In 1948, Harry S. Truman described the big-business titans backing his Republican presidential rival, Thomas Dewey, as "gluttons of privilege." They put "fabulous sums of money" behind Dewey, Truman said, to "assure privilege for big business, regardless of what may happen to the rest of the nation."
State Treasurer Phil Angelides, the Democrat running for governor, harked back to those remarks as he made a similar case last week against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Truman "talked about the gluttons of privilege," Angelides told supporters on folding chairs in the backyard of a small house in Burbank. "He talked about corporate greed. He made it clear who he was for and who he was willing to go to bat for."
In his latest attempt to gain traction against Schwarzenegger, Angelides has adopted Truman's populist approach as his own. He says the governor, along with his fellow Republican, President Bush, protects big business and the rich at the expense of middle-class families struggling to make ends meet amid soaring gasoline, healthcare and college-tuition costs.
The class-based pitch is more attuned to a Democratic primary than a general-election contest. But in the waning days of summer, nothing is more important to Angelides than boosting what has been his flimsy support among Democrats.
A Field Poll last month found that just 63% of likely Democratic voters favored Angelides over Schwarzenegger. (By contrast, 85% of Republicans backed the governor.)
Strategists of both parties say a failure to show any advance among Democrats in the next wave of independent polls could push Angelides into a downward spiral. It would dissuade donors from putting money into his campaign, which, in turn, would make it harder to pay for the television ads he needs to get his message across to voters.
In that context, a populist appeal, especially one that taps anger at oil companies over gasoline prices, could produce the quick gains that Angelides needs among the Democrats who dominate Los Angeles County and the Bay Area, said Democratic pollster Ben Tulchin.
"That's lower-hanging fruit," he said.
In Burbank, Angelides told the backyard gathering that California's economy has expanded but that "all of the benefits of that growth have gone to the wealthiest 1%." HMOs are awash in record profits, he said, and oil companies -- here he stopped on each syllable for emphasis -- "are making $350 million a day."
