Tag: California

California Under Assault from Banana Republicans

Jon Ponder

Steve Lopez:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger insisted we had to have this special election next week. Despite a huge budget deficit, it couldn’t wait until next year, which would have saved millions. It had to be now, because his “reforms” were too vital to delay another minute.

So the governor got his way, ramming the election down our throats. And now what does he want? He wants most of us to stay home next Tuesday.

That’s right, he’d like us to skip the election he called for. Why? Because Big Boy knows the polls say that three of his four reforms are tanking and a fourth is a tossup, so his best chance of winning is to rally conservatives in a state with a vast Democratic majority. Prop. 73 could help his cause, since the parental notification proposal “defines abortion as causing the death of the unborn child, a child conceived but not yet born.”

You’ve heard of democracy run amok? This would be direct democracy run amok, and if Schwarzenegger prevails, I believe California would officially become a banana republic.

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Poll: ‘The Big No’ – All 8 CA Propositions Trailing Six Days Before Vote

Jon Ponder

The Big No: After having focused on the contents of the propositions on the ballot for next Tuesday’s special election over the past two weeks or so, California voters have decided to reject them all. The four that have been heavily promoted by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are all trailing significantly. Now, three related to health issues and one related to energy regulation are also failing, according to the latest Field Poll:

Tuesday’s results show that proposals to limit abortion rights and provide discount drugs for low-income Californians are fading.

Monday’s results showed the same for a slate of proposals backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarz­en­egger and one that would re-regulate California’s electricity market.

Fifteen years ago, California voters were faced with a similar slew of ballot initiatives and voted against most of them in what came to be called “The Big No.” Poll results from both the Field Research Corp. and the Public Policy Institute of California suggest that next week could be a repeat.

Specifically, here’s how the iniatiives appear to be viewed by voters:

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Maria Says She Won’t Speak Out, Fears Banishment to ‘First Lady Dungeon’

Jon Ponder

Bet it’s nice: Is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s foolhardy entry into politics causing trouble in his marriage to Maria Shriver, who is member of the Kennedy family? Speaking at the California Governor and First Lady’s Conference on Women and Families this week in Long Beach, Shriver made her first public statements about her husband’s upcoming faltering special election:

As more than 100 nurses protested her husband outside, first lady Maria Shriver told a women’s convention Thursday that she’d been filled with “angst, frustration” and “waves of fear” over the past year as opposing forces urged her to support or renounce the governor.

First ladies who shoot off their mouths are sent to the first ladies’ dungeon
– Maria Shriver

As she has all year, this member of one of America’s pre-eminent Democratic families remained mum about her views on the initiatives her Republican husband and the GOP are backing on the Nov. 8 state ballot.

But Shriver forthrightly described her personal struggle to cope with her bipartisan marriage to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and forces that were “beyond my control.”

The first lady [said] that she ultimately realized she “had nothing to complain about” compared to others enduring tragedy and great hardship.

“I told myself, ‘You can survive life in a bipartisan marriage in an increasingly polarized and partisan world where everyone wants immediate fixes to complex issues that are not black and white but vague shades of gray,’ ” she said.

” ‘You know you love and believe in your husband even while people on one side scream for you to denounce him and those on the other side scream for you to support him.’ ”

…Shriver told the crowd that she wished she could say more because “the truth is, the stuff I couldn’t say was a lot more interesting than the stuff I could say.” But she said first ladies who “shoot off their mouths” are sent to the “first ladies’ dungeon.”

Poll: CA Redistricting Prop Is Failing, Gov. Still Tanking

Jon Ponder

C.A. – P.O.’d: The latest poll from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California looks at the status of five of the eight propositions on the ballot in the November 8 special election. It also rates the job approvals of top officials.

Bush Is Still More Popular Than Arnold in California – 36% to 33%

The governor’s measures to restrict state spending (Proposition 76) and redraw legislative boundaries (Proposition 77) both appear to be tanking.

The other two props sponsored by Schwarzenegger – Prop 74, which would increase probation time for teachers; and Prop 75, which would restrict the way public employee unions use members’ dues for political purposes – are both in a dead heat.Bad news is, Proposition 75 was up 25 points over today in the same poll two months ago.

The abortion notification initiative (which Schwarzenegger did not sponsor and has been mum about) is marginal but could fail.

Prop. 73 Parental Notification Before Termination of a Minor’s Pregnancy Yes: 44% No: 48%
Prop. 74 Teachers Waiting Period for Permanent Status and Dismissal Yes: 46% No: 48%
Prop. 75 Public Employee Union Dues and Political Contributions Yes: 46% No: 46%
Prop. 76 State Spending and School Funding Limits Yes: 30% No: 62%
Prop. 77 GOP Redistricting Yes: 36% No: 50%

The special election itself continues to be unpopular. Most voters (54 percent) still think it is a bad idea. And, matching national trends, the ratio of Democrats who are against holding the election (76 percent) is roughly equal to the percentage of Republicans who are for it (70 percent). The overall numbers on this question are unchanged from last month.

The governor’s approval rate among voters is a pathetic 33 percent, with 58 percent of us disapproving.

Even President Bush is more popular in California than Schwarzenegger – 36 percent approve, and 60 percent disapprove, of the job the president is doing.

DeLay Attempts to Redistrict Trial

Trish

Hey, it always worked before: Tom DeLay, the master of Texas redistricting, is pursuing the same winning strategy in his trial on charges of conspiracy and money laundering.

DeLay’s red-eyed but smiling mug shot says it all: he’s running for Innocent (R-Texas)

There’s a lot to be said for stacking the deck, after all. Here in Florida, Republican-controlled redistricting has turned the state from a lovely shade of indigo to a solid 186 red. And although Florida continues to have more registered Democratic voters, that majority goes largely unrepresented in state and local politics.

If redistricting weren’t so effective, Arnold Schwarzenegger wouldn’t be spending wads of money to put it in the hands of trusted GOP flunkies. If he is successful, we can all watch this country’s biggest Democratic bastion turn into Repug Central, with absolutely no shift by the electorate whatsoever.

Tom DeLay knows all this, and just as he has always picked his own voters instead of voters picking him, he is now attempting to select his own judge and jury. Houston Chronicle:

• DeLay’s lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, avoided media coverage of DeLay’s arrest by switching his surrender from Fort Bend County to Harris County. Reporters and photographers had staked out the Fort Bend County Jail since Wednesday.

• DeGuerin asked state District Judge Bob Perkins of Austin to remove himself from hearing the case because he has donated money to Democratic organizations and MoveOn.Org, a group that has raised money in the past year by attacking DeLay politically.

[District Attorney Ronnie] Earle said he would oppose the motion because it would mean judges could try only criminal defendants of their own political party.

• DeLay’s defense team also asked to have his trial moved out of highly Democratic Travis County. They cited news coverage of Earle’s investigation.

They also noted that DeLay orchestrated the congressional redistricting that divided Travis County into three districts, angering many Democrats.

DeLay’s red-eyed but smiling mug shot says it all: he’s running for Innocent (R-Texas). But courts aren’t political districts – yet – and the day hasn’t come when politicians can campaign their way out of felonies.

Special Election: Schwarzenegger Team Pulls TV Ads That Feature Gov. As Pitchman

Jon Ponder

Focus groups don’t like him: We haven’t seen polling on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s upcoming special election recently but there was a clear sign on Friday that things aren’t going well for Das Guber: The governor’s “Yes on Whatever” campaign pulled all ads out of rotation in which Schwarzenegger appears on camera, replacing them with ads featuring actors playing “ordinary” Californians. (Why these regular – Republican? – Californians come off so snarky is a question for another day.)

The governor’s flying monkeys insist the change has nothing to do with anything:

[Schwarzenegger spokesman Todd] Harris said the campaign was not pulling the ads because of public opinion about Schwarzenegger. Rather, he said, the campaign spent a lot of effort and money on TV ads featuring the governor, “and now we are putting a ton of [ads] behind educating people about the campaign.”

Meanwhile, in reality:

“[Pulling the ads] means their focus groups and polling are telling them that he is not a compelling source on these topics, and that is linked to his popularity ratings,” said Barbara O’Connor, a political communications professor at Cal State Sacramento.

In the poll that really matters – fundraising – the unions and liberal-leaning groups opposing the governor have raised about $90 million, while Schwarzenegger says he has only raised about $40 million.

The cost of holding the election is about $50 million, so whatever happens on Nov. 8, this is an obscene amount of money to be wasted on an election that at its bottom line is totally unnecessary.

Schwarzenegger ‘Too Busy’ to Meet with Bush

Jon Ponder

Stank on ya: California Democrats are loudly criticizing Gov. Schwarzenegger for saying he was “too busy” take time out of his schedule to meet with President George Bush while both men are in the Los Angeles area for fundraisers today.

“We would have appreciated it if [Bush] had done his fundraising after Nov. 8,” Schwarzenegger said.

Both Bush and Schwarzenegger have approval ratings in the low 30’s, according to recent California polling.

The President will also take time out of his fundraising schedule to dedicate the new Air Force One exhibit at the Ronald Reagan library in exurban Simi Valley.

In fact, the Governor dared express some pique over his Dear Leader’s fundraising in the region while Schwarzengger is also collecting donations for his special election, which is just a few weeks away:

“We would have appreciated it if he had done his fundraising after Nov. 8,” Schwarzenegger said Wednesday. The governor has yet to reach his $50 million fundraising goal to promote his ballot initiatives, which would curb the power of the Democrat-controlled Legislature.

Democrats say that because both the Governor and the President are Republicans, it is incumbent on Schwarzenegger to meet with Bush to ask for more federal assistance in resolving California’s ongoing financial problems.

“Apparently, the only thing that the governor is collecting is special interest money,” said Assemblyman Dario Frommer, D-Los Angeles.

Like most Blue states, California sends more money in federal tax revenue to Washington than it receives in services – only 78 cents for every tax dollar it sends, according to the Associated Press.

Union Ads Question Schwarzenegger’s Credibility

Jon Ponder

Untrustworthy: Governor Schwarzenegger’s special election is just weeks away, and the airwaves here in California are rapidly approaching complete saturation with ads for and against the eight propositions on the ballot.

“I do not have to bow to any special interests. I have plenty of money. No one can pay me off. Trust me.”
— Gov. Schwarzenegger, prior to taking millions from special interests.

There are a lot of issues on the table, but the special election is mainly a school yard fight called by Gov. Schwarzenegger against the state’s public service unions. While it is abundantly clear that going after public servants like nurses, teachers, firemen and cops took huge cajones on the Governor’s part, what is less certain is whether spending millions of dollars to demonize such sympathetic figures was very smart.

Over the past couple of months, ads released by the unions have all featured “real” California teachers, firemen, cops and the rest, speakign into the camera, reminding us about the many promises Schwarzenegger has broken in his short tenure as governor. The gleaming example of this is his campaign pledge never to cut education funding – a promise he broke almost immediately after the election when he “borrowed” millions from state education budgets that he never had any intention of paying back.

Most voters are just now starting to read and analyze the content of the propositions, so the unions’ ad campaign is shifting focus onto the Governor’s personal credibility:

The [union-sponsored] spot opens with Schwarzenegger speaking on Leno’s show in August 2003. “I do not have to bow to any special interests,” Schwarzenegger says in the ad. “I have plenty of money. No one can pay me off. Trust me.” A firefighter interjects: “But now he’s taking millions from developers and big business.” “And pushing their agenda with his special election,” adds a police officer in front of a squad car.

The “real” people in the union ads cut across California’s wide demographic spectrum. Whether anglo, Latino, black, Asian, young and/or old, the people in the ads share one characteristic: They come off as seriously pissed off at Arnold.

Their “realness” also reminds us that, like us, they have jobs to do and bills to pay – unlike the Governor, who is a spoiled movie star who has no stake in the iniatives beyond their passing or failure will have on his political career.

Despite Campaign Pledge, Schwarzenegger Tires of Politics, Reportedly Signs on for T4 and – Ironically – True Lies 2

Jon Ponder

Total ‘Recall’ 2? As we here at the California Desk at Pensito Review have long predicted he would, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has grown tired of playing politics and is ready to resume his old life as a movie star:

“The people of California want me to be the governor, and I will do that and nothing else. I will work as much as I can, even if it is around the clock. There will be no time for movies or anything else. I will pay full attention to this job. I take this job very seriously.”
– Schwarzenegger, during 2003 campaign.

Hollywood action man Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to juggle his role as California Governor with a return to the big screen – he has reportedly agreed to star in two big money sequels.

The actor-turned-politician has agreed to reteam with Oscar-winning director James Cameron in a fourth “Terminator” installment in addition to a sequel to “True Lies,” according to website Moviehole.net.

An actor and a technical effects expert already at work on each of the films have confirmed that both projects are in pre-production.

Now let’s get into the Wayback Machine and dial the time machine back – waayyyy back – to two years ago, almost to the day – October 9, 2003 – in the midst of the campaign to recall Gov. Gray Davis, when Schwarzenegger was quoted pledging to give up his movie career while in office:

“The people of California want me to be the governor, and I will do that and nothing else,” Schwarzenegger said. “I will work as much as I can, even if it is around the clock.”

“There will be no time for movies or anything else. I will pay full attention to this job. I take this job very seriously.”

This news could add fuel to the increasingly popular grass-roots effort to recall Gov. Schwarzenegger at www.saveCALnow.com.