The Debate

Since I was watching the tragedy unfold at Chavez Ravine last night, I had to record the one ill-timed debate between Angelides and Schwarzenegger. I expected the Governor to come out and ramble incoherently and the Treasurer to come out sounding like a cranky old substitute teacher who thinks he's running against George W. Bush. To my pleasant surprise, only one candidate delivered on these extremely low expectations.

To put it mildly, the Governor doesn't know what he's doing. He doesn't seem to understand the issues or policies. In one breath he parrots his old line of "living within our means" and in another he urges everyone to pass the $37 billion dollars in bonds. This was helpful for those of us who were beginning to wonder if the Governor finally "got it". He doesn't.

Angelides, the object of much scorn from this blog, came out swinging, but managed to not come off like a schmuck (no tall order for him). Admittedly, he used his George W. Bush lines, but with enough back up that I think they can make sense to the average voter. Throughout the debate, he emphasized the need to focus on the middle class. In what I thought was the best moment, in his response to an answer from Schwarzenegger, Angelides really drove home the point that the Governor believes the props from last year's election were sound policy.

The debate should benefit Angelides. If nothing else, I believe it will solidify his support among Democrats, which will at least stave off embarrassment on election night. Unfortunately for him, its probably too late.