Why They Dislike Schwarzenegger and Angelides

The new L.A. Times poll asked Californians who had an unfavorable opinion of Schwarzenegger and Angelides to explain why. Here are the top answers.

For Schwarzenegger haters:

• Not honest (17%)
• Poor record on education (15%)
• Ineffective/poor track record (11%)
• Personality/arrogant (10%)
• No reason/just dislike him (9%)
• Doesn't understand the problems of California (9%)
• Celebrity (8%)
• Illegal immigration/supports reforms-guest worker (8%)
• Beholden to special interests (6%)

For Angelides haters:

• Not honest/has no integrity (18%)
• Tax plan/will raise taxes (15%)
• No reason/just dislike him (15%)
• Weak leadership qualities (10%)
• Don't agree with him on the issues (10%)
• Negative campaign ads (8%)
• Democrat (8%)
• Lacks charisma (6%)
• Flip-flops on certain issues/Jessica's Law (6%)
• Typical politician (5%)

It's the Leadership, Stupid

In an L.A. Times Poll released just before the 2003 recall, 74% of likely voters said California was headed in the wrong direction, compared to a paltry 19% who were satisfied. Now, 46% believe the state is on the wrong track, compared to 41% who think things are just peachy.

That's a considerable difference, but voters remain grumpy. Why, then, is Schwarzenegger doing so well among this downer group of likely voters? After all, he's in charge. Going deep into the new L.A. Times poll shows the governor's fundamental asset: people believe he would be a better leader.

It's all about power. The governor used the full force of his office to project himself as a chief executive; courted Democratic leaders and embraced their issues; cut back on the harsh rhetoric (even while his campaign amped it up against Angelides); and distanced himself from his corporate supporters (even while vetoing "job-killer" legislation they hated).

Except for cutting back on his harsh rhetoric, Phil Angelides had no power to do any of these things. He can only talk about what he wants to do. That's not leadership, at least not in the eyes of voters.

On major issues, except the environment and public education, Schwarzenegger holds healthy leads among voters who think he would do a better job. But he even leads Angelides by small margins on those two critical issues as well. From the poll:

"Voters, overwhelmingly, think the governor has strong leadership qualities and this may be at the heart of the problem Angelides is facing. Three-fifths of all likely voters believe Schwarzenegger has this attribute, while just a fifth think Angelides does. (This perceived lack of leadership was seen by the voters as a problem for Gray Davis while he was fighting to keep his governor's job during the recall campaign. At that time, only 28% of voters said Davis had shown decisive leadership while serving as governor of California. And the rest is history — he was one of the only governors to be recalled.)"

Who would do a better job handling:

• California's economy: Schwarzenegger 52% Angelides 29% Both/Neither 12%
• The state's budget: Schwarzenegger 49% Angelides 29% Both/Neither 12%
• Immigration issues: Schwarzenegger 43% Angelides 30% Both/Neither 17%
• Public education: Schwarzenegger: 40% Angelides: 38% Both/Neither 12%
• Environmental issues: Schwarzenegger: 37% Angelides 36% Both/Neither 13%

Who do you think has:

• Stronger leadership qualities: Schwarzenegger 60% Angelides 20% Both/Neither 12%
• More honesty and integrity: Schwarzenegger 43% Angelides: 25% Both/Neither 25%

Ugh

"Mr. Burns: your campaign seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?"
—Lisa Simpson's probing question to Montgomery Burns, candidate for governor, in "Two Cars in Every Garage, Three Eyes on Every Fish."

Here are the questions asked today at a Capitol press conference with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger:

• "Governor you have been very visible this week with prominent Democrats — Sen. Perata, Fabian Nunez and others. Looking back on your Hollywood days, could you have scripted a better scenario for your reelection campaign?"



• "Governor, when we talked about your relationship with Speaker Nunez, he said it was at an all-time high. I was wondering if you could tell us what improved it? And if you could look back to 2004 when you called the Legislature 'girlie men,' how did we get from that to where we are now and Speaker Nunez talking about what a wonderful relationship you have?"



• "Are you worried that as your relationship with Democrats gets better, your relationship with Republicans gets worse?"



• "Governor, in July your approval rating among Latinos was about 12% and this week some polls show it's around one-third. What strategy or what bill do you attribute that surge to?"

You can imagine the governor's answers.

To view the video, click here, and click again on the "9/29 biomonitoring bill signing" link under "Video."

How a Bill Becomes a Law

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's bill signing events Wednesday in San Francisco and Malibu were dramatic affairs. As my colleagues reported today, the elaborate ceremonies will be financed in part with corporate donations hidden from public disclosure.

These dramatic events are political at heart, even though the government arranges them.

How do we know this?

Schwarzenegger actually signed the global warming legislation, AB 32, in his Capitol office before attending the ceremonies on Treasure Island and in Malibu. The bills Schwarzenegger inked in front of the cameras were copies.

The bill had already become a law.

At a press conference today, Schwarzenegger said the public events allow the state to "put the spotlight on those people who worked so hard on these bills.... They should get the recognition."

He said he would work until 3 a.m. Saturday, if necessary, to sign the rest of the legislation piled up on his desk.

(Photo: Paul Buck / EPA)

Commie Girl Is Frustrated

Rebecca Schoenkopf over at the OC Weekly seems like a natural Angelides voter, but she's upset ... at the way he's running his campaign. This is the kind of meta debate that can hobble a candidate if people become too obsessed with it. It's not about his policies; it's about the logistics of his campaigning.

Anyway, she has a fun rant below (potty language censored). From her column, Commie Girl:

"His campaign, though? Good Christ. The guy can’t get a lick of media until he does something howlingly stupid. There was that clusterf*** with the 'hot-blooded Cuban' tapes; they tried to ream Schwarzy on it, and he managed to give an apology that made everyone else look small. (Trick to a perfect apology: don't just say you're sorry the sensitive Sallys got offended; explain why it was wrong — that shows you've internalized the lesson. Per the governor: 'I was embarrassed when I read my comments in the newspaper' and 'If I heard my children saying those things, I would be upset.' See? Perfect!) It turned out Angelides' campaign leaked the tapes, a revelation not helped by his prissy schoolmarm act about how deeply offensive the tapes were, when it's stuff you and I and everyone we know say in private."

She has some choice words for the media in there too.

Poll: Spanish Speakers Favor Angelides

A group of Democratic consultants releases a poll tomorrow of 600 Spanish-speaking Californians. It was conducted by a group called the NDN Political Fund and PowerPac.org, both of which describe themselves as progressive. Among the NDN political advisors: Mike McCurry, former press secretary to President Clinton, and Mack McLarty, former Clinton chief of staff.

Here's what they found:

• Among Spanish speakers, Phil Angelides leads Arnold Schwarzenegger 64% to 21%, despite more than half of these voters having no positive or negative opinion of Angelides (54% say he is unknown to them).



• 69% hold a negative view of Schwarzenegger.

Mind you, this is a snapshot from a partisan group looking at people who vote in numbers far smaller than their proportion of the population.

At Least We Weren't the Last

Another political blog is up and running, and this time it's a decidedly partisan affair. Longtime Republican commentator Karen Hanretty and her Democratic counterpart, Robin Swanson, serve up the 2006 election in Behind the Ballot.

A Responsible Debate on Iraq

After mostly ignoring Phil Angelides for several days on the subject of the Iraq war, Arnold Schwarzenegger said today that the Democratic treasurer had been "irresponsible" for meddling in the conflict by suggesting he would fight to bring troops home.

And only a few hours later, Angelides said Schwarzenegger had himself been "irresponsible" for remaining silent on such an important issue.

Not to be "irresponsible," but both candidates make a good point.

Let's stand back a bit and look at this outside of the political context of whether Angelides is helping his poll numbers by talking about the war and appealing to his Democratic base blah blah blah blah. (I'm just as guilty of this as anyone.)

Angelides seems to have a compelling argument that the Iraq war does affect California citizens in a big way, and should be open for criticism and moral condemnation from a California official. Schwarzenegger is factually correct when he says there is little the governor can do to change the course of the war or bring California National Guard troops home.

To be sure, Angelides has staked out an uncommon position for a politician running for a state office by criticizing the president on foreign policy. At a small anti-war rally today at Sacramento City College, Angelides said Schwarzenegger nevertheless has a responsibility to speak up about the great moral issues of the day, especially one that has claimed the lives of nearly 300 Californians.

He said: "Of course, governors do not set foreign policy, but we all have a moral responsibility to speak up, and my opponent Arnold Schwarzenegger has already suggested my views on this conflict don't belong in this race. Perhaps he has forgotten about the bully pulpit and his own prodigious use of it when he repeatedly told California that George Bush's decision to invade Iraq was making us safer."

He got applause when he said, "I've got this to say to you, Arnold Schwarzenegger: It's irresponsible to continue to defend George W. Bush's failed policy in Iraq. You disservice our nation and you disservice our troops."

But Angelides is incorrect when he says Schwarzenegger is defending the war. In fact, the governor's position is similar to many prominent Democrats: let's leave Iraq, but in a safe and prudent manner, with a plan. When asked if he supported the current Bush policies there, Schwarzenegger said today: "I support fighting the war on terror and I support our soldiers, men and women, to come back as quickly as possible, as soon as we find an exit strategy."

He lashed out at Angelides: "We have to recognize that it is not in the governor's power to take troops back and say, 'I am going to court to take the troops back,' because that is unconstitutional.... It is irresponsible for anyone to say, 'I will get the troops back and I will be fighting' or anything else."

Schwarzenegger, just Monday, waded into foreign policy himself by signing legislation outlawing state pension investments in the murderous regime in Sudan. He even brought along a former U.S. Secretary of State, George P. Shultz, to the signing ceremony. Of course, a law has much more impact than a governor jawboning, but it's still the chief executive attempting to exercise power over foreign policy.

In a way, Schwarzenegger himself has been doing his own silent protest of the Iraq war. Almost every day, the flag on the top of the Capitol is flown at half-staff for a dead soldier from California. Schwarzenegger also demands that a specially researched press release be sent out on every California solider who dies. Not even the Pentagon does this.

This is actually a nice debate with lots of contradictions. It may be inappropriate and illegal for a governor to call back Guard troops from a foreign war, but it's not inappropriate to address the issue of war.

UPDATE: I moved Bob Mulholland's email to the comment section, and opened it up for others to post as well. Also, I added the word "mostly" to the first paragraph because Schwarzenegger did get a question about Angelides and Iraq on Tuesday. He said pulling Guard troops was unconstitutional, but did not say Angelides was being irresponsible.

(Photos: Robert Salladay / LAT)

Phil Angelides Not the Only Struggling Candidate Invoking Iraq

Phil Angelides, meet Len Munsil.

Munsil is the conservative Republican trailing a whopping 36 points behind Gov. Janet Napolitano, who is seeking re-election in Arizona. In an attempt to jumpstart his foundering campaign, Munsil is ... invoking Iraq, just like Angelides this week.

Or rather, Munsil is defending the U.S. response to the Sept. 11 attacks. He is Angelides in reverse.

Munsil's big issue this campaign week has been a demand that the state tear down a 9/11 memorial in its Capitol Mall. The Arizona Republic reports:

"The sculpture, called 'Moving Memories,' consists of facts and comments designed to represent viewpoints related to the Sept. 11 attacks and their aftermath. Some messages display historic facts, such as when airplanes hijacked by terrorists struck the World Trade Center.

"Munsil said that taken as a whole, the messages indict the U.S. government and mock the Bush administration.

"Other critics of the sculpture have objected to specific messages, including one that says, 'You don't win battles of terrorism with more battles.'

"'It's an anti-war mentality and an anti-American mentality,' said Munsil, who won the Republican bid one day after the memorial was dedicated on Sept. 11. 'The people of Arizona need to know that this is what's on state property.'"

It's too soon to say if this gambit will propel him over the top, but my guess is he'll need something else. But at least Phil and Len are entertaining the English-speakers sitting in Paris cafés reading about American politics. The International Herald Tribune has the whole story.

Bush to Visit California ATM

President George W. Bush arrives Tuesday for a Republican National Committee fund-raiser in Los Angeles and for two embattled congressional candidates elsewhere in the state. Bush will be competing with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger during a key fund-raising period before the November election.

Last year, Schwarzenegger complained that Bush should cancel an October 2005 fund-raiser that threatened to siphon off donations he needed to promote his special election agenda.

"In the next two months, it would be better if we just do the fundraising. Then let us go (past) our special election — and then they can pick it up again, the (Republican) national committee," the governor told the S.F. Chronicle.

A year later, Bush is back again. Schwarzenegger (seen here at a White House event in July) is not scheduled to appear with the president on this trip.

The president Tuesday will attend a breakfast fund-raiser for Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Tracy) in Stockton and a luncheon for Rep. John Doolittle (R-Roseville) at an El Dorado Hills country club. The evening is reserved for an RNC fund-raiser in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, former Gov. Gray Davis is holding a fund-raiser Oct. 10 for Phil Angelides at a private home in L.A. "Co-host" admission price: $5000.

(Photo: Charles Dharapak / AP)

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FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this story stated that the governor would attend Rep. Richard Pombo's fund-raiser. President Bush, not Gov. Schwarzenegger, will attend.

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