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The saga of the special election
Sacramento Bee ^ | 11-13-2005 | Daniel Weintraub

Posted on 11/13/2005 1:00:30 PM PST by Amerigomag

Nearing the end of his first year in office shortly after the November 2004 elections, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gathered a large group of his political and policy advisers in a conference room at the Sheraton Hotel a few blocks from the state Capitol. Over the course of an afternoon, the governor and his team dissected the pros and cons of an emerging strategy: a plan to confront the powers that be in Sacramento with an ambitious agenda for change and to threaten to call a special election if the Legislature refused to go along.

In the end, it was an election that a majority of voters did not want on issues about which the governor could not get them to care. Now many of them are angry with him for putting them through the ordeal. A year from now, the same voters will decide whether to grant him another term. Winning back their affection - and trust - will be the biggest challenge of Schwarzenegger's short political career.

(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...


TOPICS: US: California
KEYWORDS: california; calreform; schwarzenegger; specialelection
An opinion piece from McClatchy.

A good read for politcal junkies who want to review the build up to Nov 8 from the prespective of the left.

1 posted on 11/13/2005 1:00:31 PM PST by Amerigomag
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To: Amerigomag

Bad political move on Arnold's part. He used up most of his political capital on this special election.


2 posted on 11/13/2005 1:07:54 PM PST by popdonnelly
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To: Amerigomag
The voters in this state love Big Government. As long as their wallets don't take too deep a hit, their attitude, as conveyed last Tuesday, seems to be: "We like the status quo, you schmuck. Keep your damn hands off our services and benefits."

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

3 posted on 11/13/2005 1:09:44 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: goldstategop
"We like the status quo, you schmuck. Keep your damn hands off our services and benefits."

Agreed but that philosophy certainly shouldn't have represented the view point of the productive class who pays for those services and benefits.

If the rumors flying around are true; that conservatives and Republicans failed to vote, what responsibility do they own for the "waste of taxpayer money". What failed to motivate them? Prop 73 and Prop 75 were classic red meat for conservatives and Republicans.

4 posted on 11/13/2005 1:35:27 PM PST by Amerigomag
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To: Amerigomag
We're a minority, my friend and the truth is the number of people dependent on government continues to grow. Despite the size of the dependent class, the one thing that stands out is they didn't win on all the props by landslides: Props. 73 and 75 lost narrowly. So there may be some hope after all, considering how stacked the deck is against conservatives in this state.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

5 posted on 11/13/2005 1:39:25 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: Amerigomag

Consrvatives did not turn out in California, New Jersey and Virgina because of poor issues or weak candidates, and mainly because they are ticked off at GW Bush for not tearing the hearts out of Democrat traitors, who are guilty of treason against the USA. Want to know why GWs poll numbers are down? It ain't the liberals that's doing it, it's the conservative base. Now that GW has come alive, and is telling it like it is, watch those poll numbers come back up over the next few months or so. We need a leader, and whether you like him or not, he's it! The rest of the Republican weaklings better get on board or they won't be around through the next election cycle. And....if you want to view the power of the conservative base, just check out the vote in Texas on banning gay marriages, and the votes in Ohio to destroy Mr. Soros & MoveOn.org. The gays and Soros & Company got slaughtered. Pubbies, you better wake and get with the program. You can start by approving drilling for oil in ANWR, etc.!!!


6 posted on 11/13/2005 1:55:52 PM PST by JLAGRAYFOX
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To: Amerigomag

7 posted on 11/13/2005 2:03:01 PM PST by cartoonistx
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To: Amerigomag
that conservatives and Republicans failed to vote

The narrowness of the losses show that in large part they did turn out.

But you have to get the so-called "independents" on your side, to counter balance the rabid tax dependents who will vote en masse since they don't eat if someone else isn't subsidizing it.

This the Schwarzenegger people nor the California Republican Party did not do. They failed to sell any of the propositions in any forceful way. By contrast, the Dims and their allies went all out: everywhere I looked, "Nix the Six", "Stop Arnold", etc was out. I got an avalanche of mail from the other side, a trickle from the Republican side. A clearly Communist teacher showed up at my door to cajole us (guy was wearing a "one world" t-shirt, had a belligerent attitude - to me he's a Commie! So I was mean to him...).

And on top of the deal, they picked the wrong enemy. Go after the saintly teachers? That's like going after Mom. Bad move. Go after the Teacher's Union, go after wasteful school spending, but don't personalize it. I never heard Arnold's people come up with a good one liner for a reason. So people weren't sold.

One writer called it a "flat footed campaign". Yup. Standard half-a**ed Republican campaigning: they got outclassed and outmaneuvered all the way through. Would've thought a sales guy for himself like Schwarzenegger would understand that.

But now it's too late, and the Dims have the momentum. Will be hard to break the Iron grip of the socialists here.

8 posted on 11/13/2005 2:49:25 PM PST by Regulator
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To: Regulator
But now it's too late

I don't think its too late but Schwarzenegger has some personal soul searching to do.

Cut spending to balance the books at about $105B, which will be contrary to his personal beliefs, or increase taxes and present the third, consecutive, budget increase at about $120B thereby destroying his remaining credibility with the Republican base.

Even if Schwarzenegger leans toward fiscal conservatism, he faces another tough decision when the legislature returns a bloated budget to him for approval. Go along with the Democrat mob and preserve his appeal to the center or return the budget to the legislature and trust the Republican minority to negotiate reductions. A process that will inevitable result in gridlock producing a Republican turncoat who will live in infamy, tarnishing the reputation of the party and really irritating the base.The last turn coat in the Assembly, Mike Briggs, was eventually even forced out of municipal politics .

Either decision does not bode well for the CAGOP. Lose the center or lose the base.

9 posted on 11/13/2005 3:41:22 PM PST by Amerigomag
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