I feel really bad for every partisan Democratic activist in California.
I can only imagine that they must all be moping right now. When they aren’t complaining about how much they hate George Bush, they must be spending all of their time bemoaning the fact that their nominee for Governor has to be the worst candidate ever in the history of the Golden State. As a matter of fact, and I really do mean this with all sincerity, if the Democrats had Bozo the Clown as their nominee, they really couldn’t be any worse off than they are now. As a matter of fact, they would be better off. Because while neither Phil Angelides nor Bozo the Clown have any real clue on how to run for, let alone competently occupy the job of Governor — at least Bozo the Clown is funny.
Watching Phil Angelides campaign since the primary has actually 
been pretty painful. Never once has he decided to approach campaigning to the California electorate with a comprehensive and consistent message. Since winning the Democratic primary, Angelides has failed to introduce himself to general election voters or talk positively about his public policy visions for California. Instead, his campaign was silent for too long, and then began a series of random "Hail Mary" passes that have all been reactive. Phil Angelides’ candidacy has been defined not by Angelides himself, but rather by his opponent, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Governor and his campaign team have successfully painted Angelides as an awkward politician, whose only original thoughts are of how to raising the taxes of every man, woman and child in California.
Still, you have to hand it to Angelides. He has found something at which he excels, and he sticks to it. Phil Angelides is just really, really good and being a horrible candidate. It is the one area where I continually underestimate his ability to get worse, and to sink to new lows. What is really interesting is that Angelides has a lot of very capable political operatives around him, and yet he continues to lead with campaign themes and statements that only serve to make him sound more despirate and hopeless.
I nearly fell out of my chair when I heard the latest ‘Hail Mary pass’ by Phil Angelides — so implausable that I first assumed it was some sort of spoof.
According to the Los Angeles Times Sunday, "The Democratic nominee for governor said in a telephone interview that he would take court action against Bush if necessary to extract the state’s National Guard members from Iraq. He said he would also urge other governors and members of Congress to join his effort."
The Times goes on to quote Angelides as saying, "I will do everything in my power as governor of the state of California to bring our National Guard troops home."
Angelides has apparently scheduled himself to appear at several anti-war rallies this week.
When I read this, my first most immediate reaction was, "Who cares what the State Treasurer of California thinks about United States Foreign Policy?"
Then I sat back and reflected on what it means that Phil Angelides is engaging in a debate about Iraq with the people of California just six weeks before our state elections. Here is what it means:
- There is no issue that directly related to California policy or politics that Phil Angelides feels he can raise to gain traction against Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- The Angelides Campaign has now officially reached the point of desperation where they are literally throwing anything and everything out into the public debate and hoping that it will stick.
- Phil Angelides is closing his eyes and trying to wish upon a star that he were running against anyone but Arnold Schwarzenegger.
On this last point, I have bad news for Phil Angelides — it’s not his opponent that is his problem, it is himself. Phil Angelides is truly a dismal candidate. I am firmly convinced that if former Republican candidates Dan Lungren or Bill Simon were running this year, they would be ahead in the polls as well, though perhaps not with the "superstar" margin that Arnold Schwarzenegger now enjoys.
I would try to offer some well-meaning advice to Angelides as his political career fizzles out, now that he is playing at a level where he cannot just use his personal wealth to win elections… But he is a lost cause. His ship is taking on water fast, and it is sinking quickly.
So I guess the only advice I would offer is to those Democratic activists that I mentioned at the beginning of this column. To them I would suggest that they look towards 2010 when there will be no Republican incumbent in the Governor’s mansion, and when they might field a candidate for Governor with some charisma and gravitas. I guess they might try to focus on some down-ticket races and hope that Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn’t have coat tails.
Unfortunately for California Democrats, the election is not today, and things can only get worse in the coming weeks.
That’s all for now.
Jon Fleischman
Publisher, The FlashReport
P.S. Jack Pitney does a fine job of succinctly rebuking Angelides’ idea of litigating to demilitarize the California National Guard here.
[KL – Happy Balated Bday!]