Phil Angelides is probably not the kind of candidate Warren Beatty would have been, but he should be chosen as governor of California in this 2006 election. As his Wikipedia entry (currently) states, he has a solid liberal record that would align him with most of the state’s popular politicians:

“In 1972 he walked door-to-door, campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern. In 1973, while still in college, Angelides unsuccessfully ran for Sacramento City Council against a popular incumbent. He again ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 1977 – these races, however, fostered relationships with political and business mentors that lead to later opportunities. He was an early supporter and fundraiser of the eventual 1988 Democratic Presidential Nominee, Michael Dukakis, and maintains a strong friendship with him to this present day. Mike Dukakis has referred to Phil as “one of the five or 10 best people in American politics today.” [4] His work with Dukakis led him to serve as the chairman of the California Democratic Party from 1991 to 1993. He helped to lead not only Bill Clinton to become the first Democrat to carry California in 28 years but also having California be the first state to elect two female senators in the same election, Democrats Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. His efforts have been beneficial for the California Democratic Party, because since 1992, California has consistently been a Democratic-leaning state in each subsequent Presidential election, and both Senate seats have remained Democratic.

After losing in the general election on his first attempt as State Treasurer in 1994, he was elected to this post in 1998 as a Democrat and re-elected in 2002. Also, before his election as Treasurer, he served as Co-Chair of the Sacramento Mayor’s Commission on Education and the City’s Future from 1995 to 1996. Angelides worked for a number of years for the state of California‘s Housing and Community Development agency (from 1975 to 1983).”

Arnold Schwarzenegger is a lousy choice–has a below average record on state policy, having spent his early term pushing far-right measures and only in the last year repositioning himself politically. As the Los Angeles Times reported (via Huffington Post), Schwarzenegger’s attempt to force through his right-wing agenda failed terribly in 2005:

“In a sharp repudiation of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Californians rejected all four of his ballot proposals Tuesday in an election that shattered his image as an agent of the popular will.

Voters turned down his plans to curb state spending, redraw California‘s political map, restrain union politics and lengthen the time it takes teachers to get tenure.

The Republican governor had cast the four initiatives as central to his larger vision for restoring fiscal discipline to California and reforming its notoriously dysfunctional politics.

The failure of Proposition 76, his spending restraints, and Proposition 77, his election district overhaul, represented a particularly sharp snub of the governor by California voters. It also threw into question his strategy of threatening lawmakers with statewide votes to get around them when they block his favored proposals.”

So instead, Schwarzenegger is running again this year the way he ran in the recall campaign of 2003 that put him in office–throwing around “centrist” gestures like signing some sort of bilateral agreement with Tony Blair and trying not to link himself with George W. Bush. Well for those who heard him say that “To link me to George Bush is like linking me to an Oscar,” consider the change that represents from his 2004 Republican convention speech:

“We are one America — We are one America and President Bush is defending it with all his heart and soul.

That’s what I admire most about the President: He is a man of perseverance. He’s a man of inner strength. He’s a leader who doesn’t flinch, who doesn’t waiver, and does not back down.

My fellow Americans — My fellow Americans, make no mistake about it: Terrorism is more insidious than communism, because it yearns to destroy not just the individual, but the entire international order. The President did not go into Iraq because th
e polls told him it was popular. As a matter of fact, the polls said just the opposite. But leadership isn’t about polls. It’s about ma — It’s about making decisions you think are right and then standing behind those decisions. That’s why America is safer with George W. Bush as President.”

So unless that above passage sounds reasonable (it doesn’t–not now, not then), Phil Angelides is the better pick for California governor this year.

[photo: Reuters]