Wednesday, February 25, 2004

California Politics: Schwarzenegger and Gay Marriage (6 of 7)

The only strong talent he's shown so far is record fundraising: Governor gets big bucks for key bond drive: $800,000 raised in New York and Viriginia San Francisco Chronicle 02/25/04. Why is California's governor raising $800 thousand in New York and Virginia to spend on a California state ballot proposition? It's questions like that the press should be pursuing rather than fretting about whether his style with tame "bulldog" Timmy Russert was too narcissistic.

But the large campaign contributions fueled charges by critics that Schwarzenegger is reneging on his promise to reduce the influence of special interest money in Sacramento. The East Coast fund-raising tour came just days after the governor proposed to bar contributions to state officials while lawmakers craft the budget.

Donors to a Manhattan fund-raising dinner Tuesday night were initially asked to give as much $500,000 for a 10-seat table. The price tag drew criticism from campaign finance groups, but a campaign spokesman said most donors gave $10,000 to $25,000 to attend.

The Greenlining Institute, a San Francisco-based public interest group, issued an open letter to Schwarzenegger on Tuesday criticizing him for raising $6.4 million from special interests over four months, saying it was 50 percent more than former Gov. Gray Davis had raised during his first four months in office.

Just how is Schwarzenegger's approach different from the Halliburton crony capitalism that dominates the national Republican Party? Hey, look, over there!!! - Arnie used another cute movie metaphor in his speech!

And it's not just the press that is being feckless about this new, inexperienced governor with what looks suspiciously like an authoritarian streak. The Democrats, as this article points out, have been cheerfully willing to accomodate Schwarzenegger on a number of things. I'm actually surprised at this - unpleasantly so.

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