“Excuse me,” I asked Nick Pappas, Phil
Angelides’ press representative, “Does Mr. Angelides
have time for a few questions?”
“Not right now, no,” he said.
“OK.”
I walked up to Angelides and shook his hand. I asked him if he
could answer a few questions, and he said yes.
I felt like sticking my tongue out at Pappas, but I refrained.
Politics is already a dirty enough game.
After watching the gubernatorial debate, I was dying to ask
Angelides dozens of questions.
Mostly, why didn’t he put someone more talented in charge
of his image?
Angelides was obviously not camera-ready. During the debate he
smiled too eagerly and rattled off his answers too quickly.
In short, he acted like a total dork, especially compared to the
cool and calm Gov. Schwarzenegger.
There were a lot of reasons I wanted to like Angelides.
He’s not a Republican. He’s displayed a lot of passion,
whereas Schwarzenegger has been resting on his laurels, not really
bothering with a full-fledged campaign.
Angelides seems open, as if he has nothing to hide. In contrast,
Schwarzenegger refused to even consider participating in more than
one debate.
But for some reason I just couldn’t bring myself to like
Angelides. I doubted that someone unable to run a decent campaign
could be trusted with the care of an entire state.
So I can’t say I listened to his speech at UCLA on Tuesday
with a completely open mind, but I made an effort. And I mostly
liked what he had to say: lower taxes, love for the
environment.
It’s just the way he said it, choosing to focus more on
the politics of the White House than California.
When I had the opportunity to speak with Angelides personally,
his message was much more on target.
I asked him about education, and he told me he would roll back
University of California fees by $5,000 and increase the amount of
money families could make to qualify for the Cal Grant.
I posed another question that had been bothering me. In his
speech to the students, Angelides criticized Schwarzenegger for
being in the back pockets of special interests such as HMOs.
“Isn’t it true that you’ve received money from
special interests as well?” I asked, referencing the millions
of dollars of support he’s expected to receive from the
California Correctional Peace Officers Association, perhaps the
most powerful special interest group in California.
Although these officers’ greatest qualifications are high
school diplomas, they pressured former Gov. Davis to gradually
increase their salaries up to $73,000 dollars per year.
“Look,” he replied, “none of that stuff
matters. What matters is what you do in office.”
He pointed to his plans on education and the fact that
Schwarzenegger has not made an effort to counter him on specific
issues.
The point was legitimate, but I still felt uncomfortable.
He will definitely feel the pressure to cater to CCPOA if
elected, and pouring more money into an inefficient prison system
would take away from education, the issue he loves to champion.
At his best, Angelides would probably be a lot like
Schwarzenegger ““ he would just cater to different
organizations.
If elected, there isn’t room for Angelides to make any big
mistakes. California Dems can’t afford to have another royal
screwup.
A vote for Angelides, I fear, could be a vote against every
other Democratic candidate for governor for the next 50 years.
The Governator hasn’t always made the smartest decisions
(see last year’s special election), but he acknowledges his
fumbles and attempts to make up for them.
And yes, he did support the war in Iraq, but so did many
Democrats. He’s also making an effort to cut down on the fat
in California’s budget (including CCPOA).
Most importantly, Schwarzenegger generally doesn’t act
like a Republican. I can live with him for another term.
While I’d love to see my tuition go down, I am also forced
to consider the long-term effects Angelides could have on the state
as a whole.
Maybe he could decrease our fees, but where would that money
come from? And how long would it last?
Come November, I will be casting at least one vote in favor of a
Republican.
Not necessarily because I like Schwarzenegger, but because
it’s time the Democrats learned they can’t keep turning
out inadequate candidates.
Politics can be a dirty game. But if the Dems learn to play it
right, it won’t need to be nearly as messy.
Send questions to Strickland’s press secretary at
kstrickland@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.