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November 14, 2005
Arnold And The Failed Initiatives
Mike Antonucci's weekly Communique at EIA Online has a good analysis of the failure of the California election initiatives:
Arnold and the California GOP – An Associated Press headline screams, "Republicans Blame Schwarzenegger." That's chutzpah for you. This is a party that can't get anyone elected to statewide office and is heading for Hawaii levels in number of Republicans in the legislature -- despite gerrymandering. The only reason Arnold called a special election is because his party is too weak to do anything in the state, and the other party wouldn't cut a deal. He had one arrow in his quiver – his undeniable charisma – and he shot it. It got him nothing but a 30-point drop in approval ratings.
Without him, the California GOP has nothing. Fortunately, the governor still wields the veto pen, which should be enough to prevent any further raid on the state treasury.
Interesting, especially the part about the lack of Republican power at the state house level--it's not as if there were no Republicans in California. Mike write regularly on one of the most powerful forces in American electoral politics: the collective power of the teachers' unions. These are organizations whose preference for job preservation over effective education is completely institutionalized. Mike wields a small but very pointed stick; trouble is we need a lot more of them.
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