Conservatives are already up in arms about some recent moves by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger — who ran as an independent centrist in the recall election but moved right and has subsequently watched his poll numbers go down, culminating in a wipe-out-loss during last month’s special election.
Now they’ll be even unhappier with the news that Schwarzenegger, who is clearly inching back towards the center and a more independent stance, has picked a moderate to replace a conservative judge:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named Carol A. Corrigan to the California Supreme Court this morning, replacing a conservative ideologue with a judicial moderate.
Corrigan is a former prosecutor, former Democrat and self-described centrist who will replace the notable conservative Justice Janice Rogers Brown, who left last summer to take up a presidential appointment to a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.
“She’s a brilliant jurist,” Schwarzenegger said today, referring to Corrigan as “classy,” “experienced” and “knowledgeable.”
Corrigan, 57, becomes the sixth Republican on the court. One justice is a Democrat..
Conservatives have been up in arms since it became clear that Schwazenegger was going to alter his course in the wake of last month’s disastrous special election that seemingly decimated his clout. The furor has still not calmed down over Schwarzenegger’s appointment of top Democrat Susan Kennedy as his chief of staff.
Schwarzenegger’s selection of Kennedy, 45, is high political drama. She is no rank-and-file Democrat. She was deputy chief of staff and cabinet secretary to Gov. Gray Davis, whom Schwarzenegger replaced after the 2003 recall election. She has been a top official in the California Democratic Party and for an abortion-rights group. She is one of the highest-profile gays in California politics.
“She’s willing to set her Democratic philosophy aside and do the job and do my vision – to be able to work together with Democrats and Republicans,” Schwarzenegger said Wednesday at a news conference announcing Kennedy’s appointment.Kennedy said her moderate views are not that different from those of Schwarzenegger’s, but their alliance carries risks for both.
“If this governor is willing to risk his legacy to take a chance on me, I’m willing to risk my political career by doing what I think is right,” said Kennedy, a Davis appointee to the Public Utilities Commission, where she has earned praise from business interests and scorn from consumer groups.
Kennedy replaces Patricia Clarey, a Republican who had worked for Gov. Pete Wilson and who hired many GOP loyalists to serve in the top ranks of Schwarzenegger’s administration. Wednesday, Clarey submitted her resignation effective at year’s end.
Some GOPers even suggested trying to get Mel Gibson to run against Schwareznegger. But don’t forget: many Republicans DID NOT LIKE Schwarzenegger when he burst onto the scene — and only backed him in the recall because he seemed the strongest candidate and there were hopes that his ascension to power could begin a GOP comeback a largely Democratic state.
Now some prominent political pros are wondering aloud if Schwarzenegger might not be better off without the GOP at all. Dan Schnur, a Republican political consultant who advised former Gov. Pete Wilson and Sen. John McCain, wrote in the LA Times:
Arnold Schwarzenegger run for reelection as an independent?
Schwarzenegger is a centrist — conservative on taxes, crime and illegal immigration, and moderate on cultural and environmental issues. That balance is what attracted the support of swing voters when he was elected two years ago. But it has also kept him from forming a stronger relationship with the most ideologically committed members of his Republican Party….
THE UNIQUE dynamics of the recall election had allowed Schwarzenegger to run from the center, helping him avoid a GOP primary in which his moderate social and environmental positions could have caused him problems with a right-leaning electorate. Running for reelection as an independent would allow him the same opportunity. State law would have to be changed to allow him to alter his party registration so close to an election. But leaders of both major parties would have a vested interest in persuading their supporters to approve such a change…..If Schwarzenegger is truly an independent, who supports Republican positions on some issues and Democratic positions on others, maybe his reelection campaign would be a good time to come out and say it.
PERSONAL NOTE: Yours truly was one of the people who voted for Schwarzenegger because he was not then-Governor Gray Davis and seemed to be a true independent. NOT because he had an “R” in front of his name. He has governed differently than the game he talked when he ran for election. As a result, as in the case with George Bush, polls show that he lost huge chunks of independent voter (as well as Democratic) support. He started off with high poll ratings and was compared to Ronald Reagan; by last November’s election he had low poll ratings and was being compared to Jesse Ventura.
So now he’s inching back towards the center. If he doesn’t, he may well need to start looking at scripts for his next film to resume a fulltime film career. Any reading of California’s polls (let alone the election results) gives this clear message: his approach so far has not worked.