Free Republic

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision to appoint an influential Democratic operative as his top staffer is the first step as he negotiates a tricky path to re-election. Now he must hold onto the conservative Republican right, furious with the appointment, while winning back independents and Democrats, many furious with his agenda in the recent special election. Schwarzenegger's hiring Wednesday of Susan Kennedy -- Cabinet secretary for his Democratic predecessor Gov. Gray Davis, a leader in the state's abortion rights movement and a lesbian who has married her longtime partner -- has already set off alarms among conservatives, whose leaders suggest they...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger insisted Wednesday that the direction of his administration won't change with the appointment of Democrat Susan Kennedy, a top aide to former Gov. Gray Davis, as his new chief of staff. Introducing Kennedy at a 2 p.m. Capitol news conference, Schwarzenegger said he got to know Kennedy over the last two years through her job as a Davis appointee to the Public Utilities Commission. After considering various candidates, the Republican governor said, he concluded she's willing to put her "Democratic philosophy aside" and "implement my vision." "The one I came back to over and over again...