Battle of the Lilliputians

State Controller Steve Westly is launching his first television ads in his bid for the Democrat nomination for governor. Reportedly, his ads will air in Chico. This is funny, because Chico is home to Jane Dolan's husband Bob Mulholland. Bob Mulholland is also, by the way, a dirty tricks specialist for the California Democrat party and a senior advisor to gubernatorial wannabe Phil Angelides. I am sure the "small market test" of Mr. Westly's campaign message in the back yard of Mr. Angelides' chief advisor was no accident. I give credit to Mr. Westly and Garry South for this stunt. So starts the battle of the Lilliputians.

Torn Between Two Lovers
Having cast himself as a "pro-business moderate" Steve Westly's biggest challenge will be capturing the base of Democrats in the party primary election in June. To emerge victorious, he will have to convince party loyalists that he has not abandoned his very liberal roots without destroying his chances of appealing to moderate voters in the November general election.

Phil Angelides' credentials as a card-carrying leftwing looney are totally in tact. He not only countenanced the abhorrent behavior of Bob Mulholland during his stint as Democrat party chairman, he has brought his buddy "Baghdad" Bob onto the campaign - that alone makes him good with party activists. The challenge Angelides faces is not winning the affection of party loyalists; rather it will be in convincing party financiers that he can actually win in November.

The Remaking of Westly
Make no mistake about the liberal credentials of Steve Westly. His transformation from a leftist Jimmy Carter delegate to "moderate" eBay business executive was one that occurred not by choice, but instead due to the thwarting of Mr. Westly's political ambitions by former governor Jerry Brown.

As a young man, just 24 years old, Steve Westly was elected Treasurer of the California Democrat Party (CDP); he advanced steadily serving as the Northern California party chairman, and later party vice chairman. Westly was in line to be party chairman of the nations' most liberal state Democrat party, and he was counting on his chairmanship to launch his career in elective office.

But, a funny thing happened on the way to the bank; Jerry Brown decided that he needed to reinvent his political career. Joined by the party's moneyed interests, Jerry Brown challenged Westly for control of the CDP. Westly appealed to party activists and ran to the left of Jerry Brown, but with the support of establishment party money Brown beat Westly.

After losing the bid for party chairman Steve Westly retreated to his alma mater Stanford to teach at the graduate business school. Through contacts he was able to be involved in some high tech startups, and eventually landed with a little company called eBay where he made his $100 million fortune.

With money in hand and no longer a need for the gritty work of rubbing elbows with party activists, Westly has been able to jumpstart his dream of running for public office. His independence from the party structure has allowed him to portray himself as a moderate; but, in doing so he also runs the risk of losing his own party nomination.

It is interesting that party moderates defeated Steve Westly in his first path to elective office, and now it appears that liberal party activists might prove to be the roadblock on this new path.