LOS ANGELES– Day two of the state Democratic convention was full of more calls for unity, while also including a few sharp elbows among some of the politicians who are angling for new job. It was also another day full of swipes at both Arnold Schwarzenegger and George W. Bush.

* The party’s women in Congress were one of Saturday’s main attractions. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was greeted with posters showing her face superimposed on the 1940’s drawing of Rosie the Riveter. She took several swipes at Bush and congressional Republicans… as did the party’s new rock star, Senator Barbara Boxer. A current critic of all things Bush, Boxer received the loudest and longest ovation of the day when she was introduced to the delegates. She also delivered a line everyone was talking about, weaving together both national and state politics. “John Bolton (Bush’s nominee) serving in the United Nations is like Arnold Schwarzenegger running the California Nurses Association.”

* Pelosi and Boxer also endorsed Treasurer Phil Angelides for governor. And that race seemed to be the subtext for a number of events. Even a forum advertised as a town hall on the budget, featuring both Angelides and Controller Steve Westly, felt more like a debate. With Westly (who pubicly worked with Schwarzenegger last year) sitting nearby, Angelides quipped, “It’s wrong to say, hey, this guy’s popular, maybe we ought to change our views.” A few minutes later, Westly countered, “We must do more than bash Arnold if we want to win the budget battle and the election in this state.” The third wannabe, Attorney General Bill Lockyer, doesn’t arrive at the convention until Sunday.

* More Schwarzenegger references: Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata walked up to the podium at the budget event and introduced himself as, “I’m Don Perata and I’m a girlie man.” The line was good for a few laughs.

* The big attraction of the day was DNC Chairman Howard Dean. Dean’s staffers made very few friends among reporters by hustling him away from any media interviews. But he had the dinner crowd on its feet, hammering Schwarzenegger on criticisms that a promise was broken to fully fund education. Dean said that promise should be kept… adding “we don’t need any more corrupt Republicans in this country.”