Posted on 01/19/2006 8:47:29 AM PST by calcowgirl
Sequestered at an elegant Newport Beach hotel, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday began an election-year campaign to rehabilitate himself among disaffected supporters.
At a closed-door luncheon with about 40 donors in this wealthy Republican enclave, Schwarzenegger sought to ease their fears about the direction his administration has taken in recent weeks. ...
... A contrite Schwarzenegger is attempting to assuage donors who are worried that he has shape-shifted into a Democrat — but he is facing opposition on multiple fronts.
Although many in the GOP are angry that he hired Susan Kennedy, an aide to former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, as his new chief of staff, a more fundamental problem is emerging. The socially liberal governor appears to have lost support on a point of previously common ground with conservative Republicans: fiscal restraint.
Republicans who kept quiet when Schwarzenegger supported stem cell research, solar power and expanding domestic partnerships are now objecting to his budget plan, which calls for $6 billion in deficit spending and a separate government-building program that would be financed by borrowing $68 billion.
Mark Chapin Johnson, a Tustin businessman and a Schwarzenegger campaign supporter, said he has been invited to meetings with the governor and campaign aides but will not attend. Johnson sees Schwarzenegger as drifting too far to the left.
"I really wish him well, but I'm just standing back to watch," said Johnson. "I don't have any particular reason to be in a room with Susan Kennedy."
Michael Schroeder, the former chairman of the California Republican Party, wrote in an opinion piece last week that Schwarzenegger "has swung wildly between the far right and the far left in the apparently mistaken belief that this constitutes governing from the center. It does not. It simply defines him as erratic and unable to govern."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
He is a big disappointment for most Republicans. I have no idea why people are focusing on this Kennedy thing when there are a lot more important things to think about, like Arnold spending more than Gray Davis could envision. Is there a way to get McClintock to run?
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You'll have to ask the "stalinsts' running the CA GOP central committee if they will rescind their endorsement of the Gub 2 cnventions ago that precludes a Gubinatorial primary in California.
Their main job seems to be to purge the Republican party in California of conservatives by running centrists and moderates in the name of building the party and not backing conservative candidates to any noticeable degree if at all..
Schwarzenegger sought to ease their fears about the direction his administration has taken in recent weeks. In an interview after the event, the governor said: "We can work through anything, because we're from the same party."
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lolol ... spend spend spend .. borrow borrow borrow .. spend spend spend .. appoint more gays and greens to state govt openings.
Ahhh, Yes, all long-time planks in the CA GOP platform.
Who's party is he getting more done for and what campaign donors stand to and have benefitted most from his actions to date?
Where are all of the FReepers who were 100% sold on Arnie? Where are they now? Again the few of us that called him exactly what he is - a cheap RINO at best should get some credit. So the next time you want to elect a RINO over a dem you better think again. This man has done more harm to the defunct Pubbie party than any Dem could do. Recall his a$$.
Remember mC cLINTOcK!
"Clearly, the fiscal policies that underpin the budget and the borrowing are not Republican policies," McClintock said. "They are radically contrary to Republican principles and will need significant modification in the Legislature in order to obtain my support."Karen Hanretty, a GOP consultant and former spokeswoman for the California Republican Party, is encouraging GOP lawmakers to vote against the governor's state budget proposal because it includes deficit spending.
"The governor's supporters in the Republican Party, who have always been his staunchest defenders, despite areas of disagreement on social issues, have great concern right now about the direction he is heading in," Hanretty said.
Expect McCain to campaign for the Gub, not President Bush, even tho the Gub has just hired a bunch of the folks that worked the Bush/Cheney campaigns in 2000 and 2004.
I went to the RPLAC(Rep. Party of L.A.Co.) mtg. last nite to hearKen Starr, but before he spoke they had the Gov's second in command, under Susan Kennedy speak. He was so impressive I don't even recall his name.
What a dog and pony show: blah blah minimum wage increase is good, blah blah Susan Kennedy is good, guest worker program is good, blah blah bond issue is good, blah blah blah blah blah!
They gave Judge Starr an Elephant Lapel pin, should have given this guy RINO lapel pin!
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday began an election-year campaign to rehabilitate himself among disaffected supporters.
TOO LATE!
I wouldn't say he's swung between the right and the left, I'd say he's swung from the right to the left and stuck there. And I'd like to see what this guy considers a "far right" position Schwarzenegger has ever taken. I sure don't remember any.
Like the song... "Well it's too late baybee, it's too late, though we really did try to make it..."
"Something inside has died and I can't hide and I just can't fake it."
Ding ding ding, we have a winner!!!
>>...before he spoke they had the Gov's second in command, under Susan Kennedy speak. He was so impressive I don't even recall his name.
Was it the ex-insurance lobbyist, Dan Dunmoyer?
Wilsonegger isn't visiting either the grass roots, partisan faithful or the CAGOP principals. An accurate title would read:
Governor Goes on Road to Mend Fences with New Majority donors
Are you sure it wasn't the Gay Republican Roto-Rooters??? (Snark!)
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