Free Republic

In winning his landslide re-election victory, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also found most other campaigns going his way. Only the narrow defeat of his appointed secretary of state, Bruce McPherson, could be counted as an actual setback, and not a major one at that. First, of course, was the passage of all the Big Bang Bonds infrastructure initiatives that he supported. Schwarzenegger lays claim to the enactment of California?s biggest public works program since the Pat Brown era of the 1960s The defeat of all the tax measures on the ballot was right in line with the Arnold playbook, as was...

Angelides tells his supporters to ignore polls Insisting he was "undaunted and unbowed" two days before an election he is widely expected to lose, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides dashed from one end of the state to the other on Sunday, hoping to spark the surge of momentum that has eluded him throughout his campaign. "I want you to ignore what the polls say," Angelides told about 100 union workers at a labor hall in Burlingame Sunday afternoon. "Arnold Schwarzenegger thinks he's got this thing locked away." Afterward, he added, "I think you're going to see a big surprise." Schwarzenegger...

LOS ANGELES - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic rival Phil Angelides began their final push before Election Day with campaign swings throughout the state, rallying supporters and encouraging volunteers on last-minute get-out-the-vote drives. Angelides, who is trailing in the polls and has found it difficult to break free of Schwarzenegger's shadow, got his own celebrity welcome Saturday from hundreds of union members who were preparing to walk precincts. The state treasurer urged supporters not to get discouraged despite two recent public opinion polls that show him trailing the Republican incumbent by 16 and 18 percentage points. He predicted that a...

SACRAMENTO — If the polls are correct, Gov. Schwarzenegger is on his way to a big win Tuesday. But is he popular enough to pull other Republicans across the finish line? In what is being billed nationally as the year of the Democrat, California might buck the trend. At least that's the hope of Republican strategists, who for weeks have talked about a so-called coattail effect: the theory that a big win for the popular Republican governor could mean good things for the GOP in other statewide races. Republican analyst Dan Schnur has even compiled a "coattail index." It says...

SACRAMENTO - When he ran for governor during the 2003 recall election, Arnold Schwarzenegger described the Capitol as a place where "special interests have a stranglehold. The money comes in, favors go out, the people lose." Even as the governor says he is not returning favors for cash, the money has been flooding in since he rose from Hollywood celebrity to chief executive of the nation's most populous state. An exhaustive review of campaign finance records by The Associated Press reveals that Schwarzenegger is on pace to become the most prolific fundraiser in California history. He has raised $113.4 million...

A dozen television and still cameras greeted actor Robert Redford when he went to a hilltop last week to declare his support for Proposition 87, the oil tax initiative on the Nov. 7 ballot. Even more cameras were in Malibu last weekend when Pierce Brosnan, Daryl Hannah, Halle Berry and other movie stars joined surfers in protesting a proposed offshore liquefied natural gas terminal. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a celebrity in his own right, is raking in campaign cash from the likes of movie director James Cameron, former co-star Danny DeVito and fellow action hero Sylvester Stallone. Hollywood, long a leading...

Despite conservative views, McClintock in dead heat with Democratic opponent Garamendi SACRAMENTO - Californians could be on the cusp of electing the state's most conservative lieutenant governor in nearly 30 years -- a candidate who is firmly to the right of most of the state on issues such as abortion, the environment and government spending. State Sen. Tom McClintock, arguably the most popular conservative in the state, is running neck and neck in his race with Democrat John Garamendi, the term-limited state insurance commissioner. Although considered by many to be a powerless post, the lieutenant governor does become the state's...

Phil Angelides may have won the Democratic primary for governor last April when he ignited the state party convention with a fiery speech slamming Democrats who tried to work with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. But that same speech could end up costing the state treasurer the gubernatorial election on Nov. 7. California voters, tired of what they see as years of partisan gridlock in Sacramento, are responding to Schwarzenegger's effort to put a new, bipartisan face on his administration and work closely with the Democratic leadership in the Legislature to get things done. "I'm extremely happy about Democrats and Republicans working...

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appears headed for re-election by a landslide -- even though California voters strongly believe Democrats are better suited to handle key issues like the economy, the Iraq war, immigration and the environment, a new poll shows. The poll by the Public Policy Institute of California shows that Schwarzenegger has an 18-point lead over Democrat state Treasurer Phil Angelides, and has gained so much momentum that even in the Bay Area -- the state's Democratic bastion -- he holds a 6-point lead. Mark Baldassare, pollster for the Public Policy Institute of California, calls it "just amazing ......

The latest public poll, just out tonight, is chock full of issues and items to consider. The headline from the Public Policy Institute of California poll only reinforces the conventional wisdom about the gubernatorial contest: Arnold Schwarzenegger is handily beating Phil Angelides... in this poll, by a commanding 48% to 30%. But there's oh so much more... Grumpy Dems More evidence that Democrats aren't so happy about their nominee for governor, nor the issues he's discussing. The poll shows just 57% of Dems would vote for Angelides as of now, with 21% casting their vote for Schwarzenegger. A full 50%...

7 Angelides supports equal marriage rights for all Californians; Schwarzenegger vetoed them 6 Angelides supports affordable universal health care; Schwarzenegger opposes it 3 Angelides fights for a woman’s right to choose and opposes Prop 85; 2 Angelides opposes Bush’s war in Iraq; Schwarzenegger supports it 1 Angelides supports Nancy Pelosi to become Speaker of the House;

Assuming Arnold maintains his leads in the polls and pulls off a double-digit win, he'll almost certain bring Steve Poizner and Bruce McPherson into office with him. Chuck Poochigian's a good man, but that's a longer shot against Jerry Brown, and Claude Parrish is an even longer shot than that. But somewhere in the middle are the McClintock and Strickland campaigns, both of whom could end up riding Schwarzenegger coattails to victory as well. There are too many variables at this point to predict a likely margin of victory for Schwarzenegger, so instead allow me to submit the Schwarzenegger Coattail...

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected in 2003, California Republican political power was at its nadir. But three years later Republicans are beginning to look at whether Schwarzenegger can help carry some Republican down-ticket candidates across the finish line in November. The question is how two very different trends, one national and one unique to California, will play out on Election Day. Democrats seem poised to make big gains nationally. But in California, Democrats find themselves trailing badly in the governor's race, potentially slipping in legislative races, and losing their grasp on two or three additional statewide offices. Angelides spokesman...

When Leno read in Saturday's Chronicle that Mary Canavan, a lifelong Democrat, was "almost certain" to vote for Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, he found her number in directory assistance and called her at home, giving her a 15-minute pitch for Angelides. It wasn't only Leno who took the Berkeley woman to task about her planned vote for the governor, she said. "I got a lot of e-mails from friends, some saying 'I agree' and others saying 'Have you thought about this?' '' Canavan said at the rally. She admitted she was disappointed with the showing of the Democratic Party and...

Struggling to attract support, Democrat Phil Angelides has begun tearing into Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's personal character, suggesting Wednesday the Republican incumbent should respond to recall-era claims that he once groped and humiliated women. Angelides, in a phone interview, said Schwarzenegger never fulfilled a promise he made during his 2003 recall campaign to review the groping allegations. "It was the governor who told (former NBC anchor) Tom Brokaw on national news that he would fully look into this matter and tell the people what it was all about," Angelides said. "He was the one who made his commitment and didn't keep...

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. (snip) We have disagreed with...

Democrat Phil Angelides is one vote closer to being governor of California, thanks to San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno and a wavering Berkeley real estate agent. When Leno read in Saturday's Chronicle that Mary Canavan, a lifelong Democrat, was "almost certain" to vote for Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, he found her number in directory assistance and called her at home, giving her a 15-minute pitch for Angelides. Leno took his one-on-one political campaign to Canavan because "I'm just so frustrated that there could be a question in the mind of any Democrat about who to vote for in November,'' the...

The Schwarzenegger campaign circulated a letter today from Joe Weider, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's longtime patron and friend (see photo), who recently appeared with the governor at a bodybuilding contest at Muscle Beach in Venice. The campaign is rounding up support for the governor after state Treasuter Phil Angelides said he once defended the apartheid regime in South Africa. Weider wrote today: "In 1975, during the height of apartheid in South Africa, the country wanted to host the Mr. Olympia competition and the world amateur bodybuilding competition. Participants from 60 countries were set to compete. "Arnold Schwarzenegger was so opposed to...

Democrat Phil Angelides blamed his struggling campaign for governor on a "record amount of negative ads" put out by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in an interview Monday with The Chronicle editorial board. Angelides, who trails in most polls by double digits, said Schwarzenegger and his supporters have spent more than $60 million since June to misinform California voters about his record and policies. "You have the largest amount of special interest money pouring into Arnold Schwarzenegger's accounts -- all to tear me down," said Angelides, a two-term state treasurer. "We are the underdog in this race." With just three weeks...

SACRAMENTO - Experts are pointing stakeholders worried about California's governor race to differences between campaigning and elected office -- a contrast immortalized in "The Candidate," as the victor asked: "What do we do now?" If elected, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides says his California would be kinder to working families, more generous to students and more welcoming to immigrants -- all while keeping books in the black. But political analysts said in interviews that his vision is fiscally unrealistic. Whittier College political science professor Richard Harvey said Angelides "has been in and around politics long enough so that he can...