Author Archives: gdewar

I was wondering why watching Phil Angelides andSteve Westly seemed so familiar.
At first I thought it was because I remembered meeting Steve Westly when in 1989 he ran against Gov. Jerry Brown for Democratic Party Chairman (he lost that race in 1989, and backed Phil’s opponent when Jerry quit). Or maybe it was because smilin’ Phil was in all those house party videos in 1992 when Democrats stopped losing in California.
Then I realized what it was – both men are channeling the spirit of former Governor Mike Dukakis in their campaigns. Now, unlike some, I don’t say this to be mean, but more as an observation. It’s not a bad thing to me, but I don’t know if it’s the winning plan for beating Gov. Doofinator in California in 2006.

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Thanks to a 10-day long internet outage at home, this got posted late. Earthlink sucks.
Well, it’s finally over. The 2006 Democratic Star Trek/Wars/Gate Convention is done, the myriad of tchotchkes, stickers, and campaign sundries are in the dustbin of history, and everyone’s going home…some happy, some sad, and some who were just happy to get all the free “stuff” at the convention.
But the unreality of the event was truly that of a Comi-Con or Star Trek convention, because for all the hype and shenanigans inside the convention, and all the fiercely passionate run ins between rival campaigns, the fact is very few actual voters know who most of the people on the June ballot are, much less who they’d actually like to see in office.
In the end, the passionate fights between the two titans of the Democratic ticket, Steve Westly and Phil Angelides, came off more like the never-ending debates of lore: Kirk Vs. Picard, Star Wars 77-82 vs Star Wars Prequels, or that big debate over Silver Surfer from a few years ago. Lots of noise and hype, but most people on the outside don’t really know what these folks are talking about. But if you dare say you’re not that interested in their cause or candidate, people look at you like you just committed a war crime.

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I was a bit tired after a long day of politiciking and spinning and what not, so I’m posting a bit late – but Phil Angelides won the vote for the CDP endorsement with 68% of the vote. So my little prediction earlier was entirely wrong. I’m not afraid to admit it.
The vote itself wasn’t revealed until late last night, but you heard about it when the loud whoops and yells of Angelides’ supporters late that night. It was truly a sight, along with the legions of orange-shirted Westly supporters (most of whom were not actual voting delegates, but rather volunteers) who had a long look on their faces, and quickly disappeared from the evening festivities.
It was a true moment where spin, and betting on spin, paid off. In this case, Angelides campaign, which has run into some trouble because of Westly’s incredibly large TV buy (and resulting name ID and poll momentum) was starting to feel the pressure from the echo chamber, the press and political insiders. So the campaign made a calculated risk to put it all on the convention, and Westly’s campaign put together a well funded effort to make their presence known at the convention to try and block the 60% vote.
But Phil rolled a hard six, and won, bigtime. Westly made the mistake of not playing down expectations for himself, and by Saturday morning at the press conference, was clearly convinced “momentum” was on his side, and was predicting a win for himself. Big mistake. He should have played it cool and not been sucked into the hype. Instead now the Angelides campaign has something they can spin as a big moment for them, and Westly just spent a ton of money on 65 lb. pieces of beef for nada.
Now obviously most voters in this state have no idea who they’ll support for the Democratic nominee, and still, most people either don’t care, or could change their mind at any time. But in the neverland that is the world of spin, the insiders, the funders, and the press, Angelides stopped a tailspin for his campaign, and is flying high. Whether that means anything to the rest of us remains to be seen.
But for now, a chapter of political theater is over. What a night!

Last night the Sacramento Convention Center was abuzz with all sorts of politicos vying for support from delegates and others, via the time honored tradition of the “hospitality suite.” With so many open races locally and statewide in the June primary, people were in overdrive to put on the best party possible.
On this, and this alone, there is no doubt that ex dot-commer Steve Westly, who has self-financed his campaign for Governor, had one of the best parties I’ve ever seen. They didn’t just have a big room, no they had a live band, a dance floor, a carving station with huge 65+ lb.. side of beef for sandwiches, discounts on the Convention Center’s overpriced drinks, and a lot of people in orange shirts, custom made for the weekend.
It was a bit much, but the stakes are high. Phil Angelides has to roll a hard six to jump start a campaign that’s fallen behind in the polls in the wake of Westly’s TV ads, and it’s in the form of an endorsement vote today.

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