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Vol. 1, #5

November 22, 2005

Angelides Gaining on Arnold

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Phil Angelides discusses his race to unseat Arnold Schwarzenegger with John Metaxas.

Read this analysis of Schwarzenegger's political strengths and vulnerabilities by Demetri Boutris and Keith Yamanaka.

by John Metaxas

EVER SINCE the failed presidential runs of Michael Dukakis and Paul Tsongas, there has not been a Greek-American politician who has been able to command attention on a national stage. Now that might be changing.

California Treasurer Phil Angelides is running for governor of his state, seeking the Democratic nomination in next year’s primary to take
on incumbent Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Angelides (right) meets with supporter John Catsimatidis at a recent New York fundraiser. (Photo by Matt Wanning.)

Running for governor of the largest state in the union is by definition an act of national significance, but taking on a pop-icon like Schwarzenegger, who has a worldwide following, insures a high level of attention.

And Phil appears to be exceeding expectations. He announced his candidacy when Arnold was riding high in public opinion polls. But after the embarrassing failure of Schwarzenegger’s ballot propositions in this month’s special election in California, Arnold seems to have lost his shine, and Angelides appears to have timed it right.

Could it be that like Bill Clinton who was willing to take on a popular George Bush (41) when other Democrats were not, Phil can come from behind and stage an upset over Arnold?

Phil acknowledges that the task will be difficult. Schwarzenegger, despite dropping poll numbers, remains a formidable opponent, with personal wealth and the ability to raise vast sums of money. And Angelides faces a Democratic primary fight before he can even get to challenge Schwarzenegger in the general election.

But Phil held a slight lead over Schwarzenegger in a poll taken before the voting on the ballot initiatives, and Phil is also fundraising on a national scale. He was in New York this month to raise money at an event hosted by real estate mogul Stephen Ross in his Time Warner Center penthouse. Even Republican-leaning Greek-Americans, like Peter Pappas of PJ Mechanical, who co-hosted the reception, are throwing their support to Phil.

This will be an interesting race to watch.

For a cogent analysis of Schwarzenegger's political strengths and weaknesses, read this white paper written by Demetri Boutris and a colleague of his, Keith Yamanaka. Demetri was California's Corporations Commissioner and Special Counsel to the Governor during the Gray Davis administration, and before that Legal Affairs Secretary to the Governor. Keith is a senior policy advisor and attorney for various state agencies who has served as Chief Deputy Corporations Commissioner, Chief Counsel of the Department of Health Services, and Deputy Attorney General. This report was written several months ago and has proved prophetic in light of recent events. It is reproduced with the permission of the authors.