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Federal regulators dismissed a complaint Thursday that accused "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" of playing favorites in the race for California governor. The Federal Communications Commission complaint, filed on behalf of Democratic challenger Phil Angelides, argued that the NBC show violated the equal time provision in federal law when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared as a guest on Oct. 10, less than a month before the election. Angelides also asked to appear but was not scheduled. Federal rules require broadcast stations to give equal time to candidates who appear on the air. The rules do not apply to news programs,...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Gin or vodka? Ford or BMW? Perrier or Fiji water? Does the car you buy or what's in your fridge say anything about how you'll vote? Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign thinks so. Employing technology honed in President Bush's 2004 victory, the Republican governor's re-election team has created a massive computer storehouse of data on personal buying habits and voter records to scout up likely supporters. Campaign officials say the operation, run in cooperation with the state Republican Party, is the largest of its kind in any state, at any time. Some strategists believe the consumer information...

For real power in California, see Dianne Feinstein. The U.S. senator is the Momma Bear of California politics. These days, the coverage of the U.S. Senate race has engendered nothing but pity for the unfortunately named Dick Mountjoy, her Republican opponent, whose campaign photos come with their own helpful captions. Here is another point about the Feinstein ads: They bring out Feinstein Voters. And that could help Angelides, whose campaign has been struggling. (Feinstein and her husband, Dick Blum, also have donated $200,000 to the state Democratic Party this election.) Feinstein already has given Angelides the best advice of the...

Angelides noted that Arnold won the endorsement of the California Rifle and Pistol Association, the state wing of the National Rifle Association, and quickly pounced on connecting the NRA with the Governor. No wonder: Gun safety is overwhelmingly supported by California voters, particularly among Democrats. Angelides is seeking to exploit the Governor's NRA support, citing the Governor's veto of two bills advanced by gun safety advocates.They are: AB 2714 by Rep. Alberto Torrico (D), which would have banned internet/mail order sales of ammunition unless the buyer presented an ID with proof of age to the seller. It also would have...

The property initiative poses a political dilemma for Schwarzenegger because it is backed by his GOP base yet opposed by environmental groups and the California Chamber of Commerce, two interests the Republican governor has courted. Schwarzenegger said Tuesday he has not taken a position on Proposition 90, though he intends to "very soon because I'm looking at all the aspects. As you know, it's a very complicated issue, and so I'm looking at all the different angles so that I come out very clear." Proponents have asserted that Proposition 90 prevents government from seizing private property to give to another...

SAN FRANCISCO — Five months ago, state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata had called November's infrastructure bond package "a textbook example of bipartisan cooperation." Perata, D-Oakland, and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that day on the Oakland International Airport tarmac. Perata said lawmakers "weren't sent to Sacramento to be stalking horses for anybody running for office," and Nunez said, "Don't underestimate the role that the governor played." But the governor's name barely was mentioned Friday as prominent Democrats, union members and others rallied for the bond package at Pier 30, just south...

On a radio show, the candidate doesn't object to host's ethnic and sexual wisecracks despite having criticized the governor's character. Angelides' appearance came after a segment in which a 20-year-old African American man named Master agreed to kiss a 72-year-old white woman named Sara to win a ticket to an upcoming promotional event at Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills. Carolla made a joke about a "May-casket" romance, playing off "May-December," and said Sara had a case of "jungle fever," a pejorative reference to white women attracted to black men. An anonymous voice-over also alluded to Angelides' ethnic background...

7 Angelides supports equal marriage rights for all Californians; Schwarzenegger vetoed them 6 Angelides supports affordable universal health care; Schwarzenegger opposes it 3 Angelides fights for a woman’s right to choose and opposes Prop 85; 2 Angelides opposes Bush’s war in Iraq; Schwarzenegger supports it 1 Angelides supports Nancy Pelosi to become Speaker of the House;

Phil Angelides made one thing clear during his appearance on Adam Carolla's raucous morning radio show Thursday. "First of all, I'm not going to make out with anyone," Angelides declared after Carolla dared a man to kiss an elderly woman to win tickets to the Playboy Mansion in a preceding segment. Carolla's defunct television program, "The Man Show," regularly featured bikini-clad women jumping on a trampoline, and he didn't tame his style one bit for Angelides, the Harvard graduate who has long considered himself the more intellectual candidate in his race against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Carolla's show is heard on...

When Leno read in Saturday's Chronicle that Mary Canavan, a lifelong Democrat, was "almost certain" to vote for Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, he found her number in directory assistance and called her at home, giving her a 15-minute pitch for Angelides. It wasn't only Leno who took the Berkeley woman to task about her planned vote for the governor, she said. "I got a lot of e-mails from friends, some saying 'I agree' and others saying 'Have you thought about this?' '' Canavan said at the rally. She admitted she was disappointed with the showing of the Democratic Party and...

"U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, left, joins Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides as they work a phone bank at Sacramento City Teachers Association headquarters, Wed, Oct. 18, 2006, in Sacramento, Calif. The pair made calls asking for support for Angelides and other issues on the Nov. 7 ballot."

GOV. Arnold Schwarzenegger said "something very special happened" in his third year in office. "We found the groove," he proclaimed during an interview with our editorial board last week. And Sacramento has been grooving with him. The just-completed legislative session represented one of the most productive in recent memory. The Republican governor and Democratic legislators worked together on essential long-term goals (upgrade our transportation systems and schools, help stop global warming) and short-term imperatives (raise the minimum wage, reform foster care, secure drug discounts for the uninsured) that will have an impact on Californians' lives. (snip) We have disagreed with...

Struggling to attract support, Democrat Phil Angelides has begun tearing into Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's personal character, suggesting Wednesday the Republican incumbent should respond to recall-era claims that he once groped and humiliated women. Angelides, in a phone interview, said Schwarzenegger never fulfilled a promise he made during his 2003 recall campaign to review the groping allegations. "It was the governor who told (former NBC anchor) Tom Brokaw on national news that he would fully look into this matter and tell the people what it was all about," Angelides said. "He was the one who made his commitment and didn't keep...

Democrat Phil Angelides is one vote closer to being governor of California, thanks to San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno and a wavering Berkeley real estate agent. When Leno read in Saturday's Chronicle that Mary Canavan, a lifelong Democrat, was "almost certain" to vote for Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, he found her number in directory assistance and called her at home, giving her a 15-minute pitch for Angelides. Leno took his one-on-one political campaign to Canavan because "I'm just so frustrated that there could be a question in the mind of any Democrat about who to vote for in November,'' the...

The Schwarzenegger campaign circulated a letter today from Joe Weider, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's longtime patron and friend (see photo), who recently appeared with the governor at a bodybuilding contest at Muscle Beach in Venice. The campaign is rounding up support for the governor after state Treasuter Phil Angelides said he once defended the apartheid regime in South Africa. Weider wrote today: "In 1975, during the height of apartheid in South Africa, the country wanted to host the Mr. Olympia competition and the world amateur bodybuilding competition. Participants from 60 countries were set to compete. "Arnold Schwarzenegger was so opposed to...

Several dozen Sacramento-area African American leaders, expecting to meet with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday, instead had a high-voltage exchange with the staff member sent in the governor's place. The event, designed to allow local pastors and leaders to question both gubernatorial candidates, turned into an emotional confrontation with Margaret Fortune, an African American educator from Sacramento. Fortune, an assistant secretary of education under Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and now senior adviser to Schwarzenegger, was quickly reduced to tears. The gathering at St. Andrews African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Sacramento was organized by the nonpartisan group Associated Ministers Empowering...

State Treasurer Phil Angelides accused Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of engaging in "more show" with an East Coast swing this week, and predicted that in the final weeks of the campaign for governor, the Republican incumbent will become "the stealth candidate, trying to hide and duck'' instead of discussing the issues. Angelides made the statements in an hourlong appearance before The Chronicle editorial board Monday, a session broadcast via live Webcast by CBS 5-TV. The Democratic treasurer noted that Schwarzenegger, who appeared before the editorial board seeking endorsement last week, refused to allow a public Webcast of his remarks. "He had...

When Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides came to visit The Chronicle editorial board Monday morning, he hit all his favorite notes. He voiced his commitment to education, he pitched pension funds, and he talked tax base. When he was done, I was utterly sold. I would definitely vote for Angelides -- for state treasurer. As a candidate for governor, he's a little wonky. That's just who he is. Frankly, if you spent a little informal time with him, I'll bet you'd like him. He's a very decent guy, warmer and more personable than you might think. Unfortunately for him, none...

A new Rasmussen Research Poll shows Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger leading state Treasurer Phil Angelides by 9 percentage points, campaign sources said. Other recent polls, including the L.A. Times survey, have shown Schwarzenegger as much as 17 points ahead of Angelides. The new poll — taken last Tuesday and Wednesday — has Republican Schwarzenegger with 49% of those surveyed compared to 40% for Democrat Angelides. Seven percent said they were undecided, and 5% had picked another candidate. The Rasmussen poll surveyed 500 likely voters. (snip) In total, 57% of those surveyed had a favorable view of the governor, compared to 44%...

Democrat Phil Angelides blamed his struggling campaign for governor on a "record amount of negative ads" put out by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in an interview Monday with The Chronicle editorial board. Angelides, who trails in most polls by double digits, said Schwarzenegger and his supporters have spent more than $60 million since June to misinform California voters about his record and policies. "You have the largest amount of special interest money pouring into Arnold Schwarzenegger's accounts -- all to tear me down," said Angelides, a two-term state treasurer. "We are the underdog in this race." With just three weeks...