SACRAMENTO - If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has his druthers, Californians will vote in November to crack down on sex offenders, reject several taxes and authorize a raft of new borrowing for public works.

If Treasurer Phil Angelides gets his way, voters will force oil companies fund research into alternative energy, create a new system to publicly finance political campaigns and reject a new limit on abortion.

During the drowsy days of summer, both men are exploiting November's bonanza of ballot initiatives to advance their campaigns and put the other guy on the defensive. Come Election Day, the measures could drive turnout among certain issue-driven voters who could affect the governor's race.

Taking stances on ballot initiatives is an "easy way, in shorthand, to convey a lot of information to voters very quickly," said Democratic strategist Darry Sragow.

By endorsing the anti-sex offender "Jessica's Law" initiative early, Schwarzenegger threw down the tough-on-crime gauntlet. With his positions on initiatives about parental notification for abortion and alternative energy, Angelides highlighted his pro-choice and environmental bona fides.

The men actually agree on a majority of the 13 issues slated for November's ballot, including billions in borrowing for roads, schools, affordable housing, levees and parks and water. But their disagreements have taken center stage.

Schwarzenegger's advisers started the tit-for-tat over initiatives with Proposition 83, better known as Jessica's Law, which the governor endorsed last year. The governor's campaign then harangued Angelides to follow suit.

"We urge you, as a candidate for the state's highest office, to put the safety of California's children first and join Governor Schwarzenegger in supporting Jessica's Law," read a letter from police chiefs and district attorneys disseminated by the Schwarzenegger campaign in June.

By mid-July, Angelides startled many political observers and momentarily bucked his liberal image by endorsing Jessica's Law and then some. Unable to criticize Angelides as soft on crime, the governor's aides dismissed the endorsement as a "typical" reaction from a "me too" candidate.

Schwarzenegger has believed in Jessica's Law "from the beginning," said campaign communications director Katie Levinson. "It didn't take the governor months of political calculation for him to realize that Jessica's Law is a good thing."

Which isn't to say that Angelides' campaign is above exploiting ballot initiatives for political gain.

The treasurer has endorsed initiatives that would raise tobacco taxes to fund health care, institute an oil extraction tax to pay for research into new energy sources and raise corporate taxes by .2 percent to publicly fund campaigns.

Steadfast in his opposition to new taxes, the governor is against all three initiatives. Angelides casts the governor as protecting big oil and tobacco companies while betraying his stances on expanding health care, protecting the environment and promoting government reform.

Schwarzenegger has brought campaign fundraising to a "crisis point," Angelides said when he endorsed the public financing initiative, Proposition 89, in Oakland recently. "If you look at this governor's actions, the fact is, time and time again he's standing up not only for the most powerful interests, but also for the people who are helping him in this election."

Lagging in the polls and trailing in fundraising, Angelides has found that talking about his initiative endorsements are a way to steal slivers of the limelight away from his superstar opponent (without shelling out millions for television ads.) For example, he highlighted the Proposition 89 endorsement three times in three media markets -- the Bay Area, Sacramento and Los Angeles -- in recent days.

The various initiatives "force a candidate to take a side and they will help crystallize the differences between the two candidates," said Democratic strategist Steve Maviglio, who has advised Angelides. "In our case, they help motivate environmentalists, women and educators, who are all our natural constituencies."

Conscious of the risks entailed in opposing potentially popular initiatives, the governor's team has offered nuanced reasons for some of his choices.

For example, Schwarzenegger opposes the oil extraction tax, Proposition 87, but supports the goals of promoting green energy sources. Aides say the governor fears that the public financing measure could get tied up in the courts and "short circuit efforts for meaningful campaign finance reform in our state."

The governor's ballot recommendations fit neatly into his campaign narrative too.

"Every time Phil endorses one of those tax increases," said Republican strategist Rob Stutzman, the governor's former communications director, "the governor's campaign can use that to highlight their central theme: Phil just wants to tax you."

Not surprisingly, Schwarzenegger plans to actively campaign against some of the tax measures this fall.

It remains to be seen if he'll publicly push Proposition 85, which would require doctor to notify a parent before performing an abortion on a minor.

Last year, as he pushed a conservative agendas of reform initiatives, the governor made headlines when he endorsed an almost identical measure. Schwarzenegger said he would be tempted to "kill" anyone who assisted one of his daughters in seeking an abortion without his knowledge.

Some Republican strategists had hoped the abortion initiative would draw conservatives to the polls to pass the rest of the governor's agenda. The notification initiative failed, along with the governor's agenda.

This time, polling indicates voters could go either way on Proposition 85.

Angelides is again opposed; he recently joined women's groups and a pastor in urging Proposition 85's defeat. And Schwarzenegger -- who needs support from moderates and Democrats to win re-election -- hasn't spoken about the measure yet this year.

Schwarzenegger "personally supports" Proposition 85, spokeswoman Levinson said. "His position has not changed from last year."

The jousting over ballot initiatives may help advance campaign themes, but it will only take the candidates so far, analysts believe. None of the initiatives seem to have the resonance of the Watergate-era political reform in Proposition 9 or the anti-illegal immigrant Proposition 187, which helped elect governors Jerry Brown and Pete Wilson, respectively.

"You can't find an issue on this ballot that the governor or Angelides are uniquely associated with in the public's mind," said Tony Quinn, who co-edits the California Target Book analysis of races. "And none of these initiatives seems to be, at this point, that emotional. Maybe Jessica's Law is, but everyone is for it."

Contact Kate Folmar at kfolmar@mercurynews.com or (916) 441-4602 and read her at the www.mercextra.com/politics blog.