PARTY BACKING SOUGHT BY TOP DEM HOPEFULS.

Byline: HARRISON SHEPPARD Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Democratic Party members, volunteers, campaign workers and candidates flocked Friday to the Sacramento Convention Center to open a convention to decide how strong a challenge will be mounted against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the fall.

The three-day convention represents a chance for candidates of all levels to shmooze with party volunteers and seek endorsements, and for the party to agree on its platform for the year.

The headline events will come today, when Controller Steve Westly and Treasurer Phil Angelides vie for the party's official gubernatorial endorsement.

Angelides, a former party chairman, had been the front-runner in the race, but has fallen behind more than 10 points in recent polls as multimillionaire Westly outspends his rival by reaching into his own deep pockets.

The endorsement pitches will come this morning and the votes will be cast by written ballot tonight, with the hand-counted results expected late. Winning the endorsement takes a 60 percent vote, and political analysts believe Angelides to be the favorite to win at least a simple majority with this particular crowd of party activists.

Westly has said he would be happy if neither candidate reaches the 60 percent mark.

``I think that anything less than an endorsement for Phil Angelides will be perceived as a defeat,'' said political analyst Sherry Bebitch Jeffe of the University of Southern California, who is attending the convention. ``If he doesn't win the endorsement outright, it's not going to turn the momentum back to Angelides.''

Candidates of all levels popped in and out of caucus meetings all day Friday, making pitches to groups representing Latinos, veterans, seniors, American Indians and other Democratic constituencies.

Both Westly and Angelides were followed around all day by cadres of T-shirted volunteers shouting their candidates' names as they marched from caucus to caucus.

The pitches varied slightly, with each tailored to the unique audience.

When Westly spoke to the environmental caucus, he touted his record opposing offshore drilling, supporting the Million Solar Roofs bill, and supporting a plan to have California adopt the Kyoto environmental protocols, which Washington has failed to sign.

``I'm running to be the greenest governor this state has ever had,'' Westly said.

Angelides, who received a far louder and more enthusiastic reception at the environmental caucus, said he wants the state to be a leader in fighting global warming and protecting the coast and said he was the first to fight Schwarzenegger on environmental issues.

``If you believe in a Democratic Party that's progressive, if you believe that we win by being what we are, not Arnold Lite, vote for me,'' Angelides said, in a dig at perceptions that the moderate Westly has some political similarities to the governor.

As the candidates worked the crowds, political vendors set up shop outside the meetings, pitching everything from obscure candidates to wacky bumper stickers and T-shirts, mostly with anti-Bush slogans like ``My child is an honor student but my president is an idiot.''

Ultimately, party members hope they can at least all agree on one point this weekend - their common goal to defeat Schwarzenegger in the November general election.

``I think a lot of people, even those who voted for Schwarzenegger in that recall, have regretted their vote for him,'' said Beverly Thomas, a delegate from the city of Antelope, a suburb of Sacramento. ``It was a crazy time and people were just mesmerized by the movie star.

``But people I know, Republicans and Democrats, many of them regret that vote.''

California Democratic Party political director Sam Rodriguez said the party will look to harness those feelings in keeping an eye on the same ultimate goal.

``Democrats are walking into this convention united,'' Rodriguez said. ``There's competition for delegates in getting them to vote for one or the other candidate, but we come out of this convention united, going after the grand prize of the governor's seat.''

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