The Public Policy Institute of California is out with a
new poll today, finding that the recovery of the governor's approval rating has taken a dip.
Laura Kurzman reports in the Merc News "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is
losing the support of Republicans, according to a new poll released on the eve of the state Republican convention in San Jose at which conservative activists are expected to challenge his more moderate direction."
"The governor's popularity appeared to be growing last month, following a conciliatory State of the State address in which he announced an ambitious plan to upgrade the state's aging infrastructure.
"But this month his numbers have reversed, mostly
due to erosion among his Republican base. Schwarzenegger's
approval rating fell to 35 percent among adults in the Public Policy Institute of California poll, down five points from last month."
"'Come November, conservatives are going to vote in large numbers for the GOP candidate -- that's always the case,' said
Mark Baldassare, who conducted the poll from Feb. 8 to 15. 'But I think it
raises some questions about whether the governor is going to be able to energize the GOP conservative base. It's particularly relevant, because he wasn't able to do it in the special election.'"
There was some good news for the governor, though. Green Party Candidate
Peter Camejo is running for governor. Camejo "will officially enter the race for Governor in 2006 when he pulls nomination papers [today] at 9:15 a.m. at the Sacramento County of Registrar of Voters," according to a release from his campaign.
Carla Marinucci previews this weekend's Republican convention and the
challenge for the governor. "It's a tough audience that in recent months has been angered about his hiring of Democrat
Susan Kennedy as his chief of staff, is increasingly skeptical about his proposed $222 billion bond package and is infuriated by his open wooing of Democratic and undecided voters by supporting issues such as an increase in the minimum wage."
"'The governor doesn't need these 1,400 people to vote for him; he needs them to be excited enough to get other people to vote for him,' says
Jon Fleischman, publisher of the popular FlashReport, an Internet publication aimed at GOP activists and state political insiders. 'These are important opinion leaders. They talk to 1,000 friends who talk to 1,000 friends.'"
The article has some advice for the governor's speechwriter.
"The governor's address to his own party members is akin to threading a political needle, said
Michael Semler, a Cal State Sacramento government professor."
"'
He can't talk about ports,' Semler said, in a reference to the current conservative anger over the president's defense of the United Arab Emirates' bid to manage port facilities in several U.S. cities. '
He can't talk about bonds, because the Republican Assembly doesn't want them.
He can't talk about choice,' because Schwarzenegger -- who is pro-choice -- differs with many GOP faithful on abortion. '
Immigration is the only thing left -- and he has to be careful about that.'"
Capitol Weekly reports
the governor's new campaign team will be among those making the booze and schmooze tour at the convention this weekend.
"Last spring, after the governor all but declared war on union leaders and other Democratic interests, Republicans sat and watched as the unions led an offensive that helped drag down the governor's poll ratings, and doom his special election agenda.
Under the watch of new campaign manager
Steve Schmidt and communications director
Katie Levinson, both fresh off the plane from the Bush White House, Team Schwarzenegger is determined not to make the same mistake again.
"Schmidt and Levinson head up a new cast of characters that will be charged with reelecting Gov. Schwarzenegger. They have enlisted the help of
Matt McDonald, who ran the rapid response operation for Bush/Cheney 2004 and the White House to assist in the effort.
Julie Soderlund, a deputy in the governor's press office, will be the campaign press secretary."
George Skelton takes a look at
Antonio Villaraigosa's trip to Sacramento and explains why Villaraigosa
stands a good chance of being California's next governor. The assumptions? Schwarzenegger wins reelection and Villaraigosa avoids the scandal plague of L.A. politics.
Skelton writes "My speculation is way premature, of course. A year can be an eternity in politics. That's not only a cliche, but a reality. Schwarzenegger in 2005 is a textbook example."
"But that won't stop me or any other political junkie."
"And looking at the gauntlet leading to the governor's office, Villaraigosa has the best chance of running it."
The legislative analyst
released her initial thoughts on the governor's proposed budget yesterday. "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget would send state spending soaring while relying on a surge in real estate and corporate tax revenues that could quickly disappear, the Legislature's chief fiscal analyst said Wednesday," writes Evan Halper in the Times.
"The state would spend more per person, even when adjusted for inflation, than ever before under the governor's plan, said Legislative Analyst Elizabeth G. Hill — about $5 billion more than projected revenue."
Hill's
full analysis will be released at 9 a.m. today.
From our
Bad News for Good Fellas Files, CW's
this year's round of wacky bills in the Legislature. Among them, "Dennis Mountjoy of Monrovia also has introduced a bill to create a new misdemeanor crime: knowingly driving with someone in your trunk."
Well, there go our weekend plans...
"The postponement of Michael Angelo Morales' execution has created a de facto moratorium on California's death penalty for much of this year, perhaps longer, the state attorney general's office said Wednesday amid new calls for action ensuring even longer delays."
"'This de facto moratorium is upsetting, certainly to Terri Winchell's family and other victims,' [AG spokesman Nathan] Barankin said. 'But it's also an opportunity for the state to conclusively resolve this question - that lethal injection is the safest and most humane method of carrying out the sentence.'"
Meanwhile, UC Regents President Gerald Parsky took the grilling before the Senate Education Committee yesterday. "The head of the University of California's governing board blamed the controversy over the university's pay practices Wednesday largely on executives' failure to follow policies enacted after an earlier pay scandal in 1992," Todd Wallack writes in the Chron.
"'We're not going to rely on voluntary compliance going forward,' Parsky said. Parsky also noted that UC's auditor, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, is currently reviewing compensation packages for the university's past and current top managers to make sure the school's policies were followed."
"'We will hold people accountable,' he said. 'If that means firing people, we will, but not without full knowledge of the facts.'"
"Meanwhile, UC President Robert Dynes, facing fierce questioning for the second time in two weeks by the Legislature, cited another problem: Administrators are routinely allowed to make exceptions to policies."
"'We do far too many,' he acknowledged. 'Exceptions to policies have become the norm.'"
Strange. When we attended the university, the most common answer was "no exceptions."
Punching bag, thy name is meathead. After getting zinged by the LA Times for allegedly using public money to help promote his new universal preschool initiative, conservatives have Rob Reiner in their crosshairs. And one candidate for statewide office sees a campaign issue.
"Tony Strickland today called upon Governor Schwarzenegger to “immediately replace Rob Reiner on the First 5 California Children and Families Commission. His term has expired and nothing prevents the Governor from selecting an appointee who will restore the transparency and credibility to taxpayers when it comes to how government spends their tax dollars,” reads a release from the Strickland campaign.
The L.A. County Federation of Labor is ready to appoint Maria Elena Durazo, the widow of Miguel Contreras, as interim secretary-treasurer, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of Martin Ludlow earlier this week. Andy Furillo reports in the Bee "Durazo is currently the president of UNITE HERE Local 11 in Los Angeles, the union that represents apparel workers and hotel employees."
"According to her biography, Durazo's parents were San Joaquin Valley farmworkers who were able to send her to St. Mary's College in Moraga, from which she graduated in 1975."
"She worked as an organizer for the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union in Los Angeles and earned a law degree in 1985."
Those meddling kids in the LA County Sheriffs Department are at it again. LA Observed reports Malibu Sheriff's sergeant Philip Brooks apparently isn't buying the story given by Swedish millionaire Stefan Eriksson to explain yesterday's crash of his Ferrari Enzo on Pacific Coast Highway. Eriksson claimed that a mystery German named Dietrich was driving the 660-horsepower, twelve-cylinder machine when it smacked into a pole at 120 miles an hour. "Dietrich" then ran into a canyon, Eriksson said, forcing the sheriff to send out helicopters and search teams. Bob Pool reports in the Times:
Brooks said detectives are far from convinced they have the whole story.
Eriksson "had a .09 blood-alcohol level, but if he's a passenger, that's OK," Brooks said. "But he had a bloody lip, and only the air bag on the driver's side had blood on it. The passenger-side air bag did not. My Scooby-Doo detectives are looking closely into that."
And we are hereby blaming all future Roundup errors miscues and mistakes on "Deitrich."
Finally, our Good Luck With That Award this week goes to the city of San Francisco, which has taken on a new urban recycling pilot project. Does the price of natural gas have your home heating bills skyrocketing this winter? Well, San Francisco may just have the answer to your problems: recycling dog poop.
"Dog feces could be scooped into a methane digester, a device that uses bugs and microorganisms to gobble up the material and emit methane, which would be trapped and burned to power a turbine to make electricity or to heat homes."
