Opinion

With the governor’s race looking increasingly like a laugher, the contest for secretary of state this year may be an interesting one to watch. It will test some longstanding historical precedents and certain basic assumptions on the part of both major parties. Incumbent Secretary of State Bruce McPherson is a bright and decent guy,…

In last week’s Capitol Weekly, State Treasurer and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides painted himself as the Jolly Green Giant — a veritable trailblazer and trendsetter on environmental issues. “Environmental protection is, and has always been, at the center of my work in my career both as a businessman and elected official,” Angelides boasted…

What’s in a name?” the fair heroine asks her star-crossed lover in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” Juliet concludes. But that was before anybody met Phil Angelides. The state treasurer and Democratic gubernatorial candidate has a long history of gratuitous name-calling—and…

I’ve watched with interest — and no little amusement — as state Treasurer Phil Angelides has attempted to orchestrate a sense of momentum and inevitability in his quest for the Democratic nomination for governor. For most of the last year, Angelides has run the classic insider’s campaign, announcing with great fanfare the endorsements of dozens…

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recently called special election reminds me of a classic scene out of funnyman Mel Brooks’ 1981 flick, “History of the World: Part I.” In this bit, the Moses character — played by Brooks himself with a bad fake beard — comes down from the mountaintop with three stone tablets, each with…

As campaign communications director for City Councilman Michael Wood in the 1993 Los Angeles mayor’s race, I witnessed firsthand how racial stereotypes and innuendo are used to damage the candidacy and unfairly impugn the integrity of a minority candidate. And as Mayor James Hahn gets more desperate in his campaign against City Councilman Antonio…

Will there be a “Governator II?” Meaning, of course, will the Terminator sign up for a sequel as governor of California? For his part, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he’s so busy reforming California he can’t even possibly think about a second term right now. And if you’re a California Republican, you certainly don’t want…

Remember when our grade school crossing guards used to say, “The lines are your friends”? Well, that could also apply to members of the Legislature and the California congressional delegation. After every decennial census, the Legislature is required to redraw the boundaries of all legislative and congressional districts to take population growth and shifts…

In the current campaign, much has been made of some eerie comparisons between George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States, president of the United States, and his (partly) eponymous offspring, George W. Bush, the 43rd. Each launched a war against Iraq and each considers himself liberator of a Middle Eastern…

Remember how we all used to snicker when Politburo elections in the old Soviet Union regularly returned margins of 99.9 percent for the victors? Well, now have a laugh at our own expense: The current elections for the Legislature and Congress in California are barely more competitive. In 2001, the Legislature adopted and the…