Angelides to stump for infrastructure

Democratic gubernatorial challenger Phil Angelides is scheduled to make a Bay Area stop on Monday to campaign for the infrastructure bond package on the November ballot. Angelides has said that he supports the bonds, but this, as far as I can tell, will be the first appearance he is making in which the bonds will receive central billing. The $37 billion bond package, which is a pared down version of the infrastructure proposal Angelides' opponent, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger presented in January, presents a political tightrope for Angelides. First off, the bipartisan package has been Arnold's chief policy accomplishment this year, after he struggled to work with Democrats in 2005's so-called "year of reform". No one wants to tout the accomplishments of their opponent. Second, it is awfully hard for Angelides to go into an election saying Yes on Schwarzenegger's bonds, No on Schwarzenegger. Sounds eerily like Yes on Bustamante, No on Recall...which didn't work so well. In any case, Angelides appears Monday with Sen. Don Perata and Assemblywoman Wilma Chan at the Port of Oakland to urge that voters support the bond package. It will be interesting to see if such events will continue as Election Day nears (because who, really, is paying attention right now).