OAKLAND - They were not on the stage together, but they came as close as these electoral rivals probably ever will.
State Treasurer Phil Angelides set aside his bid to unseat Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for a few moments to agree with his Republican opponent that the state's voters should pass the $37 billion infrastructure bond package.
Even the few slight jabs he did throw in Schwarzenegger's general direction failed to incite a response from the Join Arnold campaign.
"This bond package will not be an issue in this gubernatorial campaign," Angelides told a crowd of local officials, including Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, D-Oakland.
The Democratic nominee was also joined by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, who appeared in front of the Caldecott Tunnel with the governor as he signed the bond package in May and has promoted the package throughout the state with him.
Standing at the Oakland-Alameda Ferry terminal with the Port of Oakland's gargantuan cranes as a backdrop, Perata ticked off the various benefits the borrowing package would bring to the state, including right in the neighborhood.
"The Port of Oakland will be enriched by this bond," Perata said, explaining that programs funded by the bonds could help pay for better port security and better environmental protection in and around the facility.
Both Perata and Angelides also praised the bond's ability to rebuild roads, shore up levees, improve transit and modernize schools.
"This bond package is the beginning of an investment in California's future," Angelides said.
But backing a program that helped lift Schwarzenegger out of the doldrums of last year's failed special election puts Angelides in the awkward position of helping his opponent.
Even at Angelides' own rally, fellow Democrat Perata added Schwarzenegger's name and title to the list of reasons voters should pass the borrowing package and take heart that partisans in Sacramento are cooperating with each other.
"We have turned around the negativity in this state. We've heard people talk about how we're on the right track. Now all we need is the right direction," Perata said, urging voters to choose Angelides to make that course correction.
Angelides preferred to give most of the credit to Perata for getting Propositions A through E approved in Sacramento, and said that his support for rebuilding the state's infrastructure was nothing new.
"I'm only doing what I've always done, which is to work to improve California's infrastructure," Angelides said after his dockside appearance. "He's running for re-election. He's trying to save his own job," and has only recently made infrastructure a priority.
Schwarzenegger campaign spokesman Matt David did not criticize the challenger.
"The governor talked about his vision for California in his (January) State of the State speech, focusing primarily on rebuilding California's infrastructure," he said. "It's important that everyone campaign for passage of the infrastructure bond so that we can continue to move California forward."
