Angelides Borrows Tactic From Truman in 1948 (only 63% support among Dems)

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: Schwarzenegger's Rival Borrows a Tactic From Truman in 1948
Angelides contends the governor protects big business and the rich at the expense of middle-class families.
By Michael Finnegan, Times Staff Writer
August 27, 2006

In 1948, Harry S. Truman described the big-business titans backing his Republican presidential rival, Thomas Dewey, as "gluttons of privilege." They put "fabulous sums of money" behind Dewey, Truman said, to "assure privilege for big business, regardless of what may happen to the rest of the nation."

State Treasurer Phil Angelides, the Democrat running for governor, harked back to those remarks as he made a similar case last week against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Truman "talked about the gluttons of privilege," Angelides told supporters on folding chairs in the backyard of a small house in Burbank. "He talked about corporate greed. He made it clear who he was for and who he was willing to go to bat for."

In his latest attempt to gain traction against Schwarzenegger, Angelides has adopted Truman's populist approach as his own. He says the governor, along with his fellow Republican, President Bush, protects big business and the rich at the expense of middle-class families struggling to make ends meet amid soaring gasoline, healthcare and college-tuition costs.

The class-based pitch is more attuned to a Democratic primary than a general-election contest. But in the waning days of summer, nothing is more important to Angelides than boosting what has been his flimsy support among Democrats.

A Field Poll last month found that just 63% of likely Democratic voters favored Angelides over Schwarzenegger....

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-angelides27aug27,0,7174537.story?coll=la-home-local

[Bjorn Against]

1. What is wrong with that 37% of Democrats?

How could anyone who calls themselves a Democrat possibly support Schwarzenegger? The guy is Bush on steroids, just as dumb and just as violent.

[leesa]

2. Angelides is invisible here. Part of it is not his fault. The papers are

in GOP control and the Arnie movies are being replayed ALOT. Arnie is pretending he's a Democrat and it's working. He had 30% approval last year at this time overall...a complete lame duck. Americans are just dumb as rocks.

[AX10]

3. GOD DAMN MEDIA!

:argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh:

[mike_c]

4. to be fair, Angelides is hard to get enthusiastic about....

Not only is he pretty invisible, but his positions on issues that are important to me as a progressive voter are lukewarm at best. I mean, when you look beyond the rhetoric like "Angelides could be the greenist governor that California has ever had" you don't find much real opposition to the fundamental business and industrial interestst that promote profits over environmental protection. Angelides supports affordable health care for all Californians, but you don't hear him saying he would actually do much to reform the existing system, and so on.

I KNOW others will chime in here to protest that he said this or said that about this or another progressive issue, and that's all well and good if he has, but I can tell you that he's not doing a good job of getting that message out if that's the case.

Finally, as a progressive, I'm pretty disappointed that the state dems couldn't capitalize on Arnold's weakness to do considerably better than Angelides. A lame duck governor with 30 percent approval and long list of failed initiatives should have presented an opportunity to make some really progressive changes. Instead, state dems chose a candidate whose primary qualification seems to be his ability to not rock anyone's boat. Again, others will likely disagree, but that's the view from my corner of the redwood empire.

[NV Whino]

5. Don't you love the headline?

"Schwarzenegger's Rival" Is there any doubt the papers are biased? What's the matter with using Angelides' name in the headline. Good God!
:grr: