"Republican activists disenchanted with Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday that they will try to
strip the governor of the party's endorsement unless he fires his new chief of staff, Democrat
Susan P. Kennedy," reports Peter Nicholas in the Times.
"'We've gotten to the point where we've just had it with the guy,' said
Michael Schroeder, an attorney from Corona del Mar and a former chairman of the California Republican Party. "It's become clear that he's no longer pursuing a Republican agenda.'"
The Bee reports that
Mike Murphy is "easing away" from the governor's campaign team as they prepare to welcome
Matthew Dowd to California as the senior strategist for the reelection campaign.
"'I will continue to advise him on political matters,' Murphy said in an interview with The Bee. 'But I've asked him to switch me to volunteer status beginning in March as various entertainment and other projects I'm working on this year will prevent me from working on the campaign full-time.'"
"Among other things, Murphy is working on a new show for the Comedy Central cable television network. 'I've sold creativity to politicians for 20 years," he said. "I want to try it in the entertainment industry.'"
"'They're trying to build a new team here that is
compatible with the direction the governor is going to go - more bipartisan and centrist,' [Democratic strategist Bill Carrick] said. 'Whether he can pull that off after spending a year engaged in a political war that he waged from the right remains to be seen.'"
Jordan Rau reports that the legislative push to pass
a moratorium on the death penalty may be done for the year.
"An effort to temporarily halt executions in California died in the Legislature on Thursday when
majority Democrats grew concerned that the issue could tag the party's candidates as soft on crime in the fall elections."
"'There was strong bipartisan opposition to the bill on policy grounds, and this is simply reflecting where the state is on the issue,' said Nuņez's spokesman, Steve Maviglio. "Good policy makes for good politics.'"
But bill author
Paul Koretz says he may try to
push the measure again before the end of the year, reports the Chron's Lynda Gledhill. "The bill's author said he will continue to try to garner support for the moratorium and attempt to revive the measure if he finds the votes necessary for it to pass.
"'There is too much at stake with the potential of executing innocent people at California's behest not to make every effort to revive it,' said Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood."
The Assembly Republican Caucus has
a new political consultant.
Joe Justin is taking over as lead consultant for the Assembly Reeps, replacing long-time consultant
Matt Rexroad.
Gale Kaufman will continue to advise Assembly Democrats on legislative races. But unlike in 2004, Kaufman will not run any individual, competitive legislative races, focusing instead on big-picture caucus strategy.
And we would be remiss if we did not note the
Speaker's communications staff taking on the big questions in the nation's paper of record. The eternal questions persist:
why use five blades in a razor when two may be more than enough? For comment, we turn to
Fabian Nuņez spokesman
Richard Stapler, via yesterday's New York Times.
Stapler somehow makes an appearance in a Times article in advance of the release of a new, five-blade razor from Gillette. "'I would run and hide if it's anything like my experience with the three-blade,' said Richard Stapler, 31, a political aide in Sacramento, Calif. He has
used the double-blade Gillette Trac II for 10 years, and said that when he tested the company's three-blade Mach 3 Turbo a few years ago, he was not impressed."
"'
It felt like a cheese grater,' Mr. Stapler said. 'I had terrible razor burn, discomfort and pimples. I swore off trying anything new.'"
