A moment that happens for many campaigns arrived for the Phil Angelides for Governor campaign this week. The meeting with key backers to discuss the campaign’s difficult straits and what is to be done. A special meeting with labor leaders, the core constituency of the long presumed Democratic nominee’s campaign, was called for noon on Tuesday in Sacramento.
The first problem, according to several labor participants, came when the candidate himself was not present. Instead, Angelides campaign manager Cathy Calfo and senior advisor Bob Mulholland represented the treasurer. The second problem came when it seemed unclear what the strategy for righting the situation is. The third problem came when a long anticipated event marketing extravaganza for the former state Democratic chairman, the California Democratic Party convention at the end of the month, was “de-emphasized,” as one participant put it. Most observers have expected Angelides, long the favorite of party activists, to win the state party endorsement as a useful tool in branding himself the “real Democrat” in his contest with the more moderate Controller Steve Westly.
Angelides press secretary Brian Brokaw did not call back to comment on the labor leaders meeting.
“If this campaign has a strategy,” said another ranking labor participant, “I don’t know what it is.”
“I don’t know if the purpose of the meeting was to allay our concerns or to alarm us about Phil losing the primary,” said another.
Several labor leaders complained about what they see as the lack of a campaign from Angelides.
“Where is he?,” asked one. “He is off the air for now, fine, we get that, but why isn’t he out campaigning? Why hasn’t he ever been out campaigning? He got all of our endorsements, he raised money, then he stopped and acted like that meant the nomination was his. Instead of developing his messaging and his communications operation, he acted like he had already won. He isn’t losing to Westly because Westly is running a brilliant campaign, he is losing because Westly is a more appealing guy who is running a competent campaign.”
“He seems to think that holding press conferences is campaigning. Well, it isn’t, not when you only get two reporters to come, not when you don’t get into the middle of the issues everyone is talking about.”
Neither Westly nor Angelides has done much public campaigning. But, says another labor leader, whose union could turn out troops for rallies: “Phil hasn’t asked us to help him with campaign events.”
With little more than six weeks to go until California’s June primary, Angelides has held only one rally this year, and that a home town Sacramento affair to launch his attack on Westly as an apologist for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The event drew 125 people and only one TV camera.
Since his anti-Westly rally and the first debate between the two men, hastily arranged on Univision’s Voz y Voto, both of which occurred on April 5th, Angelides has done little public campaigning.
He held a press conference in Sacramento to call for tax increases for more education funding and to attack Westly. This received virtually no press coverage.
He held a media conference call with former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin to call for tax increases for more education funding and to attack Westly. Only two reporters bothered to phone in and nothing appeared in newspapers.
Yesterday, Angelides appeared in San Francisco with two of his biggest backers and campaign co-chairs, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, to talk about education funding. But the two politicians did not indulge in Angelides’ recent spate of trash talking Westly, of which there was actually precious little, and focused on national as well as state education issues. There was little press coverage of that, either.
If the treasurer does de-emphasize the California Democratic Party endorsement, a seeming reversal of the campaign’s strategy just a few weeks ago, there will be fallout. Not that winning the endorsement would necessarily be easy for a candidate now trailing in the polls.
Winning the endorsement requires 60 percent of the state convention vote. Delegates have the choice of the two candidates plus a “no endorsement” option.
The last time a gubernatorial candidate in a contested Democratic primary won the state party endorsement was 1990. Then state Attorney General John Van de Kamp, the liberal choice who had garnered the lion’s share of Democratic interest group endorsements, beat moderate San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein for the state party nod. But Feinstein went on to trounce Van de Kamp in the primary election. That fall, she lost narrowly to the Republican nominee, then U.S. Senator Pete Wilson.
This is a crucial moment for the candidate so long presumed to have the Democratic nomination in hand. And so far, he is not reassuring some of his most important supporters that he has the answers.
** The United Farm Workers union will tomorrow endorse both Steve Westly and Phil Angelides for Governor of California. The union will issue the following statement: “Both candidates would be governors who strongly represent the interests of farm workers and all the people of California. Both have demonstrated a strong and consistent commitment to fairly remedying our nation’s broken immigration system. Both have shown their firm commitment to the right of farm workers to improve their lives and the lives of their families through self-organization and union contracts. Both boast experience in the public and private sectors that have well prepared them for leadership.”
This is another endorsement that was long expected to go only to Angelides.
** STEVE RETURNS TO STEALTH MODE, PHIL LEAVES SACRAMENTO. Stealthy Steve Westly, the new Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner, followed his increasingly familiar pattern of making an impressive public appearance, at yesterday’s Sacramento Press Club luncheon, and then returning to stealth mode. Meanwhile, his Democratic rival, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, appeared in San Francisco with two of his biggest backers and campaign co-chairs, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, to talk about education funding. But the two politicians did not indulge in Angelides’ recent spate of trash talking Westly, of which there was actually precious little, and focused on national as well as state education issues.
** THAT BIG INFRASTRUCTURE BONDS BREAKTHROUGH. Readers will have noticed that they saw nothing new in today’s raft of daily newspaper stories on a “breakthrough” with California’s big infrastructure bonds package and its prospects for making the November ballot. That’s because it’s all been reported here before, in a few columns nearly two weeks ago and more. The only thing prompting the newspaper articles was the appearance yesterday of the Democratic and Republican leaders of the California Senate and Assembly at the Bay Area Council “Outlook” conference in San Jose.
There they said what you read here before the Legislature went on its Easter break nearly two weeks ago. That there is broad agreement between the two major parties and the two legislative houses about the magnitude of a potential deal ($25 to $30 billion), and the outline of what it would contain (schools construction and modernization, levee repair and flood management, and transportation) and not contain (dams and parks).
If anything, an agreement seems somewhat further away than it did a few weeks ago. Because there is no agreement on the inclusion of affordable housing and Assembly Republicans still haven’t actually agreed to the outline. And one aspect of the “agreement” was contradicted immediately after yesterday afternoon, when Central Valley legislators insisted that they did so want at least one dam in the package.
** REINER INITIATIVE SLIDES A LITTLE MORE. Today’s Field Poll contains similiar results for controversial movie director Rob Reiner‘s universal preschool initiative on California’s June ballot, Proposition 82. It is barely over the necessary 50 percent among likely voters when described to them, leading 52 percent to 39 percent. And it contains a new piece of information, that is running within the margin of error among voters who are actually familiar with the ballot measure, 49 percent to 46 percent. This is before one piece of advertising has run against it. The No side is beginning to aggregate enough money to go on the air.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides, the two-term state treasurer, former state Democratic chairman, and Sacramento area developer who led the primary race from the beginning only to fall behind eBay honcho-turned-state Controller Steve Westly, is about to get some needed help from a new independent expenditure campaign funded primarily, according to sources, by Sacramento area developers. Working for the new group, veteran Sacramento consultant David Townsend prepared its first TV ad yesterday afternoon in the Sacramento studio of the California Professional Firefighters union.
The new pro-Angelides group has booked TV air time for next week in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno, and Monterey media markets. Now that its existence is public, events are moving quickly for the group and it has not yet paid for that air time. But funding is expected to begin to flow into its brand-new bank account. Multiple sources say the principal name behind the group’s funding is Sacramento developer Angelo Tsakopoulos, the candidate’s longtime patron, partner, and biggest financial supporter. After repeated inquiries, he has not denied his involvement.
The group, just registered with the Secretary of State’s office as “Californians for a Better Government, A Coalition of Firefighters, Cops, Deputy Sheriffs, Home Builders, and Developers,” consists, according to many sources, of developers and three unions, the California Professional Firefighters, the Peace Officers Research Association of California, and the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs Association.
According to firefighters union spokesman Carroll Wills, who discussed the fast-moving developments last night with union president Lou Paulson before commenting, the great bulk of the funding is coming from the developers, not the unions. The firefighters, for example, are tapped out from the 2005 special election struggle against Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and are reloading financially for the general election re-match with the Republican governor. The unions’ principal role is not to provide funding but the endorsements and personnel to appear in TV advertising.
While other sources, speaking on background, say the group’s goal is to spend $10 million on Angelides’ behalf, Wills says only that the group is “hoping for a two-week TV buy” and to see where things go from there. The goal is to provide “a bridge” between Angelides’ current plight of being off the air for the third week in a row and the time in which he is prepared to resume his TV campaigning against Westly, who is advertising in all California markets now through the June 6 primary election.
More than a half-dozen well-informed sources identify the principal name behind the group’s funding as Angelides’ longtime political patron, business partner, and friend, Sacramento developer Angelo Tsakopoulos. After repeated calls, he has not denied his involvement.
I phoned Tsakopoulos, widely regarded as the capital area’s principal development figure and one of California’s richest men, at his home and at his office yesterday morning to discuss the independent expenditure campaign for his longtime partner, the candidate for governor. After a few hours, his lawyer, former state Fair Political Practices Commission chairman Ben Davidian, a longtime player in high-level Republican politics, phoned back. He said he would have to discuss the situation with Tsakopoulos and call back.
When two calls to Davidian yesterday afternoon at the developer’s AKT Development Corp. offices did not yield that call back, I reached the former aide to two Republican governors at his home. From there, he said: “I haven’t had the chance to discuss this with Angelo to the degree necessary to tell you what is going on. No firm decision about an expenditure by him has been made.”
After more than a week of discussion, events are suddenly moving quickly for the group. When I checked yesterday morning, the studio time for the pro-Angelides spot had been booked but the ad had not been produced. By late afternoon, after the consultant, David Townsend, had been spotted by a source at the firefighters union complex, the ad had been produced and its existence was confirmed by multiple sources, who say it will be shipped to TV stations on Friday.
Townsend is a highly-regarded longtime veteran of high-level Democratic politics who has worked closely with Tsakopoulos on development projects, notably the recent effort to build a new arena for the Sacramento Kings basketball team.
He has known Angelides for decades and is an endorser and financial supporter of his candidacy. Although Townsend has done many candidate campaigns, playing campaign manager and senior advisor roles with such figures as former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and former Vice President Walter Mondale, and has advised several key figures in the Legislature, the bulk of his work is now corporate consulting and ballot initiatives.
The firefighters union was an early endorser of Angelides’ gubernatorial campaign and has backed him in every one of his races, beginning with his unsuccessful bid as a 19-year old for the Sacramento City Council.
That is when Tsakopoulos met Angelides. In an interview a few years ago, the power broker, a Greek immigrant who worked his way up from being a waiter to a patron of many political campaigns and causes, told me of his first meeting with the eager teenager, a fellow Greek-American. Tsakopoulos, already a key figure in local politics, told Angelides to forget about the city council and go back to Harvard and finish his degree. But he was intrigued by his energy and intelligence and gave him “a few hundred dollars” for his campaign. The two men stayed in touch and ultimately formed a powerful business and political partnership and personal friendship.
A significant development in the race for Governor of California.
** NEW SIGNS OF LIFE FOR THE BIG BANG BONDS INFRASTRUCTURE PACKAGE. Democratic and Republican legislative leaders and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger all reportedly gave off positive vibes at the Bay Area Council conference in San Jose about getting a deal to put a big infrastructure bonds package on the November ballot. But the details disclosed publicly will sound like nothing new to readers here. And there is already a problem with one very familiar aspect of the still emerging deal. Dams don’t seem to be off the table, as there is a pro-dam press conference by Central Valley legislators tomorrow.
** DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE STEVE WESTLY SEEMED TO IMPRESS most attendees during his appearance at the monthly Sacramento Press Club luncheon. In hands-on mode, complete with white board and PowerPoint presentation, the ex-eBay honcho-turned-state controller moved around on stage as he went through a plethora of ideas to bring the state budget closer to balance. Saying you can’t really ask people for tax increases without demonstrating that you’ve done your best to make government more efficient, especially when the Republican votes necessary to pass tax hikes are nowhere near forthcoming, he acknowledged that what he presented may not be enough to do the job. In fact, it may well be billions short.
Not that anyone else has the plan, either, of course. Arnold Schwarzenegger is into more spending these days without cuts or his old focus on governmental efficiency. Phil Angelides doesn’t talk about efficiencies, only tax hikes and closing corporate loopholes. But 13 days after he raised this as his “exact” plan, the actual promised specifics are no more in evidence now than they were then. Check for yourself.
** BACK TO POLL PURGATORY FOR ARNOLD. After the seeming boost of the robo-Rasmussen poll, there is the same old song of the other big robo-poll, the monthly Survey USA poll. Here the Arnold Schwarzenegger job approval rating remains stalled, actually one point lower than last month’s dismal figure, at 35%. Disapproval is 61%. This poll is more recent than the Rasmussen rush, too, conducted April 7-9. The former action superstar ranks in the Bottom 5 of American’s governors in job approval.
** SPECIAL ANGELIDES LABOR MEETING TODAY. The Phil Angelides campaign has called a special meeting with labor leaders for noon today to go over the campaign and its needs. One very good source said that former Michael Dukakis campaign manager and longtime Angelides friend John Sasso would participate in the meeting. Angelides press secretary Brian Brokaw, while confirming the powwow, says Sasso won’t be a participant.
In championing the so-called “Frontier Line,” a Western states electric power development and transmission project, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who signed a memorandum of understanding on it yesterday, is embracing the newest frontier of the old energy economy. The Frontier Line is about coal-fired electric power. That’s why the Frontier Line would originate in coal producing Wyoming and is embraced by the coal lobby of the Mountain West. They have the coal power, we have the electricity market in need. The out-of-state wind farms that are talked up by Schwarzenegger and his energy czar, Joe Desmond — who will depart his post as California Energy Commission chairman on May 7 because the state Senate will not confirm him — are green window-dressing around the central agenda.
If domestic fossil fuels have a future in electric power generation in the U.S., it is because of coal. If foreign sources were cut off, America has barely a decade’s worth of domestic supply of natural gas left, the relatively clean burning fossil fuel of choice in today’s electric power plants. That’s why there has been so much talk by Schwarzenegger and some business interests about importing expensive liquified natural gas into California. Coal, however, is another question. America’s coal reserves could last for upwards of 200 years. Along with the former Soviet Union, the U.S. has the world’s largest reserves of coal, about 23 percent each of the global total. China, with 11 percent, ranks third in coal reserves, but first in coal production.
But there is a problem, even with the advent of “clean coal” to replace the traditional sooty image of this oldest of mined energy resources. Coal is a mineral consisting mostly of elemental carbon. And carbon waste product in the form of carbon dioxide is at the core of the greenhouse gas problem most scientists believe drives climate change around the world.
The Frontier Line project has improved since Desmond started pushing it more than a year ago, moving from conventional polluting coal-fired electric power production (there is a reason why there are no coal-fired power plants in California), to “clean coal” that cut down on particulate pollution, to the current emphasis on still cleaner plants — utilizing expensive technology still in development — that would cut down not only on conventional air pollution but also greenhouse gas emissions.
The former action superstar has not announced this, but he has embraced the idea that California should sign no new contracts for the importation of electricity from conventional coal-fired plants, which currently supply about 15 percent of the state’s power. Instead, all new contracts must meet a standard which is equivalent to a combined cycle natural gas-fired power plant. But this will require new technologies, both in the generation of the power itself and in the disposal of the carbon waste product.
This project can spur the next generation of coal-fired electric power production in the U.S., making America’s vast reserves of coal seem much more relevant than they otherwise would in the greenhouse era. As such, it could be a critical boon to the conventional energy and utility industries. And the utilities are lining up for it. Seven Western states utilities have signed on, including three big California outfits.
But the $6 billion project is a long way off, for technological, financial, and political reasons. Last year, the start date was 2015. This year, a more current sounding 2011 or 2012. Who knows when the technology will be ready, the funding in place, the environmental and land ownership concerns about the transmission power lines resolved?
While the Frontier Line concept is very important to transition the fossil fuel energy economy of the U.S. into any greenhouse era future, it may be less important to California.
While Schwarzenegger energy czar Joe Desmond spent much of his brief tenure pushing a transmission line from Wyoming to California to bring clean coal plus a little wind, there is much that was not done here in California.
California has tremendous native renewable energy resources. But the development of these resources, right here in the Golden State that the governor loves to talk up, is lagging.
Wind power in the Tehachapis, geothermal power in the Imperial Valley, big solar electric projects in the Mohave Desert. All these resources have great potential, all of these resources are cost effective against increasingly scarce natural gas and heavily technologized coal, and all require new transmission to reach their potential.
Instead of an Old Frontier Line to bring coal power from the Mountain West to California, we need a New Frontier Line to bring renewable power from the relative wilderness areas of California into our cities. Let the governor’s next energy czar become a champion of that project.
** RASMUSSEN POLL. The new Rasmussen poll is out and it points up the fact that it will not be easy for Democrats to defeat California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. This poll shows the former action superstar-turned-moderate Republican pol leading both Democrats, Steve Westly by eight points and Phil Angelides by 13 points. It also suggests that the millennium is not yet upon us for advocates of a more liberal view on illegal immigration.
I have some doubts about this poll. I remember it being pretty accurate during the 2003 recall and the 2004 presidential race. This rendition seems somewhat more conservative than where I think things are, but that’s simply my feeling. Check the link and see what you think.
** ARNOLD’S MULTIPLEX MESSAGING ON TAXES. In more of his multiplex messaging, Arnold appears today an event urging low-income Californians to use the earned income tax credit — a bit late to get that done on time, natch — and at an event with the anti-tax Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. And First Lady Maria Shriver pens an op-ed on tax fairness … for the Orange County Register.
** THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN. And tomorrow, that group of would-be infrastructure builders is finally back together again, at the Bay Area Council’s annual Outlook conference in San Jose. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the once and possibly future leader of the band, reunites with Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman, and outgoing Assembly Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Since the collapse of Schwarzenegger’s late-breaking drive to cut a deal to place some version of his Big Bang Bonds infrastructure package on California’s June ballot, the legislative leaders, as reported here, have been meeting to come up with their own deal. But it did not happen as they had hoped before last week’s Easter recess. But the boys are back in town …
** ARNOLD: HIDING THE EASTER EGG (AKA HIS TAX RETURNS). I’ve been hearing all day from Team Schwarzenegger on other things but nothing on my request for religious dispensation to gain access to the tax returns he let be seen — for only a few hours on Good Friday — by those journos who had no long Easter holiday weekend plans. To be buried on one of the least news-oriented weekends of the year.
Too, too, too clever. Like announcing micro-mini media buys and waiting for credulous journalists to report them as if they are real. Well, that one worked. The first time. But not nearly so well the second time.
** 7 PM UPDATE ON POLLS: I reported the Rasmussen poll first because it’s another set of data points and because others would report it and it’s not the purpose of NWN to trail. However, I don’t personally take the numbers all that seriously as a measure of where the candidates are.
The Field Poll is more recent and in depth. It was conducted April 3-10 with human interviewers. Rasmussen is older data, from one night, April 5, with robot interviewers. Field has a tie between Westly and Schwarzenegger, and a four-point lead for Schwarzenegger over Angelides.
New Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner Steve Westly, the top eBay executive-turned-state controller, is today doubling his TV advertising buy in the Los Angeles and San Francisco media markets. Rival Democratic candidate Phil Angelides, the two-term state treasurer and former state Democratic chairman, has booked no TV advertising time this week.
With just over seven weeks to go until California’s June primary election, Westly is inexorably ratcheting up his campaign advertising. Angelides, in contrast, now begins his third week off the air after a month of attempting to match the Westly drive, which is ongoing through the primary in all California markets. Although Angelides spent millions on television, Westly closed the gap on him, taking the lead in the Field Poll released last Friday.
In addition, although no negative TV ads have been aired by either side, Angelides’ image actually declined. In February, according to the Field Poll, Angelides had a 24 percent favorable rating among all likely general election voters with only a 13 unfavorable rating. By April, his favorable rating was stalled at 23 percent while his unfavorable rating had shot up to 22 percent. Among Democrats only, his favorable rating actually went down, from 33 percent to 28 percent, though his unfavorable rating went up only slightly, from 10 to 13 percent.
These public results mirror private research. Organized labor, according to sources, has been conducting focus groups on the Democratic primary race. Labor has mostly lined up behind Angelides, although two big public employee unions long expected to back the treasurer, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the California State Employees Association (CSEA), recently issued a dual endorsement and no endorsement, respectively.
These focus groups reportedly show labor members preferring Westly’s TV ads and responsive to Westly as a candidate.
Angelides has, according to sources, been going to labor allies saying that he needs them to campaign hard for him if he is to win the primary. Dealing with concerns among many in labor that he has not developed a positive public image for his candidacy, Angelides talks about running a positive campaign. But he also talks about “drawing contrasts” with Westly when he ramps his campaign up for the stretch run of the primary. That will coincide with him going back on the air. Angelides is widely expected to go negative in his TV advertising when it resumes, matching his anti-Westly offensive in public events starting April 5th with an anti-Westly rally and the first debate between the two Democrats, on Univision’s Voz y Voto.
But many labor leaders, joined publicly by state Democratic Party chairman Art Torres and filmmaker Warren Beatty, have been privately urging a positive primary campaign, especially in TV advertising.
When will Angelides go back on the air? Informed sources said 10 days ago that Angelides is not likely to resume TV advertising until next week. And contrary to rumors that he would go back up today, he is still off the air. The resumption of his advertising would coincide with the week leading into the state Democratic convention. Having his TV ads back on the air then would reassure his supporters going into an event that has always loomed large in his strategy and now looms even larger.
Angelides may need a special edge from somewhere, if not from labor. While he will have enough money to be competitive, his early burst of TV advertising did little to establish a positive impression. Now he must do that and take down Westly. And his recent fundraising has not picked up.
From the end of the last campaign finance reporting period, March 17, through Good Friday, April 14, Angelides has only raised about $700,000 in the thousand dollar-and up donations which must be swiftly disclosed to the California Secretary of State’s office. Angelides has been raising nearly all his money in four and five figure contributions. Westly actually out-raised him last week by a small margin among those contributors not named Westly. Of course, the Westly candidacy remains driven by his dot-com boom wealth.
** Field Poll director Mark Di Camillo took issue recently with some recent points regarding his poll’s methodology. In discussing the Field findings on illegal immigration, I suggested that it would be more useful to have results for likely voters, not all registered voters, since the likely voters are the ones participating in this year’s elections. His take: “Regarding likely voters, the composition of this group bounces around from election to election. For example, the composition of primary election likely voters in our current poll differs from the composition of likely voters in the upcoming general election. And, compositions of both groups change from election year to election year. So, if we were to limit our analysis to likely voters on a policy topic like this we would not be able to make reliable trend comparisons of our findings over time, since the definitions of likely voter subgroup would keep changing. On the other hand, the population of registered voters is fairly constant over time and allows for year to year trend line comparisons, which we place a high premium on, especially on important policy issues.”
A very good point, of course. However that doesn’t negate my point, and a breakout of the data for likely voters this year would be most useful.
Incidentally, in the Field Poll released after the illegal immigration study, the one showing Steve Westly taking the lead over Phil Angelides in Democratic primary for Governor of California, the likely voter numbers are the ones reported by Field.
On a second point, Di Camillo wrote: “Also, your flat assertion that a majority of likely California voters would certainly favor building a border fence is not borne out by the data. When examining the subgroup of likely voters in the general election in our current poll, the findings are identical to those of the overall registered voter sample on this issue — 48% opposed and 47% in favor. In fact, when comparing the opinions of registered voters to likely voters in the general election on all other immigration issues posed, we find no statistically significant differences on any of the items.”
It would be useful to have those polling results broken out by likely voters as well as the reported registered voter numbers. Di Camillo is an excellent pollster and if he says his numbers say that, that’s what they say. However, it surprises me that there would be no sigificant difference in those results between the registered voter and likely voter universes. But that’s one of the things that makes politics interesting.
** L.A. Times reporter Peter Nicholas has a terrific story today about the recently concluded U.S. Chamber of Commerce “issue advocacy” TV advertising campaign which was very pro-Schwarzenegger and just so happened to coincide with the messages he was communicating both through his government operation and his political campaign. It turns out that a lot of the money, which may not have to be reported, came from a pro-Arnold fundraising group partly run out of his offices in LA.
You remember the reports here earlier this year, when it was revealed that the same media buying firm which worked for the so-called “Swift Boat Vets” and other pro-George W. Bush “independent expenditure” campaigns was active here. First I reported they were checking out the California markets, then that they purchased the TV ad time on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Then I reported how big the buy was for the first such ad, $2 million, on the “Build It” infrastructure theme. When that theme became problematic with the collapse of Arnold’s drive to place some version of the Big Bang Bonds infrastructure package on California’s June ballot, they switched to a new ad about how great things have gotten since the bad days before the recall, even more overtly political and only tenuously linked to the advocacy of any policy position.
Read the Times story today if you haven’t already, and think about how this sort of thing is going to play in the court of public opinion, if not an actual court.
** Check here Monday AM for a major newsbreak in the California governor’s race.
** And a happy Easter weekend to you. With less than two days notice, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s campaign, under some fire for not being forthcoming on the issue, finally announced that his recent tax returns would be made available for a Brigadoon-like viewing for two hours on Good Friday, right before the national holiday weekend. Needless to say, I couldn’t be there. Nor could many others. And needless to say, not many people will be reading about politics this weekend. Which is obviously the point. Between the “release” “schedule,” the big wall of the blind trust, and the refusal of the campaign to allow anyone to take copies of his returns for prerusal by, say, a forensics accountant — which is what is required for any real evaluation — it’s quite impossible to assess Arnold’s income stream in any meaningful way. Other than there is quite a lot.
But I am sure that my good friends in Schwarzworld will grant me religious dispensation and allow me to view these documents on a day that is not a holiday.
You know, the Bush Administration has delayed the onset of military operations in deference to religious holidays, Islamic, as it happens. Is the devout Catholic Arnold so secular in his political operations that he has no appreciation for Easter weekend?
** MESSAGE SENT TO SENIOR SCHWARZENEGGER STAFF: Folks, I am out of town for Easter weekend — like many millions of other Americans — as you know.
I look forward to looking through Arnold’s tax data during the normal, non-holiday working week.
Best regards,
Bill
** In a better move for the governor, Natural Resources Defense Council official Ralph Cavanagh subs for Arnold in the Governor’s weekly radio address. He talks about the lead-in to Earth Day next weekend, and extols the former action superstar’s efforts on renewable energy and environmental matters. Cavanagh is very much a for real enviro leader, no fakery about him, although he was involved with the utilities in California’s ill-fated electric power deregulation scheme.
** Meanwhile, in the world of total psychosis, we have the fast emerging Iranian crisis.
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