Angelides Misfires

The Angelides campaign claimed its event at Starbucks this morning would feature him criticizing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for receiving the endorsement of the California Rifle and Pistol Assn. Angelides' spokesman even posted a blog item, saying:

"Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides fired off an attack this morning at the record of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on the hot-button issue after a meet-and-greet at a Sacramento Starbucks, where he was accompanied by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez.

"Angelides noted that Arnold won the endorsement of the California Rifle and Pistol Association, the state wing of the National Rifle Assn., and quickly pounced on connecting the NRA with the governor."

Thing is, Angelides didn't say a word about gun control at the event. Nobody asked him about it, and he didn't volunteer any information. Angelides, his campaign later said, felt the mood wasn't right at Starbucks, so he delayed ripping into the governor. The campaign issued a press release about it today instead.

So, the handful of cameras with Angelides in Sacramento were forced to use Angelides talking about polling. He sounded upbeat, but it was an old, defensive message.

Which brings up a good point: What is happening to the 2006 California governor's race? As KQED's John Myers points out, Schwarzenegger has spent only 3.5 days out of the past 12 on campaign events. The rest have been government-related, although the media coverage of those events is put in the context of politicking anyway. Still, Schwarzenegger seems intent on flying above the whole thing. Today, he returned to an Oakland charter school, where he urged people to vote for the bonds measures.

That Chiang-Strickland race for controller is looking more and more interesting.

(Photos: Paul Sakuma / AP; Rich Pedroncelli / AP)