The Continuing Idiocy of Bill Bradley

After John Kerry's appearance with Phil Angelides on Monday, my favorite whipping boy, LA Weekly insider Bill Bradley, claimed that Kerry pointedly did not refer to Schwarzenegger by name because the two were buddies who hung out a lot and shared a biopic director (George Butler, who directed Pumping Iron and Going Upriver).

There's no doubt that the Kerrys and the Schwarzeneggers (which includes part of the Kennedy family, the same family of the other Senator from Massachusetts) are socially friendly. Of course, that didn't stop Arnold from stumping for Bush, against Kerry, in Ohio in 2004. And this whole "he didn't mention Arnold's name" thing is bogus. First of all, I was there, Bradley wasn't, and Kerry most definitely invoked Schwarzenegger's name, in fact he did so in his first line about Arnold (his kind of lame joke about wanting to beat Arnold because he wants to see what happens in Terminator 4). Carla Marinucci confirms this in her report on the event.

Second, you can watch this and tell me if Kerry is soft-pedaling his support for Angelides.

Third, I got an email from Kerry's PAC asking me to help the Angelides campaign. And it refers to Arnold Schwarzenegger by name three times in three paragraphs:

I'm writing because Phil needs your volunteer support in his crucial race to win back the Governor's office in California and reverse Arnold Schwarzenegger's efforts to bring the Bush-Cheney agenda to the Golden State. Phil Angelides has stood up to Arnold Schwarzenegger from day one.

I'm proud to count Phil as a personal friend of mine. His strong commitment to the values of fairness and opportunity should serve as a model to all public leaders. And, like you and I, he knows that those principles are at stake here and now in California. Now, it's time for us to help him frustrate the Republican Party's dream of holding on to the highest office in your state.

Can you possibly volunteer between now and election day to help Phil's campaign?

When it's all said and done, political campaigns are about people reaching out to other people and sharing their hopes, dreams, fears, and frustrations. But, you can't share any of those things unless you first choose to give of your time.

Want to express your determination to increase educational opportunities, improve the quality of health care, and create a strong economy that keeps jobs at home instead of shipping them abroad? Then please spend a few hours volunteering for Phil Angelides.

Want to join the fight to protect the environment and secure energy from available, affordable, and reliable alternatives? Then offer to help Phil Angelides achieve victory over Arnold Schwarzenegger in November.

Bradley's line of argument was so completely dumb that I hesitate to spend this much time on it, so let me sum up by saying that when you fly all the way across the country to appear at an event for one candidate, and you send out a mass email in favor of that candidate, it's fair to say that you WANT THAT CANDIDATE ELECTED and you WANT HIS OPPONENT DEFEATED. Capiche?