Tag: California

As we reported last week , an advisor to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was overheard in a phone conversation with the governor’s fat-cat donors to say that the push for a special election this fall would start with a campaign to create a “phenomenon of anger” among the state’s voters toward teachers, firemen and the state legislature. Schwarzengger’s campaign to foment hatred will begin on Monday, according to USA Today:

“I was sent by the people,” says the man who won his office in the recall election that ousted Democrat Gray Davis in 2003. “We are mad as hell, and we are not going to take it any longer.”

His solutions are to make it harder for teachers to get tenure, to strip legislators of the ability to draw their own districts and to give the governor vast new powers to cut spending. The results could resonate beyond California, because other states often follow its lead…

An independent public poll shows 33% of California adults support such an election. The governor himself is at 40% job approval in public polls and just above 50% in his own internal polls. Not the strongest position from which to try to upend the political processes of the nation’s largest state. But this is a celebrity with little self-doubt and even less to lose, even if the initiatives are defeated.

“What is going to happen if everything fails? Life goes on,” Schwarzenegger said during a 45-minute interview Wednesday. “What do you think, I’m worried about that? I’m only thinking of one thing: victory for the people of California. … I’ve done my trip to glorify myself, to do all my things, and to shine. I’m doing this because it gives me a chance to give something back.”

The cost to hold the special election is estimated at $80 million. California in debt for $15 billion that Schwarzenegger borrowed to resolve the budget deficit last year – a strategy he was highly critical of during his campaign to become governor.

Gov. Schwarzenegger’s polling has deflated since he took on popular groups in California, like teachers, nurses, and firefighters, whom he has labelled “special interests.” Now we learn in a scoop from the Los Angeles Times that Das Guber is laying the groundwork for a scorched-earth campaign to create a “phenomenon of anger” against these popular groups and others.

That fact comes as a result of the scoop. The big news here is that Schwarzenegger’s biggest donors are treated to regular phone conferences where they listen to the governor’s schemes and plots, and are invited to join in.

When wealthy contributors write checks to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, they often get a few canapes and a drink — and a secret telephone number that grants them access to his closest advisors and even the governor himself.

Twice a month, donors can become insiders’ insiders — invited to participate in conference calls featuring information about Schwarzenegger campaign strategy that his political enemies would love to have. In turn, donors who dial in can give the governor advice.

In the latest such call, a few days ago, Schwarzenegger’s media expert, Don Sipple, outlined a strategy “based on a lot of polling” to create a “phenomenon of anger” among voters toward public employee unions. Firefighters, police officers, teachers and other state-paid workers have become the governor’s harshest critics this year.

“The process is like peeling an onion,” Sipple said, describing a multi-step plan for persuading voters that public-worker unions are “motivated by economic self-interest” instead of “doing the best job for the state…”

The governor has dubbed 2005 the “year for reform,” and he needs millions of dollars for support, mainly for TV ads. The Times was given access to Thursday’s half-hour call through a participant.

“It’s a good way to keep in touch with you, our most important supporters, about the latest developments in the campaign,” Schwarzenegger’s chief fundraiser, Marty Wilson, told the contributors…

Contributors to Schwarzenegger’s causes are first invited to join the discussions in e-mails, which tell them how to get — for each call — a phone number and a password. The campaign staff decides which significant donors will be included each time. The discussions feature a “special guest,” such as Sipple, talking about the governor’s plans, as well as information about fundraisers and a question-and-answer session.

In the latest call, the advisors said Schwarzenegger had spent $8 million so far on television ads defending and promoting his agenda. He launched another TV ad campaign the same day that will cost $2.5 million for a few weeks of air time, and he wants to collect $31 million to $32 million to run his initiative campaign through the fall, the advisors said.

In his “State of the State” speech last January, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his plan to hold a special election this fall in order to “go over the heads of the politicians” and get state voters to ratify his government “reform” schemes. Since then, support for the special election has dropped 12 percentage points:

If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger calls a special election this November, he will have to face voters angry at the prospect of yet another statewide ballot, a new poll showed today.

By a nearly 2-to-1 ratio, California adults would rather see Schwarzenegger’s government reform plan go on the ballot for the scheduled June 2006 primary election than this fall.

The governor’s crack team of message-makers has a good reason for the poor polling:

The governor’s supporters, however, argue that the poll was taken before a television ad campaign that began in early May could have much effect.

That’s right. Forget the substance – Arnold’s star power and electrifying personality can sell anything to the unsuspecting masses. Just wait and see.

Meanwhile, the level of protests at the governor’s campaign stops – er, community outreach sessions – protests are ratcheting up:

[T]housands of demonstrators converged on the Capitol and downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday for the largest protests of the Republican governor’s administration.

But as the governor’s polls drop – he has about a 40 percent approval rate – the Democratic controlled Legislature is even more unpopular. Earlier this week, as a perfect illustration of the cause of their unpopularity, the pols in Sacramento voted themselves a whopping 12 percent pay increase.

Speaking at the commencement ceremony for students at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, Warren Beatty delivered a stinging indictment of CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Chiefly, Beatty poked at Das Guber for borrowing $15 billion from Wall Street, which ran up the state’s deficit to $30 billion – after which, Beatty noted, Schwazenegger cut funding to education, health care and emergency services and went on the attack against public servants like teachers, nurses and firefighters, labelling them “special interests.”

Naturally, rather than report the substance of Beatty’s criticism of the governor’s record, the MSM has re-cast the story around speculation that the 68-year-old actor and 40-year political activist plans to run against Schwarzenegger next year, forcing Beatty to clarify that he will not be running for governor anytime soon. “[A]lthough I don’t want to run for governor, I would do one hell of a lot better job than he’s done,” Beatty said. “I could name you a lot of Democrats who would be so much better than I would, and maybe even a few Republicans.”

Seems like when California politicians needs money, they fly over to Florida. Witness recent L.A. mayoral candidate (and winner this week) Antonio Villaraigosa, who paid a visit to South Florida and went home with a full coffer. The word is out that Florida has big bucks to give, especially if you’re a Republican. And a Republican named Arnold has to be worth major bling.

Orlando Sentinel:

Gov. Jeb Bush will join Schwarzenegger at fund-raisers in Florida this weekend to raise cash for ballot measures aimed at side-stepping the Democratic-controlled Legislature of California.

In doing so, Bush is drawing criticism from both coasts for helping out with Schwarzenegger’s initiative campaigns.

This is funny, since Jeb and the Florida Legislature just spent considerable time and energy figuring out how to keep the “citizen” out of citizen initiatives.

“I think there is a certain bit of irony there,” said Ben Wilcox, executive director of Florida Common Cause, which has fought Bush and Florida’s Republican-led Legislature over efforts to restrict ballot measures.

“It always seems that people don’t like the citizens’ initiative process, unless their initiative is in play.”

Arnold is leaving no cash cow unmilked, with at least three events in three cities in three days.

The Orlando fund-raiser will take place at the Isleworth home of time-share magnate David Siegel, where seats are priced from $5,000 to $25,000.

Co-host is Robert Earl, chief executive officer of Planet Hollywood. Schwarzenegger, the former Mr. Universe and star of the Terminator films, is a past investor who promoted the restaurant chain in the 1990s.

So what’s in it for Jeb? Just trying to help those poor lost souls on the Left Coast.

“I am helping Gov. Schwarzenegger because I support his efforts to bring California out of its morass,” Bush said in an e-mail to the Orlando Sentinel.

Jeb would probably throw one of his trusted aides in front of a high-speed bullet train (you didn’t think he’d leap himself, did you?) to stop what Arnold wants if anyone tried it here.

In Florida, Bush has said repeatedly that he opposes the concept behind one of Schwarzenegger’s measures — having an independent commission draw voting district lines.

While Schwarzenegger is looking to take redistricting out of Democratic hands, Bush prefers that it stay with the Republican-dominated Legislature in Florida.

Gov. Schwarzenegger’s minions have collected enough signatures to put three of his initiatives on the ballot of the special election he has threatened to call this November. The three propositions would place (yet more) arbitrary controls on spending, do a “DeLay” (which in Texas they’re calling “Tommymandering”) on California’s electoral districting and delay tenure for public school teachers.

During the Recall election, Arnold undertook not a single serious interview with the media. He assumes he can win any political battle by doing what he did then – going on Oprah, “Entertainment Tonight” and Jay Leno’s show, flashing his fake teeth and doing his lame-ass “Everything is terrific” portrayal of Reagan.

Last week, Das Guber did two softball interviews on Fox News, the new last refuge of scoundrels. If he decides to hold the election in this off-year, not only will it cost a minimum of $70 million in state election funding, it will expose our pampered movie star governor to something I’m not sure he’s tough enough to take: Hardball questions from the state’s hard news media – and the unmitigated anger and disdain of millions of voters.

Ronald Reagan entered politics after his career in the movie business was over. Even during his heyday at Warner Bros. before World War II, Reagan was never a huge star, but by the 1950’s even his B-movie luminence had faded. (See right, Reagan with co-star of “Bedtime for Bonzo.”) In the 1960’s, he hosted a television show, which was trés de classé in those days. He even tried a Vegas act, and when that bombed he knew his entertainment career was over. Reagan’s career change into politics was probably the best option available to him.

Like Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger was never slated to play Hamlet or win an Oscar, but unlike Reagan, he has starred in some of the biggest box office hits of the last 20 years, and he probably has a few more leading roles in his future. So there has always been a feeling that going into politics is just something Arnold is doing while his real career is on hiatus.

George Skelton, writing in his “Capitol Journal” column in the Los Angeles Times, sums up the governor’s conundrum thusly:

One former advisor to Ronald Reagan, both in Sacramento and Washington, told me that every celebrity candidate must make a transition to political leader. Once in office, he’s simply forced to make too many decisions that are political and create enemies.

“How he makes that transition will determine his success,” says the veteran strategist, who didn’t want to risk irking the governor by being identified.

“By election time next year, Arnold’s going to be viewed more as a political figure than a celebrity. I don’t think he understands that, and that sooner or later he’ll lose the celebrity aura. He still thinks his personality can overcome all this.

“He has wasted away his celebrity status by picking too many fights and picking the wrong fights. He’s got to back off.”

Schwarzenegger would much rather speak at mall rallies or in diners, performing to the wide eyes of adoring admirers and hearing their cheers, than engage in delicate negotiations with adversarial Democrats who no longer are awed.

And who can blame him? Except rolling up his sleeves in Sacramento is what he was elected to do, and did do during his first year in office.

His big victories last year — workers’ comp reform, plus voter approval of a $15-billion deficit reduction bond and a balanced-budget requirement — were the results of bipartisan compromises in the Capitol.

A recent poll by the nonpartisan Survey and Policy Research Institute at San Jose State found that 62% of voters agreed that “he should be putting more effort into working with legislators so he’d get more done.”

But Schwarzenegger’s strength, he and his advisors believe, is rallying the people for his causes at carefully choreographed events. The governor has insisted on retaining the image of political “outsider.”

It’s this attitude that prompted Schwarzenegger and his gurus to begin planning for a 2005 special election even before the balloting last November.

Never mind that the governor, for the most part, still hasn’t taken the time to develop his own specific “reforms” — researched, tested, vetted them — and merely has latched onto other people’s proposals outside his administration.

One — public pension reform — was so flawed he had to scuttle it.

When anybody would ask his strategists and business backers what was the hurry — what was the justification for spending $70 million in tax money on a special election this year when there’ll be regular elections in 2006 — the whispered answer was: This is a moment to seize. Here is a governor so popular that he can sell voters anything with the force of his personality.

People – and I do mean Democrats – are starting to complain that the Governor’s special election this fall is a waste of time – and the $70 million is just a starting point for the cost, as we learned during the Recall when costs to the state continuted to pile up and up.

Marc Cooper writes in an op-ed in today’s Los Angeles Times that there was a whole lot less to the Minutemen Project than the media tried to portray. Organizers claimed that 1,000 patriotic citizens – many of them armed – were going to watch for illegal immigrants along Arizona’s border with Mexico for the entire month of April.

All Mexicans traveling north without proper documents got wind of the publicity and chose another route into the United States. The Minutemen noted the lack of illegal traffic along the Arizona border and declared victory. The media – and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger – fell for the ruse, and for the governor this could prove to be politcally fatal mistake. Coooper writes:

On its opening day, I could count no more than 135 participants, even at the two kickoff public rallies along the Arizona border. At one near the border town of Douglas, two dozen reporters and a handful of TV cameras swarmed over no more than 10 Minutemen — most of them sitting in lawn chairs or in pickup truck beds.

One Minuteman organizer admitted, “This thing was a dog-and-pony show designed to bring in the media and get the message out, and it worked.”

Illegal immigration is the “third rail” of politics for Republicans in California, but maybe Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t get the memo. Perhaps he was busy filming a Sci-Fi movie in 1994 and didn’t notice when his friend and advisor Pete Wilson ran for governor a second time using Proposition 187, the anti-immigrant initiative as a wedge issue. For Wilson, the campaign worked in the short term. He was reelected with comfortable margins. But for California Republicans, the campaign was a disaster. It energized California Latinos and drove millions of them into the Democratic Party. Many of these Latinos – especially younger males – switched parties to vote for the Terminator.

As disengaged as young male voters tend to be, you can bet they heard about this:

[On Thursday], Schwarzenegger called a conservative talk radio show in Los Angeles to blast a local Spanish-language television station for a billboard that “promotes illegal aliens to come in here, and that’s the last thing we need.” He went on to praise the controversial Minuteman Project, saying the group has done “a terrific job,” by putting hundreds of armed civilians in Arizona to stop illegal immigrants from crossing the Mexican border.

This is not a case of the Governor shoring up his base. Schwarzenegger is a liberal Republican who has no base among the far Right in his party. They’ll hold their noses and vote for him, or they’ll stay home. The votes he’ll need to push him over margins will come from Latinos who may identify with immigrants, and thus resent the anglos in the pick up trucks watching with binoculars and guns.