Posted on 12/11/2005 11:51:24 PM PST by goldstategop
The past few weeks have been a wakeup call to those Republicans, and especially those conservatives, who got stars in their eyes and supported movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor during the historic Gray Davis recall campaign.
On the heels of a decisive defeat in the recent special election for his reform ballot initiatives, the Terminator is acting like he wants to terminate his alliance with the Republican Party.
Since he has failed to even slow the nonstop spending of the California Legislature, Arnold's false reading of the election-results tea leaves has now led him to join the Democrat Party in pushing for tax-and-spend policies.
The news media is full of stories about the governor working on a $25 billion bond measure for infrastructure. Wait, no, it is $50 billion. Well, maybe it will be really big – the way Arnold likes things – could it be $100 billion?
Who knows?
The governor isn't saying yet, nor is he saying how the state can finance such largess. Talk amongst politicos in the state is that some sort of a tax increase is coming, courtesy of a Republican governor.
Most shocking to conservatives has been his recent personnel moves and the conduct of some of the governor's staff – who seem to relish the role of antagonists to any and all conservative or Republican causes.
Schwarzenegger recently announced his new chief of staff would be Susan Kennedy, one of recalled Democrat Gov. Gray Davis' top deputies. Not only did Kennedy head up the California Abortion Rights Action League, but she previously served as the executive director of the California Democrat Party.
Kennedy admits that she has never voted for a Republican in her life!
And this comes on the heels of Schwarzenegger's hiring of Daniel Zingale as chief of staff to the first lady and principal adviser to the governor. Zingale is another former top aide to the recalled-Gov. Davis, and he has a long record of extremely liberal political activism.
These stalwart Democrat leftists are going to be a further influence on a man who already was viewed as a liberal Republican to be, well, more liberal and less Republican.
If there was any doubt about what this means for Republicans and conservatives, just consider the recent conduct of Schwarzenegger Cabinet Secretary Terry Tamminen.
Earlier this week, Tamminen joined former Democrat Vice President Al Gore at an invite-only event at Stanford University. According to the San Jose Mercury News, Schwarzenegger's man began his comments to the crowd with a list of "The top five things President Bush says he will do to address global warming."
Tamminen lead the audience by asking if they knew the No. 1 thing Bush would do to end global warming.
The answer? "Wait two years. President Al Gore will fix it."
This is how bad things have gotten for the GOP in Califonia.
What's perhaps the saddest aspect to this saga is that it isn't so much that Schwarzenegger has betrayed us – Republicans knew he did not have any great loyalty to our party, our ideals or our beliefs.
But, the real betrayal is by those Republican Party leaders and so-called conservatives who were tripping over one another to jump on the Schwarzenegger bandwagon.
It was back in January 2003 that then-California Republican Party Chairman, Shawn Steel and I first discussed the waging of a recall campaign against California's corrupt and failed Democrat Gov. Gray Davis. We were live and on the air on the show I co-host on KSFO radio in San Francisco.
The people of California had had enough of the corruption, the overspending, the deceitful cronies in the Davis administration, and they wanted change – real change.
Within days of my on-air discussions, former Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian had launched the Recall Gray Davis Committee and we were on the way to making history.
There was only one problem.
We needed someone to take over the governor's seat once Davis was recalled.
Republican State Sen. Tom McClintock emerged as the frontrunner, with high favorability ratings from two statewide campaigns.
The only problem was that McClintock wasn't acceptable to the Republican elite in this state, because he was a conservative.
So, Republicans did the unthinkable and knifed McClintock in the back. The entire Republican Party establishment rallied around the campaign of Arnold Schwarzenegger (who announced his campaign in true Hollywood fashion on the "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno).
Even many conservatives sold out McClintock, so eager they were to ingratiate themselves to Schwarzenegger and his Kennedy wife, Maria Shriver.
And now we are all paying the price for those conservatives and Republicans who betrayed their principles and decided to play "groupie" to a washed-up Hollywood actor instead of being the grownups that were desperately needed to help turn this state around.
What did anyone expect, he calls Swimmer, Uncle Teddy!
"Just look at New York. The GOP there has fallen completely apart. All the Democrats are safe. This is what we get with 'electable moderates;' a disappearing Republican Party."
Take a look at the Jeanine Pirro thread over at:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1538542/posts
There's a couple of unhinged RINOs beating that moderate horse. The problem with these RINO supporters? They are strident and extremely loud about their advocacy, and deliberately drown out conservative chatter.
It's also worth pointing out that elected RINOs like to hold on with grim death too. Principled conservatives term limit themselves out, unfortunately.
And for Harriet Miers. Don't ever forget where he stands on principle and real success.
Well,it wouldn't be the first time in history an Austrian fooled the locals.
"The Gov't at the federal or state level isn't run by anyone who can waive their magic hand and make things happen !"
Magical things happen with good leadership.
"McLintock was and is unelectable in this state."
The same state that Reagan was governor of for two terms, as a conservative Republican?
I certainly hope there aren't many more of you at home who have the loudest voices of complaint yet you couldn't get off your rear for a few minutes last month and go and vote for the propositions that would have helped the State and the Republican Party.
Why is anyone surprised with those in-laws?
Now. Is Susan Kennedy any relation?
Found this, too: Stop Susan Kennedy.com, which I imagine you are all aware of.
The same state that Reagan was governor of for two terms, as a conservative Republican?
But the demographics really have changed.
Like I've said for years: Never send a RINO to do a man's job.
Please define rino. Would someone who creates a massive new government department , starts the biggest entitlement program since FDR , subsidizes large chunks of rural farms at the hands of Hard Working taxpayers and calls islam a religion of peace qualify ?
Magical things happen with good leadership.
two words . Margaret Thatcher !
I doubt the demographic challenges have changed in a meaningful way.
California has been a "progressive" state for a number of generations, with adhearants in both political parties. Earl Warren and Hiram Johnson, for instance, both Republicans, but practicing what is now called Democrat politics.
What Reagan had going for him was an issue, which the Democrats were unable to address, and that was the radicalization of campuses. Republicans ARE NOT the natual ruling party in California, but they CAN exploit the Dems' weakness of being Democrats.
The recall election, if at any point, was when a guy like McClintock had a good chance to become Governor. Thanks to party leadership and enough machivaelian rank and file, they helped push Schwarzenegger over the top. We were fed the idea that, no he's not a full on conservative, but conservative policies would be incrementally achieved. And as I think we can all see now, and for that matter predicted last year, Schwarzenegger has veered left.
So the recall was a waste, the conservatives get saddled with Schwarzeneggers shortcomings via "guilt by association," and the California GOP is pushed further back. There was a golden opportunity to take significant support from Democrat voters and propel it into a reform movement under McClintock.
That's a compassionate communitarian, not a conservative
;-)
<< "McLintock was and is unelectable in this state."
The same state that Reagan was governor of for two terms, as a conservative Republican? >>
I knew my old boss - and hero - the former president and armed-forces commander-in-chief, Ronald Wilson Reagan.
And, much as I wish he was something different, Mr McLintock is a career Californian politician - not Ronald Wilson Reagan.
And my poor paraphrasing of decadent "Democrats" aside, nor did Mr Reagan have to win the votes of ten million criminal aliens, dead folks and felons.
Republicans seem to be masters at throwing away opportunities.
You are right.
As I "recall" from the 2003 CA recall debate, Schwarzenegger "outperformed" all of the rivals. McClintock seemed defensive, hesitant, and afraid to speak his mind because he would antagonize "moderates." Still had I been a CA voter, I would surely have cast one of those meaningless votes for McClintock.
Melanie Morgan is outside my reception area. Did she publicly support Schwarzenegger during the recall, and did she support the special election propositions?
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