New CA Field poll: Angelides, Westly tied, with 26% of voters undecided

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: 2 Run Hard in Last Lap of Gov. Race
Angelides and Westly travel the state seeking votes as a new Field Poll shows them in a statistical tie with 26% of Democrats undecided.
By Robert Salladay and Seema Mehta, Times Staff Writers
June 3, 2006

....(Phil) Angelides and his chief opponent for the Democratic nomination, Steve Westly, spent the day hopscotching across California's largest cities struggling for support — voter by voter — with four days of campaigning left before one of the most unpredictable contests in years. A new Field Poll showed the two statistically even as the Tuesday election approached, with more than one in four Democratic primary voters undecided....

***

Most campaigns revert at the end to a tense struggle over voters, but rarely is there such uncertainty. According to a new Field Poll, the percentage of undecided Democratic primary voters — 26% — is the highest in the poll's six-decade history.

Adding to the dilemma for voters is the candidates' similarity. They hold elective state jobs; Angelides is the treasurer and Westly the controller. Both are longtime Democratic Party activists. They share similar positions on nearly every major public policy issue, but Angelides is far more definitive about wanting to raise taxes on the rich.

Both men contend that voters are undecided in part because they were little known before this spring. But Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll, said they also are failing to gather traction because of the barrage of negative ads, which tend to blunt an opponent's progress rather than win over converts. And, he said, there is little else on the ballot to energize the electorate.

"Neither campaign seems to have struck a chord with voters," DiCamillo said....

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dems3jun03,0,7993.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[AtomicKitten]

1. this is making me crazy.

The ad campaign is UGLY but it will be decided this week.

Hopefully we will come together to kick the every lovin' shit out of Schwarzenegger.

[Selatius]

2. Whoever started first with the negative advertising didn't help

Mud slinging just makes the water cloudy.

[AX10]

3. I fully support whomever wins the nomination.

[kineneb]

4. the two should just get together

check each other out and then decide who can win vs. the Gropenator. Enough already with the intra-party bickering. Pick one. I don't care which one. At this point I would vote for a Pet Rock over the Gropenator. Ditto anyone the R.s put up in the next Pres. election. The rock has to be smarter and more ethical than anything found in the R. party.

[Mark E. Smith]

5. Put me in the 26%

Don't know who I will vote for on Tuesday. The race to see who will kick David Dreier's ass out of Congress is far more compelling to me. Matthews and Warner are both appealing candidates.

So here's the dilemma for me. I agree with Angelides on the issues, but Westly will, in my opinion, make a much stronger candidate when pitted against Steroid Arnie.

Probably make up my mind when I step in the booth.

[xxqqqzme]

7. westley & steroid boy will be two

prancing egos strutting across your TV screen. Save me from that. Whatever happened 2 that 'clean' campaign westley was going to run?

[1932]

11. I don't know why people think Westly will do better against Arnold.

I'm baffled that he does better than Agnelides in polling, but, since nobody knows who he is, I can only guess that it's because out of the three he has an American name and that, once it got down to a real choice between the Democrat and the Republican and after campaigning, Angelides coud really beat him and Westly couldn't.

I'm suspicious that Westly isn't running to help Arnold stay governor, given the way he has criticized Angelides for, yikes, like a Democrat, arguing for a more progressive tax structure, and the way he has lied about Angelides "developing" in lake Tahoe (Angelides bought ONE condo in Tahoe FOR HIMSELF and he sued the builder when he learned that it violated environmental laws), and the way how, up to before he decided to run for governor, Westly was one of Arnold's biggest Democratic supporters.

Also, doesn't anyone think it's noteworthy that Angelides and not Westly has the support of the party (he got 2/3rds of the vote at the state convention -- and it's unusual to get a primary endorsement at the state convention)?

Also, on the most superficial level, Westly looks like a Christian game show host. He's only going to make Schwarzenegger look better to voters. Angelides isn't a movie star, but I can seem him standing next to Arnold and looking the part of a genuine, competent Democrat who cares about people.

[gristy]

6. I like Angelides' tax position

[xxqqqzme]

8. as do I.

One of the things that first drew me 2 Angelides was just that...all his policy proposals were well thought out and he told you how he was going 2 pay for them. THAT alone puts him head & shoulders above steroid boy, who wants 2 float a bond for EVERYHING!

[AX10]

12. Will the Democrats unite after the primary to defeat Arnold?

[TheDonkey]

9. The ad campaign has been really ugly, just terrible

Ahnold will be in a strong position after this blood bath of a primary. A real shame.

[saltpoint]

10. With 26% undecided and the decideds tied, this is going to be good.

And I second other DU posters here on supporting the nominee against Schwartzenegger. Democrats may also get a boost from the general dissatisfaction with the GOP.

I hope California Democrats turn out in droves on Tuesday as a show of strength.

[Joe Bacon]

13. I decided to vote for Michael Strimling.

I'm tired of both Westly and Angiledes negative ads. I'm going to vote for Strimling as a protest, but whoever the Democratic nominee is, he'll get my vote.