By KEVIN YAMAMURA and AURELIO ROJAS
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Democratic candidate Phil Angelides challenged Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on gun control and affirmative action Friday at the California NAACP conference, framing the issues as African American concerns the Republican governor should address when he visits the same group Saturday.
Schwarzenegger has aggressively courted African Americans this fall by speaking almost weekly at black church services and stopping at other inner-city institutions. With the Nov. 7 election only 10 days away, the governor plans to follow his NAACP visit Saturday with another tour of black churches Sunday.
But Angelides told 75 NAACP members at the Oakland Marriott City Center that Schwarzenegger has "turned his back on the African American community." Angelides later appeared in Los Angeles with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the only African American member of the U.S. Senate, who helped the gubernatorial candidate attract a large crowd of more than 1,000 people.
The Democratic state treasurer questioned why Schwarzenegger accepted an endorsement from the California Rifle and Pistol Association "when our young men and women are being gunned down in the streets of Oakland." He also charged that Schwarzenegger never fought against a voter-approved 1996 initiative that banned colleges and other public institutions from using affirmative action.
"I'm proud that I opposed Proposition 209 because I believe in equality of access to our economy," Angelides said. "And when I was opposing Proposition 209, where was Gov. Schwarzenegger? He was silent. He didn't even vote."
Asked his position on Proposition 209 during the recall, Schwarzenegger did not declare his position but told the San Jose Mercury News, "I support race-neutral measures to advance historically underrepresented groups in education, employment and public contracting."
Schwarzenegger aide Margaret Fortune issued a statement defending the governor: "Governor Schwarzenegger has a long history of working with the African-American community and a strong record on issues of concern to African Americans throughout California."
The California Rifle and Pistol Association, the official state arm of the National Rifle Association, has endorsed the entire slate of Republican statewide candidates. The group noted this month that the governor vetoed two "anti-gun" bills: one would have required online retailers to obtain signature verification that a purchaser of ammunition was 21 years old; the other would have required gun owners to notify authorities of a lost or stolen weapon within five days.
But the governor also signed a 2004 bill to ban military-grade, .50-caliber BMG rifles, to the chagrin of the CRPA.
Continuing a final-month trend of using his incumbency to appear in official state events rather than campaign activities, the Republican governor on Friday visited a UC Davis Health System conference in San Francisco to discuss pediatric medicine delivered via technology such as the Internet.
Both candidates addressed health care on Friday. Angelides told the NAACP he will make sure that every child in California has access to health care. Schwarzenegger said he would work to lower medical costs, but added that the answer is in innovation rather than providing more money for care, according to a transcript.
The governor last month vetoed Senate Bill 840 to create a universal health care system in California. Angelides was neutral on the proposal, but he has said he wants to put California "on a path toward universal health care."
At a University of Southern California rally filled mostly with students, Obama was the keynote speaker and received the most enthusiastic reception. In a short, but rousing speech, he spoke with optimism about the Democrats' chances of recapturing Congress and of Angelides coming from behind to win the governor's race.
A Public Policy Institute of California poll released Wednesday showed Angelides trailing by 18 points, 48 percent to 30 percent.
For Angelides and other Democrats to prevail, Obama exhorted the crowd, "You've got to knock on doors. You've got to grab your friends and go to the polls. And, if you do that, I guarantee you, you are not just going have a better California, but a better nation."
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