Free Republic

Matthew Dowd, the chief strategist for President Bush's re-election campaign, has been hired by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to sources close to the administration. Dowd has been participating in strategy calls, as the governor begins to put together an election campaign, the sources said. The governor also recently hired Steve Schmidt, an adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, as his campaign manager. Schmidt is working on the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Samuel Alito and will join Schwarzenegger's campaign when they conclude.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's top campaign adviser is being paid to provide marketing strategy to AT&T at a time when the governor's office is involved in negotiations on legislation potentially worth billions of dollars to the telecommunications giant. Political consultant Matthew Dowd's involvement with the governor and AT&T at the same time presents, at minimum, the appearance of a conflict of interest, government watchdogs warned. Dowd and his consulting firm are currently assisting San Antonio-based AT&T with the rollout of its U-verse service in Texas. The product is designed to compete with cable TV by sending TV programming and a bundle...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sharply criticized House Republican leaders Wednesday for calling summer hearings on a proposed immigration overhaul before trying to compromise with the Senate. The Republican governor said public forums across the country were unnecessary because "we know what the facts are." "It would be inexcusable, it would be ludicrous for them to say, 'Well, we can't work it out,'" Schwarzenegger said after a helicopter ride along the Mexican border to see where National Guard troops will soon be deployed. "That's their job - to work it out." His remarks highlighted divisions among Republicans on how to tackle the...