It took me a while to find something that I have in common with the campaign staff of Phil Angelides. But, as luck may have it, the last couple of days have helped me to figure that one out: We have no clue about Phil’s campaign strategy!

I figured that my confusion stemed not from the lack of a strategy, but rather from a lack of any external discernible sign of one. But now I understand that I am, in fact, on the same page as everyone in their office – there IS NO strategy.

Three times this week we’ve seen confusion from his senior staffers to support my conclusion:

INCONSISTENCY #1 – Taxes on Tractors Confused Senior Staffers: Brian Brokaw, Spokesperson and Steve Maviglio, Other Spokesperson (loaner) Brian Brokaw said Angelides wants to increase taxes on California farmers because he sees the small bit of tax relief they receive on equipment such as tractors as a "corporate tax loophole. And… Read More

I’ve written before about the ongoing recall in Rosemead centered on the approval and soon to be open Wal-Mart in Rosemead. See here.There is a parallel effort in court to stop the Wal-Mart or at least punish them. Attorney General Bill Lockyer has filed a brief against Wal-Mart contending it created a public health risk because people drive there. Read the story here.

Soon to come are briefs against churches, any new shopping mall, the beach and Disneyland.… Read More

Yesterday, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich testified before a special hearing of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. His remarks are startling and alarming, and worth a read. For those of you mindful of internet etiquette, I received these remarks all capitalized. This does not mean that the Supervisor was shouting them at the Congressmen, but just the way it was formatted. Read on and weep.

"IN DISCUSSING IMMIGRATION, ONE MUST FIRST DISTINGUISH BETWEEN LEGAL AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. LEGAL IMMIGRATION STRENGTHENS OUR NATION. HOWEVER, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS AN AFFRONT TO THOSE WHO LEGALLY IMMIGRATE. IT TEARS AT THE MORAL AND ECONOMIC FABRIC OF OUR SOCIETY.… Read More

ED ROYCE NEEDED AT THE HELM OF THE HOUSE INT’L RELATIONS COMMITTEE At the end of this session of the House of Representatives, conservative Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois will hit his ‘term limit’ as Chairman of the House International Relations Committee. Hyde has done an outstanding job, and whichever Member of Congress takes over his gavel will have big shoes to fill. More so now that at almost any time in history, the world is a complex and dangerous place. Now, more than ever, this important House panel needs to have solid leadership. We are all very fortunate that our own Californian, Ed Royce, has put his hat into the ring for the Chairmanship. Royce’s run for the seat makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons, and I am pleased to introduce a column from Royce’s California colleague, FR friend Duncan Hunter, in which Hunter makes the case for why Ed Royce should be Chairman on this important committee. I had an opportunity to sit down with Royce recently and we spent quite a bit of our conversation talking about international… Read More

ED ROYCE NEEDED AT THE HELM OF THE HOUSE INT’L RELATIONS COMMITTEE At the end of this session of the House of Representatives, conservative Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois will hit his ‘term limit’ as Chairman of the House International Relations Committee. Hyde has done an outstanding job, and whichever Member of Congress takes over his gavel will have big shoes to fill. More so now that at almost any time in history, the world is a complex and dangerous place. Now, more than ever, this important House panel needs to have solid leadership. We are all very fortunate that our own Californian, Ed Royce, has put his hat into the ring for the Chairmanship. Royce’s run for the seat makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons, and I am pleased to introduce a column from Royce’s California colleague, FR friend Duncan Hunter, in which Hunter makes the case for why Ed Royce should be Chairman on this important committee. I had an opportunity to sit down with Royce recently and we spent quite a bit of our conversation talking about international… Read More

The Schwarzenegger campaign is pushing a story about how Angelides should refund some of the contributions he has received from doctors because they might have given the money after reading an email from some lawyers. That is as much of the story anyone needs to know.

But you can read John Howard’s story in the Capitol Weekly if you care to.

There are so many knocks on Angelides, it not very smart to attack him for something outside of his control. For instance I don’t think the Governor should return any contributions he might have received from Mel Gibson just because Gibson is a drunk driver and an anti-Semite.

I don’t care if someone wrote a check to the Angelides campaign at gun point. Unless they ask for the money back, I would recommend against it.

It is not the responsibility of the candidate to know the motivation of his donors. Some donors give because they like the guy, others give because they want something. It doesn’t matter as long as the candidate doesn’t make any promises for getting the money.… Read More

Pinky: Gee, Brain, what are we going to do tonight? Brain: The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world! Pinky: Narf! The Sac Bee’s Daniel Weintraub posted this afternoon about Phil Angelides’ Power Point presentation for victory in November.

“According to the campaign braintrust, Angelides is going to remind Democrats early and often that Schwarzenegger is a Bush Republican who campaigned for the president in Ohio and shares his values at crunch time…”

In other words, Team Phil is counting on the governor’s re-elect in California to play out like Senator Joe Lieberman’s re-elect in Connecticut. Does that mean Mulholland has a “kiss of death” photo/video with Gov. Schwarzenegger and Pres. Bush? Probably. Will it matter? I don’t think so.

Democrats in Connecticut are upset with Lieberman over his rubberstamp of the Iraq war. Try as they might (and will), there’s no… Read More

The Schwarzenegger for Governor campaign these days is like the Energizer Bunny on steroids. There isn’t a two hour block of time that goes by during the day where you don’t hear from the campaign, defining Scharzenegger, or defining Angelides (who keeps trying to redefine himself with little success). There is enough volume coming off of the Team Arnold transom that it is sometimes hard to appreciate all of it. But every once in a while, I get something from them that is worth passing along.

Today I got what may be their best "Typical Phil" release yet, themed around outrageous and Over The Top comments made by Phil Angelides or his lackeys (usually Bob Mulholland) about the Governor, or Republicans.

A couple of examples are below, but open the attachment to see all ten!

Way to go Team Arnold – this stuff is great.

OVER-THE-TOP #3: Angelides Compared Governor Schwarzenegger To Segregationists Angelides Compared Governor Schwarzenegger To George Wallace And "Many Other Segregationists." "By vetoing the Civil Marriage and Religious Freedom Protection… Read More