csua.org/u/bww -> www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2005/0505.barabak.html
html&j=n The governor of California is seated in his offic e at Oak Productions, smoking a cigar and sipping espresso, his black co wboy boots propped on the distressed wood table before him. The Santa Monica outpost, which houses the governor's film company, doubles as his state office whenever Arnold Sch warzenegger is in the neighborhood. It is quite unlike any governor's of fice anywhere in the country, that much is certain. The walls are lined with movie posters and photographs of Schwarzenegger in all manner of po litical and commercial poses. Outside the door to his inner office stand s a life-size mock up of Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, his face half gone and a red laser eye gleaming. Inside the office, amid a jumble of movie memorabilia, rests a stuffed crocodile. Overall, the effect is int erior design by a very rich, very extravagant 16 year-old. The governor is speaking of his role on a larger stage as smooth jazz waf ts in the background. I'm not elected to represent the Republicans, Schwarzenegger said ov er the course of a 55-minute interview with The Washington Monthly. it does not have on there anywhere to get more Republicans registered.... His support for gay rights, stem-cell research, legal abortion, gun control, vigorous environmental protection, and pri sons that focus less on punishment and more on rehabilitation are hardly in the mainstream of GOP thinking. He suggests that religion should hav e no effect on politics,' giving a back-of-the-hand to the Christian con servatives who have become a pillar of the national party. In many ways, Schwarzenegger's style and philosophy recall those of California's last celebrity governor, Jerry Brown, who famously practiced what he called canoe politics: Paddle a little on the left, paddle a little on the righ t, and keep on going right down the middle. Or, as Schwarzenegger himsel f put it: One has to find some kind of happy medium in this whole thing.
It may not win hearts and minds in the ruddiest red-state precincts. But it may be the only way for Schwarzenegger to succeed in California, wher e the GOP remains a distinct minority in both the statehouse and among r egistered voters. Schwarzenegger is something of an anomaly in Sacrament o, not quite an accidental governor, but one elected under extraordinary circumstances: a recall election that short-circuited the usual politic al process and played like campaign burlesque. It may have been the only way Schwarzenegger could have been elected governor, even in California . The glamour and novelty he brought to the drowsy state capital served him well throughout his first year in office. But in the second reel, much of the glitter has started flaking from California's movie-star governor , making him appear a good deal more like one of the standard-issue poli ticians he regularly vilifies. When he was first elected, some Republican strategistsas well as fretful Democratsthought Schwarzenegger's centrist approach, enticing to voters of both parties, might represent the future of an even more dominant nat ional GOP. There was discussion of amending the Constitution to let an i mmigrant like the Austrian-born Schwarzenegger become president and spec ulation that he, like a certain other actor-turned-California-governor, would become a transformative national figure. But in recent months, such talk has diminished considerably. Schwarzenegg er showed during the recall that conventional politicians in a hurry-up campaign are no match for someone of his outsized personality. He has been forced to pare back much of h is second-year reform agenda. His poll numbers are sagging, and newly em boldened Democrats are challenging the governor at every turn. Now, the question is whether Schwarzenegger can make the transition from a cartoo n-like character, all swagger and bluster, into a political leader capab le of using his fame and considerable charm to achieve something lasting and meaningful. Can he repeat the success of Ronald Reagan, who picked up Barry Goldwater 's fallen standard and made Western conservatism the governing philosoph y of the Republican Party? Or is Schwarzenegger destined to relive the i mplosion of Jesse Ventura, another muscle-bound insurgent who won early acclaim as Minnesota governor, stumbled badly, then disappearedfrom poli tics anywaywithout a trace? Benchmarking Reagan Back in the 1970s, when Ronald Reagan was California governor, the Los An geles County Republican Party sponsored a biannual seminar known as the Western Winner's Roundup. From across the region, GOP nominees for Congr ess and state legislatures would gather at an airport hotel for a series of workshops on campaign strategy and tactics. pr ivately, staffers called it the Western Loser's Roundup, reflecting the often mediocre quality of the candidates and their dismal performance on Election Day. The governor would arrive early and retire to a small conference room where he would indivi dually greet each of the candidates and pose for an hour or so before di nner. Smiling his crinkly smile, treating his supplicants like the big s hots they weren't, Reagan appeared in grip-and-grin photos from the Casc ade Mountains to the Sonoran Desert. The current governor of California is decidedly more stinting in his poli tical generosity. When Republican candidates gathered after the 2004 pri maries at a luxury hotel across the street from the state Capitol, Schwa rzenegger dropped by and posed for portraits with the hopefuls. But afte rward, his office controlled the pictures for release at the governor's discretion. Senate candidate Bill Jones, who was waging a hapless struggle again st Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer, reporters and camera crews were b arred. He was e lected governor essentially as a nonpartisan combatant. The effort to re call Democrat Gray Davis had been led by conservative Republicans; but o nce they gathered the voter signatures needed to force a special electio n, the field was open to all comers. In all, 135 candidates eventually m ade the ballot, including a Ripley's menagerie of hustlers, performance artists and other unabashed publicity-seekers, most of whom were not alr eady politicians. There was no primary and no runoff, thus no need to pa ss the litmus tests of one party or another. Schwarzenegger ran not as a Republican but a reformer, with a message perfectly pitched to one of C alifornia's regular voter upheavals. In a state that's still as blue as the Pacific (Democrats enjoy an 85-po int registration edge over Republicans, virtually the same as before the governor was elected), keeping the Republican Party at arm's length may be the smartest way for Schwarzenegger to position himself for reelecti on in 2006, should he run. Bu t in the roughly year-and-a-half since, his record has been decidedly mi xed, stopping well short of the extravagant promises he made while campa igning and the larger-than-life image he brought to Sacramento. Upon taking office, Schwarzenegger immediately repealed an unpopular vehi cle license feeblowing a further $4 billion hole in the state budgetand overturned legislation that would have granted driver's licenses to ille gal immigrants. He worked with Democrats t o overhaul the workers' compensation system, renegotiated gambling compa cts with the state's Indian tribes, and forged a bipartisan coalition to push through a $15 billion borrowing measure that kicked California's f iscal reckoning further down the road, limiting the pain for politicians in both parties. But as Dan Schnur, a Republican strategist and one of Sacramento's wryest observers, put it, Nobody builds statues to the guy who passed workmen's comp reform. Schwarzenegger began the new year by setting his sights considerably high er. In his January 2005 State of the State address, he outlined the most ambitious legislative agenda Sacramento has seen in a very long time. H e proposed paying teachers based on merit and not their length of employ ment, partially privatizing the retirement system for state employees, e nshrining a legal limit on state spending, eliminating nearly 100 bureau cratic boards and commissio...
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