Angelides Doesn’t Question Jokes

Only days after urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to renounce questionable sexual comments made to high school students by a Republican assemblywoman, Democratic challenger Phil Angelides sat through a morning radio talk show Thursday without objecting to a series of dubious gags about sex, ethnicity and an elderly female guest.

Angelides protested -- humorously -- only when syndicated radio host Adam Carolla made sexual comments about Angelides’ 28-year-old daughter, Megan, who was in the studio.

Asked later why he didn’t object to the tenor of the other comments -- an earlier African American guest was described as a “tall glass of chocolate milk” while Angelides was in the station -- Angelides said his performance was not inconsistent with his earlier comments about Schwarzenegger. He defended it as being within the context of a comedy-based radio show.

“There’s a world of difference between being on a radio talk show where you conduct yourself well, and [Bonnie Garcia] making inappropriate remarks about sexual encounters [to] high school kids,” Angelides said Thursday afternoon as he left a speech before the Greater East Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce in Monterey Park.

Angelides said that throughout his career he had defended the rights of minority groups and that “I did it today very forcefully.”

Angelides’ appearance came after a segment in which a 20-year-old African American man named Master agreed to kiss a 72-year-old white woman named Sara to win a ticket to an upcoming promotional event at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills.

Carolla made a joke about a “May-casket” romance, playing off “May-December,” and said Sara had a case of “jungle fever,” a pejorative reference to white women attracted to black men. Carolla is the former host of the canceled television program “The Man Show.”

Later, near the end of the first segment of the show, Carolla told Angelides that he wanted to ask him something after the commercial break.

“I’m not going to kiss Sara,” Angelides quipped on the air. “I want to be clear. I decided early.”

An anonymous voice-over also alluded to Angelides’ ethnic background with a sexual innuendo. Angelides let it pass without comment.

Angelides’ appearance on the radio show was notable given his campaign’s new strategy of questioning the character of the governor, specifically citing complaints about his comments about women. Earlier this week, he called on the governor to rebuke Garcia, who represents Cathedral City, for telling a class of high school students that she wouldn’t kick Schwarzenegger “out of my bed” after the governor called her “hot.”

Angelides, who discussed issues while joking with Carolla, did little during the broadcast to defend Carolla’s targets -- including students of California’s two-year community colleges, whom Angelides has made a key focus of his campaign. His second stop of the day was an appearance with Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack at Los Angeles Valley College in Valley Glen.

“You get a Hacky Sack and a dime bag and a moped, you’re into any community college,” Carolla said, then added after Angelides said 300,000 students have dropped out over the cost: “That’s because their stepdad kicked them out of the garage and they had to get a job.”

Angelides laughed. “Oh, that’s tough,” he said. “No, no, no, no.” Then he argued that student costs have been increasing for a segment of the population that can little afford it.

“If you can’t afford junior college.... ,” Carolla cut in. “I’m going to ask that once you’re elected, Phil Angelides, you change it to ‘junior, junior college’ just to bring a shame element to it because I feel like it’s a graveyard that stupid people go to to die.”

Angelides did reject comments by Carolla that Mexican immigrants were overwhelming traditional American culture in California, reiterating his belief that it benefits America when immigrants -- who Angelides said should learn to speak English -- assimilate while remaining in touch with their native culture.

And, reflecting a new, more sharply personal bent to his campaign, Angelides teed off on Schwarzenegger, describing him as “like the Santa Ana winds of blowhards.” Revisiting the point in their Oct. 7 debate when Schwarzenegger asked him to name the funniest moment of the campaign, Angelides said: “I really wanted to say, ‘Sitting here with a guy whose hair looked like it was dipped in Tang.’ ”

The Schwarzenegger campaign did not rise to the bait.

“Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spent today discussing solar energy,” said campaign spokesman Matt David, referring to the governor’s noon speech before the Solar Power 2006 Conference in San Jose. “We will continue talking about the issues important to California voters. We will leave the name-calling and mud-slinging to Angelides.”

scott.martelle@latimes.com

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