I hope that as you cast your ballot this election season that you will vote for Treasurer Phil Angelides to be our next governor. Phil is a lifelong Democrat who is a champion of our party's values, aspirations for and promises of a more equitable society. As a businessman, political activist, and elected leader, Phil has fought to protect our environment and a woman's right to reproductive choices, advocated for universal health care and first-class citizenship for all Californians including the LGBT community. Given the extremely stark differences between him and Arnold Schwarzenegger, it has been disheartening to read news accounts of Democrats who have been led to believe that the governor is actually our friend who is deserving of another term. As one who has worked with Schwarzenegger these past three years I can tell you that he unequivocally is not deserving of your vote or another four years in office.
You can find at my Web site, www.MarkLeno.com, a list of 10 critical reasons why every Democrat (and independent voter) should vote for Phil Angelides. I will share a few of them with you here.
On the important issue of choice, Treasurer Angelides has always been a clear and steadfast voice respecting a woman's constitutional right to make her own reproductive decisions. The same cannot be said of our Governor. Though he would like you to believe he is pro-choice, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, while pretending to be in support of choice, as are most Californians, Arnold Schwarzenegger has exploited the issue for his own political purposes. During last year's special election, the Governor supported Proposition 73, which would have given not only legal but constitutional status to a fetus thereby seriously threatening Roe v. Wade. He also placed his photograph on Proposition 73 literature, and mailed it to evangelical voters hoping to draw them to the polls to then vote for his failed and rejected ballot measures. This is a level of duplicity and deception usually associated with the likes of Karl Rove. It is a well-known fact that Schwarzenegger has been working with the Bush-Rove campaign team for a number of years.
Whereas Phil Angelides is on record as saying that he looks forward to signing our marriage equality bill, Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it last year. Though he says he supports our full equality, Arnold Schwarzenegger believes that our community doesn't love in a way that is good enough to be issued marriage licenses. Sadly, he supports our second-class citizenship. When my friend Marvin Burrows lost his partner of 51 years, though they were registered as domestic partners, he could not access basic benefits of a surviving spouse such as Social Security benefits, health care benefits, veterans' benefits, and pension benefits. As a 70-year-old gay man living on a fixed income, Marvin could no longer afford the rent on the home that he and his deceased partner had shared for 35 years. So, in the midst of his grieving the loss of his lifelong love, Marvin became homeless. Thanks to the support of friends and community, Marvin is now safe and secure. But this is what Arnold Schwarzenegger believes is full equality.
We are all thrilled to see that the Republican stranglehold in Washington, D.C. may be broken on November 7, allowing our Congress member, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, to become the first woman speaker of the House of Representatives and the first speaker from San Francisco. This will not only be great news for our country and the well-being of our planet, it will be enormously beneficial to California. Though the federal government continues to shortchange our state $50 billion, the self-proclaimed "Collectinator," Governor Schwarzenegger, has horribly failed to bring those desperately needed funds home. As a result, our state is experiencing chronic deficit spending, borrowing more money each year to balance our budget. Phil Angelides supports a change in our nation's one party rule and has Nancy Pelosi as his campaign's co-chair. Arnold Schwarzenegger supports the status quo and the culture of corruption in Washington, has endorsed only Republican candidates for Congress who would vote against Nancy Pelosi's bid for speaker, campaigned for George Bush's re-election, and still believes he is doing a fine job as president. Schwarzenegger, unlike 70 percent of Californians, even supports the Iraq war with its hundreds of thousands of lives destroyed and the half trillion dollars it has wasted.
In short, friends don't let friends vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger. The choice is clear. Don't be fooled by a governor who will say and do anything to get re-elected. Get informed and vote for our friend and champion, Phil Angelides.
Mark Leno (D) represents the 13th Assembly District in the California Legislature.