Ahnold in Dead Heat with Angelides

Some good news for a change:

February 13, 2006--The golden state's movie-star governor has scrounged a narrow lead over State Comptroller Steve Westly (D). Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) is still neck and neck with State Treasurer Phil Angelides (D).

The latest Rasmussen Reports California election poll shows Schwarzenegger leading Westly 39% to 34% in his bid for reelection. The Governor trails Angelides 41% to 40%.

Many have pooh-poohed Angelides's chances against the charismatic, bigger-than-life Ahnold, but three things have made him vulnerable:

His blatant courtship of special interests for campaign money tarnished his image as a maverick reformer;

His willingness to embrace his party's agenda for a place in the inner sanctum exposed him as a faux moderate/centrist;

George W. Bush, now with a reverse bounce back approval rating of 39%, and for whom he campaigned in Ohio in the 2004 elections, has rubbed off on Ahnold.

All these led to the humiliating defeat of Ahnold's ballot measures last November and Phil Angelides was smart enough to pay attention. He has positioned himself as the anti-Arnold by constantly hammering on these weaknesses in spots like this:


Coupled with a tight platform focusing on what matters to Californians, Angelides just might give the Governator one heck of a fight.

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