As Republicans gather in San Jose, all eyes are on the governor.
The AP's Michael Blood
previews tonight's speech by the governor. "The Hollywood star-turned-politician is scheduled to give the keynote speech Friday at the state Republican Party winter convention in San Jose - even as conservatives openly question why they should support him."
"'When you look at the gyrations in his policies, it appears he's plagued by an absence of core values," said longtime Republican strategist
Arnold Steinberg. '
He comes across as a caricature, where energy and enthusiasm are confused with core values.'"
"'
I see real problems for the governor', said independent pollster
Mark DiCamillo, noting the gulf between the state's Democratic-leaning coastal areas and Republic-rich inland counties."
"'His recent statements and policy positions make it look like he's trying to cut into the Democrats' advantage among coastal voters. However, others are trying to get him to backtrack to shore up support among his Republican base,' DiCamillo said. '
How he ends up resolving this will probably be the major strategic decision facing his re-election campaign.'"
However, writes Kate Folmar in the Merc News, the governor
succeeded in quelling a party fight this weekend.
"'We're coming into the convention united behind the ticket with the governor,
Tom McClintock and
Bruce McPherson,' said Republican Party chairman Duf Sundheim, referring to the candidates for lieutenant governor and secretary of state. 'The role of the party is to support our governor and our ticket.'"
What about
Steve Poizner?
"Until recently, it was unclear what sort of reception the GOP delegates would give their incumbent governor."
"A group of activists was proposing that the party yank its endorsement of the governor unless he fired chief of staff Susan Kennedy, a former Democratic Party stalwart."
"With a series of behind-the-scenes moves over the past two months, the governor and his allies appear to have quieted the revolt. The motion to yank the governor's endorsement is expected to be tabled at the convention."
Michael Finnegan reports in the Times about the
obstacles facing the governor's reelection. "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger faces dismal poll ratings, an empty campaign treasury, a peeved Republican base and other troubles as his new political team plots his campaign for a second term."
"Adding to his difficulties is the poor national political climate for Republicans. Public anger at President Bush and the GOP over the Iraq war, a lobbying scandal, a botched Medicare drug plan and other issues could hurt Schwarzenegger and other Republicans on the California ballot in November, said
Tony Quinn, co-editor of the nonpartisan California Target Book election guide."
"'
The great danger is that's the way this year is starting to look,' said Quinn, who sees signs of a '
great Democratic landslide' nationwide in November."
"In the end, Schwarzenegger's reelection will depend on how voters size him up in a side-by-side matchup with a Democratic rival, as yet unchosen. So far, polls show that most voters know too little about Westly and Angelides to hold positive or negative opinions about either. To some Schwarzenegger supporters, that lack of definition for Democrats offers an important source of hope.
"'
You can't beat somebody with nothing,' said Republican strategist
Stu Spencer. '
And they've got two nothings.'"
...and the governor has
Susan Kennedy.
"By any name, Susan Kennedy, assailed as a traitor by some Democrats and savaged by Republican conservatives as a liberal intruder - or worse, an enemy spy -
is the talk of the Capitol," reports Peter Hecht in the Bee.
"She is now spurning interviews, wanting no part in hyping her own story. But behind the scenes, Kennedy, 45, is the woman driving Schwarzenegger's bid to recover from a bruising political defeat in last year's special election."
"She is a major force in shaping both the content and legislative sales pitch for the governor's $222 billion 'Strategic Growth Plan' - his signature blueprint for schools, levees, highways and rebuilding California's aging public works."
"'Susan operates very much like a CEO inside the Governor's Office,' said Schwarzenegger's communications director,
Adam Mendelsohn. 'She has front-line responsibility for implementing the governor's big ideas. ... She drives the policy meetings. She sets up the structure.'"
Dan Walters
responds the Legislative Analyst Office's analysis of the budget. "The good news is that California's economy is outpacing everyone's expectations - including those of the state's most distinguished economists - and generating copious amounts of jobs, corporate profits and government revenues."
"The bad news, as the Legislature's independent budget office says in its new analysis of the 2006-07 budget, is that
state spending has been rising just as fast, and the state's chronic deficits will continue indefinitely."
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's
infrastructure bond proposal came in for a raking Thursday by environmental groups and Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Phil Angelides who separately blasted the plan as shortchanging public transportation while loading up on highway construction spending."
"'It may make sense to invest in the future of California, to spend billions of dollars, but only if we do it right,' said
Gary Patton of the Planning and Conservation League, who was joined by representatives of some 35 environmental groups in a press conference on the west steps of the Capitol. 'The proposals that the governor puts forward do it wrong.'"
"'As we look to spend billions of public dollars to invest in our infrastructure, we're here today to say that the Legislature must pass a green infrastructure package to make sure that California is livable for decades to come,' Angelides said. 'Sadly, the governor's plan does not meet this test.'"
Hey, just asking. Conservatives are starting to criticize Gov. Schwarzenegger for not removing
Rob Reiner as head of the First 5 Commission. Could this little item at the bottom of the
Chron's story on Reiner today be the reason why?
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose children attended preschool with Reiner's in Los Angeles, remains neutral [on Reiner's Prop. 82]."
Don't want to do anything that may make back to school night awkward...
Nothing says "the weekend" to us here at the Roundup than snuggling up in front of the fire with
Ron Burkle's divorce proceedings. The U-T's Bill Ainsworth reports "Billionaire Ron Burkle has tenaciously tried to keep records in his bitter divorce case secret, invoking a law that some claimed was designed specifically for his situation. But two courts have declared that law unconstitutional."
But large Democratic donors like Burkle have no fear -- Senate Democrats are here. "Now a powerful lawmaker is quietly trying to rush a bill through the Legislature that would restore key parts of the law and
could help Burkle win his fight to keep his records out of public view."
"While newspaper publishers are opposing the bill, saying it infringes upon the public's right to know, state Sen.
Kevin Murray, D-Culver City, 'said his bill protects privacy. There's too much financial information disclosed in a divorce that makes either party vulnerable to attack,' he said."
Telling us we can't have it only makes us want it more.
Let's hope the same doesn't hold true for
Shavit, the Giraffe Slut of Jerusalem.
"Vets at the Biblical Zoo [in Jerusalem] have a tall order - stopping a baby boom among giraffes."
After the giraffe population tripled to nine in recent years, outgrowing the zoo on the edge of Jerusalem, the most fertile female - Shavit -
has been put on birth control. The 5-year-old has been injected with birth control hormones, delivered by dart, after giving birth twice in four years."
"Shavit has received an injection of hormones that will prevent her from getting pregnant for at least a year. During the year, Shavit will be monitored, and the Biblical Zoo will share its information with other zoos around the world, including those in Berlin and San Diego."
