It's the Democrat Playing Defense on Environment

SAN FRANCISCO — Californians, especially the millions living along the coast, have long used the environment as a gauge to judge candidates, traditionally favoring Democrats over Republicans on the issue. But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's battle to outmaneuver Democratic challenger Phil Angelides on the environment has led to an odd role reversal for the two major-party rivals.

For months, the Republican governor has seized the high ground on the issue, putting Angelides, the state treasurer, on the defensive even though environmental groups overwhelmingly support him over Schwarzenegger. On Wednesday, Schwarzenegger pressed the effort further, using scenic San Francisco and Malibu backdrops to sign into law, with maximum fanfare, a bill that puts California in the forefront of the drive to stop global warming.

"We simply must do everything in our power to slow down global warming before it's too late," Schwarzenegger said at a Treasure Island ceremony overlooking San Francisco Bay, as flags of 141 nations flapped in a chilly breeze. Democrats, environmentalists, and even British Prime Minister Tony Blair -- live on a giant video screen via satellite -- lavished praise on Schwarzenegger.

For Angelides, the spectacle offered more than the obvious embarrassment of having such allies as San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom pay tribute to Schwarzenegger's "vision and leadership" on climate change. It also laid bare the limitations of a central argument of his campaign: that Schwarzenegger is "just like George Bush," as one Angelides ad put it.

"There's no comparison," Tim Carmichael, president of the Coalition for Clean Air, said of the Bush and Schwarzenegger environmental records. "George Bush has done nothing constructive on the environment. Zero." With Schwarzenegger as governor, he said, environmentalists "recognize that the greatest potential for moving the ball forward is here in California right now."

Like other environmental leaders, Carmichael supports Angelides and views Schwarzenegger's environmental record as mixed. But the contrasts they draw between Schwarzenegger and Bush clash with the Angelides effort to cast the governor as a Republican in the president's mold.

"Call Arnold Schwarzenegger," an announcer says in a new Democratic Party ad produced by the Angelides campaign team. "Tell him he is too much like George W. Bush."