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."
Yep. That's all that matters. Record spending increases, record borrowing, a leftist environmental platform (taxpayer subsidized hydrogen highways, taxpayer subsidized solar roofs, global warming, etc.), "assault weapon" bans, less than 50% Republican judicial appointments, attack on property rights (Sierra Nevada Conservancy), leftist appointments (Reiss, Tamminen, Henning, Kennedy), etc.
Are you kiddin? With my waspish waiste, I ain't built for THAT!!!
Ditto to that question. I'm interested in the response.
Let's just don't and they say we did, ok? Geeze! Are you series? (snort!)
I din't enjoy them Bill & Hitlery years much, did you?
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
You and me both!!!
Precisely! And their view of the proper role of government in the citizen's/people's lives!!! (or out of their lives)
Over the past 30 years, the party platforms have been drawn up by the fringes of each party. People in the practical world of politics who have to run for office tend to run away from these platforms the way Dole did in ‘96.
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?
That question is irrelevant. Since Jackson and Van Buren instituted our modern party system in the 1830's, the goal of American political parties has been to win and wield power, not to necessarily accomplish anything meaningful. Whenever parties try to accomplish something meaningful, we end up with things like civil war (Lincoln) or galloping democratic socialism (FDR and LBJ).
The American electorate averages out in the Great Middle, and that middle won’t go for candidates of the extremes unless there is an extreme situation, like the Great Depression. People don’t like radical change unless there is an obvious crisis.
I din't enjoy them Bill & Hitlery years much, did you?
Polling studies done after the ‘92 election showed that Perot did not elect Clinton. What Perot did was deny Clinton a majority, which destroyed any chance Clinton had of claiming a mandate. In that sense, Perot did the Republicans a favor by tying Clinton’s hands.
Uhh... I think that's "Be Bich" with a lisp, ain't it???
(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.")
(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.")
He is grooming a future leader--for the other team.
You, as usual, are stunningly perceptive!!!
(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.")
If Bush were eligible for reelection, perhaps that would be a worthy discussion for a separate thread.
Look for "Clemency Poll" about half way down the left side of the page. (I think it lets ya vote more than once, with comments via e-mail every time)
Now I'ma wrackin my brane!!!
Will the decision on clemency for Stanley Williams affect your support for Gov. Schwarzenegger? Choice Votes Percentage of 293 Votes Yes 217 74% No 76 26%
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