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 The California League of Conservation Voters has released its "environmental scorecard," and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has dropped in ranking despite getting praise for shifting to a Democratic agenda. In 2004 and last year, the Republican governor agreed with the environmental group 58% of the time in signing or vetoing legislation, but this year his average was 50%.
The group has endorsed state Treasurer Phil Angelides, but their election-year survey of legislation hardly excoriates the governor. In the rankings, Schwarzenegger landed just below the average of the entire Legislature when it came to agreeing with the league, but far below Democratic lawmakers who embraced their agenda. This is important evidence for people who assume Schwarzenegger has become a Democrat this year.
 The league praised Schwarzenegger for signing landmark bills to curb global warming and establish a statewide biomonitoring program, among others. But they criticized him for vetoing a bill to impose a $30 fee on containers in L.A. and Long Beach ports to improve air quality and security, and for vetoing another that would have required 50% of all vehicles sold in California to use alternative fuels by 2020.
The league said the 2005 legislative session was dismal for environmentalists but offered some skepticism about this year's big bills, such as the global warming regulations: "We give the Legislature and the governor credit for learning the lessons of 2005. While we won't look a gift horse in the mouth, it's fair to wonder if 2006 was, in fact, an election year gift that will be replaced in 2007 by a retreat to more traditional positions."
(Photos: Ben Margot / AP; David Paul Morris / Getty Images)
Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally of Los Angeles has issued the following press release from his government office: "Compton's Statesman Donates Clothes
"Assemblymember Mervyn M. Dymally (D-Compton) has announced that he will be donating 30 suits to a parking lot sale being hosted by Compton's St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church.
" 'It's my pleasure to donate the clothes,' comments Dymally. 'Hopefully some young men will take advantage of the opportunity and buy the suits to wear on job interviews.'
"The suits range in size from 40 to 44 and will be sold for $10, with shirts going for $3; ties will be given away for free to those who buy the suit and the shirt. 'These suits have history,' Dymally continues. 'I remember wearing some of these suits while I was lieutenant governor of California and in Congress.' "
Dymally was elected lieutenant governor in 1974.
 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited Florin High School in unincorporated Sacramento County this afternoon to promote vocational education. He shook hands with students in a floral-design class and, talking to reporters, promoted the bond measures on the November ballot.
Most of the students at the school seemed unaware the governor was in their midst. The classroom that Schwarzenegger visited was on the far end of campus and cordoned off by police tape and patrol cars. The governor said when he was a student in Austria he took vocational classes — to be a salesman.
 
(Photos: Robert Salladay / LAT)
An Internet poll by Polimetrix, developed by a Stanford political science professor, shows Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger with a 10-point lead over state Treasurer Phil Angelides. The polling company claims to have developed "a unique sample selection methodology that combines a large Internet panel with voter and consumer databases to create representative voter samples."
The poll was conducted for the Hoover Institution. Take the following results for what you will.
- Governor: Schwarzenegger 50%, Angelides 40%
- Lieutenant governor: John Garamendi 51%, Tom McClintock 45%
- Attorney general: Jerry Brown 58%, Chuck Poochigian 37%
- Controller: John Chiang 52%, Tony Strickland 40%
- Secretary of state: Debra Bowen 50%, Bruce McPherson 43%
- Treasurer: Bill Lockyer 55%, Claude Parrish 37%
- Insurance commissioner: Steve Poizner 55%, Cruz Bustamante 36%
- U.S. Senate: Dianne Feinstein 57%, Richard Mountjoy 39%
Initiatives
- Prop. 85, parental notification: 42% yes, 51% no
- Prop. 86, cigarette tax: 49% yes, 47% no
- Prop. 87, oil tax: 49% yes, 44% no
- Prop. 88, parcel tax: 31% yes, 60% no
- Prop. 89, campaign finance: 35% yes, 52% no
- Prop. 90, eminent domain: 58% yes, 28% no
The company said about the poll: "Participating in the survey were 877 likely voters belonging to the PollingPoint Internet panel. Panelists were selected to match a random sample drawn from the California voter list by age, gender, race, party registration and residence. The margin of error for the survey estimates is approximately plus or minus 3.5%."
At a high school event in Sacramento today, state Treasurer Phil Angelides told students he was angry about a new California Republican Party mailer that implies he doesn't want to protect children because he opposes Proposition 85, which would require parental notification for underage abortions.
Sitting before the high schoolers, Angelides said it was ridiculous to expect a 15-year-old girl, for example, to petition a judge for a waiver — something the initiative requires. "It is part of a national agenda by the right wing to take away a woman's right to chose," he said and added, "Gov. Schwarzenegger is for this measure."
Schwarzenegger supports the initiative and backed a similar measure last year, but has shied away from discussing the controversial issue on the campaign trail.
 A Phil Angelides campaign rally this week featuring U.S. Sen. John Kerry and L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is getting conservatives all hot and bothered because Kerry said:
"You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq."
To right-winger Michelle Malkin, this is evidence that Kerry believes soldiers in Iraq are uneducated and pretty much worthless for nothing but war fodder. KFI-AM's John Ziegler is getting traction from it as well.
Kerry likely was making a point that has been around for decades: the poor and undereducated are sent in disproportionate numbers to die in wars. It didn't help that Kerry sounded like he was making a joke at the expense of soldiers. The Pasadena Star News said the crowd reacted with a mixture of "laughter and gasps," Malkin noted.
UPDATE: This story erupted today when White House spokesman Tony Snow said Kerry owes an apology to soldiers and their families. To which, Kerry responded: "I'm sick and tired of these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did. I'm not going to be lectured by a stuffed suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium, or doughy Rush Limbaugh. ... Bottom line, Republicans want to debate straw men because they're afraid to debate real men."
A reader says Kerry is spouting myths about the troops. A Heritage Foundation report found military recruits actually better educated than the general population as a whole. But this comes as the military enlists older men and women, and with more recruits with past criminal records, no high school diplomas and with lower scores on aptitude tests.
(Photo: Ann Johansson / AP)
 In the smart-kid wing of Kennedy High School in Sacramento, the halls were empty about a half hour before state Treasurer Phil Angelides arrived this morning with his longtime friend Cornel West, the theologian and intellectual who first met Angelides when they were freshmen at Harvard. In one empty classroom, a lone teacher wearing a sweater vest carefully made his way to the whiteboard: "Write sentences with vocabulary words," he instructed.
Across the hall, students, many in costumes, filed into an Advanced Placement government class. One wore a banana suit. The student body president was dressed as a doctor, and another came as a dark angel, signaling doom. A bored-sounding student read the Pledge of Allegiance over the public address system. Hardly anyone noticed. The boy in the banana suit turned toward the U.S. flag.
 Angelides and West arrived in the classroom and took their place before the students. Reporters and cameramen were in one corner near a row of books: "Ishi" and "Hiroshima." On the wall, teacher Todd Whalen kept a collection of kitschy postcards in plastic cases along with photographs of himself with students.
Angelides spoke first, mentioning a mock election of Kennedy seniors in which he beat Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger by 13 votes — 161 to 148: "I'm very honored that the students at Kennedy chose me over Arnold Schwarzenegger."
Then he pointed toward student Exie Frazier, the editor of the school newspaper, to ask the first question. Frazier spoke about "shady characters" in politics and wondered why Angelides had not fulfilled his promise from several months ago to provide students with free copies of West's books. Angelides promised her he would get the books ASAP, with his own money. His staff said the books were purchased in June and delivered today — the campaign wanted to wait until the next Angelides-West visit to deliver them.
"You know what, it would be the potential journalist who would ask that question," Angelides joked.
A student asked about Proposition 85, which would require parental notification if a minor seeks an abortion. Angelides told the students that Schwarzenegger supports it and called the initiative a right-wing plot to take away women's rights. Another student, standing in the corner, asked about the "illegal immigrant issue" and wondered what could be done about immigrants using public facilities and not paying taxes. Angelides said "we need a real border" and spoke of his immigrant mother and grandparents.
Angelides said the state would "come to a grinding halt" if immigrants were to leave, because they provide so much for the economy. West, a graduate of Kennedy High, said: "I just wish we could be as scrutinizing of corporations that often don't pay their fair share of taxes." He mentioned Jesus' admonition to focus on the least of us.
The talk soon turned to the huge amounts that state and federal governments spend on war and prisons, and not schools. "We're being stupid about this," Angelides said. "We are not investing in the front end of life and paying more for the back end."
West mentioned the disproportionate number of African Americans in prison and lamented: "Especially brothers, especially brothers."
Afterward, the two men shook hands with students, hugged each other, and went their separate ways.
  
(Photos: Robert Salladay / LAT)
 Multimillionaire Stephen L. Bing just committed another $6 million to finance Proposition 87, bringing his total to $49.5 million in support of the initiative that would tax oil companies to pay for alternative fuels research. No other individual has spent as much money on a single initiative or personal political campaign as Bing, who inherited a New York real estate fortune.
Movie producer Bing is one of several millionaires to spend lavishly from their own pockets for the initiative. Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have each donated $1 million to Proposition 87, bringing the total donations in support to $56.9 million.
Meanwhile, oil company giants have donated $85.1 million to defeat the tax-raising initiative, Dan Morain reports. Chevron leads the pack, with $34 million, followed by oil producer Aera Energy — a joint venture of Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell — with $30 million.
The combined $142 million spent on Proposition 87 is a record. Previously, the most costly initiative campaign in California — and in the nation — was the $93 million spent on Proposition 5, the 1998 initiative to legalize Nevada-style casino gambling on Indian reservations.
(Photo: Jim Ruymen / Reuters)
L.A. Times columnist Gregory Rodriguez dissects the controversy over Republican congressional candidate Tan Nguyen and the "do not vote" letter that went to 14,000 people in Orange County with Spanish surnames. He finds the story something of a perfect storm that allowed both sides, Republicans and Democrats, "to position themselves as Latino friendly. The only loser is the rakish yet soon-to-be-forgotten Nguyen. And no one owed him anything, so who cares?" Rodriguez writes:  "Editorialists called the incident 'despicable.' Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger labeled it 'racist' and a 'hate crime.' The chairman of the Orange County Republican Party called it 'grotesque and obnoxious.' You'd think they were all talking about a lynching, or at least a cross-burning. But no, it was a rather pedantic letter sent to fewer than 14,000 foreign-born Democrats with Spanish surnames in Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Anaheim."
The letter legitimately reminded many politicians and reporters of past efforts to intimidate Latino voters in O.C., so the anger is understandable to me. In the wake of the controversy, however, some conservative bloggers are asking, What's the big deal? And, according to the O.C. Register, a rally organized by Vietnam veterans and Vietnamese expatriates "lined Garden Grove's historic Main Street with yellow and green Tan Nguyen signs. Buena Park's the Rev. Wiley Drake showed up to videotape his global prayer-line broadcast, and a club singer in black fishnet stockings repeatedly lip-synced to her recording of the campaign's new country-Western theme song, 'Stand by Our Tan.'"
Nguyen is undoubtedly going to lose to Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez. But there are other winners. Rodriguez concludes: "The point is that plenty of politicos on both sides of the aisle got to prove their benevolence, the media got to show off their high-minded indignation and nothing, absolutely nothing, was done to alter the political status quo. A perfect story."
(Photo: Chris Carlson / AP)
- Phil Angelides gives $500,000 of his own money to gubernatorial campaign.
- Unions sue to block Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger's plan to ship inmates out of state.
- Rep. John Doolittle owes his wife's firm nearly $40,000, which means he personally benefits from corporate donors.
- An academic study finds that supposedly dumb voters watching "soft news" like "Oprah" can absorb and learn more about politics than serious folks who watch hard news. Be warned — the study contains sentences like this: "Given that rational individuals employ heuristic cues to compensate for incomplete information, citizens with different information needs will vary in what they require to fulfill their civic duties successfully."
 Until now, most Californians didn't have to suffer the four Maloof brothers. But the owners of the Sacramento Kings are appearing in a national TV ad for Carl's Jr. and Hardee's showing off their $1 billion net worth and drinking a $6,000 bottle of French bordeaux — at the same time Sacramento voters are facing a local measure to raise the sales tax for a new $600-million arena and entertainment complex.
The Maloofs may get the Political Sabotage of the Year Award for showing such conspicuous consumption so close to an election that could benefit their franchise. The ad — at the Mint high-limit lounge inside the Maloof-owned Palms Casino in Las Vegas — features a woman serving the plumpish brothers expensive wine while they greedily gorge on hamburgers. "It turns out that a 24-year-old bottle of French Bordeaux pairs nicely with Angus beef, fresh produce, melted American cheese and a fresh, sesame seed bun," Carl's Jr. announced in a press release.
With the tax-increase measure struggling, such an insufferable flaunting of wealth can't help. Joe Maloof said recently: "We are who we are. I think everyone in Sacramento has a sense of humor, I hope they don't take it seriously." But Jeff Raimundo, a local political consultant, told the Sacramento Bee: "I think this shows the Maloofs have written off this ballot measure."
(Photo: CKE Restaurants)
Here are a few images from the past few days on the campaign trail...
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tries out a dumbbell in Twin Pines at a wildfire fire site:
 State treasurer Phil Angelides rides the escalator at the NAACP convention:
 Schwarzenegger with NAACP leader Alice Huffman at the same convention a day later:
 Angelides with L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama:
 (Photos: Marilyn Chung / AP; Paul Sakuma / AP; Arleen Ng / AP; Nick Ut / AP)
Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia — the Palm Springs-area Republican made famous because Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called her hot-blooded — recently told a high school class that she wouldn't kick Schwarzenegger out of bed. That prompted the Democratic Party to issue a mailer showing stern-looking students alleging they were offended by the remarks.
 While voters may shudder at the thought of Garcia bedding Schwarzenegger, the assemblywoman is fighting back with her own shudder-producing radio ad against her opponent, Democrat Steve Clute. It seems Clute, who served in the Legislature between 1982 and 1992, once wrote a bill to name a freeway after a Riverside-area lawmaker caught with his pants down.
"The details are shocking," says the Garcia ad, which begins airing today. "A former lawmaker said the brutal rape of women was really just unwanted touching and was later arrested in a public park for exposing himself and for other offenses we're not even allowed to say on the radio. Disgusting, despicable acts. Steve Clute's reaction? ... That's right, Steve Clute wrote a bill that would name a public highway after a perverted registered sex offender who was arrested for acts so disgusting they aren't fit for the radio."
Too offensive for the radio, perhaps, but not Political Muscle. The lawmaker Clute wanted to name a freeway after is former Assemblyman Walter M. Ingalls. The Sacramento Bee said about Ingalls in 1991: "The Riverside Democrat, who died of liver failure in July at age 46, was arrested five years ago for masturbating in a city park while attempting to pick up two undercover members of the Riverside Police Department. He later pleaded guilty to one count of lewd conduct, was fined $180 and put on three years of probation."
 Garcia didn't mention that several prominent Republican lawmakers coauthored the Clute freeway-naming legislation, which ended up being withdrawn and never became law. Steve Maviglio, a spokesman for Clute, said about the ad: "It's disgusting and despicable, and she ought to know better."
Ingalls' actions sound bad, but over at the FlashReport, a generally conservative Republican site, at least one person is calling for restraint. Poster "Tom Kaptain" asks for compassion: "The time he (Ingalls) put into political work in the early '80s led to his wife leaving him, and Ingalls developed a severe drinking problem along with some other things and basically fell apart. In the incident where he was arrested, if I remember correctly (it's been a lot of years) he was sitting naked in a tree at 3:00 a.m., inviting passersby to climb up and join him."
Ingalls once chaired the Assembly Transportation Committee, where he became infamous for temper tantrums and sexist comments. According to the Bee, he once described rape "as unwanted touching. Ingalls claimed he enjoyed being irascible and obstreperous. He even joked about mistreating witnesses before his committee, saying he'd established a prize called the "Walter Ingalls Verbal Abuse of Women Award."
(Photo: Rich Pedroncelli / AP; Clute for Assembly)
Actor Alec Baldwin says he has sicced his attorneys on the makers of a new Arnold Schwarzenegger documentary, claiming they went too far by adding images of a Third Reich rally into the film. Prominent California Democrats also did interviews for the documentary project, which has not yet been distributed.
 Baldwin writes on his Huffington Post blog that he agreed to narrate the "Running with Arnold" documentary after reading the script, but did not see images from the film until he recorded tracks. "The filmmakers hammer Schwarzenegger over his private behavior and his record as governor. But Schwarzenegger deserves to be treated fairly and the film's images of Nazi rallies were over the line."
Producer Mike Gabrawy told Political Muscle this morning that the film includes a photograph of former Austrian President Kurt Waldheim, who had been invited to Schwarzenegger's wedding (but did not attend), dressed in his Nazi uniform during World War II. Another shows the Nazi Party paperwork of Schwarzenegger's father. Gabrawy said other images of the Third Reich appear during a discussion of the corporate influence in politics, but those will be replaced with film footage of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
"It's a complete shock," Gabrawy said about Baldwin's posting. "The film is in the can. We delayed our recording a month to get him ... and we're in the midst of getting distribution and this is completely a curveball."
 In his blog item, Baldwin, shown in photo above with ex-girlfriend Nicole Seidel, throws in a slap at Schwarzenegger just to prove his loyalty, however: "As dull as Phil Angelides' campaign has been, I believe that he would better represent the interests of more Californians than Schwarzenegger could ever hope to. Schwarzenegger is not a leader."
Baldwin told the New York Times Magazine this weekend: "I'm Tocqueville compared to Arnold Schwarzenegger."
"Running With Arnold" includes interviews with Arianna Huffington, Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, Gabrawy told Political Muscle a few weeks ago. Former Variety scribe Dan Cox directed the project about "Arnold Schwarzenegger's life in all its sordid glory," about the governor's "fascinating and humorous" life story, the film's website says.
(Photos: Evan Agostini / Getty Images; AP)
- Voting machine company seeks investigation into reported ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Oakland company makes machines used in some California counties. L.A. Times had this story in June, but the controversy is going international as the election nears.
- Sex offender in Iowa leaves his family every night to find a spot away from a school or park. His children think he's camping but "really aren't sure." How Proposition 83 might work in California.
- The London Zoo names a newly bred Socorro dove, a species near extinction, after Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- Downtown Los Angeles Central City East Blogger catches Phil Angelides and Speaker Fabian Nunez at the Festival de la Gente.
 Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante certainly has run one of oddest campaigns in California, if not the country. That's not necessarily a bad thing, given the extremely boring nature of most of the campaign ads out there.
Bustamante, right, has made his quest for insurance commissioner almost entirely about his self-described obesity and efforts to lose weight. He has shed 70 pounds so far, and he can't stop talking about it. Perhaps this is some brilliant way to connect with ordinary Californians, many of whom are struggling with their own weight issues, but it sure sounds weird.
Now, Bustamante is spending the last of his dwindling campaign money on two new TV ads — about $780,000 worth of airtime as the election draws near. The 15-second ads are sort of jarring in how quickly Bustamante starts out "Oprah" and ends up a politician.
The first ad begins: "I was really fat. I promised my family I would lose 70 pounds. I kept that promise. I'll keep this promise: I'll lower your insurance rates." In the second he says, "I worked hard to lose weight because our individual behavior matters. That's why your driving record, not where you live, should lower your car insurance."
(Photo: Bustamante campaign)
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger just reported supplying another $2 million from his personal fortune to pay for his reelection campaign. His total this year in personal funds for the gubernatorial campaign: $5.5 million.
Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver are estimated to be worth between $100 million to $300 million in investments and real estate. They already have put roughly $28.5 million of their own money into various campaigns, including $8.2 million for last year's failed special election and $3.5 million last week for the reelection.
Did Dear Abby just come out against Proposition 85? With an election only days away, the widely distributed advice columnist printed a letter today from "Shocked and Saddened in Sherman Oaks." It sure looks like Dear Abby is in favor of killing the initiative, which would require parents to be informed if their underage daughter seeks an abortion.
 Under the headline, "Friend's Advice to Teen Takes a Tragic Turn," Shocked and Saddened tells the tale of "Jill," who became pregnant and told her parents about it, only to be savagely beaten by her father. In response, Abby writes, "What you failed to take into consideration was the fact that many teens live in homes where there is violence, abuse, drug problems and incest." She added:
"A year ago here in California, there was an attempt to legislate 'parental notification' into law. Fortunately, it was voted down. It's teens like your daughter's friend who would have been harmed by this kind of law. They certainly cannot go to their parents — and I have never believed that the law can successfully force this kind of communication with the home."
(Photo: Universal Press Syndicate)
"In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible.... Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness."
—George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language"
L.A. Times reporter Nancy Vogel has been collecting the names of PACs active in California politics this year. A few gems:
Californians for a More Liveable California. Funded by First American Title Insurance Co., Tejon Ranch, developers, private investors and other businesses. Has donated $300,000 to the California Republican Party since Oct. 11.
California Alliance for Progress and Education. Funded with $1 million from dentists, $1 million from realtors, lesser amounts from Farmers Insurance Co. employees, hospitals and Ameriquest Capital Corp. Has funded independent expenditures in support of Republican Assemblywoman Shirley Horton and Democratic Assembly candidates Cathleen Galgiani and Nicole Parra.
Californians Against Unaccountable Taxes. Funded by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Philip Morris USA Inc. and cigar makers. Have given $1 million to the California Republican Party since Sept. 29.
Fair Public Policy Coalition. Funded by racetracks, including $250,000 each from Bay Meadows Land Co. and Hollywood Park Land Co.
 Ah, the subtle art of innuendo. In the verdant Central Valley, a single and female candidate for Assembly is being portrayed by her Republican opponent as a confirmed spinster — if you know what I mean.
Cathleen Galgiani — who is 42, childless and likes cats — is running for a Stockton-area Assembly seat against a churchgoing guy named Gerry Machado. His campaign manager, Chris Orrock, recently told the Tracy Press: Galgiani's "only family is the 20 cats she lives with. The Central Valley is full of values — the family values and the core traditional values." Machado supporter Dean Andal added that "she's not married, doesn't have any children and, in my view, she's never held a real job."
Galgiani, above, retorted: "The pope isn't married either."
Orrock and Andal didn't say the L-word, but their intention seems clear — she's one of them. Democrats quickly launched a TV ad featuring outgoing Assemblywoman Barbara Matthews, below, who went after Machado for "questioning (Galgiani's) family values because she doesn't have children." View the ad here.
 Then there is Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, a Democrat from the Hanford area farther south, who also is single and faces one of the toughest reelection fights in the state because of her conservative district. She reminisced with Malcolm Maclachlan of the Capitol Weekly about her earlier campaigns, saying 2006 seemed "like déjà vu."
"Republican operatives called classmates from her 1988 class at Highland High School in Bakersfield to try to dig up lesbian dirt on her and float a rumor that she had started a gay and lesbian club there. Parra's 2004 opponent, Dean Gardner, openly questioned her 'alternative lifestyle' during the closing days of his failed campaign against her. 'If you're in your mid-30s and you're not married, you must be a lesbian,' Parra said."
Side note: The innuendo campaign against Galgiani is somewhat amazing, given the growing list of outed Republican lawmakers and aides and the huge number of single and childless people who may wonder: Who cares? And what kind of girlie name is "Gerry" anyway?
(Photos: Galgiani campaign)
When word got out that Terry Tamminen, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's friend and advisor, was writing a book suggesting that state and local governments lodge nuisance lawsuits against oil companies for degrading the environment, the governor's staff became nervous. Here was a senior official close to the Republican governor with a controversial, even radical proposal that was off-message from Schwarzenegger.
 "The Republicans went ballistic over that," said Tamminen, who served as Schwarzenegger's CalEPA chief and cabinet secretary. "That certainly caused some heartburn for the campaign staff."
The book, "Lives Per Gallon," has just been released — and it excoriates the very oil companies which have donated generously to Schwarzenegger's campaigns. Tamminen is promoting the book on his own.
Twice on the book jacket, Tamminen is described a "special advisor" to Schwarzenegger — and inside he paints a grim portrait of Chevron Corp. and other oil companies as destroyers of the environment, people's health and even their lives. In Nigeria, Tamminen writes, Chevron has been sued "alleging the oil giant's responsibility for deaths of...hapless villagers, this time at the hands of armed thugs." (Chevron denies authorizing the use of deadly force, he writes.)
Total donations by Chevron Corp. and its employees to Schwarzenegger: $592,600.
Tamminen, who has since left the governor's office and volunteers for the campaign, said the influence of money in politics is "frankly one of the reasons I will not run for public office." But as for Schwarzenegger, Tamminen said, "He has never backpedaled on anything as a result of a contribution. I can tell you, he never once thought about any one constituent who gave him money. He certainly listens to everybody, but he is a guy who makes up his own mind."
Chevron did not have an immediate comment about the book, but we'll post that when it comes. Julie Soderlund, press secretary for the Schwarzenegger campaign, said: "This book is about Terry's views. The governor's record as a leader in environmental protection is clear."
For his part, Tamminen praised the governor's environmental record and believes Schwarzenegger embraces the theme of the book — that unrestrained oil consumption is "killing us." He said Schwarzenegger told a party in Brentwood recently that everyone should read the book.
 Why do the oil companies even try? This afternoon at USC, actress Salma Hayek, Academy Award winner Ben Affleck and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois are scheduled to appear together to promote Proposition 87, which would tax oil production in California to pay for alternative fuels research.
Chevron Corp. might as well get its checkbook out, because you cannot deny the unstoppable force of Bensalmaboma.
Detailed campaign research shows that Hayek voters like their oil companies taxed to the hilt, and Affleck voters like anything that will get Affleck in front of a camera. After the Proposition 87 event, Obama heads across campus to lend his charisma to state Treasurer Phil Angelides.
 
(Photos: William Thomas Cain / Getty Images; Ethan Miller / Getty Images; Seth Wenig / AP)
Earlier this week, Democrat Phil Angelides brought up gun control as a new issue on the campaign. The gun-control theme came a few days before telling a Sacramento TV station the "real story" of the 2006 gubernatorial election has been special interest money: "I just want to say, it's the story of this campaign. That Arnold Schwarzenegger, after saying he'd take no special interest money, has gone out and taken $100 million of special interest money to fund these negative ads to try and hold on to his office."
 The message-shifting has haunted Angelides, seen in photo at left with Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean on Thursday. It's now a meme of the campaign. Laura Kurtzman with the Associated Press wrote recently: "In a sign of a campaign in distress, the treasurer has cycled through one tired message after another, from saving education to promoting the middle class to denouncing the governor as a Bush crony. This week, Angelides began dredging up the governor's messy past, including his troubles with women."
With about 10 days left in the campaign, here are a few Angelides themes from the Political Muscle archives (Google/Nexis):
Iraq war: "Well, I've got this to say to you, Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's irresponsible to continue to defend George W. Bush's failed policies in Iraq. You disserve our nation and you disserve our troops."
—Sept. 28, at Sacramento City College antiwar rally
George W. Bush/Republicans: "When you speak like this, you sound just like Newt Gingrich, you sound like Speaker Hastert, you sound like George Bush, attacking me and attacking me."
—Oct. 8, speaking to Schwarzenegger at debate "Arnold Schwarzenegger went to Ohio to help reelect George W. Bush, and George Bush's reelection has been bad for California."
—Aug. 24 to reporters in Berkeley
American dream: "No matter how many lies the right tells, we didn't become the richest nation in human history because we lavished more on those who have the most."
—Sept. 4 and numerous other times
Schwarzenegger's character: "My gosh, this is an elected governor, and he's settled a lawsuit for sexual harassment. If we were a corporation and he was the CEO, we'd be having a board meeting asking, 'What are we going to do with this guy?' ... I believe that authenticity works. I really do. It goes to character. And I believe in the closing days of this campaign, it is going to be my biggest strength and his biggest weakness.'"
—Oct. 17 to S.F. Chronicle columnist C.W. Nevius
The middle class: "I come from middle-class California. So I know first-hand: California rose to greatness because we gave hard-working families more chances, not fewer.... We believed the promise of California was a birthright of the many, not a privilege of the few."
—Aug. 15 announcement on campaign website
Tax cuts: "If Democrats can't stand up against (tax breaks for large corporations), what can they stand up for? If Democrats can't stand up and say that people making $50,000 to $75,000 a year are getting the shaft, then what good are we?"
—Oct. 16 to Associated Press
College tuition: "My proposal is very simple. I'm going to roll them back to where they were before Schwarzenegger took office."
—May 12 in San Diego, and many times since
Combo: "We can't afford four more years of Bush-Schwarzenegger economics. I'm running to put this state back on the side of hard-working people, to challenge the special-interest status quo.''
—Aug. 16, in San Francisco
Trust/GOP combo: "He wants you to believe he's a new man. The new Arnold Schwarzenegger is as fraudulent as George Bush's claims of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."
—Sept. 4 in San Bernardino
"Tonight Show"/education combo: "If NBC, at the height of election season, is going to give the governor that time, he ought to give me and these teachers and the schoolchildren of the state of California equal time so we can tell the truth about what Gov. Schwarzenegger has done as governor of the state of California: He's cut education."
—Oct. 11 in San Jose
(Photo: Ann Johansson / AP)
 The Federal Communications Commission has turned down state Treasurer Phil Angelides' request to receive 15 minutes and 41 seconds of airtime on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" because Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared on the program. The commission ruled that the show can be considered a legitimate news program, and therefore is not subject to the equal-time rule for candidates. The FCC said:
"We find that the news interview portions of 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' meet the criteria for exemption as a bona fide news interview. The program...content and participants are based on the producers' independent news judgment as to the participant's newsworthiness and not motivated by partisan purposes. The fact that many interviews on the program concern entertainment is irrelevant.
 "We note that 'Entertainment Tonight' reports and airs commentary regarding current events and stories concerning various aspects of the entertainment industry and was nonetheless found to qualify as a bona fide newscast. Similarly, 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' often interviews individuals, including many from the entertainment industry, regarding current events, including entertainment and political news."
Angelides spokesman Steve Maviglio replied, "We are disappointed but not surprised that the Bush-controlled FCC has made a political decision over the use of our public airwaves. The commission's tortured decision to try to certify Jay Leno as a modern day Walter Cronkite is more laughable than one of his monologues."
(Photos: Chris Pizzello / AP; Paul Drinkwater / AP)
 Campaign finance reports just released show Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has out-raised state Treasurer Phil Angelides more than 3-1 for the first three weeks of October. The disparity is undoubtedly related to Schwarzenegger's position as an incumbent governor — holding sway over hundreds of bills — and the momentum of being consistently ahead in public opinion polls.
Oh, and his own personal check of $3.5 million to the campaign on Oct. 18.
Angelides 2006 reported receiving $2.3 million in donations between Oct. 1 and Oct. 21. In that period, the Democrat spent $4.2 million on his campaign. For his part, Schwarzenegger took in $7 million (including his own money) and spent $8.7 million. About $288,000 went for private jets during that time — a luxury Angelides cannot afford.
Tonight, a few dozen protesters stood outside another Schwarzenegger fund-raising event at the Sheraton Grand hotel in Sacramento. The featured speaker was Fox News host Sean Hannity. The protest was organized by the California Nurses Assn. in support of Proposition 89 and against Schwarzenegger. They chanted, "Arnold, Arnold, you can't hide. We can see your corporate side."
 
(Photos: Robert Salladay / LAT)
"The race for governor is over. Once again the Democrats have handed the governorship to the Republicans. You are now free to vote for whoever you want."
—Green Party gubernatorial candidate Peter Camejo, in a new radio ad encouraging Democrats to vote for him
Kevin Roderick reports that my newspaper isn't doing a preelection poll. "Apparently the LAT-Bloomberg partnership doesn't include state polls, and The Times didn't want to absorb the cost alone this time around," Roderick reports. However, L.A. Times editor Doug Frantz "confirms that The Times will conduct an election day exit poll, usually a more labor-intensive and costly endeavor than the preelection poll."
Exit polls are far more valuable than preelection polls. You get a good snapshot of the electorate when it actually has meaning: just after they vote, not before. Candidates and reporters may care about the horse-race, but I'm much more interested in where voters ended up when the dust clears.
 The photo below is from a story in The Times today about the possible expansion of Tussauds wax museum. In 2003, the museum showed the stages of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's career. Sometimes you just need a reminder of Arnold's roots. But I'm pretty sure the "governor" wax statue is Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, right.
(Photo: Rich Pedroncelli / AP; Ric Francis / AP)
UPDATE: I deleted a link to an Angelides blogger who called the press corps "idiots," because Political Muscle readers were having troubling accessing the GovernorPhil site. I still can't seem to open the site. But you can read the "idiot" posting on an alternate site here.
Deep inside in the new Public Policy Institute of California poll is this nugget: "Whose ads have you seen the most?" Surprisingly, a large percentage of those surveyed said they had seen Phil Angelides' TV ads more than Arnold Schwarzenegger's ads.
 Angelides won by a 12-point margin in this category, 37% to 25%. And yet, Angelides remains mired behind Schwarzenegger in the poll. Voters see him on TV, and nothing changes. To be fair, these people may be thinking they are seeing an "Angelides ad" when in fact they've absorbed tens of millions of dollars of negative ads attacking him. They just see him on TV a lot, thanks to his opponents.
Nevertheless, Angelides has been running TV ads supporting himself and attacking Schwarzenegger on and off for nearly two years. The photo at right is of Angelides at a Jan. 4, 2005, press conference releasing ads criticizing the governor for failing to deal with the state's budget shortfall.
Bill Carrick, Angelides' media consultant, dismissed the PPIC poll in a press conference today announcing a new Angelides TV ad. He said the poll didn't reflect a growing Democratic surge and was a "very static look at the electorate, very conservative, very old and a very low-turnout electorate. My own view is we're going to have Democrats turn out in disproportionate numbers to Republicans."
With only 57% of Democrats supporting Angelides in the new poll, Angelides is spending the rest of the week with prominent members of his own party. Democratic chairman Howard Dean appears with him today and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois shows up tomorrow. The new Angelides TV ad shows him standing in front of photographs of Schwarzenegger saying the governor wins the award for "best performance by a Republican pretending to be someone he's not."
(Photo: Rich Pedroncelli / AP)
You'd expect a little diplomacy out of campaigns for secretary of state, but California is getting some hot candidate-on-candidate action between Republican Bruce McPherson and Democrat Debra Bowen. Polls show Bruce and Debra only a few points apart, which can only mean one thing: Catfight!
 Speaking of gender-loaded and sexist language, McPherson just put out a press release calling Bowen ... pushy. He quoted newspaper articles about her "aggressive demeanor" and "combative style" and "combative nature." Bowen "created tensions," while McPherson established "lines of communications and a cooperative spirit" with county elections officials.
McPherson's campaign is attempting to link Bowen, a state senator, to the aggressive and pushy former Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, who resigned in disgrace. You almost never see a campaign press release attacking someone's personality — let alone that of one of the few women on the statewide ballot — only because it could lead to retaliatory missives suggesting, perhaps, that someone is mildly dumb or doesn't put the toilet seat down.
 McPherson really went for the jugular during his only face-to-face debate with Bowen. He said that Bowen was using "innuendo" and "conspiracy theories" about the reliability of California's voting machines, and then said the disabled and blind would be denied the ability to vote if Bowen won the post. She replied: "You are scaring people in a way that is really shameful. Bruce, you've been my friend for a long time, and this is not your finest moment in public service."
McPherson wouldn't be secretary of state without Shelley; Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed the former Republican lawmaker to the post after Shelley resigned. But now he's being completely ungrateful to Shelley for launching his statewide career. This election, McPherson has called for the state of California to sue his predecessor for allegedly misspending $3 million in federal election money, even though McPherson argued previously that Shelley misspent much less.
McPherson told The Times' Seema Mehta: "Would Californians want me to sit on my hands and do nothing, or say, 'OK, that's good enough'?" But Bowen countered: "It makes it more clear than ever that stunt last week was political grandstanding. It really is another case of the secretary saying one thing and doing another, and in this case, there is a paper trail."
Meow!
(Photos: AP)
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is leading state Treasurer Phil Angelides by 18 points in a new Public Policy Institute of California poll released tonight. The poll shows Schwarzenegger with 48% of Californians surveyed compared to 30% for Angelides. Significantly, Angelides has lost ground in the Democratic Bay Area but gained considerable ground with Latinos. Only 57% of Democrats said they supported Angelides. Full details after the jump.
Continue reading "Schwarzenegger Holds Steady Lead in New Poll" »
 Democrat John Garamendi, candidate for lieutenant governor, participated in a campaign rally in a state government building today — something long considered a no-no for politicians. The cafeteria rally was sponsored by the powerful Service Employees International Union Local 1000, which represents about 87,000 state workers.
But the insurance commissioner didn't get far before someone started recording him and collecting evidence. The Republican Capitol worker did not get photos of Garamendi speaking at the rally, but secured an audiotape and snapped him entering the elevator.
Using a Garamendi campaign logo and its own letterhead, the SEIU passed out flyers promoting a "General Election Forum: Special Guest Speaker Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi." It promised a free buffet luncheon and directed people to the Legislative Office Building, sixth floor café, for the forum. The meeting was "for SEIU Local 1000 members."
 "Free lunch? Free lunch?" an SEIU volunteer said while distributing flyers outside the state building before the rally. Inside, Garamendi made a few remarks about his "tough race." The crowd chanted, "Garamendi! Garamendi! Garamendi!" A volunteer then told union members to sign up for a phone bank "to help elect our candidates."
Jon Waldie, chief administrative officer of the Assembly, said state law prohibits anyone from accepting contributions in a state building. But campaigning in a state building is a gray area since these are public buildings. Generally, he said, Wednesday's rally could not have impeded access to the cafeteria for other people.
Danny Beagle, spokesman for the SEIU, said the union frequently holds meetings in government buildings. As for the cafeteria event Wednesday, he said: "It's a nonissue for us because the cafeteria is leased back to private operators and open to the public."
Jason Kinney, a Garamendi advisor, said "it was a closed union meeting for union members...and was well within the law."
 
The California Democratic Party wasted no time making an issue out of Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia's comment that she wouldn't kick Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger "out of my bed." Her remark to a high school class shows up in a mailer claiming Garcia would instead kick senior citizens out of hospital beds. Garcia, from a Palm Springs-area district, is embroiled in a tough reelection fight with Democrat Steve Clute.
Who is responsible for what happens in California in two weeks?
As the election nears, Republicans believe that moderate Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could single-handedly sweep other GOP members into statewide office — even the most conservative to the core. Democrat Phil Angelides, on the other hand, has been telling voters that President George W. Bush could make the difference in California — voters who dislike the president could put himself and other Democrats into office statewide, much like in 1932, 1974 and 1992.
 Republican political consultant Dan Schnur has a rundown of the Schwarzenegger Coattail Index. He said if Schwarzenegger wins by 2-3 points, Steve Poizner will be elected insurance commissioner. As the Schwarzenegger margin of victory grows larger, Schnur stacks up the wins for lesser mortals: Bruce McPherson for secretary of state, Tony Strickland for controller and Tom McClintock as lieutenant governor. He gives a much smaller chance to Chuck Poochigian for attorney general and pretty much writes off Claude Parrish for treasurer (that'll happen only if Schwarzenegger wins by 40 to 45 points).
Not so fast, says Ventura County Star columnist Timm Herdt. It's true that when former Gov. Pete Wilson won reelection in a landslide in 1994, Republicans took all but two of the statewide offices and even captured a majority in the state Assembly. But was that a Pete Wilson revolution or a Newt Gingrich revolution? Herdt says there is an important thing to consider: "The unavoidable fact is that national politics drives all elections. A seminal 1986 study of all state legislative races over the previous 120 years found that, illogical as it may seem, statewide partisan elections are just as influenced by the presidential 'surge and decline effect' as are congressional elections.
"The study found that when balanced against the coattail effects of a winning gubernatorial candidate, the negative effect of midterm national elections on state-level candidates has produced a 50-50 split. In other words, the partisan winds in California next month could blow in either direction — or swirl in both directions at once."
I've been wrong many times before, but I fully expect to wake up after the election with California going the opposite direction as the rest of the nation. It's happened so many times before. There is a reason they call us the Great Exception.
(Photo: Ron Edmonds / AP)
Will the Proposition 87 campaign's unrelenting effort to shove celebrities down our throats never end? I hope not. Julia Roberts may have a wider smile, but Robert Redford's star power should pull in the over-50 crowd for the oil tax initiative. Plus, he makes great salad dressings! Oh, wait, that's someone else. Either way, Redford is famous and rich, and he deserves our respect.
(Photo: Ric Francis / AP)
From last night's "Late Show with David Letterman:"
10. Do I feel comfortable having a governor who oils his chest?
9. Have I thoroughly considered Stallone, Van Damme and Seagal?
8. Is "Come on, it'll be funny" a good reason to vote for someone?
7. Has he done enough to make California a laughingstock?
6. How can I be sure he'll be just as Schwarzeneggy this time around?
5. Can I bench press more today than I could three years ago?
4. What would Predator do?
3. Will he cut taxes on steroids?
2. He won't embarrass us, will he?
1. Have I lost my mind?
- Number of times Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger uttered the words "special interest" in public in 2005: 168
- Number of times the Republican governor has uttered the phrase in public this year: 0
 Since Democrat Phil Angelides seems to be grasping for something, here is a new issue for his campaign: Nuclear holocaust. I mean, what has Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger really done to stop North Korea from wiping California into oblivion with a nuclear missile?
Nothing, my friends. For that matter, what has Angelides done? He's been suspiciously silent. Except, of course, when advisor Bob Mulholland said Schwarzenegger wears shoe lifts, like loony-bin dictator Kim Jong-Il.
But others have been more alert. Conservative Rep. Richard Pombo is running TV ads in his outer Bay Area district accusing his Democratic opponent, Jerry McNerney, of coddling Kim Jong-Il. "Jerry McNerney wanted our military to look the other way while North Korea developed nuclear weapons," the Pombo ad says, quoting a Korean War veteran.
McNerney's campaign fired back today with a devastating press release: "Pombo...did not consider it important to go on congressional fact-finding missions to the Korean Peninsula. On Pombo's watch, North Korea developed and tested a nuclear weapon."
If only Pombo had gone on a fact-finding mission, our children would be safe. Don't laugh! You may think North Korea has nothing to do with California politics, but you would be wrong.
First of all, San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles could be on North Korea's short list of targets. In addition, Seoul or Tokyo could be on a target list for Pyongyang. If just Seoul or Tokyo were destroyed, it would be like a thousand Sept. 11s. That would cause massive terror and prompt a world war between nuclear states, including the U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain, India and Pakistan. It seems North Korea is getting ready for this.
In fact, you may already be dead.
(Photo: Paramount Pictures)
"I want real journalism back dammit. Bloggers have no ethics and no standards. They're not accountable to anyone for anything. Where is there a code of ethics for bloggers? Where is there a Blog School to give out degrees and teach standards? You damned bloggers represent the death of real journalism."
—Reader Patricia Schwarz, in an e-mail
Patricia seems pretty smart to me. So I'll just believe her for now.
Adam Housley, the Fox News correspondent, received word last week that he could put on some leather and ride hogs with a bodybuilder. Faster than you can say "canary yellow Roadking," Housley suited up and motored through the wilderness of Orange County with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Housley's date with Schwarzenegger produced this high school crush note, er, Fox News account: "Arnold Schwarzenegger, all smiles, looks as dapper as ever. Heck, this could be another 'Terminator' movie if it wasn't for the vintage look of his newer Indian motorcycle."
 Housley couldn't get his personal hog to Southern California, so he rented "a bright, canary yellow Roadking. This Harley has a distinct old-school look, and should fit well for my ride with Arnold and his pals."
Just one of the guys. With a TV camera. Two weeks before the election. "As you might expect, the crew consisted of guys who could seemingly knock down a brick wall with a slight nudge — guys like a stunt man named Scott, or Jeff, a fifth-degree black belt. As bad as their bikes, they were welcoming to me, the canary-yellow new kid, and ready for a ride with their pal Arnold — and actor Tom Arnold, who had joined the fray."
Not that Schwarzenegger is a macho thug. Housley writes that when the governor rode through the streets you could see "the comfort and pleasure on his face and in his demeanor."
Schwarzenegger's new best friend notes that the Republican governor is a man of the people: "We were escorted by California Highway Patrol officers on bikes. Most intersections were closed off so we could speed right through, but at the larger corners we stopped, and the governor got some face time with the populace."
But what about Phil Angelides? Housley broached that icky subject, but there was nothing he could do when Schwarzenegger said "he'd rather not waste time talking about his opponent in this election." Fair enough. But Housley did offer some sympathy for Angelides: "It's got to be tough when the sitting governor on a Harley has the opposite effect of Mike Dukakis in a tank."
Schwarzenegger may be dissing President George W. Bush, but he totally hearts Fox News. Conservative host Sean Hannity — who encouraged Democrats to stay home on election day — headlines a fund-raiser tomorrow for Schwarzenegger in Sacramento, followed by a taping of "Hannity & Colmes" Friday from the Midway at the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum. We'll see if they install a " | |
The California League of Conservation Voters has released its "environmental scorecard," and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has dropped in ranking despite getting praise for shifting to a Democratic agenda. In 2004 and last year, the Republican governor agreed with the environmental group 58% of the time in signing or vetoing legislation, but this year his average was 50%.
The league praised Schwarzenegger for signing landmark bills to curb global warming and establish a statewide biomonitoring program, among others. But they criticized him for vetoing a bill to impose a $30 fee on containers in L.A. and Long Beach ports to improve air quality and security, and for vetoing another that would have required 50% of all vehicles sold in California to use alternative fuels by 2020.
