Truth is stranger than fiction... fresh off his demand for equal time from NBC in the wake of the governor appearing on Jay Leno's show, Democrat Phil Angelides is getting his own nationally broadcast interview tomorrow morning...

with Adam Carolla.

So you don't know who Carolla is? Well, let's just say the comedian's nationally syndicated radio show is edgy. On his website, you can see photos of some of his former guests... including a guy who has a tattoo of Don King on his armpit.

This afternoon's press release from the Angelides campaign probably isn't supposed to be funny... but it is:

"Angelides will appear on the show after the 80's glam rock band Warrant, and prior to Hugh Hefner's girlfriends."

In case you were wondering, Governor Schwarznegger was apparently invited, but hasn't yet responded. The interview is scheduled for 8:25 am PDT.

[update, 5:24 pm-- Okay, okay, so a lot of folks do know and love the wacky Carolla. And yes, he does attract an interesting demographic... young men... for Angelides to reach out and try to sway. But I suspect Carolla will spend most of the interview making fun of Schwarzenegger. Call me a skeptic, I guess. --JM]

[update, 8:15 pm-- The Angelides camp says I missed the joke... they were indeed poking fun at the other guests, in addition to their guy, on tomorrow's show. Add "literalist" to my above self-created title of "skeptic."]

The other day, I received an e-mail from one of the candidates for governor, a note implying that only the candidates from the two major parties have received any attention in Capital Notes.

Fair enough. So here's the message sent from Edward Noonan, 2006 gubernatorial candidate of the American Independent Party. Enjoy.
**
I was hoping you would mention something about the other four of us candidates once in a while, but I guess only the Republicans and Democrats are worthy of your ink/hard drive space.

Mr. Myers, since I can not be mentioned on your website, let me tell you of a couple of my goals for California anyway...

Sincerely,
Edward C. Noonan

That's what the campaign of Democrat Phil Angelides wants from NBC stations, after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's appearance last week on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

The Angelides campaign today released copies of its correspondence with the Federal Communications Commission, which comes after the FCC made inquiries with NBC affiliates in California, and network execs themselves, about Schwarzenegger's appearance... and whether it violated equal time regulations.

The governor's chat on Leno's couch last Wednesday evening briefly touched on politics, but also veered into things like whether he'd spoken German with guest Heidi Klum while backstage, and his son's class project focusing on the "Flat Stanley" cutout figure.

Nonetheless, says the Angelides camp, the appearance was inherently political... and Leno's show should not get a pass at meeting what one past ruling calls a standard based on a programmer's "good faith" discretion about a guest's appearance being newsworthy-- and not political.

"There is a serious question," writes campaign advisor Steve Maviglio in the letter to the FCC, "of whether the decision to book the Schwarzenegger appearance was made in good faith, given Leno's promotion and support of Schwarzenegger's political career [in the past] and the lack of any recent newsworthy event that would justify Schwarzenegger's appearance, other than his candidacy for office."

You can read Team Angelides' entire letter here. Even if the FCC ultimately rejects the argument, the episode gives the Democrat's team a way to keep their guy's name in the press, in addition to campaign issues and events.

There's a final resolution to federal election assistance money given to California and, according to authorities, misspent by the office of former Secretary of State Kevin Shelley.

This morning, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission closed the books on the investigation into how Shelley spent some $3.8 million in funds allocated through the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The spending was part of the scandal allegations that drove Shelley from office in 2004. It included payments for activities not related to HAVA, including payments to consultants who appeared to be doing pro-Shelley political work on the federal government's dime.

Secretary of State Bruce McPherson had asked for the EAC to scale down the amount of money the state was ordered to pay back. Today, EAC Chairman Paul DeGregorio agreed, but not to the extent McPherson wanted.

Bottom line: the state must reimburse the feds in the amount of $2,917,583.

That's what Phil Angelides says his father taught him, a lesson that is likely to explain what has carried the Democrat through a tough gubernatorial campaign that finds him racing from behind just three weeks from election day.

On this morning's edition of The California Report, we take a look at Angelides' campaign and what drives the 53-year-old state treasurer in his effort to unseat Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. What emerges is a profile of a man whose vision about right and wrong was largely shaped by the lessons he learned from his parents-- especially his dad, who he often credits on the campaign trail with sage advice.

An example: "If he thought something unethical or wrong was going on at work, he'd tell his boss." That's certainly what the son started doing in 2004, when he took his criticism of Schwarzenegger's first budget proposal to the public.

But the Angelides campaign has struggled, partly from a lack of campaign cash to rebut charges by the governor about the Democrat's stance on taxes, and partly from what pollsters say is a sense among many Californians that things these days are headed in the right direction.

In an interview on his campaign bus last week, Angelides acknowledged the odds stacked against him, but refused to admit defeat. "I believe in my heart, I'm going to win on November 7th," he said. "But no matter what happens, I'm going to wake up the next morning and I'm going to keep fighting."

You can hear the story on our network of stations across the state, or the audio from this morning's story will be online here later today.

Well, that didn't take long.

In another sign that this part of the gubernatorial campaign was long anticipated... by both sides... the campaign of Governor Schwarznegger has just released two TV ads chock full of people looking at the camera and saying, "I trust him."

Not just any people, mind you, but rather teachers, nurses, law enforcement... all pretty much designed to try and blunt any impact from TV ads from other nurses, teachers, and law enforcement folks saying they don't trust Schwarzenegger. Will it work? You be the judge.

These ads are here and here.

The umbrella group of labor unions that rumbled with Governor Schwarzenegger in 2005 have kept their 2006 efforts aimed only at criticizing the guv... until now.

This morning, the Alliance for a Better California released a new TV ad that they say is going up statewide, and is a full-throated endorsement of Democrat Phil Angelides.

The ad, which you can see here, highlights Angelides' call for a middle-class tax cut and (using audio from the candidate) his pledge to "do for the kids of this state what my parents and grandparents did from me."

But the ad also returns to what worked so well for the Alliance last year: testimonials from union members that take none-too-subtle digs at Schwarzenegger. "When Phil Angelides makes a promise, it's real," says firefighter Pat Lynch in an on camera close-up. "He'll be a governor we can trust," says nurse Nancy Lyerla.

The news release announcing the ad refers it being a "response" to Schwarzenegger's comments yesterday to the San Francisco Chronicle and on NBC's "Tonight Show." But it's hard not to believe that this ad has been sitting on the shelf, with the union group just waiting for the right moment in the campaign. And for the Angelides camp, it's not a moment too soon.

That's the title of a new magazine profile of Governor Schwarzenegger's former budget director Donna Arduin, a profile that does nothing to change the perception she left among many Capitol veterans about her view on the proper role-- and size-- of government.

Arduin stepped down as director of the governor's Department of Finance in October 2004, after less than a year on the job. She had been brought in from Florida during Schwarzenegger's 2003 transition to carry out his much-promise "audit" of the state's finances. And her tenure was, well, rocky. She was the architect of many of the governor's most controversial budget cutting proposals. And many remember when the new staffer famously excused herself from an Assembly committee hearing... while legislators were still asking questions.

So, where is she now? Back in Florida, apparently juggling work at both her private consulting firm and offering advice to her pre-Arnold boss, Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

In this month's edition of Duke Magazine (Arduin is a Duke graduate, as am I, which explains how I stumbled onto this profile), she's still critical of the state's spending mechanisms. "It was all about spending programs on autopilot," she says. "If you just sat back and let the programs run, there would never be enough revenue. The legislature was almost not even needed in California."

And recounting her advocacy of some large social services programs cuts, Arduin doesn't mince words. "The idea is to teach them to fish rather than give them a fish. And they need a little push sometimes."

Another interesting quote: "When I cut $400 million in pay raises for California correctional officers, we considered getting me a bodyguard."

The article also reveals an apparent effort by Arduin last spring to try and get some of her old colleagues in the Schwarzenegger administration interested in a deal for the state to lease some private prisons. Arduin was then a board member of the company involved, and the author of the article implies she was trying to pump up the company's stock and avoid a takeover.

And for those critics of Arduin who called her budget proposals, well, heartless... there's probably a little more fuel for their fires. "I have no sympathy for people who want handouts from the government," she says. Later, she passes a homeless man on the way to the airport, where she "too softly for him to hear-- but with conviction-- says, 'Get a job'."

Read the article here.

On this day exactly four weeks from the November 7 election, it seems like everyone's releasing a new campaign ad.

In the race for governor, Democrat Phil Angelides has a new ad that's the first biographical look at him since ones featuring his three daughters back during the primary. It will be interesting to see how viewers react, especially to the music-- a cover of the Bellamy Brothers hit "Let Your Love Flow" (not to quibble, but the ad begins with a graphic that mentions 1972 and Richard Nixon... and yet this song was released in 1976... hmmm). You can see the ad here.

Governor Schwarzenegger also has new radio ads out today (his campaign launched two new TV ads yesterday). The radio spots are testimonials from two African American ministers that have endorsed the governor's reelection, and yet are lifelong Democrats. One ad features Pastor Amos Brown of San Francisco's Third Baptist Church. Brown, a former SF supervisor, says he's making an "exception" to his Democratic roots in this race. "The governor has funded California schools at their highest level ever," Brown says in the ad. "He believes children from every background can succeed." The second radio ad features a similar testimonial from Pastor J. Alfred Smith of Oakland's Allen Temple Baptist Church. The radio ads are here.

And one day after the backers of Proposition 87 rolled out their new TV ad featuring Al Gore, the opponents of the measure to tax oil drilling and fund alternative energy research. The No on 87 ad features newspaper editorial pages that have taken a stand against the measure. You can see the ad here. (And on a related note: the Sacramento Press Club is featuring a forum on Prop 87 on October 26th, with former Schwarzenegger adviser Terry Tamminen in support, and CA Chamber of Commerce President Alan Zaremberg in opposition).

Phil Angelides is on the road today with a swing through the Central Valley and into the Bay Area, and I've come along for the ride to see how the Democrat's message plays out on the campaign trail.

Check back through the day for updates...

8:45 am: The day's beginning with a breakfast at the Sportsmens of Stanislaus athletic club. I'm not so sure the breakfast itself is very fitness friendly, though... muffins and sausage links on a lot of plates. Looks to be about 150 attendees; as for media-- one TV news crew has showed up, along with a Modesto newspaper reporter, the Los Angeles Times, and yours truly. It's an older crowd, and yet the PA system is blaring the BlackEyed Peas. Hmmm.

10:05 am: The event has just wrapped up, with a 15 minute speech from Angelides that was custom-made for a labor friendly crowd. And the candidate, apparently inspired by photos on the walls of the athletic club of legendary boxers, likened his efforts to the 11th round of a 12 round fight with Arnold Schwarzenegger, proclaiming that "We're gonna score a knockout." Of course, the question is... if he can't punch the governor's lights out (metaphorically speaking!), can he still win if it comes down to the judges' scorecards?

10:45 am: The caravan is en route to Stockton-- the candidate's bus, a minivan with Friends of Phil, a minivan full of food (very important for sleep deprived reporters), and the media minivan (which is where I am now... as though you couldn't guess).

11:20 am: The second event of the day has begun at Stockton's Victory Park, and the speakers on stage before Angelides have been pretty sharp with a rhetoric on class and ethnic issues. Criticizing Governor Schwarzenegger's self-portrait as "the people's governor," Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres said that "all he knows is he pays $100,000 to people to wash his Hummers." And Torres was just getting warmed up... later blasting Schwarzenegger's recent comments on the assimilation of Mexican Americans. Torres called the governor's comments reminiscent of a "1920s, or 1950s" attitude. And to Schwarzenegger, Torres mockingly said: "We were here before you were." A handful of other Democratic candidates are in attendance, too, including controller candidate John Chiang, secretary of state candidate Debra Bowen, and insurance commissioner candidate Cruz Bustamante.

12:15 pm: The Angelides bus is now en route to Oakland, and shuffling reporters in and out of the "bus" (rest of caravan is minivans) for time with the candidate. Angelides spoke to a crowd of about 60 in Stockton, and appears to have decided to latch on to comments made by Schwarzenegger during Satuday's debate about the 2005 special election-- namely, that the ideas on the ballot were "good" ones. The Democrat told the crowd those same proposals will come back in 2007 if Schwarzenegger is re-elected. Meantime, Team Arnold folks are trailing the Angelides tour; spokesman Matt David said Angelides continues to push "recycled policies" from times past. The Schwarzenegger camp also lined up some tractors to circle the Stockton event, an attempt to link Angelides with the possibility of erasing a tax credit some farmers have received that past five years. And on the frequent news reports that his chances are waning, Angelides borrowed a theme that Republicans have used in the past: ignore the media. "Forget what the pundits say," Angelides told the crowd.

1:45 pm: The bus pulls into downtown Oakland, and Angelides has decided to emphasize a theme he began earlier this morning... that the tone of the campaign pales in comparison to real life, and that "hits" he's taken from the governor's TV ads "pale in comparison" to the hits taken by everyday Californians under the current administration. Sound familiar? Accident or not, it's almost exactly what former President Bill Clinton used to say in the toughest times of his campaign.

3:25 pm: The tour is rolling out of Oakland, after a long... and relatively intimate... meeting with a group of largely African American religious leaders. The confab was billed as an "Election StrTategy Meeting," and included some of the same statewide Dems that have been riding along with Angelides most of the day. And the line with the biggest reaction: when Angelides pitched Debra Bowen, the Democratic candidate as chief elections officer, and mentioned the woman largely at the center of the 2000 Florida presidential controversy. "You think about Katherine Harris as [Florida's] secretary of state," said Angelides. The crowd groaned. "And then, you think about Debra Bowen," he said. And with that, the crowd let out an "ahhhh."

4:20 pm: Labor union members have gathered in San Francisco for the final Angelides event of the day, and some awfully sharp words from someone who's been on the bus tour all day-- Art Pulaski, executive director of the California Labor Federation. Pulaski has spent the day bashing Governor Schwarzenegger for comments during Saturday's debate about the 2005 special election. Just now, he added a new twist... speaking about defeating the GOP incumbent in November, Pulaski said: "Make the bastard sit down and go home!" The crowd of about 100 or so roared.

Epilogue: The bus tour ended around 5:15 pm. Angelides heads to southern California tomorrow; Schwarzenegger heads to the Central Valley to campaign for the infratructure bonds, and has some prominent Democrats tagging along... a photo op that's sure to get tongues wagging again among political insiders.