The Chronicle Recommends: Schwarzenegger, to stay the course

GOV. Arnold Schwarzenegger said "something very special happened" in his third year in office.

"We found the groove," he proclaimed during an interview with our editorial board last week.

And Sacramento has been grooving with him. The just-completed legislative session represented one of the most productive in recent memory. The Republican governor and Democratic legislators worked together on essential long-term goals (upgrade our transportation systems and schools, help stop global warming) and short-term imperatives (raise the minimum wage, reform foster care, secure drug discounts for the uninsured) that will have an impact on Californians' lives.

We have disagreed with Schwarzenegger at various times on various issues, including his gluttonous pursuit of campaign donations and his excessive deference to the whims of corporate lobbyists in his first two years. He took a much more balanced view toward business-related issues this year. One issue in which he has been consistently strong has been the environment -- from opposition to offshore drilling and road-building in pristine federal forests to his efforts to preserve Lake Tahoe.

Schwarzenegger calls himself "fiscally conservative, socially moderate, environmentally progressive" -- which puts him squarely in the California mainstream. He has shown an ability to listen and to lead.

His Democratic opponent, Treasurer Phil Angelides, has not demonstrated the leadership traits required to build coalitions that can overcome the egos, ambition and partisan rivalries that stand in the way of progress in Sacramento. Angelides has struggled to inspire Democrats in this election. . . . He has yet to articulate a compelling case that his election would make a difference in Sacramento. . . .

In Schwarzenegger, Californians have a governor who can listen, focus and lead. He deserves to be re-elected on Nov. 7.

San Francisco Chronicle endorsements to date.

Governor            Arnold Schwarzenegger 
Insurance Commis.   Steve Poizner 
State Controller    John Chiang 
State Treasurer     Bill Lockyer 

1A Transportation funding         No 
1B Highways and ports             Yes 
1C Emergency shelter              Yes 
1D Public education               Yes 
1E Disaster preparedness          Yes 
83 Sex offender monitoring        No 
84 Water and parks                Yes 
85 Teen pregnancy notification    No 
86 Tax on cigarettes              No 
87 Alternative energy research    No 
88 K-12 education funding         No 
89 Campaign financing limits      No 
90 Private property protection    No

We are a representative democracy - our state government passed hundreds of laws this year and I am unaware of any law signed that helped the Majority of the people.

We have a tierney of the minority against the majority. They pass laws for themselves and they demand others to pay for it all.

As their comments on road, building etc, they did not pass them, they have come to the voters again with even more debt for billions of dollars to mismanage those projects as well.

It's likely to be a pretty grim scene in the California dems warroom after this one. :-)

Sacramento Bee/Brian Baer

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides greet supporters at a Sacramento City Teachers Association phone bank on Wednesday.

Go Dick! (Mountjoy, that is..)

Did ya see the LA Times Editorial?

Angelides Under a Bus
Key Democrats distance themselves from the top of the state ticket, but at what cost?

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE, who needs Republicans? That's got to be what Phil Angelides asks himself about his Democratic Party pals. Guys such as Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez and L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa — who endorsed Angelides for governor and say they want him to win — seem instead to be throwing their man under the bus. That would be the reelection bus, by the way, driven by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Angelides had only to switch on the news last month to see Nuñez, with the blue Pacific in the background, standing next to the governor and praising him for his leadership. Changing channels, he could have caught Nuñez doing it again, this time in Spanish. Priceless — and free — reelection publicity. Nuñez has said he won't appear with Schwarzenegger anymore to support the package of bonds the governor and the Democrats placed on next month's ballot. But another Democrat — Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata of Oakland — is standing up with the governor for the cameras.

It's old news that Nuñez played nice with Schwarzenegger in Sacramento this year because both men saw the good sense in working together. The governor improved his image with Democratic and moderate voters by backing Nuñez-led bills to raise the minimum wage, lower the price of prescription drugs and fight global warming. Nothing wrong with that, by the way — those bills were good for California. And Villaraigosa may well be right to think he's better off if his candidate loses. A reelected Schwarzenegger would be out in four years, leaving Villaraigosa a clear field for the governor's job. Angelides, if elected, could stick around for eight.

(snip)

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