Posted on 10/25/2005 9:32:49 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
WALNUT CREEK — For the first and likely only time in the government-revamp special election campaign, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was directly grilled by voters Monday night and often wound up on the defensive, insisting he hasn't "bitten off too much."
The governor — who demanded to speak separately from his Democratic and union foes repeatedly touted his uphill battle for four voter-qualified initiatives on the Nov. 8 ballot as a "fight for the people" and dismissed accusations they are "power grabs."
Schwarzenegger said he was seeking to "fix a broken system" while preserving the "balance of power."
"They (lawmakers) will not fix things in Sacramento," Schwarzenegger said in trying to make the case for his educational, fiscal and political "reform package," opposed by the dominant Democrats in the Legislature and their labor union constituents.
The governor also was queried about what some analysts consider the root of California's education funding woes — the 1970s' property-tax-slashing Proposition 13.
Schwarzenegger, who has repeatedly rejected proposed tax increases, condemned then-skyrocketing property taxes as "unfair to the people of California." He flatly rejected the politically poisoned idea of touching the popular tax-cutting measure.
Experts said stakes were high for the governor, given the controls his strategists have clamped on him during the campaign. The governor vigorously attempted to make his case, but analysts were mixed on how the town hall will affect the election.
Preceding the governor at the 90-minute forum was Senate leader Don Perata of Oakland, considered the state's most powerful Democrat, and a top union boss, Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the California Nurses
Association. The two embraced the idea of challenging the governor in the same forum, if not beside him as they wished.
The special election "is not a solution" to the state's woes, said Perata, who branded the measures a partisan scheme.
The initiatives are "a solution in search of a problem," DeMoro said.
"No one wanted this special election, and here we are," she said.
Outside the town hall, hundreds of demonstrators protested Schwarzenegger's four initiatives — most prominently Proposition 75, which would make unions get an OK from members for dues to be used politically.
"It's a deceptive measure," said John Keel, a San Ramon Valley firefighter. "Schwarzenegger is saying he's trying to protect us. He's really trying to silence my union."
The noisy crowd waved signs, chanted often and was ordered back by police several times.
Coming into the event, Schwarzenegger was fighting an uphill battle to gain popularity for his government-revamp measures and the special election that is just two weeks away.
He has preferred to address carefully selected crowds of supporters or call conservative radio talk shows rather than go into the open.
Instead, the campaigns have been fought largely through a barrage of mostly deceptive TV ads.
"I can't imagine that it's motivated anyone to go to the polls," said Barbara O'Connor, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Media in Sacramento.
The governor's standoff tactics, however, have kept him separated from the demonstrators who regularly gather outside his staged events to protest:
-Proposition 74, which would boost the probationary period for new teachers.
-Proposition 75, which would force public employee unions to get written permission from their members for using their dues for political purposes.
-Proposition 76, which would provide the governor new power to cut spending in deficit-plagued California.
-Proposition 77, which would create a bipartisan panel of retired judges to draw California's political lines instead of leaving the job to lawmakers.
Even many of the governor's TV ads have been aimed at his core GOP audience, though California is a state where more than 60 percent of the registered voters are Democrats and independents.
In keeping with his strategists' precautions, Schwarzenegger refused to share the stage Monday night with Perata and DeMoro. They were forced to appear and take questions separately.
Attempts to arrange statewide relay of the broadcast also did not work out.
But at the 90-minute town hall meeting, broadcast on Oakland's KTVU Channel 2, Schwarzenegger did face questions from voters in the heavily Democratic Bay Area.
Organizers agreed the audience of 300 would represent the entire region, which includes GOP strongholds, and that operatives from opposing campaigns would be kept out.
The TV station used a focus-group research firm to select the questioners, whose queries were screened for clarity, time and repetition only.
"In other news, Christians get harsh reception at Colosseum - film at 11..."
Lions and tigers argue over forum result..
Taste great!
Less Filling!
Polls are not in agreement across the board.
Here's a link with a couple of the polls of late.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Congressional/CA_Spc_05.html
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