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Gov. Has Label for Unions: Liar

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Times Staff Writer

While focusing on a conservative audience Tuesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger launched an assault against unions and Democrats by accusing them of “dirty” campaigning and lying about the initiatives he supports on next week’s ballot.

The governor’s complaints came as the California Nurses Assn., one of Schwarzenegger’s chief critics, unveiled a new 60-second radio advertisement featuring actor Warren Beatty encouraging a vote against the governor Nov. 8.

“Don’t give him more power,” Beatty says in the ad, which is running in Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

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In an interview, Beatty, a longtime Democratic activist, said the governor’s plans would unfairly burden working people -- nurses, teachers, firefighters -- and could “ripple back through the country.

“This is really kind of anti-New Deal stuff,” Beatty said. “This is scapegoating people that shouldn’t be scapegoated.”

The governor, traveling to the Republican areas of Palm Springs, Bakersfield and San Luis Obispo, spent much of the day complaining about his opponents’ tactics. He said unions are afraid their members will support Proposition 75, which would require yearly permission before spending dues for political campaigns.

“This is why they are getting very dirty with their campaign. It’s all scare tactics that you see on television,” Schwarzenegger said on KFMB-AM (760) San Diego. “It’s that. ‘The governor wants a power grab; that he wants to take money from education; he wants to hurt the nurses and the firefighters.’ It’s all untrue.”

In mocking tones over the past few weeks, his union opponents have dubbed Democrats who support Schwarzenegger “Benedict Arnolds” and jostled a Schwarzenegger supporter at a recent union rally. They likened the governor to Dr. Evil, Boss Hogg, the Wizard of Oz, Daddy Warbucks, Tonya Harding, the Joker, former Gov. Pete Wilson, and rapper Vanilla Ice, all in one news release.

As their prime example of unfair campaigning, the governor’s aides denounced a small protest by religious leaders that took place across the street from Schwarzenegger’s church in Santa Monica.

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Spokesman Todd Harris said the protest, coming on All Saints Day, was “not only tacky but an insult to all Californians of faith.”

Standing across the street from Saint Monica’s Catholic Church, where Schwarzenegger regularly worships, about 10 members of a religious coalition said they chose to hold a news conference in front of the governor’s church to focus attention on the morality of the initiatives.

“This governor has tried to silence the working people,” said the Rev. Sandie Richards of First United Methodist Church of Los Angeles. Rather than attending $10,000-per-plate fundraisers, she said, Schwarzenegger “needs to create coalitions of understanding, not to take a lot of money to force his will upon us.”

Saint Monica’s was full of worshipers attending Mass as the news conference progressed. The church declined to comment in detail, but Ned Dolejsi, executive director of the California Catholic Conference, said the group was concerned that the protest was “religious grandstanding.”

“I think it’s a sad day in politics,” said Genevieve Peters, 42, of Beverly Hills. “That’s wonderful that they feel strongly about their faith, but this is not the place, this is not the place for this.”

Richards defended the location of the rally, which was organized by the Alliance for a Better California, a union group: “Morality is indeed a question in politics. We are duty bound and honor bound to speak up.” Another religious-themed rally is scheduled for today at the Capitol.

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Schwarzenegger was less upset than his supporters and his own campaign spokesman. At a stop in San Luis Obispo, the governor was asked whether the church protest bothered him. “No,” the governor replied. “I understand that not everyone will feel the same that I do.”

In addition to Proposition 75, Schwarzenegger is campaigning for three other initiatives: Proposition 74, which would make it harder for teachers to get tenured job protections; Proposition 76, a budget spending cap; and Proposition 77, taking away the power of lawmakers to draw legislative districts.

In San Luis Obispo, Schwarzenegger visited the Apple Farm Restaurant to encourage Republican supporters to vote. The crowd broke into “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow,” and Schwarzenegger joked with a woman who spoke in German with him.

Among his supporters, Atascadero Mayor Wendy Scalise said she thinks the budget spending-cap measure would help cities and counties by stabilizing the state budgeting process. “The unions are really the driving factor that makes the Legislature spend more than it has,” she said. “If they don’t support the unions, they won’t get reelected.”

Outside, about 100 union members chanted “SLO says no” and “Arnold is a phony.” A firefighter in a safety jacket and yellow helmet brought his 6-month-old baby to the protest in a stroller. Cheryl Conway, a union member, said: “It seems everything is toward creating a class of have-it-all and have none. He has chosen to take on the working-class person.”

Schwarzenegger’s campaign has been hit with a series of voter opinion polls showing lackluster support for his agenda. When asked during a stop in Bakersfield about a decline in support from Latinos, the governor responded: “No matter what you think about me, this is about something much bigger than me.”

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Some of Schwarzenegger’s supporters have become pessimistic, however. Republican political consultant Mark Abernathy, co-author of Proposition 77, said the unions are outspending the governor 3 to 1 and he was worried.

Should the propositions go down, he said, “It will be a long time before these kinds of reforms are brought forward again. How can we fight the unions?”

Schwarzenegger was greeted as movie star and political savior in Palm Springs, where he visited another Republican Party office. “You are cute,” an elderly woman said after shaking Schwarzenegger’s hand.

Schwarzenegger took two phone calls amid the crush of TV cameras and party loyalists, urging people at the other end of the line to vote for his four ballot initiatives. “Terrific,” Schwarzenegger said after hanging up the phone. “This guy is so optimistic. He said, ‘I already voted.’ ”

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Times staff writers Daryl Kelley, Lisa Richardson, Peter Nicholas and Louis Sahagun contributed to this report.

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