Meet Steve Westly, the next Governor of California

by Gary Boatwright, Sat Apr 16, 2005 at 02:18:57 PM EDT

From the diaries, Jerome

This is your intrepid road warrior, Gary Boatwright blogging live from the Democratic National Convention in beautiful downtown L.A. I haven't posted anything so far, because frankly, there hasn't been anything worth wasting bandwidth on. One of the speakers at this morning's session, and a little known candidate for Governor of California caught my ear. His name is Steve Westly, California's State Controller.

Steve Westly agreed to give me an exclusive interview for MyDD. In my capacity as temporary sock puppet for the Westly campaign, here it is.

His three main talking points are:

Democrats must reframe the Budget Debate and stand for three things:

1.) Innovation

2.) Accountability

3.) Investing in the future

More in Extended Entry

Steve Westly's experience from his campaign literature:

Treasurer of the California Demcratic Party at age 23.

Democratic National Committee member for over 20 years.

Created a charitable foundation promoting access to education and health care.

Helped lead eBay to becoming one of California's most successful technology companies.

His platform from the same flier:

Education: Sued the Bush Administration to take back oil company tax royalties that belong to our public schools.

Environment: Preserved Bolsa Chica and Ballona wetlands and created Global Warming Watch to force auto companies to adhere to California's emission standards.

Health Care: co-Chaired the Stem Cell Initiative campaign so California can find cures for debilitating diseases and lead the way in bioscience.

Social Services: Raised $1 billion in revenue through a new tax amnesty program. Protects vital state services by increasing revenue.

Civil Rights: Strong supporter of affirmative action and immigrant rights.

Marriage Equality: Extended tax benefits to same-sex homeowners and supports full marriage right for same-sex partners.

Choice: Strong supporter of a woman's right to choose.

Working Families: Stands up for labor in major strikes (Safeway & Sacramento Justice for Janitors).

Minimum Wage: Paid State Employees full wages and benefits during budget crisis by preventing implementation of Jarvis Minimum Wage ruling.

Sounds like a member of the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party to me. Now the interview:

It's not enough to bash Arnold. "We need to call Arnie out when he breaks his promises. He broke his promise to fully fund our schools and I called him out. Ultimately what we're all here to do is win the state house back. We don't do that by positioning ouselves as the party of no. We do that by investing in the future and being ficscally responsible.

Democrats are stuck in the rut of the false dilemma of cutting valuable programs or raising taxes. There's another answer. We have more than two choices. As Democrats we have to be smart. We have $6.5 billion in taxes on the books we we are not collecting. The incidence of tax cheats is going up. Because there's a hiring freeze in Sacramento I couldn't just hire more auditors.

The promise of Democratic party is to clamp down on tax cheats. How do we find them? The IRS has profiles, but I was told the IRS never shares them with state tax authorities. I told my staff to bring me the telephone.

I talked to the IRS for 30 days and the State of California signed the first Memorandum Of Understanding with IRS in history to share data. With this data we used the profiles of the people that are cheating on their taxes. Th question was what tax returns do we want the system to kick out?

The State Controller's office sent out 14 thousand letters to tax payers informing them that they may have a problem. The people we sent letters to sent in an everage of $996,000 dollars. As a result of sending out 14 thousand letters, we were expecting to bring back $90 million to the State treasury and we got back $1.4 billion. That's how you make California government work for California tax payers and all California citizens.

These are the things Democrats never talk about. We always fall back on the Republican choise between raising taxes or cutting programs. We need to get out front of Arnold on tax issues. We do that with innovative programs that are accountable and by investing in the future of California and investing in the future of the people of California.

The other story I'd like to share is a one chapter story. We have just started to tap in $1.4 Billion, in the Volulntary Compliance Program. This year California's tax amnesty program, an innovative program, for the first itme in 15 years will bring in over a billion dollars, maybe two billion dollars. This represents a chance to invest in the future without cutting programs or raising taxes.

I'm fthe first technoldogy person ever elected to state office in Californa. Two others from other states are Mark Warner in Virginia and Bloomberg in New York. At eBay I helped change the way people sell things around the world. The success of the future is in seeing things others don't see. We have to get the Democratic Party out of the Republican mind set.

We've got to start presenting a message that will attract the next generation of voters. This is why I like Howard Dean so much. If you care about social justice, you better be prepared to talk about fiscal responsibility. John Kerry won the nomination, but Dean transformed politics on a positive way.

A few more sound bites from Steve's speech at this morning's Convention Cattle Call:

The Democratic Party must be the party of accountability. As Controller I saved over 500 million dollars in waste fraud and abuse that was made available for education, health care and protecting our seniors. We are the party of investing in the future. Pat Brown painted a bold vision of what California could be. We have to invest in California's freeway system and education system. We need to take back that mantle.

Every dollar we invest in public education and trade school saves us two dollars in prison costs. Investing in health care and transportation, makes out economy work better. Stem cell research will create jobs for next 50 years.

Democrats are the party of investment and higher education. We have to invest in public education, invest in the infrastructure of California and invest in the people of California.

Well, that's it. Maybe a member of Steve's campaign staff could have written a more positive diary, but I can't imagine how. Whatever else happens down the road, this is the candidate to keep an eye on.

The way I see it Steve's two primary strengths, in addition to his positions on the issues, are (1.) his high tech background and problem solving approach to governing and (2.) his ability and willingness to take on the Republican frame of economic and social issues and throw it back in their face.

The other thing I like about Steve Westly is that his campaign is almost exclusively dominated by young Democrats who are fired up about their candidate and fired up about Democratic issues and Democratic values. California and the Democratic party both need a Governor with a fire in his belly to help the working people of California.

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Westly Exploratory Web Site

Here's some additional information, Steve Westly 2006. This guy looks like the real deal. Check it out.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-16 02:17PM | 0 recs

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Phil Angelides

I like this cat Phil Angelides: http://www.angelides.com/about/

by fricky00 2005-04-16 08:34PM | 0 recs

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In Schwarzenegger's pocket

Uh, isn't this the same Steve Westly who, until a month or so ago, bragged about his friendship with Schwarzenegger on his campaign site? Isn't this the same Steve Westly who CAMPAIGNED WITH Schwarzenegger in 2004 for Arnold's ballot initiatives?

Hell, check out Arnold's website and again.

by mattgabe 2005-04-16 03:01PM | 0 recs

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Is that you Agelides?

I don't even know for sure what 57 & 58 are. This is from The Ahnold's web site:

"Californians for a Balanced Budget - Yes on 57 and 58" is a broad and bipartisan coalition of elected officials, business and labor leaders, associations and advocacy organizations, as well as regular Californians, who have put aside partisan differences in order to come together to put the state's fiscal house in order. Over the coming weeks, the campaign will announce a series of endorsements from all sides of the political spectrum, designed to show that California voters are united in their support of Propositions 57 and 58 on the March 2, 2004 primary election ballot.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-16 03:31PM | 0 recs

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Re: Is that you Agelides?

The second link gave a short explanation of Props 57 and 58:

"Proposition 57 provides for a one-time $15 billion Economic Recovery Bond to refinance past budget deficits while interest rates are low. This allows California to start over with a balanced budget and gets the fiscal mismanagement of the past behind us. Proposition 58 makes sure we never get in a deficit crisis again by requiring California politicians to balance the budget every year in the future, prohibiting bond financing of any future deficits and limiting state spending to no more than the growth in the state's economy. It also creates a "rainy day savings account" to be used for paying the bonds off early and helping the state through any future economic downturns."

To me, this only seems bad if you think that Ahnold has done not one thing right, which is slightly different from doing a great many things horribly wrong. But maybe there's a more substansive argument against supporting these particular initiatives.

by QrazyQat 2005-04-16 04:03PM | 0 recs

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I wanted to check an objective source

I couldn't remember what numbers 57 & 58 were so I googled. See my links below. Pretty tame stuff. Arguable perhaps, but nothing to get hot and bothered about.

I"m much more impressed with Westly's policies and accomplishments. He's basically doing and saying everything I've been bitchin' about the Dems not doing and saying. I would recommend that we all keep an eye on how he performs on the stump and how well he demonstrates his organizational skills during the campaign.

For now, he's the best candidate I've seen. I'm tired of blah DLC candidates. This guy looks like the real deal.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-16 04:13PM | 0 recs

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Re: Is that you Agelides?

The problem is that Prop 57 and 58 aren't doing what was promised. Arnold is still deficit financing with multi-billion shortfalls in the coming years. Using bond debt to cover the gap was a bad idea. It delayed the reckoning but didn't fix anything. Truth is California needs higher taxes, draconian spending cuts or some combination of the two. Westly's support has helped Arnold saddle California with debt

Agelides made the right call in opposing these initiatives and I'll be voting for him in the primary.

by pyewacket1 2005-04-16 11:51PM | 0 recs

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Re: Is that you Agelides?

Here we go again. Maybe all of you folks are long time lurkers, who just decided to jump into the fray. If so, welcome. If you want to go back and debate history, put up an Angelides diary about why Prop 57 & 58 were so bad and what Angelides alternative was.

I think Westly made an excellent point that Democrats are stuck in the false dilemma that we either have to raise taxes or cut vital programs. Please try to read my interview a little more carefully. You are stuck in a Republican frame. Westly gave two specific examples of how thinking outside the box can solve our fiscal problems without resorting to either alternative.

Truth is California needs higher taxes, draconian spending cuts or some combination of the two. Westly's support has helped Arnold saddle California with debt.

I'm sorry pyewacket1, but that is a false conclusion. I clearly recall that California was facing an immediate fiscal crisis. I do not recall Angelides alternative. Let me repeat again, please put up a diary about what Angelides arguments were against Prop 57 & 58 before you make this lame ass argument again.

Feel free to vote for Angelides in the primary. If someone provides additional rational information, I may vote for him myself. I am not married to Steve Westly. I am not a member of his staff. I simply like the cut of his jib and the way he framed the issues. Maybe Angelides made the right call and maybe he didn't. Please provide evidence or put a sock in it.

How were we going to cover the short term immediate crisis without financing an omnibus bond measure? Did the Democrats have a realistic proposal on the table to raise taxes? I don't recall, and I doubt if arcane arguments over Prop 57 & 58 are going to sway many voters in the primary. If you disagree, show me the evidence. I am looking for a forward looking candidate. I think Westly demonstrated his ability to do that in his interview. I've got some fliers from Angelides that I will be going over closer in the next day or two. If you or any of the other Angelides supporters are interested, please post a pro Angelides diary.

I am tickled to death that California Democrats are doing so much better at standing up to The Ahnold than national Dems are doing standing up to Shrub. I wish the DLC would take a lesson from California Dems.

Allow me to also link to a recent Left Coaster post by eriposte, A Gaggle of Losers. Al From was and is an idiot. Please do not use him as a role model for your arguments here at MyDD. Al From is not a popular figure here. You will not influence a whole lot of people by following Al From's lead and making emotional laden, poorly argued attacks.

I still haven't seen any forward looking arguments to support Angelides. You know, I doubt that Phil Angelides is really so lame that his candidacy is based on arguments over Prop 57 & 58. Even without reviewing his literature, I strongly suspect that a member of his staff or even one of his supporters could provide at least six stronger reasons to vote for him than his position on Prop 57 & 58. If not, the man is in serious trouble. If I haven't been clear enough, please put up a pro Phil Angelides diary.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-17 12:41AM | 0 recs

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Re: Is that you Agelides?

With all due respect, your statement:

" I am tickled to death that California Democrats are doing so much better at standing up to The Ahnold than national Dems are doing standing up to Shrub. I wish the DLC would take a lesson from California Dems."

is a joke.

The California Democratic Party isn't operating from a deficit; I don't think it is a stretch to say that it is the #1 party in state with regards to voter registration. Also, I would think that the issues in terms of how Californians feel would favor Democrats in the state as well.

And yet, Arnold is governor.
And yet, since 1982, Republicans have occupied the governor's mansion for 18 out of the last 23 years.
And yet, Pete Wilson won an easy re-election in 1994 after a god-awful 1st term.

Some party...

The California Democratic Party's response to the recall...was there really any? Personally, I think that Arnold's election was a case of the voters in the state going "Hollywood" (and having lived there previously for 8 years, this would not surprise me in the least) Still, the party, with all of its inherent advantages, was feeble to say the least.

The California contribution to the party? A bunch of shallow Hollywood celebrities who, with exceptions here and there, are clueless with regards to politics. A mistake that the DNC made at the convention was letting ANY of these clowns get prominent air time and locations within the FleetCenter. I resent the fact that these people are even allowed in. We have a lot of loyal Democrats who work hard for the party, and yet these are the people that are promoted. Ben Affleck may be on Larry King; perhaps he should also bother to vote.

California Democrats don't even have a fight. They have the advantages to begin with. They are the majority party in the state of California. It is supposed to be a BLUE state! Yet, they still do "less with more". They never grow their base. They just sit back. They're content. The only reason they stay the majority party is because a large majority of Californians agree with them on the issues. I would think that this should be A DOMINANT PARTY.

National Democrats, on the other hand, do have a fight. A lot of RED states and SWING states are included. The Republicans own both the executive and legislative branches. They are also ruthless at every turn. Social issues also must be dealt with much more strongly than in California, as well as religion. And yet, I have seen far more fight from National Democrats (and Democrats in other states) than I have ever seen from California Democrats.

As for the DLC learning from California Democrats? Well, Al From already knows about false self-congratulation.

by v2aggie2 2005-04-17 08:50AM | 0 recs

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Please check your facts

The League of Women Voters rundown on Prop 57 and the results at the polls.

The League of Women Voters on Prop 58 and also passed with 60% of the vote.

Surprise, surprise! As State Controller, Steve Westly supported fiscally responsible policies. Imagine that.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-16 04:07PM | 0 recs

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Re: Please check your facts

And Angelides, the Treasurer and chair of CalPERS, was against them. I do support Angelides now, but listen, if Westly's the nominee, I'll certainly vote for him and give some time to help the cause. There's a larger problem here though.

Regardless of the fiscal impact of the propositions though, what Westly did was give Schwarzenegger a BIG, EARLY POLITICAL VICTORY. It gave him real political capital (unlike Bush's imaginary capital) and a veneer of bipartisan support that he's used to bash unions, teachers, nurses, the Legislature, and Democrats generally. It sure seemed smart at the time, when Arnold's approval was hovering at 60+% but then he jumped ship.

It's something people need to consider.

by mattgabe 2005-04-16 05:05PM | 0 recs

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Re: Please check your facts

I said that props 57 & 58 were arguable. Your suggestion that Westly was in The No Neck Porkinator's pocket was not and is not a legitimate accusation. If you want to be taken seriously, make serious comments. In the future, provide some background to allegations like the one above, or don't make them.

Putting "big, early political victory" in caps doesn't make it a "big, political victory." I'm not on Westly's staff and I'm not interested in fighting yesterday's battles. If my memory serves me correctly, one short year ago The Ahnold didn't need anybody's help, he didn't need a veneer of bi-partisan support and he didn't need anybody's help with his political capital.

What I do recall is that California had and still does have a serious fiscal problem that required emergency action of some sort. I also do not recall what Angelides postion was on 57 & 58, and I don't really care. I'm sure he had good reasons for his position, whatever it was. For my money we have several excellent candidates and I will support any of them against the No Neck Porkinator. I just happened to like what I heard from Westly and decided to give him some favorable exposure.

If someone has legitimate criticism of Westly, I will gladly consider it. I ain't met nobody perfect yet. One of the most remarkable things about the L.A. Mayor's race was how incredibly talented and experienced both Hahn and Villaraigosa are, and also how incredibly flawed they both are as well.

How The Ahnold used his popularity to attack teachers, nurses, firefighters and police officers has nothing to do with Westly's support of reasonable fiscal policies in previous years. Nobody could have imagined The Ahnold being stupid enough to attack the four most popular professions in California as "special interests."

You can just give up on the lame accusation that Westly "jumped ship", because you haven't provided even a smidgen of evidence that Westly was ever on The Ahnold's ship. If you want to engage in rational, civil political discourse, you might want to consider avoiding unjustified accusations and hyperbole.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-16 05:24PM | 0 recs

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Re: Please check your facts

Gary,

Evidence? I provided 2 links to Arnold's website touting Steve Westly's support for Arnold's propositions. Don't accuse me of being "uncivil" just because I'm questioning your guy. I honestly don't care who you, personally, support and I hope to death you work your heart out for Westly (if he's your guy) or someone else.

As for the "big political victory," I assume you live in CA, right? You know what Arnold did after he was riding high in 2004, right? He's, again, slandered just about every Dem and Dem constituency there is and used his huge megaphone to do it. If you, or anyone else, needs a primer on what he's done, see http://arnoldwatch.org/.

by mattgabe 2005-04-17 07:59PM | 0 recs

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Westly & Lockyer

Ain't Westly & Lockyer got something in common?

That they supported Schwarzenegger? Lockyer voted for Arnold in the recall. Campaigning on the road with him is just about as bad, but a slippery fish like Clinton could get out of it.

I don't see how you squeak out of the primaries with a recall vote for Schwarz or having campaigned with him. Especially when there's a guy who didn't get so close in Angelides.

And if the Dems in primary screw up, then these guys are throat lozenges for Arnold in the general.

If I'm Schwarz's ad guys, here are the 30 sec. scripts I write for Lockyer & Westly.

Lockyer:

Democrat Bill Lockyer made a principled decision to join millions of Californians in the recall and voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He said his vote for Schwarzengger "made sense."

Schwarzenegger: Voting for my agenda for a better California still makes sense. I want all Californians, including Bill Lockyer, to send me back to Sacramento for another term.

Westly:

Footage of Westly & Schwarzenegger standing together

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrat David Westly stood together and told California, "We need your help" to get control over California's budget.

Different picture of the two standing together

Westly also crossed party lines to support Schwarzenegger's agenda to protect California's future and set up a rainy day fund.

Schwarzenegger: I have an amibitious agenda to make California great again. And I want Californians like David Westly to support me... etc.

by janfrel 2005-04-16 09:24PM | 0 recs

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I'm calling Bull-shit!

How does Lockyer come into the picture? What the hell is that? Did I miss something? Did Lockyer endorse Westly? The more trollish attacks you fools make on Westly the more I like him. If you can't explain the basis for your accusations you shouldn't make them.

Fee, fi, foh, fum, I smell the blood of a DLC troll. This is the second DLC type attack on Westly and you're just making Angelides look bad. We've had DLC troll infestations at MyDD before. They are not persuasive. I'll give you credit for posting a few diaries, which is more than I can say for mattgabe. Tricky00 has one very short diary.

I'm not pulling rank, just making an observation. If you and the rest of Angelide's staff want to support Phil, I don't have a problem with that. I don't have a problem with Angelides. I think he'd make a great Governor.

All I'm saying is let's keep it honest. Don't throw out bullshit guilt by association accusations and unsupported personal or political attacks on Westly. Those tactics may play where you usually blog, but they won't fly here at MyDD.

I've already covered Prop 57 & 58 with facts upthread. It is absolutely ludicrous to try and attack the Controller of California for supporting fiscal responsibility or the "rainy day fund." If you want to debate the past, just put up your own diary about which Propositions you think Westly was wrong on and why.

If you don't have enough facts to support your accusation, then put a sock in it.

Whether you are an Angelides staffer or just a supporter, feel free to put up a diary for why you support Angelides. I'm not the boss of anybody, and I don't speak for anyone except myself. I hope that future diaries about any and all of the Democratic candidates for Governor are based on factual analysis of the issues and rational, civil political discourse.

Let's leave the flaming bags of poop to the Republican party. This is about picking our best candidate, not tearing each other down before the primary even starts.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-16 10:13PM | 0 recs

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meanderer

Look, good for you for bringing Westly in the picture, writing about him, responding to people's comments, etc.

And good for me for using what you've written to say what I want, namely that Westly is toast in the general election if he makes it there, mostly because he is highly liable to the very thing you accused me of: bullshit guilt by association attacks.
These still work great on Californian TV, internet politics or no.
So my point ostensibly is about a superficial topic -- how Westly or Lockyer will be construed by Schwarzenegger in a hypothetical campaign. But I think it's a substantive one as well, given the power of the 30 second ad in California politics.

But here's the kicker, Mr. Boatwright. I am not a DLC troll, or any thing else so stupid. I can't think of a lower form of existence in life than to be a self-appointed troll for the DLC.

You're all worked up in a huff, but please work it at someone else.

by janfrel 2005-04-16 11:46PM | 0 recs

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Re: meanderer

You also have not explained what Lockyer has to do with the price of tea in China. I have no idea what your agenda is. All I know is that I called bull-shit because you brought Lockyer into this diary for absolutely no reason that I can see. You were the second person to bring Lockyer into this discussion.

What we have here is a failure to communicate. What the hell does Lockyer have to do with anything? Geesh. If we want to go down that road, why couldn't The Ahnold link Angelides to Lockyer. I still haven't seen a rational explanation for what Lockyer has to do with Westly or anything else. What's up with the Lockyer fixation?

I don't know how I can be any clearer than that. I don't know why I should have to ask the same question several times. The burden is on the people making the bogus guilt by association argument to provide a link. You haven't even begun to see me worked up in a huff janfrel. Thanks for your advice, but if you continue to post bullshit, I will call you on your bullshit.

Feel free to do the same to me. If I every make the kind of bogus attack on Phil Angelides that have been made on Westly, you are certainly entitled to call bullshit.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-17 12:49AM | 0 recs

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Re: meanderer

Gary,

Chill.

Meanderer probably brought Lockyer into the discussion because he believes the two will face similar problems in the general election due to their previous support for the governator. It probably had nothing to do with "guilt by association."

Speaking for myself, I would be extremely reluctant to vote for anyone who had supported the governator at any time, especially since the phony energy crisis that made the whole recall possible was cooked up by Arnie's Enron cronies.

by expatjourno 2005-04-17 02:04AM | 0 recs

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Are you referring to janfrel?

I have no intention of chilling. Janfrel may not consider himself a troll, but he started a flame war with a bogus accusation and a bogus tactic of guilt by association. The purpose of my diary and MyDD is to generate civil political discussion about the issues affecting California voters. If janfrel or anyone else wants to put up a diary about Prop 57 & 58 they are welcome. You and janfrel are certainly entitled to your own opinion. You are not entitled to your own facts.

Ain't Westly & Lockyer got something in common?

That they supported Schwarzenegger? Lockyer voted for Arnold in the recall. Campaigning on the road with him is just about as bad, but a slippery fish like Clinton could get out of it./

Did Westly vote for The Ahnold? How is voting for The Ahnold "just about as bad as campaigning on the road for him? What's up with calling Clinton "a slippery fish"? If that's not trollish crap, I don't know what is. If janfrel wants to bring Lockyer into the discussion, then janfrel has an obligation to explain how and when Lockyer supported The Ahnold and what that has to do with Westly.

What else do they have in common? They are both married and both were elected representatives of California voters. So what? How is that relevant? I can't read janfrel's mind. If janfrel has a relevant point to make, janfrel should be more explicit.

You and janfrel are both perfectly entitled to be reluctant about voting for Westly or anyone else. You are not entitled to smear someone for no reason. If anyone wants to go back in history and debate Prop 57 & 58, please write a pro Angelides diary about why that is so crucial to Angelides' election.

Feel free to slam the Porkinator for being one of Enron's cronies. You are not free to link any of the Democratic candidates to responsibility for the energy scandal or Enron. Take my word for it. I will defend Angelides or anyone else from the type of bogus accusations that have been made here today.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-17 06:00AM | 0 recs

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State "controller"

Isn't it "comptroller"?

Get back to me on that.

by Hannula 2005-04-16 03:17PM | 0 recs

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Re: State "controller"

The official state web site that I linked to in my diary has it spelled "Controller." I appreciate your substantive comment.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-16 03:34PM | 0 recs

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Re: State "controller"

My mistake.

by Hannula 2005-04-16 09:17PM | 0 recs

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Here Cometh the Machine

Here in California there is no shortage of Democratic machine produced politicians. So, the Democratic Primary is always more exciting than the Republican. The CA GOP always puts up a very liberal candidate or someone who gets laughed out.

Westly's problem is that he's too rich. Dial back the tape to 1998 and you will see much of 2006 in that race. You had Al Cheechi, Jane Harman, and Gray Davis. Cheechi was a rich executive from Northwest Airlines. Harman had been a Congresswoman from Venice and the South Bay. And then there was Joe "Gray" Davis who had held a million state offices.

In the early going, Davis was dead last, starting his campaign in San Francisco...going negative until he was the last man standing, moving on to disptaching Dan Lungren. And this time, it's the same old problem for Westly and Lockyer against Angelides.

Westly's wealth won't compensate for the endorsement of people like Barbara Boxer, and Lockyer's past as a tobacco shill in the State Senator is ripe for Angelides to split. He or she who best understands the machine wins in California.

by risenmessiah 2005-04-16 05:06PM | 0 recs

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Re: Here Cometh the Machine

The Machine will certainly play a prominant role in this race. After the Porkinator disaster, I'm not sure how powerful it is anymore, but it certainly wields considerable influence.

I question how being "too rich" affects the race. I'm not sure there's anything more than a loose correlation to be drawn here. Westly is a former eBay exec, and I don't think that will weigh against him in the voter's mind. His platform looks real middle and working class to me. Boxer and other endorsements will certainly help Angelides. I haven't seen any polls, but I suspect he is the earlyl favorite.

He or she who best understands the machine wins in California.

You definitely got that right. Personal wealth and endorsements aside, the candidate who can speak to the hearts and minds of California voters is going to be our next Governor. I'm putting my early ten cents on Westly.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-16 05:32PM | 0 recs

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Re: Here Cometh the Machine

Gary,

Look back at the 1998 race. Westly's problem is that like Checchi, money cannot buy you savvy.

There was an allegation made by Tom McClintock in 2002 (running against Westly for controller) that Westly had participated in insider trading. Not a BFD particularly, until you realize he would be the Maria Cantwell of California: someone who got burned out (or kicked out) of the private sector and decided to have some noblisse obligesse.

Also his quip about Mark Warner is interesting. Warner helped build Nextel, which happens to be my cell phone service provider. But as much as everyone like Dopey in the Democratic Party he ran as a Republicrat in rural Virginia. Wait until Westly and Lockyer spit the bit and declare before measuring them up to Angelides.

Arnold is pretty screwed in 2006 anyway. He tacitly may have promised many of the large Wall Street rowhouse operations that he would privatize CalPERS in exchange for the line of credit in 2003. All of that short term is coming due in 2005 or '06 and with Schwarzengger not able to deliver...he's jumped his own shark. No revenue, no options, no political future.

by risenmessiah 2005-04-16 08:51PM | 0 recs

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Re: Here Cometh the Machine

Westly is the Controller for christ's sake. I never heard of him until today. Could 2% of the population of California name who the Controller is? I doubt it a lot.

There's some sort of inside politics going on with the Lockyer connection. I wish somebody would explain how Lockyer keeps getting into the mix. Did Lockyer endorse Westly? Is Lockyer running for Governor? What's up?

Accusations of insider trading are easy to make. This is the first I've heard of them. I keep my ear to the ground on the talk radio circuit on my drive home. McClintock is a talk radio staple and I've never heard him accuse Westly of insider trading. It must not have been a real big deal or anything that would stick or McClintock would be Controller now.

I don't remember Checchi at all. What did Checchi run for? Maria Cantwell? Who the hell is that and what did she run for? You've got me stumped. I don't think many people pay any attention to the down ballot races. They are largely determined by party affiliiation. We're probably lucky if a majority of voters can name anybody currently holding office aside from the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Lockyer has been in the press quite a bit lately. I still wouldn't bet any money that he has over 50% name recognition as Atty. General.

Is Checchi like Michael Harrington? If Westly has that many real handicaps in his personal career, Angelides doesn't have anything to worry about. If Westly doesn't have the political savvy to get better name recognition than Checchi or Cantwell, Angelides doesn't have anything to worry about.

I agree that The Ahnold is pretty much finished. I don't think he can recover. There were rumors going around that he's already dropping hints that he won't seek re-election. Something about Shriver connected family problems. hmmmm. The Ahnold sleeping on the couch perhaps?

Maybe that's why the long knives are coming out so soon. I'm not addressing you with that remark risenmessiah. Your remarks have been well within the boundaries of civil political discourse. I enjoy a robust debate on the issues and the merits and the personal qualifications of all of our candidates. I appreciate getting history lessons about down ballot positions that I've ignored comletely for years. Like most voters, I just followed the top two spots until 2004.

I hope that we can elevate the level of political discourse above what we've seen here today. The candidates will have plenty of opportunity to sling mud in the MSM. I, for one, will call bull-shit on anybody who throws flaming bags of poop on the door step of any candidate.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-16 10:38PM | 0 recs

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"Democratic Wing"

Hate to break it to you, but Steve Westly is a DLC member too. He has been to all the meetings, the DLC people out in California and DC love him for all the good work he does.

I personally don't think it is a knock on him. But appearantly you MyDD people think it is a cardinal sin.

I don't know much about any of the leading Democrats other than Lockyer seemed to have shot his wad and so did Bustamonte (sp?) but b/w Angelidies and Westly, I have no clue other than Westly is better looking and richer than Angelidies.

by DaveB 2005-04-16 06:37PM | 0 recs

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Re: "Democratic Wing"

As I said in an earlier comment, "I ain't met nobody perfect yet." If Westly is DLC, he's a pretty strange breed. I'm not sure exactly what the DLC label means at the state level. My complaints aren't with the DLC per se, but rather with how a consistent bloc of DLC members vote.

For example, I had high hopes for Harry Reid early on. I can't speak for anyone else, but I only turned on the DLC when they started voting like Republicans, i.e., class action law suit restrictions, bankruptcy and drilling in ANWR. We don't even need to talk about Lieberman. It doesn't seem like too much to ask that a Democratic Senator should be more popular with Democrats in his home state than he is with Republicans.

I'm frankly encouraged at how lame the criticism has been of Westly. Today was the first time I ever recall hearing his name. State Controller is not one of the highest profile positiions in state government. I suspect that if Westly develops a significant presence in the race to replace The Porkinator, it will be a result of his political and campaign skills. That's all I'm basing my opinion on.

This diary is stricly a first impression, and I thought I made that clear. Maybe I was too subtle with my self described role as "temporary sock puppet." I gave Westly a one day grace period because I thought what I heard in his speech and in his interview warranted it. If Westly turns into another Harry Reid, trust me, I'll turn on him as quickly as I have on Harry Reid. Until that happens, I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt, just like every other candidate.

Art Torres just announced a new blog put up by a California police officer, Screw Arnold before he screws California workers. It's still a work in progress, but shows tremendous promise:

ScrewArnold.blogspot.com is a totally biased, opinionated and factually accurate weblog dedicated to stopping the faux-reformist juggernaut known as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (GAS).

Check it out!

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-16 07:04PM | 0 recs

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Re: "Democratic Wing"

What exactly do you have against Harry Reid. I have been for him early on and he met my every expectation. He has held the Democrats together better than Daschle, isn't married to a lobbist like Daschle, and has had major success against Frist since day one. What's not to like? The fact that he is principled about being pro-life? He still leads the charge to keep the fillibuster and has voted against militantly pro-life appointees. He will keep Nuclear waste out of Yucca Mtn.

He also is a great point for every Mormon Democrat out there to show that our party is actually more welcoming to LDS people than the GOP because mormons are just votes to the GOP.

by DaveB 2005-04-18 12:32PM | 0 recs

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What we have here is a failure to communicate

These are not the rules of MyDD. These are my personal rules for my diaries. I am not the boss of anybody. I don't speak for anybody except myself. I am quite patient, but my tolerance for fools has its limits. Please consider the following word of caution I posted for a previous infestation of DLC trolls:

A Word Of Caution

I've been very patient with you FightingLadyinblue. You and your southern friends might try showing us a little of the southern hospitality and genteel manners that you all are so famous for.

Let me make something perfectly clear. This is Jerome and Chris's house. You and I are guests. I don't have any special status or pull here. I participate here at Chris and Jerome's indulgence, just like everybody else. I try to respect their wishes and the parameters they have set for civil political discourse. They give us quite a bit of latitude along those lines, but they do have their guidelines and I respect them for that.

Having said that, this is where I have chosen to hang my cyber hat. This is also my home. Chris and Jerome are the landlords, but I have been a squatter here long enough to earn the right to be a little protective. Click on my user name and notice how many comments I have made at MyDD. That's not to pull rank or say I am better than you or anyone else here. I'm just asking you to observe a fact that you may want to take into consideration.

You are coming into my house and stomping on the furniture. You are coming into my house and shitting on the living room carpet. If you want to have a flame war with me I assure you I am capable of obliging. I don't know if you are a woman or not, but you are no lady. You have been persistently rude and insulting. You have persistently attributed beliefs and opinions to me that I do not hold.

Allow me to borrow a warning from The Shootist:

"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."

It's time for you to stop speaking out the side of your neck and putting words in my mouth. Feel free to speak for yourself. You are not free to speak for me. If you want a flame war with me, you are very close to gettin one. The only hesitation I have is that this is a good diary and I do not wish to trash it with a personal feud between you and me. I write plenty of diaries. The next time I put up a diary, feel free to stop by and get your bony little butt spanked and blistered.

Until then, I am going to ignore you as if you do not exist. I suggest you do the same to me.

I hope that isn't too subtle. I would appreciate it if we could dispense with the unjustified personal attacks that have no basis in fact. With the exception of risenmessiah, there has been absolutely no substantive comment or discussion of the issues facing California voters. If you folks continue to drop flaming bags of poop on my diaries, I am perfectly capable of trashing your diaries for your candidate.

Let's not go down that road. Deal?

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-17 01:04AM | 0 recs

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Well that's an improvement

Now if I could just delete my comment above, we might be able to focus on the real issues.

I think one thing that a lot of commenters don't fully grasp is that one big reason politicians don't stop by for two way communication, even when they do post a diary, is the low standards of political discourse, even on the best blogs.

If we are sincere about opening a two way dialogue with our political leaders, we need to focus on raising the bar on the type of comments and hysterical attacks we subject them to.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-17 01:35PM | 0 recs

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Regarding Diaries...

You get to control your diary, not your responses. It is a double-edged sword.

And while I agree that personal attacks are unjustified, please say how you were offended.
I have no use for condescending behavior, either, but again, I really didn't where it happened.

As far as going off-topic, well, this isn't that uncommon. Deal with it, or just ignore it. It's not my or yours job to tell people what to say.

Look, I expect disagreement when my diaries have been posted and have not been disappointed. I did call out one person for what I thought was a condescending remark. But perhaps I was being too sensitive. And perhaps I was mistaken. The Internet has many wonderful attributes. But a lack of personality is not one of them. E-mails, etc. can often lead to misleading impressions. With face-to-face communication, there is no doubt.

Nothing personal, by the way...

by v2aggie2 2005-04-17 09:11AM | 0 recs

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What should Governor Westy do?

Nobody in California knows Westly. If he recruits movers and shakers in the State Party, he still won't have anybody, because the State Democratic Party is out of touch with voters,and especially with any voters actually interested in State issues. He needs to talk with me; not them.

I don't care if he is a member of the DLC -- lots of ambitious Democrats are (or were).

California is a big State. There are lots of issues here, and no Governor has seriously addressed them for over 20 years, and I'm not kidding. It would be easy to write something savvy here about energy or jobs or utility companies or housing or education -- but the clean-up job is now much, much bigger than that because of the assiduous neglect of the past three Republican Governors and one inept Democratic Governor.

Westly's first order of business should to take a good, hard, objective look at the entire State then set some priorities for the people who live and work here.

His second priority should be to define several strong policy goals addressing large, Statewide problems, and to communicate them strongly and repeatedly to voters around the State. Along the way, he needs to start a no-holds-barred progressive reform of our Election laws our campaign financing laws.

California has been crippled for four years from wave after wave of surprise private sector layoffs. The real unemployment rate here has been over ten percent for four years now -- double what the "official" Labor Department figures admit to. Skilled workers have left our State in the hundreds' of thousands. If Westly (as a former CEO) doesn't favor more employee rights and better benefits for the people he has personally helped to lay off here, then I won't vote for him. This is not personal; I have never worked for eBay.

Mister Boatright, political discussions are always a confrontational business. Gently put, I suggest that you thicken your skin just a little.

by scribble 2005-04-17 04:48PM | 0 recs

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Re: What should Governor Westy do?

Those are all very good questions. This is going to be a long campaign and all three candidates are going to have to answer a lot of questions from the voters. As the least known candidate, Steve Westly probably has the biggest task ahead of him. Controller probably has less name recognition than any other state position.

There are all kinds of challenges facing California and all kinds of legitimate questions that all three candidates should be asked. I look forward to an engaging and enlightening debate on all of these issues. Thank-you for your input.

Political discussions can be confrontational without being dishonest. There is no need to be gentle with me, my hide is as thick as a rhinocerous, but I do appreciate your concern for my well being.

You misunderstand my point. If we are genuinely interested in developing two way communication with political figures, we have to set higher standards for civil political discourse than what is customary in the blogosphere. Any respected politician has no reason to subject themselves to dishonest abuse from largely anonymous bloggers, who are frequently uninformed at best and ignorant at worst.

All I am asking is that we avoid dishonest personal attacks and that we engage in civil political discourse about the issues that voters care about. Why is that such a high expectation?

If somebody wants to make an argument, there is a minimal degree of information that they are obliged to provide. The standards are not exceptionally high, but their complaint should provide enough information (and links would be helpful) that the complaint is comprehensible and that allows readers to put the complaint into context. Someone who reads an accusation or a disagreement should not be compelled to google the subject to understand the argument. It is the obligation of those who make their argument to also provide relevant links.

That's just my humble opinion. Feel free to disagree.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-17 06:43PM | 0 recs

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Westly Has A Big Problem To Overcome

Besides reasonably low name recognition, he also spent much of 2004 basking in the Thuggenator's shadow. As I recall, he worked rather diligently on a joint campaign with Ahnuld for one of his (many) ballot initiatives.

Back when the Gov was the colossus of the Great State (67% approval ratings!!), it was hard to separate Westly's lips from those steroid-enhanced glutes.

Now, Lockyer has an issue here as well, of course. He caught six kinds of Hell for revealing in 2003 that he planned to vote FOR Ahnuld in the recall election.

Both of these guys can spin their way out of this with something along the lines of "We wanted to give this guy a chance, but he is just flat wrong for the good people of this fair state..."

However, I have to give Angelides a small leg up, if only because he has been the only CONSISTENT anti-Ahnuld voice in Sacramento.

BTW, I still like Westly better than the other two guys...I am just pointing out a potential line of attack in a Dem primary.

by Singiser 2005-04-17 07:24PM | 0 recs

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Someone Has A Big Problem To Overcome

You are repeating the same thing that has already been troll rated several times. For the sake of accuracy. Can you link to all of the times that Westly's lips were attached to The Ahnold's steroid enhanced glutes?

I asked a half a dozen people at the convention today who is running for Controller, now that Westly has stepped down to run for governor. Very informed people didn't have a clue. Nobody has ever heard of Steve Westly. Either he has a problem with name recognition or everybody knows he has had his lips glued to Ahnolds glutes. You can't have it both ways.

This is a perfect example of why politicians don't engage in two way dialogue with the netroots. I am sure that Singiser believes he is quite a clever person and simply pointing out the obvious line of attack in the primary. Is it necessary to be quite so juvenile and ignorant?

You are talking about Prop 57 & 58, which were budget control initiatives that passed with 60% of the vote. Gee. Why on earth would a Controller be interested in fiscal responsibility? What a bizarre concept.

Actually, I guess you have made a very good point Singiser. You have just demonstrated my point about how uninformed and ignorant many of the commenters at blogs are. That is why I am making a valiant and unsuccessful effort to encourage people to link to the arguments they are making. If you are too ignorant to google Prop 57 & 58, you are too ignorant to make a comment.

Thank-you for your contribution.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-17 07:58PM | 0 recs

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Re: Someone Has A Big Problem To Overcome

Props 57 and 58 were not fiscally responsible. Arnold wanted them passed in order to avoid doing the fiscally responsible thing and either raise taxes or cut spending. In other words, he was acting just like Gray Davis. Except he had to borrow more, because he re-rolled back the car tax, costing the state an additional $4 billion.

If borrowing $15 billion to pay for ongoing expenses is now fiscally responsible, I guess we'll have to stop criticizing GWB for his reckless spending and tax cuts.

Westly has a reputation for cuddling up to Arnold because until recently he has been publicly cuddling up to Arnold, in TV commercials and everything. "Attaching his lips to his steroid-enhanced glutes" may not be the most elegant phrasing, but this does seem to me to be an accurate characterization of the situation.

At least he's not Lockyer, who actually voted for Arnold. But when he showed up in those commercials for Arnold's propositions, I think he killed his chances to win the Democratic primary, if he ever had any. Let's remember, this is a guy who only won the Controller's job by a few hundred votes, in a very blue state, running against a total wingnut (McClintock) who got no help from the state GOP because of Republican infighting.

by taliesin 2005-04-18 04:19PM | 0 recs

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Allow me to retort

If you can't manage to figure out how to google some facts to support your argument, you may wish to consider this argument.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-17 08:08PM | 0 recs

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In case I am still being to subtle

Reflect for just a moment what we are asking our political leaderrs to do. Not only do we expect them to take the tiime to put up informative diaries, we also expect them to engage in a two way dialogue.

That doesn't seem unreasonable, until you realize that both here and at Daily Kos, considered by many to be the shining beacons of the left wing blogosphere, we have a lower level of civil political discourse than Bill O'Reilly.

Why on earth would any politician want to subject themselves to the kind of immature, ignorant and frequently abusive personal attacks that make Bill O'Reilly look like the patron saint of civil political discourse?

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-17 09:02PM | 0 recs

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An Early Look

It is early and no one has really campaigned much, but I got one early look at Angelides and Westly at the California Democratic Party Convention on Friday night when both spoke to the women's caucus. It was the largest of the caucus rooms and had the most candidates for various offices speaking.

When Angelides spoke the crowd was very responsive and about two thirds of them gave him a standing O. When Westly spoke, it was difficult to hear him because most of the room was ignoring him and engaging in conversation. [This is a disease that permeates Democratic Party gatherings, one that contrasts with Republicans who are almost always more orderly and respectful of speakers.]

Neither one had a particularly interesting or great speech, a few shots at Arnold and many references to women's issues.

by James Earl 2005-04-18 08:35AM | 0 recs

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Steve Westly is a bad candidate for governor

I agree with many of the posters above that Steve Westly is an energetic Democrat with a lot of good ideas.

I disagree, however, about his prospects for governor.

First, as I've commented before at Marching Orders, I think he has some serious image management problems (see here).

Second, his formerly close relationship with Arnold is going to prove to be a political liability both among Democratic voters in the primary (because he used to be chummy with Schwarzenegger) and among Republicans in a general election (because he turned on Arnold when the wind changed) -- for that analysis, and an example of the tracks Westly left as he's attempted to morph from Arnold's good buddy to his trash-talking adversary, see here.

I would love to hear what folks had to say about this analysis, so feel free to drop by and give comments.

by marchingorders 2005-04-18 09:30AM | 0 recs

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I am very interested in this

I am very interested in this
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by hpvv 2005-12-19 09:56PM | 0 recs