Is the
governor in a political slump? Carla Marinucci considers the question, as the governor finds large crowds greeting his fundraisers, minimal media coverage of his kitchen cabinets, and dropping poll numbers. "It wouldn't surprise me if (his job approval ratings) were below 50 percent today,' says
[Mark] DiCamillo, who notes the biggest decline has been among 'a very powerful and positive group for him' - - nearly 1 in 5 state voters who are nonpartisan or 'decline to state.'"
"By a 3-1 margin, those independents held positive views of the governor, and now 'they're starting to turn,' DiCamillo says; that spells trouble because once those voters develop a negative impression and get turned off, 'it's harder to win them back.'"
Tomorrow may be one of the larger protests against the governor, as he
looks for dough at the Ritz Carlton in San Francisco.
Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton writes that the governor has found the
right balance in supporting a moderate balanced budget measure. Skelton writes "Political players at the Capitol, however, are split into three camps: conservatives who complain that Schwarzenegger's approach is too wimpy, liberals who cry it's too harsh and the governor and his business allies who are seeking a middle ground."
Skelton is also on board with the gov's redistricting plan: "Schwarzenegger's other significant reform — stripping the Legislature of its power to draw legislative and congressional districts and handing it to retired judges —
makes so much ethical sense that virtually nobody is bucking the concept. The tradition of legislators drawing their own districts — choosing their own voters — has become indefensible."
Meanwhile, the Merc's Kate Folmar reports on
the twin "paycheck protection" initiatives currently in circulation: One version backed by the pharmaceutical industry, and another by anti-tax advocate
Lew Uhler.
Dan Walters
reports from the fronts of the flack wars. "While the principals exchange rhetoric salvoes in public, either personally or through an increasing number of broadcast ads,
[Roger] Salazar and
[Karen] Hanretty are two of the professional political soldiers who are trying to influence news media coverage of the conflict, well aware that how the media frame it can have a great deal of influence on the outcome."
The stakes are that much higher given
the permanent campaign, the national trend that has been magnified in California, thanks to term limits, political ambition, and the governor's special election threat.
As the LA Times's Mark Barabak writes: "Those immersed in the election system — candidates, fundraisers, campaign consultants, issue advocates — say that in just the past few years the pace has grown even more relentless, to a point where the notion of
a political "off-season" seems every bit as quaint as straw boaters and torchlight parades.But then, it gives hope to people like initiative petition manager
Chris Raisakis, who have made a living out of
playing both sides of the permanent campaign. The SacBee has the goods on Raisakis's twin jobs postings on
Craigslist: "One was titled, 'ARNOLD WANTS YOU!!!!!!" It explained that "ARNOLD IS CREATING AN ARMY' as the governor is trying to qualify ballot initiatives ... Raisakis himself is trying to build another force to fight 'Arnold's Army' with a listing he posted an hour later titled, 'LIBERALS UNITE!!!!' In that one, Raisakis wrote, 'THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND TO HELL WITH ARNOLD'S ARMY!!!!'"
The permanent campaign has also given rise to the
permanent protest circuit. A mainstay on that circuit is the Rev.
Lou Sheldon who joined Sen.
Roy Ashburn in a call for a state constitutional amendment against gay marriage.
This one comes straight from our
"First We've Heard of It" files. "Sheldon, chairman of the Anaheim-based Traditional Values Coalition,[said] that America's economy will collapse if gay marriage is allowed because
the population will decrease and there won't be enough people paying taxes," the Bakersfield Californian reports. "Sheldon also said gay marriage laws in Scandinavia have caused
a rise in wife beating because men have become bisexual, which makes them beat their wives.The Contra Costa Times reports Senate Transportation Committee chairman
Tom Torlakson would like to see
new limits on Caltrans's power, after the agency failed to report new overruns on the bridge until August, despite internal reports from April revealing cost increases. SB 172 would create a new toll bridge board of control that would hopefully avoid future debacles like the one currently holding up Bay Bridge construction.
"Never again should we have the miscommunication and time delays we experienced," Torlakson said.
Meanwhile, from
our Provo bureau, via the Associated Press: "The Utah Department of Transportation says it will discipline two avalanche safety workers who
misfired a cannon in Provo Canyon, sending
a 105 mm howitzer round over a hill and into the back yard of a Pleasant Grove home." Hey,
maybe Caltrans isn't so bad after all.