Calif. Treasurer Taking on Schwarzenegger
Associated Press
April 14, 2005
By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO – How could California’s charisma-challenged state
treasurer even dream of trying to unseat Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger?
Phil Angelides cites the advice he gives his three daughters: “It never
matters what the odds are. What matters are your beliefs, and what you
do to pursue them.”
The 51-year-old Angelides has become the first Democrat to officially
announce he is running against Schwarzenegger, who is expected to seek
re-election in 2006.
Despite some recent setbacks, Schwarzenegger remains popular in a state
that has almost always elected its governors to second terms. But
political observers warn that he should not underestimate Angelides, a
man regarded as shrewd and aggressive by his friends, ruthless and
mean-spirited by his enemies.
Angelides’ challengers in the June 2006 primary are likely to include
state Controller Steve Westly, a former eBay executive with a
multimillion-dollar fortune, and Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
Stylistically, the tall, thin and generally scowling Angelides
(pronounced an-jeh-LEE-dis) has none of Schwarzenegger’s Hollywood
glamour. But he insists that going up against a former action hero and
bodybuilding champion only makes the contest more alluring.
“It will give me the chance to debate California’s future on a stage no
one else has ever had,” Angelides said. “This will be more visible than
any other governor’s race in the country.”
Soon after Schwarzenegger got elected in a recall election in 2003,
Angelides positioned himself as the “anti-Arnold,” portraying the highly
popular Republican as an out-of-touch plutocrat who failed to keep his
campaign promises – a strategy that was seen as foolhardy until
Schwarzenegger suffered some reversals of fortune.
Assailed by teachers, firefighters and other public employees,
Schwarzenegger last week scrapped his effort to privatize state
pensions, the latest in a series of retreats in the face of opposition
from unions and other Democratic constituencies. Polls show his approval
ratings dropping below 50 percent for the first time.
“Arnold was elected because he said he was going to do extraordinary
things for people, but he’s turned out to be an enormous
disappointment,” Angelides said. “The thing I find most mystifying is
why someone who came in with such enormous political capital chose not
to use it.”
A Sacramento native of Greek descent, Angelides got his start in
politics as a student at Harvard, protesting the Vietnam War and
campaigning against President Nixon in 1972. Angelides went on to make a
fortune as a real estate developer before returning to politics
full-time. As state Democratic chairman in 1992, Angelides helped Bill
Clinton win California.
But he also came under fire during that year’s bruising Senate contest,
in which Barbara Boxer narrowly beat GOP candidate Bruce Herschensohn
after a last-minute leak from a Democratic operative that Herschensohn
had visited strip clubs. Angelides denied involvement in the leak but
later said the information was fair game.
“Angelides is a mean-minded, terrible partisan hack,” said GOP
strategist Ken Khachigian, who ran the Herschensohn campaign and
previously worked for Nixon and President Reagan. “Arnold can expect a
mean gut fighter who’ll run a very hard-hitting, dirty campaign. He’ll
stoop to anything.”
During his first race for treasurer in 1994, Angelides was widely
criticized for an ad linking a primary opponent who did not support
abortion rights to the murder of a Florida abortion doctor. Angelides
won that primary but lost the general election. He ran again and won in
1998, and was re-elected in 2002.
An ardent believer in using the tools of government to help the
underprivileged, Angelides is adamant that wealthy citizens should pay
higher taxes. That view has led Republicans to ridicule him as a
tax-and-spend liberal.
Angelides has also leveraged his role as an officer of CalPERS, the
nation’s largest state pension fund, to push for greater transparency in
the financial markets.
“He’s smart, he’s aggressive, and he’s creative,” said New York Attorney
General Eliot Spitzer, who claims he and his fellow Democrat are “joined
at the hip” in their work crusading for corporate accountability.
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