San Jose Mercury News

Posted on Sun, Sep. 17, 2006

SCHWARZENEGGER'S COMMENTS LEFT ON SITE: Phil Angelides' campaign acknowledges it leaked governor's private conversation, but insists it was available on a public Web site.

The lowdown: It's becoming apparent that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's embarrassing comments on mixed Latin and black blood were foolishly left by someone on his own staff in a place where anyone could find them, no hacking required.

Gubernatorial debate

GOVERNOR GETS HIS WAY: Schwarzenegger and Angelides agree to a debate Oct. 7.

The lowdown: The governor gets what he wants --_ one debate, a month before the election, and with both candidates sitting down at a table, a disarming tactic that gives the feel of a conversation more than a debate.

Minimum wage bill

ANGELIDES LOSES AN ISSUE: Governor signs bill to raise the minimum wage to $8 an hour by January 2008.

The lowdown: The governor gets to campaign on a popular issue, while Angelides is left to argue that it's not enough and he would have given bigger raises.

Hands-free bill signed

KEEP THAT CELL PHONE AWAY WHILE DRIVING: Governor signs bill to require drivers to use a hands-free device while talking on cell phones in vehicles.

The lowdown: Can you hear me now?: Driving while holding a cell phone to your ear soon to be illegal.

Survey of nonvoters

WHITES PARTICIPATE MORE IN POLITICS: A nonpartisan survey shows that California's non-voting population is different demographically and on the issues than those who do vote.

The lowdown: The chasm is particularly deep along racial lines: Whites represent 46 percent of the population and 70 percent of the electorate.

No GOP get-together

CHENEY SKIPS SEEING GOVERNOR WHILE HERE: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was within 20 minutes of Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday afternoon -- _Arnold in San Jose meeting with high-tech leaders, Cheney in Menlo Park for a reception at venture capital firm Sequoia Capital -- but the two never crossed paths.

That didn't stop the California Democratic Party from linking the two in the same vein as Treasurer Phil Angelides, the Democratic challenger, has done with ads showing Schwarzenegger campaigning for Bush.

"Why did Cheney come all the way across the country to assist in the re-election of our own incumbent Republican governor?'' a memo, headlined "A Schwarzenegger/Cheney Love Fest in California,'' said. "To reward his loyalty.''

The governor's campaign said it didn't learn of Cheney's visit until it saw it in news reports, and that there was no request from Cheney's office to meet with him.

Strange, because Cheney was in the state for two events -- the other in Los Angeles -- to raise money for the Republican Governor's Association, whose No. 1 goal is, according to its mission statement, to "assist in the election of Republican gubernatorial candidates and the re-election of incumbent governors.''

Nonetheless, Schwarzenegger campaign spokeswoman Julie Soderlund, said, "I can tell you that the governor will not benefit from this event.''

Although, if at some time in the future, the governor's association says it wants to spend some money on Schwarzenegger and the governor happens to need it.

Nunez makes history

APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED: Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, appointed his committee leaders and Democratic leadership team, making a bit of history in the process.

Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, was named majority floor leader, the first African-American woman to hold that distinction.

In the Assembly pecking order, the floor leader comes right after the speaker pro tem, who is right under Nunez.

As for the speaker pro tem, that honor goes to Sally Lieber, the South Bay legislator whose district includes Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, and parts of San Jose and Santa Clara.

Lieber is just the third woman to hold the post.

Another appointment worth noting is that of Mark Leno, the San Francisco assemblyman, who will head up the powerful appropriations committee, which oversees all legislation deemed to have a fiscal impact on the state.

The committee's power rests in its ability to deny certain bills from ever getting to the floor for a vote of the full Assembly -- a tool used by Assembly speakers to avoid messy legislative votes.

Other Bay Area Democratic legislators appointed or reappointed to committee helms:

John Laird, Santa Cruz, budget; Gene Mullin, San Mateo, education; Alberto Torrico, Fremont, governmental organization; Joe Coto, San Jose, insurance; Loni Hancock, Berkeley, natural resources.

Good friends like 'em

HIGH-TECH HEADS AID IN GOVERNOR RE-ELECT: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger continues to have friends in high-tech places.

His campaign has announced a list of 15 heavy hitters from Silicon Valley who support the governor's re-election bid. Among them:

John Chambers, Cisco Systems president and CEO; Brian Halla, National Semiconductor chairman and CEO; Reed Hastings, Netflix founder and CEO; Scott McNealy, Sun Microsystems chairman of the board; Jim Morgan, Applied Materials chairman of the board; Meg Whitman, eBay president and CEO; Jerry Yang, Yahoo co-founder; and Terry Semel, Yahoo chairman and CEO.

List of the best, worst

WEEKLY'S TITLES MAKE SOME CAPITOL HUMOR: It was perhaps very close, but in the end Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn, D-Saratoga, edged out Sen. Liz Figueroa, Fremont, for the coveted title of ... best-dressed legislator.

It's that time again when the fun folks at Capitol Weekly, the weekly newspaper that covers the Capitol, release their best-worst list.

Technically, Cohn shared the title with Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Figueroa was an honorable mention.

Some of the other, uh, honorees:

Smartest: Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, with John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, and Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, as an honorable mention.

Hardest working: Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles

Most effective (nonleadership): Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, and Chuck Poochigian, R-Fresno, with Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, as honorable mention.

Best boss: Kuehl

Worst boss: Carole Migden, D-San Francisco

Most partisan: Ray Haynes, R-Temecula, and Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys

Also, in a separate poll, conducted during a private meeting with the governor and his chief of staff, Bonnie Garcia, R-El Centro, was named "hottest.''

We couldn't resist.

-- Compiled by Steven Harmon and Alvie Lindsay of the MediaNews Sacramento bureau.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

-- Mark Baldassare, director of the Public Policy Institute of California, on his poll that shows nonvoters are disproportionately low-income and Latino.

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