Daniel Weintraub: Outsider Arnold's first moves are to the inside

Sac Bee ^ | 10-14-03 | Dan Weintraub

[ambrose]

For a man who ran as an outsider vowing to shake up Sacramento, Arnold Schwarzenegger's first moves as governor-elect are making him look like very much the insider.

Two nights after celebrating his election with a promise to end "politics as usual," Schwarzenegger jetted to Sacramento for a cocktail party with lobbyists, legislators and longtime fixers -- including Willie Brown, the former Democrat speaker of the state Assembly.

[Carry_Okie]

Not just predictable, predicted.

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[pogo101]

The usual good commentary-slash-news from Dan Weintraub. Here is hoping that Arnold takes that advice there at the end.

[My2Cents]

Schwarzenegger did make an intelligent move by asking a complete outsider, Donna Arduin, to give the state finances a once-over and guide his early decision making in that arena.

So, in the one appointment he's made that really matters, he appointed an outsider.

I like Dan Weintraub, but I guess he falls into the same pit other media people fall into: "It there's nothing to report, say something negative."

[My2Cents]

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[TheDon]

"It there's nothing to report, say something negative."

I thought it was always say something negative.

[giotto]

Obviously, clueless Arnold's first move should have been to call on Daniel Weintraub, who would then have helped him make the correct appointments.

[BohDaThone]

http://www.joinarnold.com/en/transition/

Look at the whole transition list:

Eloise Anderson -- Wisconsin's welfare reform head

Annelise Anderson -- Reagan Officical, co-editor on book of Reagan's hand-written speeches

Bill Simon

Sally Pipes -- Head of strong right-wing think tank

Abel Maldonado

Tammy Bruce -- Defecting NOW chapter head -- frequently praised on FR threads

etc, etc.

For a 68-member committee, it is really a spectacular job -- cover all bases: "hold your friends close, but your enemies closer."

-- as said by another eminent leader in a tough profession!!

[SteveH]

So, in the one appointment he's made that really matters, he appointed an outsider.

I thought the idea of voting Arnold was that he could talk to all sides.

Here, "all sides" seems to mean ten moderates or liberals, and one outsider. Or nine moderate-liberals and two outsiders, if Tammy Bruce is counted as an outsider.

The outsiders are out-represented, in the best case, by nine to two. If you put them on a seesaw, the outsiders are hopelessly outweighed.

How many weeks does Arduin last before she takes the hint, packs up her bags, and moves back to Florida??

:-(

[My2Cents]

I thought the idea of voting Arnold was that he could talk to all sides. Here, "all sides" seems to mean ten moderates or liberals, and one outsider.

What about the conservatives on the transition team? Folks had such a hissy-fit about Willie Brown, that completely lost were the appointments of former congressman and assemblyman Bill Baker (who was the Republican finance committee leader in the Assembly); Dean Andal, conservative member of the State Board of Equalization; Sen. Jim Brulte, Republican Senate leader; Sheriff Mike Carona of Orange Co.; Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assoc.; Carleton S. Fiorina, CEO of Hewlett/Packard; Matt Fong, former GOP State Treasurer; Pete Hannaford, staff member during Reagan's governorship and presidency; Bonnie Hill, member of Bush-41's administration; Bill Jones, for GOP Secty. of State, and possible candidate against Barbara Boxer next year; Kevin McCarthy, newly elected GOP leader of the Assembly; Jim Nielsen, former GOP State Senator from the Sacramento area; Michael Ramos, San Bernadino Co. DA; George Shultz, no introduction necessary; and Bill Simon, ditto.

[My2Cents]

Weintraub actually doesn't follow the typical journalistic code of conduct.

[daviddennis]

Oh, come now. These people are members of the appointments team. They help pick high-quality, qualified people for the jobs. They are not people who are performing the actual work.

It makes sense to use insiders for an appointments team, because they know a lot more people, including the iconoclasts.

It makes sense to use an outsider to analyze the government budget because she can do it dispassionately, without blinders.

I'm inclined to trust Arnold until he actually does something to betray our trust. Let's see what appointees come out of this system before we condemn it out of hand.

D

[My2Cents]

Don't look at me! I've been saying since the transition committee was announced last week that it was a stroke of genius on Team Arnold's part. He's got Willie Brown and Susan Estrich telling the foaming-mouthed Democrats to knock it off. I have no complaints about the makeup of the committee, particularly since, as you say, they will not actually be the people performing the work of the Administration.

[daviddennis]

I know you don't. That message was intended as a courtesy copy to a fellow Arnold supporter. :-)

The Left seems determined to underestimate Arnold, just as they underestimated George W Bush. Arnold, in my view, has a lot in common with W. It's the same basic philosophy of figuring what's important, focusing directly on that, and delegating the rest.

I think it's the only governing philosophy that will allow you to both run a major institution and go to sleep at night without halfway killing yourself.

The Left doesn't understand this, probably because they're control freaks. They'd rather have fellow control freaks like Davis in power - but Davis got so obsessed with control that he couldn't do his job.

D

[DoctorZIn]

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[SteveH]

OK, out of that list there are at least a few stand out to me offhand as hardcore conservatives: Mike Carona, Bill Simon, and Jon Coupal. I have some reservations about certain others on the list, although perhaps not major disqualifiers at this time. Can folks add to the list of hardcore conservatives I've started above, and state why they should be considered so? (Intended as an open, non-leading question.) Sorry I do not have an encyclopedic knowledge of all of these 68 or whatever folks at this time. Thanks in advance...

[onyx]

Your 2Cents are worth more than Weintraub's in its sorry entirety. :-)