CA: Consultant army aids governor

Sac Bee ^ | 2/12/05 | Andy Furillo

[NormsRevenge]

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has assembled a team of political consultants the scale of which the Capitol has never seen, a network whose leading members also represent outside clients with significant interests of their own before the state.

Of the $29 million the governor spent on six political campaigns he controlled last year, almost a third of it - $9 million - went to about 90 consultants who handled tasks for Schwarzenegger that included devising strategy, raising money, writing speeches, polling, preparing direct mail and advance planning.

According to the governor's consultants, Schwarzenegger needs and relies on these political operatives to stay connected to what they characterize as his power base - "the people." Some political experts say consultants working for both the governor and private clients could create a problem of appearance, if not an ethical conflict.

But mostly, the modern day Arnold's Army of political consultants is an exercise in magnitude. It's an assemblage of strategic advisers and message managers that dwarfs anything that preceded it in size and scope, according to more than a dozen experts interviewed for this story.

"The governor does everything big - bigger than life," said Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies.

--snip--

"In the case of celebrities who become politicians, they need much more coaching on the issues; they need to learn the issues quickly and how to speak about them in ways that are consistent with the images they already have that will connect with people," said Paul Herrnson, director of the Center of American Politics and Citizenship at the University of Maryland.

Then there is the matter of Schwarzenegger's celebrity itself, which has spawned a cottage industry of advance planners and technicians needed to accommodate his plunges into the public.

[EagleUSA]

Well at least he is trying to do the job -- something California has not seen from a governor, since Ronald Reagan. It is a real shock to the extreme leftists that dominate our state legislature.

[blueberry12]

Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety. (Proverbs 11:14 NKJ)

[EagleUSA]

Maybe too, I should have given Deukmejian some credit too...