Posted on 05/22/2004 11:35:45 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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The guest list was dotted with the leading names in California politics, including Willie Brown, the former Assembly speaker then serving his last days as mayor of San Francisco, and John Burton, the profane, irascible and unabashedly liberal Democratic leader of the state Senate. Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, expected to be a Democratic candidate for governor in 2006, cuddled his infant in his arms, fending off attempts by others who asked if they could hold the child.
As the evening wore on, two lobbyists approached Schwarzenegger and introduced themselves, half-jokingly, as the personification of the special interests he had promised to sweep from the halls of the Capitol, a campaign pledge he sometimes made with a broom as a prop to rile up his already agitated rally crowds.
"Oh!" Schwarzenegger said to the lobbyists, throwing one of his massive arms around each man's shoulders. "I was only kidding! I like you guys already."
Perhaps Schwarzenegger was just being polite. But in the weeks and months that followed, the new governor has demonstrated a mastery of the political game as if he had been playing it all his life. His first six months as chief executive - which end Monday - have been not so much the dawn of a new era as the return of an old one, reminiscent of a time when California's political leaders clashed over policy in the Capitol while maintaining a civil or even friendly camaraderie at the negotiating table and away from it.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Interesting.
Yeah, if you like liberals.
McClintock praising Arnold...
"The workers compensation reform was far more comprehensive than anything I thought would be possible from this Legislature," said Republican Sen. Tom McClintock, who opposed Schwarzenegger in the election last fall and has not been afraid to criticize him. "It obviously didn't go as far as I think it should, or as far as what the people would have approved. But as a legislative victory it was stunning, given what he had to work with."
Well, that aside... I believe that Bush, thanks to Arnold, actually has a chance at winning CA -- for a multitude of reasons.
You're dreaming. Bush has absolutely no chance in hell of winning California.
Yeah, if you like liberals.
New budget, no tax increases, I'll live with that, this is after all LaLa Land. Davis was a disaster. The uber-liberal state pols are scared to death of "The Terminator".
It's really fun to watch them repealing some of the crap they were passing, for example, drivers licenses for illegal aliens, and triple car taxes.
I will grant you there's a long way to go with not much chance of really getting all the way there, but hey, we are providing successful taxpaying citizens to yours and other surrounding states as they flee "the Golden State." We call it Califorication, enjoy! LOL!!
If he spends as much time in California as he will in Florida, he'll win here. Coupled with Schwarzenegger and his popularity, I think Bush can take the state. If he doesn't show up here, you're right on target.
I don't have much hope of him showing up here, so you're probably right. I think that is a big mistake, perhaps a fatal one politically.
correction: that is CALIFORNICATION!!!
What is interesting to me is that Weintraub, a liberal, appears to be willing to bend the truth on easily checked facts to enhance the governor's image.
I can only suppose that Weintraub wants to encourage Schwarzenegger to continue his present game plan which protects the sanctity of liberal programs and provides political cover for all involved.
What a different world California might be if it had just one, major, conservative print outlet. Can you imagine?
Not really... it is very, very possible. Arnold is a very effective PR weapon. He has amassed goodwill with CA voters, and polls show that they are very willing to trust him (supermajorities in polling indicate that he has earned their trust).
Further, CA state and federal legislators are *terrified* of opposing him too openly -- for fear of their own jobs. This, of course, doesn't include Feinstein, Boxer, or Pelosi -- as he has not set his sights opon them yet.
I believe that, however, Arnold may be just what we need in the fight against Pelosi -- her divisive rhetoric is the perfect opening for Arnold to blast her. He just needs a *push*.
He showed up last election with less of a chance than this time. He calls your statement "misunderestimation" for the record.
He showed up in 2000 just to make it competitive. I see no reason he won't do so this year.
I hope you are right. It would give me great pleasure to see the faces of Dan, Peter, and Tom as California is called for President Bush.
IMO Bush has a chance of winning California IF we eliminate FRAUD, lock stock and barrel. What you think?
Then they would have to go back to teaching reading, not a chance. However FREE REPUBLIC comes from Fresno!!!
In case anyone was wondering...workers comp rates have not budged an inch. An Apprentice carpenter is $69.00 per $100.00 dollars of gross pay. That is a whopping 69%.
To employ a $20/hr Apprentice, requires approximately $2,234.00 per month in insurance premiums.
California sucks, and I can't wait to leave. I am a native of 43 years.
Then, employing marketing skills honed during careers in body-building and acting, he has packaged the result as a triumph for his agenda, glossing over uncomfortable details while selling the public on the idea of his own success, a message that has made him still more popular and thus even more powerful. Schwarzenegger, in short, has become a political self-fulfilling prophecy.
The devil is in the details. People need to wake-up and see the truth, instead of the unending adoration of his "success". More debt, bigger spending, assault on private property rights, etc. In the meantime, the fans cheer.
Not with dividers like you. But, I still contend you're a plant. Your handle embarrasses a great man every time you spew your drivel.
It was a given that Californian's wanted Boy Davis out. But that doesn't mean the right choice was made. The California electorate is comprised of idiots. Californian's had a rare opportunity to elect a conservative Republican the next Governor of the Golden State and they failed. Instead, they chose to elect a liberal RINO. They'll have to live with the consequences of that choice.
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