LONG BEACH, Calif. - One day Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger describes himself as a warrior battling union bosses and their puppet army of legislators. Another day, he's humble, almost apologetic, telling viewers in a commercial released Friday: "I've had a lot to learn."
Elected two years ago to shake up a stagnated statehouse, the Republican governor is trying out a variety of campaign messages in the closing days of a political campaign in which he hopes to push through a slate of ballot initiatives.
The shifts in tone and tactics point to a political reality: With polls showing several of Schwarzenegger's proposals on shaky ground, he must find a way to connect with voters uneasy with his leadership and with the special election he called for Nov. 8.
"He needs to convince Democrats and independents that his reforms are not politically motivated, that he's looking after their best interests," said Mark Baldassare, a pollster at the Public Policy Institute of California.
Schwarzenegger enters the last full week of the campaign still trying to find his stride following a year in which his popularity faded and his agenda stalled. The "year of reform" election is his bid to win at the ballot box what Democrats denied him in the Legislature.
In an interview Thursday, Schwarzenegger said he was confident his campaign had hit the right message but conceded that a flood of union-sponsored TV ads had hurt his cause.
If you want to look at another disaster, just look at this California special election. The Governator has tried to stake out his entire right-wingnut, pro-business agenda with an end-run around the Democratically-controlled legislature by pushing this special election. And in doing so, he's angered some pretty powerful interest groups in California politics--including such groups that don't traditionally align themselves with each other. Case in point--Prop. 75, which requires public employee unions to secure written permission from its members before contributing to political campaigns. This has certainly aligned the teacher's unions (which are pro-Democrat) with the policemen's unions (which are pro-Republican). You can see it with the campaign spending in this election. Consider this:
Campaign finance records released Thursday show Schwarzenegger raised $45 million for his special election campaign, while the coalition of unions and Democratic supporters aligned against him has spent $115 million.
And where is the Governator campaigning? How about Southern California where his Republican pro-business base is? Schwarzenegger's hope is that he can turn out enough of his Republican base in support for these initiatives, while praying that the rest of the state stays home from voting. It is an interesting political strategy, that may work. Californians are pretty much disgusted by politics. Consider this:
But with voters distracted by the war in Iraq and day-to-day issues such as housing prices and the cost of gasoline, some say they are unable to connect Schwarzenegger's goals to their more immediate concerns at home.
"Politics seem remote from our lives," said Rachelle Aguiar, 23, a college student in Fresno who tends to vote Republican. With families overwhelmed by bills, child care and work, "I think people don't care about it."
Anthony Ferrario, 25, a registered independent from Hayes Valley, said he was confused by the initiatives but credited the governor with good motives. He didn't know how he would vote.
"Schwarzenegger wants to be a stronger governor," Ferrario said. "Obviously, Democrats are opposed."
The big question is, will the higher amounts of spending against the Governator's special election initiatives bring enough Californians out to shoot these measures down at the polls?
By the way, I'll be voting against all the measures in the special election.
No comments:
Post a Comment