CA: Gov. attuned to waning of party loyalty (An 'in your face' to the GOP faithful?)

LA Times ^ | 1/14/07 | Peter Nicholas

[NormsRevenge]

SACRAMENTO — Rolling out his agenda last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proudly elevated his eclectic approach to a kind of political doctrine: Republicans and Democrats might be invested in the fight for supremacy, but voters aren't.

Seeing that party loyalties are dwindling, Schwarzenegger is confident that he faces no real repercussions if he disappoints the state's GOP leadership.

Siphoning ideas from both major parties, he remains a Republican by registration, but he is acting, speaking and governing increasingly like an independent. Like a party of one.

In the first week of his new term, Schwarzenegger's moves were nearly impossible to categorize. He was left, right and center all at once, a method he cast as "post-partisan."

[NormsRevenge]

The Third Way Movement and its poster boy on parade..

Enjoy the trip to more socialism with a smile.

[Incorrigible]

TOTAL RINO!

[Tarpon]

What? Schwarzenegger isn't a conservative? When did that happen?

[NormsRevenge]

No one has ever questioned his early on comments that "it is not my job to build the Republican party in California".

He has certainly fullfilled that to a tee.

[NormsRevenge]

another little snip..

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Republican Party leaders say they are alarmed. State Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), an icon for California fiscal conservatives, said the governor's healthcare proposal involves an unacceptable tax on business.

Schwarzenegger "shattered" a campaign promise that was vital to his reelection, McClintock said.

Does it matter what conservative activists think? Political analysts say no.

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...which explains the utter disdain and vile that has been heaped on many here by a few TWirPs the last few years at FR, all trumpeting this latest development in California politics and trying to take it national.

[ElkGroveDan]

Bipartisanship means Republicans giving in.

[NormsRevenge]

and then..

One advisor to the governor privately said that Schwarzenegger's new identity is not so much post-partisan as "post-Republican."

--

What can ya say? Probably from the lips of Susan Kennedy.

[Paloma_55]

Arnie might imagine himself a

But he is really a

[indianrightwinger]

This about sums it up for me......And, people should not complain when more jobs and businesses move to Red China and India. Free trade is not the problem. Dumb policies like the ones Arnie is promoting are the real problem for outsourcing.

[backtothestreets]

"Schwarzenegger is confident that he faces no real repercussions if he disappoints the state's GOP leadership."

"Schwarzenegger's approach reflects a careful reading of the California electorate."

"Does it matter what conservative activists think? Political analysts say no."

"Those who know him say there's a degree of self-interested calculation in the post-partisan stew."

Arrogance and denial are Schwarzenegger trademarks. He is less interested in reading the electorate and more interested in positioning himself with a legislature reliant on carefully drawn district boundaries that nullify large segments of the population. He has taken the path of least resistance siding with legislators that have gerrymandered themselves to a position of heavy-handed, non-representative power. He has surpassed surrendered to join their cause!

Schwarzenegger has moved beyond disregard for conservative activists to embrace a disregard for Californians in general. He views Californians as a captive audience, forced to sit through his entire performance. Like his predecessor, he has laid the foundation for a foray separating the electorate and government. He has increased the commonly held belief it does not matter who is elected, the government will not change. His fiscal irresponsibility has exceeded that of the previous governor who’s car tax increase plan, and privileges for illegal immigrants gave rise to his downfall.

California voters outside the bastions of Democratic power are not powerless. Neither are they naïve nor dispensable. Now, more then ever, these neglected voters are prepared to move beyond partisan politics to partition politics, effectively declaring independence from an unrepresentative government to form a new state. Schwarzenegger’s self-interest has set the stage to leave him with the unwanted legacy of a governor that divided, rather than united an electorate to usher in voter rebellion at the voting booths.

[calcowgirl]

Apparently, it's his job to destroy it.

[Paloma_55]

He is also reading the media and know that they will report what great things he is doing...the more he pisses off the Republican base, the more they like him.