Wow! Right there on the front page, a news article in the San Francisco Chronicle sees past the conventional wisdom about Gov. Schwarzenegger's star power sweeping Propositions 57 (bonds) and 58 (reserves, borrowing restrictions) to victory. Props 57, 58 unite Dems and governor 03/01/04 (my empahsis)
Schwarzenegger has staked a big portion of his political capital on Propositions 57 and 58, which appear on Tuesday's ballot. After running a campaign based in part on threatening to "go over the heads" of the Democratic-led Legislature if it refuses his proposals, Schwarzenegger would undoubtedly lose stature in the Capitol if the measures fail.
That article states it correctly: losing on Props 57 and 58 would look really bad for Schwarzenegger. But winning with broad bipartisan support is hardly a political miracle.
This article also shows how leading Democrats have been willing to let Schwarzenegger stage the Prop 57/58 campaign as a bipartisan love fest. I understand the Democrats' reasoning, mostly. To put it charitably, they're picking their fights and are avoiding having to make budget decisions with far-reaching implications while the state budget is battered by the effects of the Bush recession and job-loss recovery.
Put less charitably, they prefer to avoid uncomfortable decisions on the budget just like Schwarzenegger and the Republicans. But California may be in the midst of one of those "democractic moments" (as Jerry Brown calls them) where enough people are focused on political concerns that they may force their partisan leaders to step out of their comfortable routines for a while.
The fact that State Tresurer Phil Angelides has publicly opposed Prop 57 (though without mounting a campaign against it) in itself probably gives him considerable extra credibility for the 2006 Democratic gubernatorial primary as a guy who's willing to fight Schwarzenegger and the Republicans.
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