I’ve said before that I don’t see the world from the same perspective as columnist William Bradley, who writes for the Los Angeles Weekly. But I have also said that he is an extremely talented writer, who continues to produce some well-written and thought-provoking columns. I just read his latest one, and feel it is worth sharing. In it, he pens a version of how he believes Governor Schwarzenegger began his rightward/Republican shift (which, of couse, Bradley characterizes as "wrong"). Did it all happen the way Bradley pens it? Well, perhaps only the Governor, and advisors Mike Murphy, Pat Clarey, Rob Stutzman, and Richard Costigan know the answer. Nevertheless, fun reading:
RAW DEAL II
INSIDE THE FATEFUL 2004 MEETING WHERE AIDES
STEERED THE GOVERNOR WRONG
BILL BRADLEY – LOS ANGELES WEEKLY
INSIDE THE FATEFUL 2004 MEETING WHERE AIDES
STEERED THE GOVERNOR WRONG
BILL BRADLEY – LOS ANGELES WEEKLY
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As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s failed “Year of Reform” draws to a merciful close, it’s worth looking at how and why he made his fateful right turn in private meetings in August 2004 on what one top Republican calls “Arnold’s Hiroshima Day.” Especially since he’s shifting back to the center.
The crucial secret meetings that set the rightward “Year of Reform” direction occurred on August 5 and 6 (the anniversary of the American nuking of Hiroshima, Japan, to end World War II and of his announcement of candidacy on The Tonight Show) in Sacramento’s Sheraton Grand and Hyatt Regency hotels. There the cabal of advisers that clearly seized the wheel in his operation — strategist Mike Murphy, chief of staff Pat Clarey, communications director Rob Stutzman and legislative director Richard Costigan (late of the Chamber of Commerce) — carried the day. They advised the governor to move to the right, as Republican insiders tell it, become much more clearly a partisan Republican, intervene personally in legislative races up and down the state in an effort to take a host of Democratic districts, speak at the Republican National Convention, and campaign for George W. Bush. The 2005 special election idea was also promoted. (This became a definite go when he lost all the legislative races, and used reapportionment as the excuse.)
The crucial secret meetings that set the rightward “Year of Reform” direction occurred on August 5 and 6 (the anniversary of the American nuking of Hiroshima, Japan, to end World War II and of his announcement of candidacy on The Tonight Show) in Sacramento’s Sheraton Grand and Hyatt Regency hotels. There the cabal of advisers that clearly seized the wheel in his operation — strategist Mike Murphy, chief of staff Pat Clarey, communications director Rob Stutzman and legislative director Richard Costigan (late of the Chamber of Commerce) — carried the day. They advised the governor to move to the right, as Republican insiders tell it, become much more clearly a partisan Republican, intervene personally in legislative races up and down the state in an effort to take a host of Democratic districts, speak at the Republican National Convention, and campaign for George W. Bush. The 2005 special election idea was also promoted. (This became a definite go when he lost all the legislative races, and used reapportionment as the excuse.)
Read the full colum here.