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Fielding Kern's vote
| Tuesday, Aug 22 2006 10:15 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, Aug 22 2006 10:19 PM
Both California gubernatorial candidates brought themselves and their campaign machinery to the Bakersfield area Tuesday, trading barbs about taxes and who was the better advocate for agriculture.
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In one of the odder moments, several farm tractors showed up at Democratic candidate and state Treasurer Phil Angelides' event to disrupt what Angelides called one of his "front-porch town hall meetings."
"They're going to try to tear me down," Angelides told the crowd.
In the morning, Republican incumbent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stood with farm owners in Buttonwillow, while in the afternoon, Angelides joined about 50 supporters in the front yard of a resident's northeast Bakersfield home.
A flurry of press releases and accusations were exchanged throughout the day, charging the other camp with distorting stands on the big issues of the day -- taxes and farms.
Schwarzenegger started the day with a short press conference in front of a corn field at Bolthouse Farms in Buttonwillow, while the sprinklers watered the crops behind him. Farm owners and organization leaders flanked him, along with about 10 black-sweatered and sweaty members of local Future Farmers of America clubs.
Several organizations endorsed the governor at the press-only event, including the leaders of California Citrus Mutual, California Farm Bureau Federation, California Grape and Fruit Tree League and the California Western Growers Association, among others.
Minutes after staffers sprayed the carrots in front of the podium to make them look fresher, Schwarzenegger alleged Angelides would slash a tax break that helps farmers.
"(Democrats) see agriculture ... as an industry it can tax," the boot-wearing state executive said.
Schwarzenegger's supporters have said Angelides would end a 5 percent sales-tax exemption for farmers when they buy diesel and farm equipment. The governor said he would keep the exemption, adding he was the pro-agriculture candidate.
"In the coming decades, as the world's population grows, there will be millions of new mouths to feed," Schwarzenegger said. "And California will be feeding them."
Schwarzenegger said not enough governors have spent time in the Central Valley, but he's different.
"Bakersfield is a very important area with its agriculture," he said.
Across town several hours later, Angelides opened with tax talk of another sort -- proposing tax breaks for families making less than $100,000 a year and small businesses.
With United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta and Bakersfield activist Renee Nelson sitting beside him, Angelides fielded questions from supporters on education, health care, the environment and his support for farmworkers.
"(Schwarzenegger) is hiding behind a corporate skirt," said Angelides, meaning the incumbent only helps corporate farms.
He said the tax exemption, called the tractor-tax exemption, was a "corporate loophole" and if elected, he'll ask a special commission to see whether the tax breaks are warranted.
Angelides is the best hope of helping Bakersfield's working class, including farmworkers, Huerta said. The governor often opposed measures that would help workers -- like adding toilets to fields -- she added.
Down the street, tractors with signs supporting the governor and saying "Don't Tax" disappeared before Angelides was through with his hourlong discussion. Angelides said the tractors were publicity stunts funded by the Schwarzenegger camp.
Amanda Fulkerson, regional press secretary for the Schwarzenegger campaign, said the tractors' appearance wasn't paid for by the campaign.
"We have a lot of support from the ag community," Fulkerson said.
Angelides has made several trips to Bakersfield in the last few months, trying to broaden his appeal to Kern County Democrats and steal away voters that are typically conservative. The primary battle between him and Steve Westly was a nasty one, and Kern County Democratic voters gave Westly 51 percent of the vote, while Angelides got 33 percent.
Nelson, who hosted the Angelides event at her home on Acacia Avenue, said that while she doesn't think Angelides will win Kern County, he has a chance of wooing some voters.
"They don't waste their time here if they think they can't get votes," she said. "There's more Democrats here than you realize."
Regardless of the outcome, Nelson said the appearance of both candidates in Bakersfield in one day is a good sign for this area's growing political capital.
"It's great they're coming here," she said. "(State candidates) used to never come to the valley."
The election is Nov. 7.