The infrastructure bonds that the legislature put on the November ballot this morning will re-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger. Already armed with advantages over either of his Democratic opponents on taxes, driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, and Jessica’s Law, the presence of bonds providing money for road, school and levee construction gives Schwarzenegger an issues arsenal that will be almost impossible for either Steve Westly or Phil Angelides to defeat.
The two strongest arguments against Arnold’s re-election — the criticisms that took him down in last year’s special election — have been that he has accomplished very little in office and that he’s short-changed the state’s schools. Earlier this week, it was announced that the state would take in roughly $4 billion more in tax revenue than had been anticipated. It’s a virtual certainty that Schwarzenegger will use the majority of that money to repay money that the teachers’ unions have argued he owes K-12 education, leaving his Democratic opponent to argue that they would have increased school funding one year earlier than Arnold did. Not exactly a rallying cry to bring the voters to the streets….
So now the only thing as certain to Californians as gridlock at rush hour is that their governor will spend a good part of the fall campaign holding news conferences in front of those traffic jams promising to eliminate them. Angelides or Westly can either “me-too” Arnold and support the bond package or end up looking like they’re opposed to more schools, levies, and roads. Can you be in favor of road construction but against the bond? Sure you can. but try to explain that in a thirty-second television ad.
California swing voters are commuters. Most of them are parents. Many live on flood plains, and the rest watched television coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Schwarzenegger just won those voters back.
It would still be smart for Arnold to be making more of an effort to motivate the Republican Party faithful. Promising no new taxes and no more child molestors is a good start, but it wouldn’t be bad if he found at least one more plank for his platform that could rally the GOP base without driving away the middle. But a new parental notification initiative appears to have qualified for the November ballot as well, which can motivate social conservatives. And the property rights/eminent domain issue is still sitting there waiting for him. Let’s see if he thinks he still needs it.