Dear ALL presidential Candidates,

In the extended text you will find the complete open letter to the presidential candidates. I wrote the letter in hopes of deterring candidates from making the kinds of mistakes that South has made throughout his career and to avoid the Democratic infighting that South is so happy to instigate.  I warn candidates that by hiring Garry South, you will be wearing the Scarlet Letter "T" as in Triangulator or DLC or whatever.  I think we all get the point.

I appreciate your attention to the letter.  Of course, feedback is appreciated.  Recommendations here and at [DailyKos http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/25/151920/732] are appreciated

Brian Leubitz
Calitics.com

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(x-posted at dkos)
Let me set something straight here folks, here in California we will have a new Governor in November and his name will be Phil Angelides. Arnold Schwarzenegger will go back to making bad movies and California will be delivered from Wilson-ian nefariousness.

However, I am now going to use this post to both tell you why this will happen, and take a few well deserved potshots at naysayers, people still fighting the primary and a few other folks (including Arnold)...

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With only days remaining before the Primary, almost 30% of our CA voters say they remain undecided.

One way to help solve this voter dilemma is to approach it from the perspective of the Repugs.

While Dems and those who lean our way may not sense much.. if any.. core differences between Angelides and Westly, surely the Repugs do!

The Schwarzenegger bunch are hoping that ? will win the Primary next Tuesday.

Who are the Repugs rooting for...?

The only wasted votes are the ones not cast on June 6th.

Every un-cast vote is a vote for Ahhnie!

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The California Governor's primary in California might be tied, though SurveyUSA shows Angelides with a large lead.  I don't really believe in polling primaries anymore; the voter universe is too small and unreliable.  In true hypocritical spirit, I'll use the polling data to bring up this race, which I've wanted to ask you about for awhile.

Phil Angelides has erased rival Steve Westly's lead in the Democratic primary contest for governor, making the race a tossup as the two dash into the final 10 days of the campaign, a new Los Angeles Times poll has found.

The lack of a clear front-runner ensures a fiercely competitive fight in the closing phase of a match already notable for scathing character attacks.

If the June 6 election were held today, likely Democratic primary voters would favor Angelides over Westly, 37% to 34%. That is a statistical tie, given the poll's margin of sampling error: plus or minus 5 percentage points.

The poll found 28% of likely voters undecided, an unusually large number at this late stage of the campaign.

Angelides seems to be the more progressive candidate in the race.  Westly is an ebay gazillionaire, with equivocating stances on gay marriage as opposed to Angelides's firm liberal approach. 

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on California politics. My brother likes Angelides, and he's got good political sense.  What do you think?

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Perhaps the story in the LA Timestoday only causes concern amongst the uninitiated (I know nothing worth knowing about CA politics).

But the suggestion that Angelides. a member of the boards of both CalPERS and CalSTRS, #1 and #3 amongst pension funds nationwide,

has taken donations within days or weeks of those boards' decisions to place money in funds managed by his contributors

is, on the face of it, a tad worrying.

Or, at the very least, something in need of being explained away.

(Steve Westly, too, sits on these two boards and has apparently taken such contributions, though the piece concentrates on Angelides.)

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