Dan Walters: With Schwarzenegger leading, handicappers turn to 2010 lineup

Sacramento Bee ^ | 9/25/6 | Dan Walters

[SmithL]

As Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger churns toward a probable re-election as California's governor, those who chart the careers of politicians are increasingly looking past his duel with Democrat Phil Angelides and assessing the potential contenders four years hence.

Assuming Schwarzenegger is re-elected, the identity of who is elected as his successor in 2010 has meaning beyond the already substantial fact that the governor of the nation's most populous and influential state is an important political figure.

Some of those who may be vying for the governorship have the potential to move beyond California, perhaps into the White House, and even without that dimension, he or she will likely hold the whip hand on redrawing 120 legislative districts after the 2010 census and however many congressional districts California may have (53 now).

. . .Handicapping 2010 begins with the premise that after Schwarzenegger, the Republican bench is very thin. The GOP holds just one other statewide office now -- in the person of Secretary of State Bruce McPherson -- and that by appointment, not election.

Were McPherson to win another term from voters, which is not unlikely, he would be positioned to become the Republican candidate for governor, but the mild-mannered former newspaper editor and state senator evinces very little political fire in the belly.

Beyond McPherson, handicappers give high-tech tycoon Steve Poizner the best Republican chance of capturing a statewide office, and should he become insurance commissioner, the very wealthy Poizner also would become a gubernatorial possibility. And, of course, that would apply to any other Republican who overcame the odds this year and won statewide.

There are no other Republican show business figures on the horizon to follow in the footsteps of Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan, so outside of Sacramento, the GOP's pickings are especially slim,

[SmithL]

Should Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi segue into the lieutenant governorship, which is likely, he'd certainly spend the next four years running for governor,

Not if I can help it.

[calcowgirl]

Should Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi segue into the lieutenant governorship, which is likely, he'd certainly spend the next four years running for governor,...

But nowhere in the column does Walters mention Garamendi's opponent, Tom McClintock. Very strange, Dan.

McPherson, Poizner, or Jerry Sanders for Governor? Sounds like the liberals are offering up their favored Republican candidates. Or is this what the CA GOP is already pushing?

Poizner, along with his Vulture Capitalist buddies that are getting rich at the ballot box with their initiatives, couldn't buy himself an Assembly seat in 2004. Now he's supposedly gubernatorial material?

[Amerigomag]

But nowhere in the column does Walters mention Garamendi's opponent, Tom McClintock. Very strange, Dan.

He's mentioned. You just missed the remark. At the end of the first sentence in fourth paragraph:

Dan referred to Senator McClintock as very thin.

[calcowgirl]

Ah, yes. I see I missed it.

Handicapping 2010 begins with the premise that after Schwarzenegger,
the Republican bench is very thin.

Thank you.

Go "BENCH"--Governor 2010!

[SierraWasp]

Garamendi couldn't "bench" press Tom McClintock!!! Heck, he couldn't even "bench" press Maria (My hubby's a Republican Commie) Shriver-Kennedy!!!

[SmithL]

"Go Bench!"

That'll make one heck of a bumper sticker. Lord, this is a strange place to live.