Here’s my question for angry Republicans, especially my colleagues who post to this website:
If Schwarzenegger had not named a Democrat to be his chief of staff last month, would you be this upset about his speech tonight?
Let’s assume that he doesn’t raise taxes, or exceed the six percent limit for debt service. He can then argue that this bonding would have happened anyway over the next ten years, but better to plan it out rather than doing it piecemeal.
And let’s assume that the Retailers’ Association, the State Chamber, etc continue to support the minimum wage increase. (Which I don’t remember anyone going crazy about last summer when Schwarzenegger offered the same deal to the Democrats that he proposed tonight).
Obviously, no true-blooded fiscal conservative is going to love these things, but would they be grounds for a primary challenge if he’d hired Curt Pringle instead of Susan Kennedy?
(And by the way, I’m still waiting for the name of a plausible challenger who can make more of an impact as Ron Unz against Pete Wilson.)
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not taking up Arnold’s cause. I’m still working through in my own mind what I think of how he’s governed. But except for Mike der Manuel, no one on this site has explained what their thresholds are for supporting Schwarzenegger, opposing him, or sitting home in November.
So educate me….