Gov. Schwarzenegger may or may not realize he's playing with fire in doing this. But this is a good article on his plan to use initiatives to strengthen his own executive power as governor. Part of what that means is that he will need to raise far greater amounts of campaign funds than even Gray Davis did. The writer comments that initiatives can be two-edged swords. He's right.
Schwarzenegger's Populist Beliefs Guide His Strategy Los Angeles Times online 11/23/03
<< Schwarzenegger could be supporting or sponsoring as many as four measures on the March ballot and as many as half a dozen next November.
<< If he goes forward, the governor will offer a new twist on the notion of modern politics as a "permanent campaign." He also will be embracing direct democracy with a fervor striking even for California, where politics has been dominated by citizens' initiatives for more than a generation. ...
<< Rather than disbanding his campaign aides, he has kept them in place. Last week, an official of Navigators, the Washington, D.C., political consulting firm of top Schwarzenegger strategist Mike Murphy, was scouting office locations in Sacramento. The governor also has asked campaign donors to "open their wallets" again for his ballot measures. ...
<< Using ballot measures to govern "turns the day-to-day business of democracy into big events that depend on marketing and large publics," said Martin Kaplan, director of USC's Norman Lear Center, which studies the intersection of politics and entertainment. ... >>
Ballot initiatives are just as subject to big money influence as elections for individual candidates. Especially if there are many of them.
But Schwarzenegger may find that not only Republicans and business lobbyists can sponsor ballot initiatives.
2 comments:
I thought he was elected governor in order to govern. If the people are going to choose the course why do we need political leaders?
He seems to be using ballot initiatives in order to deflect responsibility for whatever bad decisions are made.
I think that's probably part of the motivation. By using ballot initiatives to dramatically identify himself with "the will of the people," he probably hopes to give voters a sense that they've endorsed what he's done. Part of the problem with that, though, is that the more initiatives that get passed, the more vindictive voters become against "the politicians." Gov. S is promoting the vicious cycle, not changing it. - Bruce
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