Now that our favorite politician has won the attorney general's job, do you think he's gearing up the Brownies -- his followers from the '70s -- to run for governor in 2010? The former two-term governor always seems to be looking for another job. But maybe governor is out of the question for Jerry Brown. President may be more to his liking.

Here's an interesting story about Brown on insidebayarea.com.

Posted by Jim Boren at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There's still plenty of time until the November election, but it's going to be very difficult for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides to defeat Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Coming off his June primary win, Angelides should be riding a wave of momentum. Instead, it seems that he's just languishing. That's not a good sign against an opponent who is an international celebrity.

One problem: Angelides, a policy wonk, is not a very good campaigner. He's better in small groups where he can explain his proposals in depth while punching holes in the governor's initiatives. But if Angelides can't connect with the masses, he'll never catch Schwarzenegger, even in this blue state that should be easy pickings for a Democrat.

In addition, some legislative Democrats act as if they don't care if Schwarzenegger is re-elected. They handed the governor legislative wins with the infrastructure budget package they put on the November ballot and then allowed a relatively smooth passage of the state budget.

If it weren't for the public employee unions, such as the California Teachers Association, you'd have to wonder if Angelides has any chance at all. But he still has almost four months to turn his campaign around and you never know if Schwarzenegger will make a big political mistake on his way to re-election.

Posted by Jim Boren at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The political sucking-up has already started in the governor's race. The latest is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic challenger Phil Angelides showing up at the American Legion convention in Fresno to tell veterans how much they'll do for them if they get their support in November. The candidates do this at every group they appear before -- real estate agents, mortgage brokers, teachers, farmers -- you name the special-interest group and they'll have a giveaway program for them.

Angelides seemed to offer the most goodies Thursday, including waiving fees at public colleges for National Guard members; ensuring that all National Guard families have health insurance; provide family leave for spouses of activated National Guard members, and increase access to the California Military Family Relief Fund.

Schwarzenegger said veterans homes are a top priority for him, and the state will open five new homes in the next seven years.

(Read this story about the candidates' Fresno visit.)

No wonder California can't live within its means. The politicians promise that the taxpayers will fund everyone's needs. These are mostly good causes, but doesn't someone have to say, "How much is all this going to cost the taxpayers and can we afford it?"

Posted by Jim Boren at 2:56 PM | Permalink

Arnold Schwarzenegger may get political sand kicked in his face by the Legislature or the labor unions, but when it comes to manliness, he's still "Mr. Big." In honor of Father's Day, the staff members of the Minneapolis Star Tribune rated a bunch of Daddy diaper bags for manliness (1 for "hand it over to Mom" and 10 for "just call me Schwarzenegger.")

If you saw Guy Keeler's Sunday Page 1 story on full-time fathers, you get it. Even in 2006 some people don't understand men who are willing to take a leave of office from the workplace to raise their kids. Well, who cares? I bet most of the mouthiest ones are just jealous and would like to be able to do it themselves. In Norway, for example, they consider it so important that parents take off time with their children that they pay most of their salaries for the first year so they'll stay home and bond with the new baby. But hey, probably even in Norway a guy carrying around a pursey-looking bag with bunnies and teddy bears on it is either completely secure or just asking for it.

So, it's America's entrepreneurs to the rescue. The Strib layout featured camouflage diaper bags and sporty-looking vests with that store diapers in the inside pockets. There's one that looks for the world like a a shoulder holster -- how cool that it that holds baby powder instead of a pistol. The writers describe these bags as functional and "humiliation free." The top-rated Schwarzenegger special is all black with a dragon on the front. It even has a place for his cell phone. a cell-phone. One reviewer said it went just a little too far and looked like gang daddy. Other bags sported camo patterns perfect for Marine Daddy. One had the Grateful Dead on the front. I'm amused by the names of the sources of these things: www.psychobabyonline.com; www.diaperdude. I'm definitely putting these on my list for every baby shower coming up.

Posted by Gail Marshall at 9:11 AM | Permalink

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is going online this morning and wants you to connect with him. You can ask the governor questions beginning at 10:30 a.m. by going to this link. The online video question-and-answer session will be conducted from the governor's press briefing room in the Capitol. After it's over, you can watch the vide of him answering the emails from Californians.

Margita Thompson, the governor's press secretary, told the Associated Press that the Web cast is intended to allow constituents who normally would not have an opportunity to question the governor to connect with him online.

It's a great idea. Blog on, governor.

Posted by Jim Boren at 7:57 AM | Permalink

Looks like Fresno's Pete Mehas won't be stepping away from politics, even though he is retiring as Fresno County schools superintendent. He's already working for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's re-election campaign. Today the Schwarzenegger campaign pushed Mehas into a public fight with Treasurer Phil Angelides, who is the Democratic nominee for governor. Here's a press release the governor's folks just issued after Angelides came to town for a campaign appearance:

Sacramento, CA - Today, Fresno schools Superintendent Dr. Peter Mehas issued the following statement in response to Phil Angelides' education event:

"As an educator of 44 years, I am disappointed that Phil Angelides continues to bring his negativity and pessimism to one of the most important issues to Californians -- education funding.

"Like a typical politician, he is distorting the facts by using data from 2003 to talk about our schools. Angelides ignores that Governor Schwarzenegger has put unprecedented amounts of funding towards educating our students. Two years in a row he raised per-pupil funding, bringing it to over $11,000, which is more than $1,400 higher than just two years ago. Governor Schwarzenegger is fully funding our schools, while Phil Angelides offers no real plan - just his promises for higher taxes."

The Angelides campaign issued a response to Mehas' statement. It came from Bob Mulholland, senior adviser to the Angelides campaign. Here it is:

Continue reading "Mehas takes on Angelides" »

Posted by Jim Boren at 2:38 PM | Permalink