Dreaming About California

11 June 2006 |permalink | email article

Nationally respected Los Angeles Democratic strategist Bill Carrick is in talks to join with the Phil Angelides gubernatorial campaign, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Carla Marinucci reported.

Carrick, who directed L.A. Mayor Jim Hahn’s failed reelection campaign last year, didn’t deny the story but said, “it’s not a done deal.”

Admitting the Democratic nominee has a tough road ahead, he cautioned that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign should not be overconfident about the governor’s re-election chances.

Los Angeles Times exit polls last week offer mixed results.

Voters had a more favorable opinion of Schwarzenegger (54%) than Angelides (44%), and saw the Republican as a decisive leader while serving as governor (54%).

But Democrats are looking at other numbers in the poll. While 84% of Republicans approve of the way Schwarzenneger is handling his job as governor, 51% of all voters disapprove (51%), as do Democrats (82%) and Independents (57%).

Carrick’s point is the governor’s re-election theme, “Protecting the California Dream,” distorts an impression that the state economy, despite a budget shortfall, is great.

Voters’ mood, reflected in a Times question about how things in California are in general, found 52% agreeing the state is seriously off on the wrong track, as opposed to the state going in the right direction (48%).

Which “dream” message may offer voters a more realistic message about the state’s economic future: Ronald Reagan’s cheery “Morning in America” or the Mammas and the Pappas’ more somber “California Dreamin’?

980