Schwarzenegger Moves Right to Placate Republicans at State Convention

“We caught up today with the Rev. Lou Sheldon, head of the Traditional Values Coalition -- an evangelical Christian advocacy group -- at the state Republican convention, which is ramping up for the weekend at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. He would not confirm nor deny reports that Ben Lopez, TVC's California lobbyist and legislative analyst, has been hired by the state Republican Party with the idea of helping reach out to evangelicals for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's re-election campaign.

Lopez, according to the TVC offices, is "on leave until November."

Later on in the article is it confirmed by the Republican State Party Chair that in fact he has been hired, but not before a nice little harangue by the right-wing Lou Sheldon against gays that I’m sure Schwarzenegger’s folks would not want to see in print for the moderate or Democratic voters of this state.

The LA Times article reports the following:

“To keep conservatives in line, Schwarzenegger campaign operatives have quietly launched efforts to rally support among Christian fundamentalists, gun owners and other Republicans who have long been wary of the governor and backed him only grudgingly.”

As they analyze matters, the question is not whether Schwarzenegger will get most of the conservative vote, but whether they will turn out in the election to vote, especially considering national trends. They quote Mark Baldassare, Research Director of the Public Policy Institute of California as saying: "For Schwarzenegger, the question becomes: Can he get the Republican base to come out in large numbers and enthusiastically support his candidacy?"

Larry N. Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State University, put it this way: "When you walk the political high-wire act in California, as one has to do, you bend over in one direction and you'll fall hard."

The LA Times also reports the following:

“In other recent gestures of solidarity with conservatives, Schwarzenegger named former Rep. James E. Rogan, a manager of former President Clinton's impeachment, as a Superior Court judge, going out of his way to announce the appointment two months before the position opened. He also fought to stop the removal of a 43-foot-tall cross from a war memorial on public land atop Mt. Soledad in San Diego.”

I’ve noticed in the Governor’s appointments in the last few days a tilt to the right. He has clearly come to this convention bearing gifts—in the form of two Republicans appointed to the University of California Board of Regents and other positions. I don’t think the timing is coincidental.

Another noted expert points out the importance of national trends in the Times article:

“Tony Quinn, co-editor of the California Target Book election guide, sees the depressed mood of Republicans nationwide as the biggest potential peril for Schwarzenegger — even larger than the qualms of conservatives about his policies.

In California, Quinn said, national political tides were important forces in the elections of Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1966 and Gov. Jerry Brown in 1974, and padded the victory margin of Gov. Pete Wilson in 1994.”

The San Francisco Chronicle story begins:

“Councilman Richard Nichols won't be among those cheering when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger takes the stage this weekend at the state Republican Convention in Los Angeles. Like a lot of conservative voters, the 66-year-old Nichols said he's disillusioned with the governor's recent efforts to recast himself as a political moderate in order to curry favor among Democrats and independent voters. …

"I've not endorsed the governor, even though they've asked me a number of times to do so," Nichols said. "I feel he's abandoned the constituency that elected him."

They quote from another political expert:

“The charge is a serious one that voters from both parties pay close attention to, said Thad Kousser, a political scientist at UC San Diego. "As the last presidential election made clear -- changing positions can be more damaging to a candidate than having unpopular positions," he said. "Not being steadfast becomes a character issue."

What Kousser is saying is about character and changes of positions is remarkably similar to what we had to say in one of the first articles we wrote after launching the California Progresss report just after the last Republican convention the end of February. Read “Character or Issues in the Governor’s Race? Two Sides of the Same Coin.” and you’ll see it’s déjà vu all over again.

More to come on how the Democrats are having fun with this one.