From Seattle writer and consultant Matt Rosenberg...: Arnold's Endless Campaign For A Better California

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Arnold's Endless Campaign For A Better California

February 24, 2005

At his blog California Insider, Sac Bee political columnist Daniel Weintraub highlights early polls showing support for The Governator's latest round of Direct Democracy ballot initiatives to outflank a typically recalcitrant legislature. A recent poll shows majority support, tho not overwhelming, for all four measures Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's allies will push to place on the fall ballot if the state House and Senate don't enact closely-similar legislation beforehand.

The initiatives would:

institute merit pay for public school teachers;

let judges, not legislators, handle legislative redistricting;

replace state pensions for new state workers with 401(k) accounts;

and, help balance the state's budget.

The poll also shows some hesitation about approving the special election that would be required, due to the price tag. In another post today, Weintraub says that won't be a stumbling block; Californians love to vote:

Aside from the specifics on the issues in the Field Poll, much is being made (mainly by Democrats) of the public's distaste for a special election once they hear how much it will cost....Voters tend to forgive the cost of a special election as the voting draws near and they lick their chops at getting another chance at direct democracy.

Arnold's approval rating has dropped from a high of 65 percent to 55 percent. I hope his approval rating drops even further. He's taking charge, continuing to get the state in order, and cheesing some people off in the process.

That's leadership. And I really don't care that he's a preening populist politician. While I hope that the modulated, smooth Republican deal-maker Dino Rossi ascends to Washington's governorship after the current legal challenge to Democrat Christine Gregoire's razor-thin win in an error-plagued election, our state really needs its own Arnold in Olympia to shake things up. Someone like shaven-headed ex-Seattle Mariners slugger Jay Buhner, who supported Rossi for Governor, BTW. Someone with the persona to get right in the face of a Democratic legislature, using the initiative process and frequent, direct public appeals like Arnold has.