Posted on 03/20/2005 3:30:00 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - There's little doubt that after 16 months in office, California's action hero-turned-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has begun to shrink to human size. But so far, that's done little to elevate Democrats, who still seem a bit puny by comparison.
By proposing a controversial set of reform proposals - merit pay for teachers, overhauling the state's public pension system, creating a mechanism to automatically cut state spending and redrawing legislative districts - Schwarzenegger's aura of invincibility has taken a substantial hit.
Everywhere he goes, he's trailed by a growing number of protesters - teachers, police and fire fighters who are furious that he's targeting their job security and retirement.
On MSNBC's "Hardball" show last week, Schwarzenegger broke a bit of a sweat as host Chris Matthews repeatedly grilled him on why, in his view, nurses are a special interest while the drug companies feathering his political nest are not. Commentators and good government groups meanwhile are crying foul over his fund raising, which is so prodigious - and such a departure from his campaign pledge to purge big money from politics - it's made his money-hungry predecessor, Gray Davis, seem like a piker.
Emboldened by Schwarzenegger's sinking poll numbers and a whiff of vulnerability, Democrats appear less cowed, and are making a convincing argument that his reform agenda amounts to a Republican power grab.
"No one could have predicted he'd declare nuclear war on teachers and firefighters all in the same year," said Democratic consultant Roger Salazar. "It was a huge mistake on his part, and whether it's something his consultants pushed, or a way to triangulate, it's backfired."
But try as Democrats might, Schwarzenegger continues to own the state's political spotlight, and not simply because of his fame and charisma. He's dominating the discussion because he's proposing big changes - controversial to be sure - many of which are likely to fail or be negotiated into something both parties can live with. And Democrats risk looking small by positioning themselves as stalwart defenders of the status quo.
"Simply by picking this fight, he has moved the parameters of the debate," said former Republican Senate leader Jim Brulte, now a government affairs consultant. "Whether this debate goes all the way down to the end, or whether there's a negotiated compromise solution, the fact that he's willing to pick this fight is in the long-term interest of the people of California."
Legislative Democrats have to offer something rather than nothing, or risk playing into Schwarzenegger's argument that they are enemies of reform. Likewise, Democrats eyeing a run against Schwarzenegger next year must be viewed as a fresh alternative to Schwarzenegger and resist falling into hackneyed complaints.
Launching his own campaign for governor this week, state Treasurer Phil Angelides hammered the governor for his fiscal policies - particularly his reliance on borrowing to balance the state budget and unwillingness to lean more heavily on corporations and the rich to shoulder more of the state's fiscal burdens.
It's a strategy Angelides has followed since Schwarzenegger took office in late 2003, earning him the "anti-Arnold" moniker but carrying steep risks for him as well. So far, he's offered few concrete counterproposals other than raising taxes on the wealthy, which has made him an easy target for Republicans.
"Angelides in making an interesting gamble - being the first one to go where no one thinks it's safe and trying to lock it up," said Raphael Sonenshein, a political scientist at Cal State-Fullerton. "It's kind of like Howard Dean in the presidential campaign last year, protesting the war when everyone said it was suicidal."
Meanwhile, the other major Democrat out of the gate this week, Attorney General Bill Lockyer, reached for an entirely different weapon, criticizing Schwarzenegger for "the arrogance of power" that comes with "the odor of Austrian politics."
The episode rekindled memories of the final days of the recall election, when Schwarzenegger opponents launched a last-ditch and ultimately discredited effort to paint him as a closet Nazi. While Lockyer's comments may have helped interfere with his rival Angelides' campaign announcement, it also helped reinforce the notion that Democrats need more in their arsenal than tired and recycled arguments.
"At the moment, no one looks strong enough to beat Schwarzenegger, but it's really early and he has time to sink," said Phil Trounstine, a former Davis communications director who now runs the Survey and Research Institute at San Jose State University. "But as the governor's popularity decreases, it's created some open space. He's not consuming all the oxygen, so it creates a space for someone to catch fire."
I know. I know.
Where's the Barf Fouhy Alert?
Only in government would merit pay be considered controversial!
And once again, as Ahhhnold said, it's the UNIONS. U-N-I-O-N-S.
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