Stop Arnold Weblog

It's On! Schwarzenegger can't avoid special election

The people of California have buyer's remorse over Arnold Schwarzenegger and, neatly, Arnold Schwarzenegger has buyer's remorse over this special election.  Is it too late to get a recall on the ballot? 

Talks designed to possibly cancel the special fell apart last night,  most of the major papers are reporting. Lynda Gledhill in the SF Chronicle writes:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders met late into the night Thursday but failed to craft a bipartisan alternative to initiatives on November's special election ballot by the midnight deadline set by the secretary of state.

Both sides said they would not try to push the deadline because it would complicate balloting by overseas military personnel that is scheduled to start Sept. 9. ...

Schwarzenegger called Thursday's meeting, which was held after an evening fundraising event hosted by the governor a few blocks from the Capitol. Núñez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata were caught off guard by the governor's desire to meet, and they participated in the conference via telephone.

Actually it looks like Schwarzenegger knew the special couldn't be cancelled so he called the talks hoping to bring this story about.  Desperate....

Is he Slumping or Melting Down?

George Skelton of the LA Times, the dean of California columnists, provides some context for Schwarzenegger calling in a mediator, by pointing out how very dangerous his position is.  He writes:

What all this means is that Schwarzenegger is playing hurt at the bargaining table. His ability to help or harm causes has waned. What's he have to offer? Other than Republicans, who does he persuade these days?

Republicans account for only 35% of registered voters in California, In a Republicans-against-the-world contest, they lose…

Add to the mix an unpopular President Bush, says political analyst Tony Quinn, a Republican who long has contended that the special election could be Schwarzenegger's downfall. "Democrats can run against Republicans and Bush and make this a national referendum," Quinn asserts…

What we still don't know about Schwarzenegger is whether he's just in a slump — and merely needs a new hitting coach — or was a fluke phenom all along, bound to be a bust in the bigs. We'll know more at season's end, in November.

In other words, it looks like Schwarzenegger's political future may be decided by this ill-conceived, poorly-timed, badly-executed, overly-arrogant and broadly-unpopular rush to the ballot.  Karma's a beast, sometimes. 

Schwarzenegger Calling in Mediator

Kate Folmar in the SJ Mercury News reports that Schwarzenegger is still hoping to change the dynamic of this special election.  She writes:

In a last-ditch effort to strike a deal with legislators and avoid a divisive fall campaign, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has turned to Democrat Bob Hertzberg to help broker a compromise.

The former Assembly speaker who served on Schwarzenegger's transition team has injected new life into the negotiations over the Nov. 8 special election and several of the eight initiatives on it, according to sources familiar with them, and spurred talk of an agreement that aims to modify term limits.

Seems like Schwarzenegger finds himself on a train but he's not sure where it's carrying him.  Conventional wisdom has it that this is a lose-lose situation for Schwarzenegger and it might be better for him to push the election off until the regularly-scheduled June date.  The only problem with that?  All the tens of millions of dollars that will be spent on the initiatives wouldn't be able to feature his mug then, because it would violate campaign finance laws.  Throw into the mix that no one knows is Schwarzenegger is going to announce for his 2006 re-election, or when---and that right after a humiliating defeat this November is probably NOT the right time...

Hundreds Turn out in San Bernardino

San Bernardino is one of the most conservative places in California.  It's telling, then, that when the Governor visited yesterday--desperate for some positive press--instead hundreds turned out to protest him and his corporate fundraising.  Michelle Knueppel and Gina Tenorio carry the story in the San Bernardino Sun

Favors for Sale! (Part 2)

Dan Morain in the LA Times has a preview of Arnold the huckster.  We're going into the end of the legislative session, school's about to begin, we have a special election coming up potentially--you'd think he was in Sacramento working, wouldn't you?  Wrong!  He's on the road--raising $$$.  Morain writes:

The events come at the end of the legislative session, when past governors and most legislators traditionally have raised money. But Schwarzenegger, who has raised $22 million so far this year, has criticized the practice.

Early in his tenure, Schwarzenegger had proposed a "black-out" period barring fundraising when the Legislature was in session. He and other Republicans criticized his predecessor, Davis, for holding fundraisers at the end of legislative sessions when governors decide what bills should become law....California Nurses Assn. Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro said she would be organizing protests at most of the events, including the one at Fenway Park. DeMoro, whose union has protested at many Schwarzenegger events, said the governor was "completely addicted to fundraising."

"He is bringing even greater disgrace to the political process," DeMoro said.

Favors for Sale! (Part 1)

Andy Furillo in the Sacramento Bee reports that Governor Schwarzenegger's fundraising consultant ALSO represents a developer with pressing business before the state--who just happens to be co-hosting a major fundraising reception for Schwarzenegger tomorrow.  But just because it looks like corruption...and smells like corruption...well, the fundraiser assures us not to worry:

"I run a public relations firm that has seven employees and a number of clients," Wilson said Tuesday. "We do not lobby for those clients. We are very explicit when we talk to a client or potential client that if they're hiring us to influence the administration, they're hiring the wrong organization and they should hire someone else."

It's all just coincidence.

5 More Republican Congresspeople: The Assualt on California's Progressive Character Begins

The Republicans in Washington have cooked up a plan to undermine California's progressive character--what they did to our economy with Enron they'll do to our democracy with this special election.

Their attack has two parts: a mid-term redistriciting plan cooked up by Karl Rove and Tom DeLay, that could result in 5 more Republican congresspeople, perhaps I should say Congressmen, elected in 2006; this is coupled with a 'paycheck deception' plan to make it harder for union members, including our nurses, to participate in policy and political debates.  The upshot? More power for corporate donors.

Two chilling articles on this assualt this morning.

John Wildermuth in the SF Chronicle reports that Republican Secretary of State Bruce McPherson hopes to have the re-districting done for the 2006 races.  He reports:

Despite concerns about the tight timing, California's political map could be redrawn in time for the June 2006 election, if Proposition 77 passes in November, Secretary of State Bruce McPherson said Monday.

It's a tough criterion, "but I think the lines could be in place for next year,'' he said during an informal news conference.

Andy Furillo in the Sacramento Bee takes a look at the frontman for the anti-union paycheck deception scheme, Prop. 75.  I'm not kidding, he's a McCarthyite John Bircher.  When did that become mainstream? Read about it here:

"{Prop. 75 proponent Lew} Uhler said he spent six months in the John Birch Society after being recruited into the organization in the early 1960s by Rousselot, his old boss. Uhler said he joined the group, which was ardently anti-Communist and opposed to U.S. membership in the United Nations, to try to educate the group's members "on the constitutional framework of our nation." But when they didn't seem interested in the concept, he quit.

At Yale in the early 1950s, one of Uhler's closest associates was author and journalist M. Stanton Evans. According to Uhler, Evans is now finishing up a book that "I think has confirmed that Joe McCarthy was on target" in exposing the alleged Communist infiltration of American government and society. McCarthy, of course, was the Wisconsin senator in the 1950s who was later censured by the U.S. Senate. But in spite of a past that includes the brief membership in the John Birch Society...and his endorsement of the McCarthy approach, Uhler brushed off accusations that he is an extremist.

Pharmaceutical Propaganda Prescription

The pharmaceutical companies will spend between $72 and $100 million between now and Nov. 8.  What are they going to do with all that cash (besides the obvious, mislead voters and hope to pad their bottom line)?  Well their first ad is up, they're the first folks advertising during this election cycle, and the head start helps. Alexa Bluth reports in the Sacramento Bee:

Although she was surprised to see a television ad so early in the campaign season, Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a political analyst at the University of Southern Californiasaid the pharmaceutical companies will benefit from starting the ad before voter fatigue sets in for this election cycle.

"It's an effective spot," she said. "It is early enough that nobody knows what's really in the details and (the message) is going to linger for a lot of people."

Gigi Goyette to Discuss Schwarzenegger Claims on TV

What they did is always less interesting than the cover-up.  If Gigi and Arnold are happy together, bully for them.  But Gary Delsohn in the Sacramento Bee, while reporting that Gigi is going to be on Inside Edition today at 4 pm to downplay the physical aspect of her relationship with Schwarzenegger, continues to wonder how the hush money got paid to her.  He writes:

"Jim Kelly, a spokesman for the show, said she was not paid to appear.

"At that time," she said of Schwarzenegger, "he was in negotiations with them to become the editor for a couple of their magazines ... and I think - this is all speculation - I feel that they were wanting to give him some security like, 'If you become the editor of our magazines, we'll make sure we never print anything about you again.' "

Why Are We Spending Millions on Schwarzenegger's Special When our Schools and Hospitals are Underfunded?

Who's going to pay for Schwarzenegger's special?, asks George Skelton in today's LA Times.  We all are.  Mr Skelton, the dean of California columnists, points out:

He quotes a representative from the California Counties Association:

"Schwarzenegger reneged on a 2004 pledge — part of a budget deal — to give schools their normal share of any revenue increase. The Legislature even sent the governor a separate bill putting that promise in writing, and he signed it. The California Teachers Assn. now is suing for the $3.1 billion.

If the locals get stuck eating all the election costs, says the counties' McDaid, "it'll mean that if a sheriff needs a couple more deputies, he's not going to get them. If a street needs to be repaved, it probably won't be. There's no special pot of money. Parks, social services, definitely libraries will absorb the hit."