In the only opportunity voters will have to watch
California’s top gubernatorial candidates talk face to face,
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Democratic opponent, State
Treasurer Phil Angelides, are scheduled to debate Saturday
evening.
Meeting at California State University, Sacramento, the debate
will be televised at 6 p.m.
Among the issues that have pressed Californian voters’
buttons this year are immigration, prison reform and health
care.
College students have examined the candidates’ opposing
educational stances. While Schwarzenegger’s decision to
“buy out” student fees meant that University of
California students did not see an increase in tuition this year,
Angelides has said he will roll fees back to the levels they were
at in 2002, which would be a substantial reduction.
This will be the first debate of Schwarzenegger’s
political career in which he has not received debate questions
beforehand, leading some to believe ““ or hope ““ that he
will trip up Saturday. In the 2003 recall debate, candidates were
given questions beforehand by the California Broadcasters
Association.
“Arnold Schwarzenegger is a trained actor, and he’s
been reading from scripts his entire life ““ both as an actor
and as governor,” said Brian Brokaw, spokesman for the
Angelides campaign.
But Gregory Moeck, president of Bruin Republicans, said he
doubts it is likely that Schwarzenegger’s experience as an
actor will work against him.
“My guess is that Schwarzenegger is, as an actor, an
experienced public speaker,” Moeck said. “I’m
sure both are great at public speaking and we’ll see an
interesting debate.”
Schwarzenegger has consistently been ahead of Angelides in the
last months, with polls showing that the current governor has 44
percent voter approval while Angelides has 34 percent.
Some have attributed this advantage to Schwarzenegger’s
more successful fundraising campaign, and others have said his
status as a movie star has helped him.
But Saturday night both candidates will be confronted with
questions and asked for immediate responses.
From thousands of questions suggested by the public, the CBA
will choose six or seven to ask during the debate, and then allow a
brief question and answer session with the media afterward.
In light of recent actions by the governor, some issues that may
come up include prison overcrowding, problems with immigration and
funding for education.
Earlier this week, Schwarzenegger announced that California
prisons were so overcrowded that some inmates needed to be
transferred to jails out of state.
Immigration has also been a prominent and controversial issue in
California, indicating that questions regarding immigration may
come up as well.
Angelides’ campaign managers had trouble settling with the
conditions of the debate, but finally agreed to them in early
September. One concern from Angelides’ office was that
Schwarzenegger expressed an interest in participating in one
debate, while Angelides wanted to hold a series of debates.
In Los Angeles, the debate will air on CBS and on public
broadcast television in both English and Spanish. FOX will stream
it on its Web site because Major League Baseball playoffs are
airing during the debate, said CBA spokesman Joe Berry.
But that is not the only sporting event distracting students
from the debate.
“I’ll be at the football game,” said Vicki
Lin, a fourth-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics
education student. “If it’s on the news later I might
see part of it.”
With reports from Bruin wire services.