plan is solid, and everyone in California–individuals, families, small businesses, large corporations, hospitals, doctors, nurses–everybody but bloated private insurance companies–need this. Arnold has given Phil Angelides the issue he can champion. Phil needs to heed this call, and be the hero.

I don’t use the term lightly. “A leader, not an actor” may be a clever tagline for his TV spots, but like it or not, Phil Angelides is a major player in a political drama. An experienced Hollywood hand like his opponent, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, knows this instinctively: political campaigns are pure melodrama, and the successful candidate makes himself the hero.

Melodrama is emotional, it’s big and it’s black-and-white. There are no self-contradictory gods as in Greek myth, or heroes with fatal flaws as in classical drama. It’s the virtuous hero overcoming impossible odds to defeat the despicable villain. Melodrama means drama with melody: a musical soundtrack. It’s opera in all its forms—high, light, horse, space and soap. It is also the basic form of TV commercials, especially for politicians.

“The new politics of democracy,” writes political scientist Alan Wolfe, “resembles a daytime television melodrama more than an academic seminar: attention is captured when conscience is tempted, courage displayed, determination rewarded, wills broken, egos checked, pride humbled, and virtue rewarded.”

In terms of imagery and experience, Hollywood’s Schwarzenegger has the obvious advantage of having starred in melodramas, as both hero and villain. In fact the two distinct halves of his term as Governator replicate his most famous role as the Terminator. In the first movie he’s the Terminator for the powerful machines. In the second he’s switched sides to champion the human rebels. As governor, he represented the Bush Republican right, until his ballot initiatives were defeated. Then he became the champion of more moderate and even liberal measures. Can he be a political hero replicating what he did as a movie hero?

As for Angelides, even though he is unlikely to be cast in a Hollywood melodrama, all is not lost. Some heroes in melodramas of the past fought against injustice, for the little guy and the oppressed. They included reformers, workers, strikers and crusading reporters. There were many popular melodramas about social causes. Probably the most produced American play was Harriet Beecher Stowe’s abolitionist melodrama, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and other Frank Capra film favorites were melodramas, as were stage and film biographies of Abraham Lincoln and FDR.

Past and present political candidates have created their images and developed excitement around their candidacies with the melodramatic appeal of fighting for the little guy. Right now, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is enjoying stratospheric poll numbers in his race for Governor, as the corporate crime-fighting hero. (Wall Street furnished villains for many stage melodramas.) In Connecticut, newly victorious Democratic candidate for Senate Nate Lamont is the people-power, anti-war hero, defined in part by TV commercials crafted by the same Bill Hillsman who helped turn unknown college professor Paul Wellstone into a populist hero.

Health care is a dramatic issue, and the sides are drawn. This plan, as described by the San Francisco Chronicle,“would eliminate private medical insurance plans and establish a statewide health insurance system that would provide coverage to all Californians.”  The need is extreme:”as many as 7 million people are uninsured in the state, and spiraling costs have put pressure on business and consumers.”

  “We know the health care in place today is teetering on collapse,” said Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles. “We need to do something to improve it, to reform it, and this is what we are bringing to the table.”

Of course, as everyone in Hollywood knows, the real drama isn’t on the screen– it’s in the audience. Is this the year for a worker’s champion and a civil liberties, election reform, environmental and above all, a universal health care hero? It must be, win or lose. The only way to find out how this show will play is to mount it with clarity and conviction. And don’t forget the music.

Angelides in SF

(Cross posted at Happening-Here)

Democratic party heavy hitters came to my ‘hood this morning to launch the local subset of the fall California campaign. This doesn’t happen a lot. I live in San Francisco’s Latino district; the rally site at 16th and Mission is not only day laborer terrain, but also drug dealer crossroads and leftist land. It’s much more gritty than pretty. (Note the pigeon in the picture.)

Alerted by Calitics, I charged off at 9:30 to what was billed as a 9:30-11am rally. Not surprisingly, I was more than on time. Just to be clear I should say I’ll be voting for Angelides and probably walk a few precincts, but I don’t have a huge attachment to this race (my political work this cycle will be outside California.)

The crowd, not counting TV cameras and reporters, was very sparse, about 100 people, mostly from organized labor, SEIU, UFCW, a few UFW, Bricklayers. The only identifiable community organization that had sent folks was ACORN.

My little neighborhood sure got the full alignment of big wigs. Pictures below the fold.

1chavez,-anderson,-villarai
left to right: Cindy Chavez (Democratic candidate for mayor of San Jose), Irma Anderson(mayor of Richmond), Antonio Villaraigosa (Los Angeles)

angelides,newsom,bates,farg
Phil Angelides, Gavin Newsom (San Francisco), Tom Bates (Berkeley), and Heather Fargo (Sacramento)

Gotta give it to these folks, they all were disciplined enough so that no one droned on. They spoke, endorsed and gave up the mic. Villaraigosa repeated part of his endorsement in Spanish, appropriately given the ethnicity of the few onlookers.

3onlookers

Angelides made a passable speech. Running for governor has taught him to be less of stick than I remember him being. He came off as a decent policy wonk who aims to represent the interests of ordinary Californians better than Gov. Arnold. Not inspiring, but certainly he’d be an improvement.

Some thoughts on the event from my perspective as a political organizer:

  • Can we ever build a Democratic party that ordinary people care about by relying on TV coverage? Clearly no on-the-ground organization tried very hard to do turnout for this rather high-powered event. Either relying on the media to report it was acceptable to the campaign or somebody screwed up. That was a lot of big shots to make show up for a 15 second evening news photo op.
  • Given the location, this event was presumably designed to attract low income Latino voters. If so, how could I have spent the day yesterday at the immigrant Labor Day march and seen not one flier announcing it? Flyering wouldn’t have greatly improved turnout (it seldom does) but it would have signaled to an energized constituency that Phil Angelides wants to speak to them. Labor (not the big wigs — workers and staffers) did turn out for the immigrant march; they could have made this happen.
  • The most effective political animal on the stage was clearly Gavin Newsom (and I have never been a Newsom supporter.) Why? Because he is tall and has a deep voice. In reality, Villaraigosa is probably the future leader of this lot, but he has much to overcome because he’s really short. One of Angelides’ downsides as candidate is that he’s something of a pipsqueak.
  • Judging from the stage set up, Angelides is running on the slogan “A Governor We Can Count On.” I smell less than artful polling and a cautious consultant there. Who is “we”? Why can we count on this aspiring governor? This slogan probably resonated last year when the unions had tagged Schwarzenegger as a liar who thieved money from the schools. But now that Arnold has remade himself as a “moderate,” Angelides has to present himself as more than “not Arnold” or even “not Bush”. (There was a vague whiff of this potent message.) If he can’t inspire the state, he is not going to trump the star-power of the Terminator.

For all my complaints, it was a pleasant, expeditious event in what must be a core area — I’ll do what I can to elect Angelides.
4angelidesslogan

Kill Phil: Safe-Seat Legislators Virtually Ensure Arnold Win

NOTE: I will be voting for Angelides. I do NOT support Arnold and never have.

California Democrats were faced with the choice of two Pyrrhic victories this year.  Play partisan hardball (a la Republican Congress) with the Governor after his 2005 special election defeat and nudge people towards Angelides, or deal with Arnold and destroy motivation for independents to head to the polls in November.

They chose the later, and it’s done a lot of good, but it will Kill Phil.

More on the flip…

It started with the deal on the infrastructure bonds. Sure, there was some wrangling, but that’s just high stakes negotiation for you.

The budget was on time. More money for schools.

All of that was wonderful and needed.  Then came the two killers.

My theory of California politics is that it’s much more linear than national politics.  The labor/corporate axis is dominant, at least much more so than on the national stage.  So when Arnold made a deal on the minimum wage, it mollified, to some extent, a large part of the Democrats’ support.  In essence, it sent a signal that Arnold was someone that could be dealt with, so ridding us of him was not an emergency.

He did the same thing to environmentalists with the global warming bill, playing into his supposed reputation as an environmentalist, Hummers notwithstanding.

So, who’s left? Social liberals? Arnold has been very quiet on the social front. Check.

That leaves us partisan Democrats.  Even asuming 100% turnout among us, we don’t win an election without a jolt from independents, and Arnold now owns them. (See the PPIC poll.)

I’ve been a big Phil naysayer on this site.  So, you can take what I say in that context. I believe that given these dynamics, unless he was going to run a campaign for real change in our state he was going to lose. Now it’s almost certain.

Blame whoever you want, but unless lightning strikes, it’s the Democratic legislature that did it.

I’m glad they acted this way. They were responsible to the people first.  If only the other side would act that way.

I’ll make a deal with readers of this site.  If there’s not a trend in the next few polls showing independents continuing to break for Arnold, I’ll shut up about this whole thing.