This is probably not a surprise to anyone, but Senate President Don Perata, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (pictured to the right on the campaign trail with Phil Angelides), and the rest of the Democratic legislators who hold majorities in both houses of the legislature do not want a Republican Governor — specifically, they would like to see Arnold Schwarzenegger lose in November, and fail dismally in his leadership of California between now and then. Why? Because as partisan Democrats, they would like to see one of their own party members occupy the highest public office in the state.
This becomes important because in this election year, there is simply no way to avoid the reality that the partisan elections that are underway have already and will continue to ensure that the legislative Democrats will do anything and everything to see Governor Schwarzenegger embarrassed and do poorly — after all, you need only look at the endorsements lists on the websites of Phil Angelides and Steve Westly to see where their loyalties are…they want to dump Arnold.
Because of this stark reality, it is folly to gear up an election campaign that is themed around the idea that these partisan Democrats are going to give legislative victories to the Governor — unless, as we just saw with the bond debate, the Governor is willing to completely abandon his own strong fiscally conservative leanings and jump so far through the Perata/Nunez hoops that he leaves his own base, and GOP legislators behind. In the end, you can count on legislative Democrats sticking it to the Governor every chance they get.
That is why Governor Schwarzenegger should make as the center of his campaign for re-election a 
direct campaign to the electorate, like only he can do, and like he has successfully done in the past. First and foremost, he can bring Republicans together behind a solid infrastructure proposal with a significant pay-as-you-go component that is taken to the November ballot via the initiative process. This maintains the Governor’s key theme of addressing our state’s serious infrastructure needs, and also will unify the party. The timing is now perfect to move in this direction — after all, the Governor can clearly point to his very genuine and heartfelt efforts to work towards a legislative solution to infrastructure, and the ‘hijacking’ of his Strategic Growth Plan by liberals who loaded it up with so many billions in non-essential social-engineering pork so that it hardly resembled the original plan.
Pair up a pay-as-you-go centered infrastructure initiative with a strong companion initiative on property rights/eminent domain reforms, and some strong proposals for positive solutions for California in light of the incredible problems this state is experiencing with the influx and presence of so many illegal immigrants — and you have the makings of a campaign that will both energize the conservative base that helped to elect the Governor, and strike resonant chords with swing voters – conservative Democrats and decline-to-state voters.
One this is for certain — setting any further expectations that anything substantive is going to be achieved by working with legislative Democrats is merely setting us all up for further disappointment. The reality is that it is virtually impossible to separate policy from politics — and especially in the politically-charged environment that we find ourselves in right now. Add to this that legislative Democrats are more emboldened than ever. After all, they are telling everyone that the Governor failed because he did not pass a plan. Again, remember, a look at where these legislators have made their endorsements could have told you — they are committed to defeating Arnold Schwarzenegger.
While there are a host of ‘George Skeltonesque’ reporters and columnists out there that will continue to write about how the Governor can and should work with legislative Democrats — I would think that the experience of the last few weeks, with Democrats being unrelenting in their quest to pork-up the bond proposals has demostrated their clear mission — grow government and dump Arnold.
I know this stark reality is disappointing. After all, I believe that the Governor is sincere in his desire and willingness to want to bring people together towards common solutions. But that simply is not where the Democrats are coming from. They have resented Governor Schwarzenegger ever since he replaced Gray Davis, and are focused on ousting him from office.
The good news is that the Democrats that we are talking about in the state legislature are significantly to the left of most Democrat voters in California. So as they continue to water-down Jessica’s law, load up infrastructure packages with social spending, and look for ways to tax and spend California into a recession — they will alienate themselves from the moderate California voters who will decide this election.
Governor, you enjoy the support of Republicans, and the GOP is solidly committed to your re-election. But with equal vigor and resolve, the State Democratic Party and their minions in the legislature are committed to sending you back into a full-time acting career. Don’t tie your fortunes, and the expectations of voters, on an ability to work with them. They will use it to work to your ruin.
Care to read comments, or make your own about today’s Daily Commentary?
Just click here to go to the FR Weblog, where this Commentary has its own blog post, and where you can read and make comments.