The media has really performed a disservice to the California voters this year. From the moment Angelides pulled out a win against primary opponent Steve Westley, the story has been no story - the race was over. This despite two close polls early on, and a growing tide of resentment against the Republican Party nationwide. Schwarzenegger ducked the debates, and the media gave him a pass. He's getting the endorsements of the L.A. Times, the Chronicle, and even Hollywood liberals and at least one union on the basis that he's acted like a Democrat for the past three months and they assume he's "learned his lesson" from last year's special election results - despite the fact that he still regards his propositions stripping unions of political power, gutting education, and creating an imperial governor's office as "good ideas" that weren't sold well.
The meme has been that Californian's either don't know or don't like Phil Angelides. What's not to like? He's a straightforward liberal pol who built things for a living for many years before he became Treasurer. As treasurer since 1998 he has been phenomenal actually, having successfully converted the state fund investments to support inner city development, small business incubation, and green technologies. He has been slammed by conservatives for placing the funds "at risk," but its flourished very nicely during some very rough economic years, including the 2000 high tech collapse.
So far, I've found onlyone article that even begins to go into his work as treasurer with any detail. The story was never told. The campaign rarely makes the front pages, even two weeks from the election. They allow Schwarzenegger to paint Angelides as "just another Gray Davis," when there's almost nothing in common between them other than party membership. They certainly don't cover the under-the-table settlements the governor has made with the women who sued him following the recall election's groping revelations. They praise him for signing the global warming bill into law, and fall silent when he basically rewrites the law by what may be an improper use of the executive order.
And next year when Schwarzenegger remembers that he's a Republican and starts pushing the old crap again, so many liberals will be "shocked," and feel taken. But really, they'll have only themselves to blame.