Going Negative

We were all sitting around the MSM conspiracy control room feeling bored as we devoured small children and awaited orders from ChevronTexaco and Lady Huffington, when the phone rang. That could only mean one thing: Phil Angelides wanted to talk. Ace reporter Peter Nicholas dialed the treasurer back and listened carefully. It soon became clear: Angelides was going negative.

I feel compelled by several layers of editors to say the above paragraph is entirely true except for the devouring children part and the thing about ChevronTexacoHuffington. But Angelides made contact with the Sacramento newsroom without prompting, and he clearly wanted to convey the message that he was about to attack Schwarzenegger's character as the campaign for governor entered its final weeks.

Angelides — trailing Schwarzenegger in some polls by double digits — would like to direct the media's attention toward some of the sketchy parts of Schwarzenegger's life. He volunteered a subject: the recent court settlement between the governor and British TV personality Anna Richardson over allegations that the governor and his staff libeled Richardson by denying he had groped her after an interview. The settlement, reached in a London court, is secret.

"Certainly the fact that Gov. Schwarzenegger is the first governor (in California) to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit is relevant," Angelides said, inaccurately saying it was a sexual harassment suit instead of a libel claim. "If this were a CEO of a corporation, the board would be meeting to say, 'What do we do about this problem, about this guy?' It is relevant."

He also said Schwarzenegger "allegedly" supported apartheid and was too slow to act on the genocide in Darfur.

Schwarzenegger has led a rich and complex life, and he has said some pretty lurid and controversial things over the years. Voters seemed to forgive him during the 2003 recall when this newspaper printed accurate and fair stories about his groping several women. Others are not forgiving.

Now that an election is nearing, I have been receiving daily e-mails from people. One challenged The Times to print stories about Schwarzenegger's Nazi father, something pretty much irrelevant to the 50-something governor and his own life. Another lambasted The Times for endorsing a "pervert" and a "hypocrite." Multiple times, they have sent a particularly raunchy photo of a young Schwarzenegger with a woman in his lap, his hand in an inappropriate place.

Is this the road we're traveling for the next two weeks: Nazis, genocide, sexual harassment and apartheid? Will Angelides follow these people? He seems too careful a man to go that far. But I wonder if Angelides can tear down Schwarzenegger's character and not damage his own reputation in the process. Today, Angelides called Schwarzenegger a blowhard and said he looked like he dipped his hair in Tang.

It should be noted that Schwarzenegger's campaign isn't exactly roses and wine. In the past few weeks, they have been sending many emails as well. They have called Angelides and his campaign "shameless," "desperate," "unethical," "shrill and nasty," "spewing political rhetoric" and "clearly struggling for relevance."

In doing so, Schwarzenegger's political team practices a sort of double-reverse negativity: they act shrill and nasty when they accuse Angelides of being shrill and nasty — but they always let the candidate stay positive.

(Photos: Mario Tama / Getty Images; Eric Risberg / AP)