Posted on 12/08/2005 3:53:30 PM PST by SierraWasp
Angry Republicans request meeting with governor over appointment
By Tom Chorneau ASSOCIATED PRESS
5:39 p.m. December 7, 2005
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision to hire a prominent Democrat as his chief of staff has sparked a growing uprising among Republican Party loyalists, who have requested a meeting with Schwarzenegger to hear him explain the choice. The governor has agreed to meet next Thursday with leaders of the California Republican Party to hear their concerns that Susan Kennedy, an aide to former Gov. Gray Davis, is now positioned to learn critical details of GOP campaign strategy and political policy.
Some Republicans said they want the governor to rescind the appointment and warn that Schwarzenegger's support in the upcoming re-election campaign could be jeopardized if their concerns are not addressed.
California Republican Party Chairman Duf Sundheim said he is optimistic the differences can be resolved without a major rebellion.
"Every indication is that this will be a constructive meeting," Sundheim said. "The two major things people want to understand is what her role will be in the campaign. To what extent will we be interacting with her, or will there be others that we can discuss things with? You understand that we are concerned about races other than the governor."
Rob Stutzman, the governor's communication director, said Republicans have raised legitimate concerns but added that Schwarzenegger is not inclined to consider rescinding Kennedy's appointment.
"Any elected official has the right to hire the person he believes will best help him accomplish his mission," Stutzman said. "This is not something for a political party to decide.
"There are obviously understandable concerns given Susan's work prior to coming to the administration, and that makes it a good story," he said. "But my caution to Republicans that are talking about rather drastic measures (is) they are overreacting. They should judge the governor on how he governs, and that's all that matters."
Kennedy, 45, served as cabinet secretary to Davis and campaigned for her former boss during the 2003 recall election that brought Schwarzenegger to power. She also is a former director of an abortion rights group and a former staff aide to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Kennedy will replace Patricia Clarey, who will leave as chief of staff Jan. 1.
Clarey was deputy chief of staff to former Gov. Pete Wilson and was one of several Wilson aides who caught on with Schwarzenegger's team during the 2003 recall election.
Kennedy's appointment comes after Schwarzenegger lost badly in the November special election, seeing voters reject all four of the ballot measures he promoted.
Republican legislative leaders said they share the same concerns over Kennedy as their party leaders, but said the directors acted on their own in forcing next week's meeting with the governor.
Assembly Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield said he does not support the Kennedy appointment: "I think it is a step backward."
Senate Republican leader Dick Ackerman of Tustin said it sent "the wrong message." Still, Ackerman said he would not ask that the appointment be rescinded.
"That's up to the governor to decide," he said.
Several Republicans said they are watching for signs that the governor has moved to the left on policy issues, some of which will arise next month. Those include the 2006-2007 budget and his State of the State speech, in which he will lay out his agenda for the coming year.
More immediately, however, is the governor's decision on a clemency appeal from condemned inmate Stanley Tookie Williams, a co-founder of the Crips gang who was convicted of murdering four people in 1979. The hearing is Thursday, and Schwarzenegger's decision is expected this weekend.
Some believe that if the governor grants clemency, it could further undermine his support from inside his own party.
"I'd be very surprised if Schwarzenegger would commute the sentence," Republican analyst Allan Hoffenblum said. "But if he did, it would certainly exacerbate his problems."
Hoffenblum said he was not sure if it would result in a call for a new nominee to represent the party next year.
"But he might find that he has lost so much of his base, he might not be able to put a winning team together," he said.
Indeed, Sundheim said the people most upset with the Kennedy appointment are those who put in the most time working for the party. Other observers said they do not view the uprising over the Kennedy appointment as a serious threat.
"This brouhaha will not hurt him in the long run," said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a political scientist at the University of Southern California.
Jeffe said the biggest concerns are being raised by the party leaders, not rank-and-file members. She noted that leaders typically are those who put in the most time on the campaign and are also likely to be the party's most conservative members.
"I suspect that early on, Republicans fell into line simply to get rid of Davis," she said. "What I find astonishing is that they believed that Arnold Schwarzenegger was a conservative. He is not, never has been."
Stutzman agreed.
"This is a governor who repealed a $4 billion car tax, brought the state back from insolvency without raising taxes, fixed workers comp and helped create 425,000 new jobs," he said. "He also just got done waging a campaign on some issues that Republicans have waited years to be brought to the ballot.
"But at the end of the day, he is a centrist," Stutzman said. "He will have Republicans and Democrats around him."
I think you need to start all over and get your mind RIGHT!!! Good grief!!!
For the life of me, I can't imagine what you would be hopeful of seeing here in FR!!!
This very little here that even comes close to melding with your overly moderate and mushy views, from what I have seen you post!!!
Looks to me like you're another one of those that thinks the idea of partisan politics is what's wrong with not only CA, but America as well!!!
I know... You want to be a moderate so you can appear to everyone as being the smartest, most open minded and "fair" FReeper on the board, right???
Probably for the same reason he won't empower the Republicans in the legislature by vetoing the bloated budgets that Democrats send him.
Schwarzenegger doesn't trust Republicans because he's not one of them. His political registration is a matter of convenience, not loyalty or philosophical agreement.
Posted by me in Reply #1 on this thread!!!
I just think her middle name is just so appropriate!!!
I've written letters before, but not on this issue specifically. I'm disappointed that Party leaders are more upset about this single issue because it might effect a future campaign strategy when they have shown no disappointment in all the other leftist moves the Governor has taken, in fact, giving him support throughout much of it.
Given that the same big donors that support Schwarzenegger also are the dominant funders of the CA GOP, do you think advising them of our discontent will do any good? I don't have the money to buy an ear.
And that's exactly what I think they should do if he doesn't recant this violation of partisan public trust!!!
There is NOTHING on Earth wrong, incorrect, or unsavory about political partisanship!!!
One of the most significant elements in how a person governs is the appointments they make.
If she is, that would be a first.
My goodness! What a perfect formula for pussey thinking!!! (groan... gag... barf...)
Tell me now... Precisely how many of the above described "independents, RINO's and DINO's have ever gone down in history as ever accomplishing ANYTHING meaningful to anyone in this nation? Name ONE!!! (And if you say Earl Warren, I'm gonna puke!)
Oh, please. A couple days ago, you were saying:
If his referendums passed, he wouldn't be doing this.
There is absolutely no indication (none, zippo, nada!) that he has any intention of supporting the Republican platform or the platform that he ran on. He has taken leftward step after leftward step. Go back to the list again and ask yourself, if they weren't promoted by a celebrity, were these good moves for Republicans or Conservatives?
Would have won? Too bad you didn't qualify your statement with "in my opinion," because there is absolutely no way you could know such a thing for certain. There is no evidence to demonstrate your assertion is factual. It is merely hypothetical.
I've been reading her stuff for quite a number of years. I've seen her be right a number of times. I've seen her be wrong, too.
Your comments are duly noted, Mr. SierraWASP.
Don't have a cow, man.
We are truly headed in entirely the wrong direction in Governorship in CA!!!
Schwarzenegger may call himself a Republican, but he has acted in a nearly hostile manner toward both the CAGOP and national GOP, toward President Bush, and -- as you point out -- toward candidates here in the state. He acts almost ashamed to be a Republican.
hehehee.. Yep. I wondered that myself...years ago. Suffice to say, it's pronounced exactly like you are thinkin'..
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