Schwarzenegger's Team Is Shuffled

LA Times ^ | August 13, 2003 | Mark Z. Barabak

[Rennes Templar]

Less than a week after entering the race for governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger has already shaken up his campaign team, demoting a top strategist and turning day-to-day operations over to aides who ran former Gov. Pete Wilson's office.

The moves reflect both a scramble to assemble a campaign on the fly — the actor surprised even some close advisors with his decision to run — and increased assertiveness on the part of the candidate's wife, television correspondent Maria Shriver, who has assumed a central strategy role, according to Republican operatives familiar with the campaign.

[Rennes Templar]

"What this recall is all about is an assault on the whole political order."

It'll take nothing less than that to clean up the mess. A friend works for the Ocean County court system, state funded, and you wouldn't believe the fiscal-bureaucratic quagmire they're in.

[LS]

Well, people can whine about some of Arnie's other weaknesses, but it seems clear that he is standing behind the 187 stuff.

Obviously, anyone who is going to "clean up Kolly-for-neeya" must begin with the immigration mess, or at least include it prominently in the mix. Early indications are that Arnold isn't backing away from this.

[AndyTheBear]

As yet, the strategy seems to have done little to hurt Schwarzenegger's political standing.

I know they meant the stategy of Arnold's campaign, but their frustrated desperation is so transparent they might have well have meant their own stategy against Arnold's campaign.

[Dems_R_Losers]

How can the Dems run a campaign against an immigrant by saying he is anti-immigrant? Do they really think this will wash? This shows how desperate and bereft of real issues the Dems are.

That being said, I am concerned about this wholesale insertion of Wilson staff into Arnie's campaign. Bob White ran the governor's office brilliantly, but it is George Gorton who got Wilson elected twice. I'm not sure I understand these moves, and they make me nervous.

[My2Cents]

I'm with you. Kathleen Connell, the former Democrat State Controller in California, was on KSFO in San Francisco this morning, talking about the fraud budget the Legislature passed, and outlined what needs to be done, including structural changes to how the budget is approved. Frankly, she made a lot of sense. If all some are interested in is getting a Republican elected in the recall, it's a good thing Connell isn't running. I wouldn't be surprised if she runs in the Democrat's primary in 3 years.

[Saundra Duffy]

Fasten your seatbelts; it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

P.S. Isn't Maria Shriver's mother pro life?

[AndyTheBear]

Being closely tied to Wilson could present problems for Schwarzenegger

...they hope, they hope, they hope...so they keep mentioning it as if it were an evil secret they are couragiously bringing to light.

[Captainpaintball]

...Arnold Schwarzenegger has already shaken up his campaign team...The moves reflect both a scramble to assemble a campaign on the fly — the actor surprised even some close advisors with his decision to run — and increased assertiveness on the part of the candidate's wife, television correspondent Maria Shriver, who has assumed a central strategy role, according to Republican operatives familiar with the campaign.

As Rush likes to say, I NAILED it! I've been saying/predicting this for months. You are NOT going to get The Terminator, you are going get a training ground for the next generation of Kennedy scum. If they are not telling Arnold what to do, then they are sabotaging him.

The only decisions that will have Ah-nuld's prints on them are non-controversial fiscal poilcy, and most (not all) issues that can be solved by reading Milton Friedman's books, and applying their information.

LS--Do you really think Ah-nuld's masters will let him publicly support Prop 187?

[AndyTheBear]

"I'm going to make sure people are aware, Latinos are aware, of who the people are advising him," said Art Torres, state Democratic Party chairman. "I don't think Arnold is a bad person. I just disapprove of what he stands for and the company he keeps."

Apparantly Art Torres disaprove of otherwise nice people hanging out with anybody who was in favor of 187 (which apparantly includes the majority of Californians who voted on it).

I guess one of the reasons Liberals are so quick to accuse others of being close minded bigots is to give them cover.

[Old Sarge]

Say what you will about AS's political and ideological stances, but he sure has made the race even more interesting than before. And I didn't think that was possible.

[.cnI redruM]

Thanks Torres, they're advised. Now go back to strong-arming unions for campaign donations, because your boy Gray needs to buy some ad time.

[Lizavetta]

On his show yesterday, Michael Savage said that both Orrin Hatch and Darrel Issa are attempting to float a constitutional ammendment to remove the requirement that a President must have been born in America, and that Ahhnold has in the past worked on Hatch's re-election campaign. He didn't say where he got this story.

[Steven W.]

he got it from the fertile recesses of his imagination, of course. Seriously, I like Michael at times, but he regularly gets outright kooky sometimes.

[Reeses]

How can the Dems run a campaign against an immigrant by saying he is anti-immigrant?

The irony is that Cruz Bustamante, the Democrat front runner, is not an immigrant. He was born and raised here, unlike Arnold.

[LS]

If you think Arnold is "dominated" by Maria, let alone the Kennedys, you have another think coming. Even RUSH said that much.

And yes, I think that immigration control/reform will have to be a centerpiece of fixing CA's problems, and Arnold is too smart not to know it.

[lepton]

It'll be interesting to see where Warren Buffets place in all this actually is. Figurehead? Dealing with bond-rating? Business promotion? Fiscal policy?

[Diddle E. Squat]

On his show yesterday, Michael Savage said that both Orrin Hatch and Darrel Issa are attempting to float a constitutional ammendment to remove the requirement that a President must have been born in America, and that Ahhnold has in the past worked on Hatch's re-election campaign. He didn't say where he got this story.

Well, the upside of that would be that Pastor Chuck Baldwin would switch from labelling Bush the Anti-Christ to calling Arnold such...

[lepton]

A debate would fit that need quite well.

I wonder how they'd filter for who gets to be in the debate.

[Ann Archy]

Arnold married into that Evil Kennedy family.....isn't THAT enough proof of how he handles himself under pressure!!