Posted on 11/30/2005 3:39:13 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday took the first step to shaking up his administration after his resounding special election failure, appointing a longtime Democratic activist as his chief of staff.
The move to replace Patricia Clarey had been widely expected since voters defeated all four of the governor's "year of reform" measures Nov. 8. Clary was campaign manager for the effort. But the announcement of state Public Utilities Commissioner Susan Kennedy as Clarey's replacement caught many Republicans and Democrats off guard.
Kennedy was Cabinet secretary to former Gov. Gray Davis, who was ousted in the 2003 recall election that brought Schwarzenegger to power. She also is a former director of an abortion rights group and one of the highest-profile gays in state politics, making her appointment a risky one for the Republican governor.
"She's a woman that is known as being a hardworking woman, dedicated, and is willing to work whatever it takes to get the job done," Schwarzenegger said at a news conference. "She's willing to set her Democratic philosophy aside and do the job and do my vision - to be able to work together with Democrats and Republicans."
Kennedy's appointment could help regain the support of Democrats and independents the governor lost over the last year, but it also jeopardizes his standing among conservatives, his only reliable supporters.
"This makes Schwarzenegger a man without a country," said GOP strategist Dave Gilliard, who helped run the campaign to recall Davis. "The Democrats will never accept him or embrace him, and now he's breaking with his base. I don't understand it."
Even some leading Democrats appeared puzzled by the appointment.
"Any move by the governor to embrace Democratic values is good news for the state," said Steve Maviglio, spokesman for Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. "However, it leaves many Democrats, as well as Republicans, wondering if he has any core values at all."
At Schwarzenegger's side Wednesday, Kennedy sought to downplay the partisan labels, seeing her appointment as a historic opportunity to end the political gridlock in Sacramento.
"I believe in this man, and I believe in what he's trying to do for this state and where he's trying to take California," she said. "I think a moderate Democrat and a moderate Republican - there is not a lot of light between us."
Kennedy said she voted for all four of Schwarzenegger's ballot measures this month. They would have capped state spending, changed the way legislative districts are drawn, reformed teacher tenure rules and restricted public employee unions in raising money for political purposes.
Clarey said in a letter sent Wednesday to Schwarzenegger that she would resign at the end of the year.
"It's been quite a ride," she said in the letter, which was released by the governor's staff. "While much remains to be done, I am gratified at the success we have realized."
Kennedy will join a Schwarzenegger inner circle that already contains Democrats in key positions. Among them are senior aide Bonnie Reiss, Cabinet Secretary Terry Tamminen and Daniel Zingale, another former Davis aide who now serves as chief of staff to first lady Maria Shriver.
Kennedy, appointed to the PUC in 2003, has served as executive director of the California Democratic Party and executive director of the California Abortion Rights Action League.
I wouldn't go that far. I held my nose and voted for Arnold because I feared Bustamante would get more votes than McClintock. Who can say for sure if that was right? No one.
And I had no illusions about Arnold's being a true conservative.
But "even" I am disappointed. Arnold is making it very difficult not to conclude that we'd've been better off, at least in the medium and long (not short!) run, with Davis or BustaMecha -- in hopes that the voters would finally wake up. (But, again, no one can say for sure.)
Here's my roundup on Mr. Kennedy
1972: At age 12, was inspired by actress Jane Fonda's support of American Indian and free-speech causes and opposition to the Vietnam War.
1977: Lived in Lancaster, Pa., within the evacuation zone of Three Mile Island. Developed a distrust of the establishment
1979: Enrolls and subsequently drops out of Millersville State College in Pennsylvania "because she was partying too much."
1980: Moved cross country to join Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden's "Campaign for Economic Democracy," a breeding ground for political training in campaigning, fundraising and field organizing, leading to a series of jobs and becoming one of the state Democratic Party's top field organizers.
198x-1991: Executive director of the California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League
1991-1994: Executive director of the California Democratic Party, selected by then party chairman, Phil Angelides
1992: Helped lead one of the biggest get-out-the-vote campaigns which put Feinstein in the Senate and helped put Bill Clinton in the presidency.
1993: Political director for Kathleen Brown seeking office of California Governor.
1995 to 1998: Worked as communications director to Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
1995: Begins program of recovery from alcohol addiction
1998: Director of the California Democratic Party's Coordinated Campaign, a grass-roots campaign effort for 1998 election.
1998: Appointed Cabinet secretary by Governor Gray Davis. She was credited with managing the Democratic governor's initiatives on child support enforcement, energy conservation and health care, among other issues. Reportedly, she promoted Gray Davis' energy plans in 2001, and issuance of $12 billion in bonds to purchase more power, warning legislators of "Armageddon." She also acted as chief negotiator in budget discussions with legislators in 2001, angering many that the Governor did not participate more. (We all know how those energy and budget matters turned out).
1999: "Married" in a Maui commitment ceremony to lesbian partner Vicki Marti, a psychotherapist. Democratic lobbyist and party operative Darius Anderson, her best friend, served as her "best man"
2001: Had an active role in approving a $96-million contract with Oracle Corp. to provide software that state managers did not want or need, an issue raised by state Sen. Tom McClintock during confirmation hearings for her 2003 PUC appointment.
2003: Appointed to a six-year term on the Public Utilities Commission by Gray Davis, with an annual salary of $114,191. Meanwhile, Gray Davis also appoints her domestic partner, Vicki Marti, to the California Medical Assistance Commission whose function it is to set hospital Medical rates--a plum job paying an annual salary of $99,000 and requiring only 2 meetings per month.
2005: Reaches her senior year in college after 13 years of part time study.
I still believe that absent Ah-nold, McClintock would've beaten Bustamante... but, it's all moot now. At what point will we finally wake up to the fact that relying on RINOs (no, not Republicans that might be wrong on an issue or two, but outright LIBERALS) is self-defeating and highly destructive ? They don't win us seats in the long run, they don't advance the Conservative agenda, they don't MOVE us towards prosperity, they simply tear down everything we Conservatives hold dear and then tar and feather the party with THEIR failures AS LIBERALS which inexcusably gets linked with Conservative Republicanism.
I guess Pete Wilson wasn't a lesson enough in California. Some of us already knew better. The rest of us never learn.
I see the hand of Maria in this move.
He's trying to court cross-over Democrat voters who supported him last time.
A fatal mistake. Wait until she quits a starts declaiming to the media that Arnold is an idiot. Or maybe she'll say she was sexually harassed.
Next move is to appoint Harriet Myers to the California Supreme Court...
Should read "and starts".
"She embodies everything I have spent my life opposing. It obviously raises more problems and concerns about where he is headed next year," said Mike Spence, president of the California Republican Assembly. "There is a list of things now where it appears we would have been better off if Gray Davis were governor."
Stinking RINO.
Arnold doesn't have a base - he is essentially outside of the party process.
Nothing like bringing the fox into the henhouse..
If Steve Maviglio likes this move, it has to be bad for the Kalif taxpayers and the GOP.
me too....
Ya see any comment from Parsky or Doof yet 8-?
Knight Adminstration 1953-1959 Republican
Brown Sr. Adminstration 1959-1967 Democrat
Reagan Adminstration 1967-1975 Republican
Brown Jr. Adminstration 1975-1983 Democrat
Deukmejian Adminstration 1983-1991 Republican
Wilson Adminstration 1991-1999 Republican
Davis Adminstration 1999-2003 Democrat
Kennedy-Shiver Adminstration 2003-Present Democrat
RINOs "deliver" for nobody except the left. Electing a RINO govenror results in liberal Dems GAINING power. We tried to explain this to the Arnoldbots citing examples of how screwed up New Jersey, Illinois, and Tennessee are after the "benefits" of RINO rule. The Arnoldbots ignored history at their own peril.
Vote Republican IN NAME ONLY, get Republican IN NAME ONLY.
("I think a moderate Democrat and a moderate Republican - there is not a lot of light between us." )
That far-left gay pro-abortion Democrat official has the gall to call herself moderate!!!
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