You've seen it with your own eyes. Westly snuggling up to the GOvernator like he wanted some of that Republican Star Power to rub off. And Angelides rightly capitalizes on his opponent's crypto-Republicanism…this is a Op -Edit and the views herein are solely those of the author…

At first glance, it may look like Westly

is a sort of Maria Cantwell type – an internet millionaire, with all

wired savy that implies.



But as election day nears, he's starting to look more and more like a Republican.



It's not just his links to the speculative stock market bubble in the dot coms.



It's not that he is a business man running against a well known public servant.



It's not just his pandering to Arnold Schwarzennegger.



Westly is using the stock Republican mantras to attack Angelides, who, as a bold realist, is willing

to stick his neck out and use the “T” word (taxes).



As quoted in the L.A.Times,:



“ I'm focused on [government] accountability first," he says. "Angelides is focused on taxes first."

That doesn't mean he'd never raise taxes, Westly adds, "but we've got to re-earn the public trust.



I'm not here to provide typical Sacramento solutions."



Westly likes to pretend he can balance the state budget without taking in the necessary revenue.

And it seems to me something of a cheap shot to suggest that his opponent's candor in discussing

budget issues amounts to “Tax-and-Spend liberalism.:

OKOK. So maybe Westly isn't putting it quite so aggressively.



And I would admit that all is fair in love and war. And elections are war.



But this is, after all, a primary. Let's not put energy into Republican mantras.



Do I think the world will come to an end if Westly wins on Tuesday?

No, probably not, although, with ozone depleteion, global warming, nucleur weapons

proliferation and a host of other ills, who knows?

But Westly would not be single handedly the cause of The End.



Nevertheless, if the world does go on, and I am 99.9999999999% sure that it will,

it would be nice if the Democrats sounded like Democrats, and left the Republican

Big Spender Baiting to the Republicans.





The opinions herein are sole those of the author and do not reflect SBIMC policy.

Geof can be reached at ecologyemergencyNOSPAM@yahoo.com but please put IMC in the subject line.