Crusty Democrat May Be Key to Governor’s Success

A week ago, when it looked as if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would fail to win legislative approval for his plan to address California’s fiscal crisis, administration officials began threatening to bypass the Democratic-dominated Legislature by taking measures directly to voters.

The fist-shaking subsided when lawmakers eventually passed a modification of the governor’s plan.

Schwarzenegger’s willingness to compromise with Democrats may have been driven in part by the reality that he couldn’t turn to voters for everything he needed: The governor must still enlist the support of two-thirds of lawmakers in both the Assembly and the Senate to pass a budget and to win approval for many appointments.

And that leaves Senate President Pro Tem John Burton -- the crafty, cranky San Francisco Democrat -- as the legislative key to the governor’s ultimate success or failure over the next year, Burton’s last in the Legislature because of term limits.

With five decades of legislative experience, including eight years in Congress, Burton commands the unwavering loyalty and respect of the Senate’s Democratic majority, 25 votes in the 40-member upper house.

Schwarzenegger has readily acknowledged Burton’s power and importance. The governor has made time for dozens of potential Democratic adversaries since winning the Oct. 7 recall election, but he has taken particular pains to stroke Burton. When conservative talk-radio hosts have tried to bait Schwarzenegger into taking shots at the liberal lawmaker, the governor has refused to bite.

“Sen. Burton is a great man,” Schwarzenegger gushed to reporters the other day. “We’re having a good time with the negotiations. They’ve told me about this great entertainment that he provides. And he does!”

The 70-year-old Burton, who won’t say what he plans to do after leaving the Senate, has been matching wits with California governors since his election to the Assembly in 1964. Before leaving the lower house for the first time in 1974, Burton engineered the only override of a Ronald Reagan veto, a political triumph that kept state mental hospitals open.

During the 1990-98 tenure of Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, Burton battled the man he referred to as “the little Marine” over budget support for state programs for the poor and other issues. But the legislator’s clashes with Wilson were nothing compared to his tempestuous relationship with the moderate Democrat who was elected governor in 1998, Gray Davis, say Capitol veterans.

Davis’ lack of passion and his calculating style infuriated Burton, and the Senate leader took his revenge at the most politically opportune moments, forcing the governor’s hand on issues such as increased benefits for injured workers, union representation for farmworkers and universal health care, according to Davis aides and lawmakers.

“He used to [tick] me off,” Burton said in his Capitol office. “He was a Democrat and didn’t act like a Democrat -- which, I think, is one of the reasons he got recalled -- and that used to upset me. That’s where our problem came.”

At the very least, Burton will probably enjoy the company of Schwarzenegger more than that of the governor’s predecessor, many Democrats and Republicans said.

“When you’re dealing with serious issues, as we’re dealing with regularly, having the ability to connect at a personal level is very, very important,” said Senate Republican Leader Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga. “Arnold knows what he believes and what he wants, and John knows what he believes and what he wants. Given those dynamics, [they] can do business.”

By contrast, meetings involving Burton and Davis frequently ended with the senator storming out in anger.

Once, he spit cookies on the governor during an angry rant, then stomped from the room and ducked into the nearby office of Davis’ Cabinet secretary, Susan Kennedy. Closing the door, Burton broke into laughter as he realized what he had just done, Kennedy recalled.

The senator confirmed the outburst, the kind of behavior that was a trademark of his brother, the late Rep. Phillip Burton, whose legislative brilliance in Congress was nearly eclipsed by his dark rages. “My brother took over my body,” the senator said, laughing.

Burton’s critics find him a bully and a boor. At the Capitol, though, he generally gets a pass for his sometimes abusive temper, because, as the chief of staff of one Democratic senator said, “everyone knows there’s a teddy bear underneath.”

“If I yell at somebody, I’m really, really upset,” Brulte said. “If John yells at somebody, it’s normal. People take that into account.”

Burton’s strength as a lawmaker and a leader lies in his passion and his consistency, colleagues say. He negotiates by instinct rather than a set plan, a style that often frustrates his adversaries.

The senator himself concedes that he isn’t a detail person. His attention span is fleeting. His mind works faster than his mouth, resulting in a torrent of sentence fragments and unfinished thoughts.

Burton is ubiquitous at the Capitol, prowling the hallways and dropping in unannounced on committee hearings. He can often be found holding court across the street at a sandwich shop called Tootsies, where he sits in a plastic chair on the concrete patio, talking on his cellphone, sipping Diet Coke and iced tea with a favorite reporter or chatting with fawning lobbyists and acquaintances.

“John is old school,” said Sen. Dean Florez, a centrist Democrat from the San Joaquin Valley town of Shafter. “He values relationships, friendships and straight talk. None of those were Gray Davis’ strong traits.

“I think Arnold is scoring high on all three, because he seems to be that kind of person,” Florez added. “If you get to the point and be truthful, John can get along with people fabulously.”

Schwarzenegger and Burton, in fact, have far more in common than Burton and Davis ever did, from past excesses in their personal lives to their mutual Hollywood friends.

The governor has admitted acting “improperly” toward women but has refused to speak in detail about his indiscretions. Burton left Congress in early 1983 amid rumors -- later confirmed -- of drug addiction.

The two also share a fondness for salty language: Burton impishly reported that one of their mutual Hollywood friends -- he wasn’t certain but thought it was actress Jamie Lee Curtis -- said Schwarzenegger used Burton’s favorite four-letter word more than Burton did.

In policy areas, the senator once again may have more in common with Schwarzenegger than with Davis. Burton notes that Schwarzenegger has a number of moderate advisors and is already to the left of Davis -- and closer to Burton -- on criminal justice issues. In his first days in office, Schwarzenegger paroled two convicted murderers. In five years, Davis granted parole to only eight convicted murderers and rejected parole recommendations by the state Board of Prison Terms for 286 others.

Burton also notes that Schwarzenegger hasn’t targeted for repeal one of the senator’s proudest achievements -- SB 2, which would extend health benefits to an estimated 1 million Californians by requiring many businesses to provide coverage to their workers or pay into a state insurance fund.

The California Chamber of Commerce, restaurant owners and other business groups are trying to scrap the law in a March referendum, but Schwarzenegger hasn’t taken a position on the effort. A judge Friday blocked the secretary of state from putting the measure on the March ballot, but the chamber has vowed to appeal.

Burton suggested that Schwarzenegger was steering clear of the fight over SB 2 because “that’s kind of where his heart is on stuff.”

The Senate leader leaves no doubt as to where his heart is: He’s an unapologetic, old-school liberal who sees as his highest calling the defense of the poor, elderly and disabled.

“The one good thing all good politicians share is sincerity of purpose,” said Steve Peace, a former state senator and Davis administration finance director who is now advising Burton on budget matters.

“There are many, many things on which John and I see the world differently,” Peace added. “ ... But you know where he’s coming from and what he cares about. He will fight ferociously for those things, but he knows that ultimately legislation requires compromise.”

In fact, Burton said he long ago learned the value of deal-making in politics, a craft at which his brother excelled.

“You cannot get stuff done as an ideologue,” the senator said. “... The purpose is not to be pure before some ideological group but to help as many people who need help as you can.”

The practical side of Burton has enabled him to confound critics who questioned whether a San Francisco liberal with a foul mouth and mean temper could effectively run the Senate. Since rising to the leadership post in February 1998, Burton has won praise from Democrats and Republicans alike.

“He’s a great strategist,” said Sen. Tom Torlakson, a moderate Democrat from Antioch. “And he’s a fighter. He will be blunt, letting everyone know where his concerns and his stands are. Then he will focus in a way to get results.”

Republicans credit Burton for fighting fair.

“When you’re in the minority, what you want from the leader of the majority is someone who can shoot straight and keeps his word,” Brulte said. “That’s exactly the way he is.”

Burton demonstrated his political sense and tactical prowess recently by heading off a showdown with Schwarzenegger over a new law that would have let illegal immigrants get driver’s licenses.

Schwarzenegger vowed to repeal the law if elected governor, and made it clear to Burton that it was a promise he had to keep.

With opponents threatening to put the measure to a statewide vote in March, Burton and other Democrats feared the political consequences of having to defend such a controversial proposal.

But rather than force the bill’s author, Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), to abandon a measure he had worked years to pass, Burton held back and allowed Cedillo to reach that conclusion on his own -- then gave the senator time to cut the best deal he could with Schwarzenegger.

Ultimately, the governor signaled his willingness to consider a modified version of the legislation next year, and Democrats voted with Republicans to repeal the measure.

Burton’s “leadership kept everyone together and gave Sen. Cedillo time to work with the new governor,” said Sen. Dede Alpert (D-San Diego). That reflects well on John. He wants our caucus to stay together and work together. In the end I think we wind up a much stronger force because of it.”

Said Brulte: “John is a shrewd political leader who understands that right now he can’t go one on one with Arnold Schwarzenegger and win.

“But nobody should be confused,” he added. “Just because Arnold Schwarzenegger won a convincing victory in the last election doesn’t mean John Burton is going to put his political philosophy on hold.”

Indeed, despite the governor’s attempts to pressure the Legislature to pass his financial recovery plan last week, Burton didn’t back down in his opposition to one of two key components: a constitutional spending cap proposed by Republicans, which Burton and other Democrats said could devastate vital government programs. The final compromise, supported by Burton and passed by both houses of the Legislature last week, was much less rigid.

Although Burton wasn’t directly involved in the late-night negotiations between Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson (D-Culver City) and Schwarzenegger that produced the deal’s final details, his budget expert, Diane Cummings, was a key player in shaping the language. And Burton had already given the governor the parameters of a compromise that would fly in the Senate, including a dedicated revenue source to repay the bond issue, senators said.

Said Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) of the Senate leader: “I think he’s a large presence in the room, even when he’s absent.”

With a Republican as governor, Burton isn’t expecting “any wild gains” for Democrats when it comes to legislation. His goal for his final year in the Legislature: “Protect the poor.”

He even expresses some sympathy for Schwarzenegger’s dilemma as a moderate Republican attempting to balance the demands of conservative GOP lawmakers on one hand and liberal Democrats on the other.

“He’s got a tough row to hoe,” Burton said. “I think personally we’ll get along, but there’s going to be some real political [disagreements]. He was on the radio the other day, I guess threatening people” -- a reference to Schwarzenegger’s attempts to pressure Democratic lawmakers to support his financial proposals.

“I don’t respond too well to that -- from anybody,” Burton said. “But, you know, we can have our political fights and still get along.”