Who will Arnold endorse?

22 July 2010 |permalink | email article

Does Gov. Schwarzenegger’s mere 22 percent approval rating in the recent Field Poll make him too toxic to embrace as Republican Meg Whitman and Democrat Jerry Brown escalate their battle to succeed him? No, and he may surprise the pundits.

As Politico noted fellow Republican Whitman does her best to pretend that he’s on the other side of the political spectrum which is another way of reminding Californians that they voted recently for an untested, nonpolitician GOP-er and they haven’t been thrilled with the results. (The former eBay CEO ’has no political experience, and failed to register as a Republican until 2007.)

Should Schwarzenegger be able to forge some late comprehensive reforms before the election and remove the state budget crisis from the table that Whitman is running on, but which the governor has yet to accomplish, critics will ask one question of the billionaire: how can you make it work while he couldn’t?

In the June 8 primary the governor told The Washington Post that he had “too many things on my plate.” Asked about Whitman, he replied, “You’re assuming I’m going to endorse a Republican.” The two have had less than a cozy relationship as she pours millions into an effort to crush two-term former Gov. Brown. He, on the other hand, has a very good relationship forged with Schwarzenegger years ago. Maria Shiver, his wife, is a Democrat and member of the Kennedy clan. Her influence cannot be underestimated.

What they said

“I think there’s a good reason for a conservative to vote yes, and that’s provided in the Constitution. The Senate should have a special and strong reason for the denial of confirmation.” – Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the only Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee to vote for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, telling his peers before reading to them Federalist No.6, by Alexander Hamilton.

“Shirley Sherrod is right: a lot of people are spending a lot of energy to get folks like the Spooners and Sherrod to think they should become enemies, when the real issue is class. The left should remember that lesson, because the right is invested in making sure no one learns it.” Joan Walsh in Salon, discussing the shame of right-wing “journalism,” and the outrageous firing of Sherrod, the African-American USDA official, and white farmers Roger and Eloise Spooner who came forward to support her. 

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