Arnold the Partisan

The Kindergarten Cop is behaving more like the Terminator these days.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spent the last few weeks vetoing a slew of bills passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature and taunting Democrats as “girlie men” during campaign appearances on behalf of their Republican election opponents.

We are learning a lot about this governor from his vetoes. Many of the bills biting the dust are what Schwarzenegger calls “job killers.” It’s not totally surprising that the “people’s governor” sides frequently with corporate interests, given Schwarzenegger’s penchant for free-market solutions, his chamber of commerce mind-set and that many companies benefiting from his vetoes are also among his major contributors.

Voters in the 2003 recall election didn’t pay much attention to candidate Schwarzenegger’s policy stands when they ousted Gov. Gray Davis and replaced him with the former action hero. Tired of the nasty bickering and crude partisanship that paralyzed Sacramento, they responded to Schwarzenegger’s pledge to end politics as usual.

Now it seems partisanship is returning to the Capitol, judging from many of the governor’s moves -- on both the policy and political fronts -- and the Democrats’ responses.

The governor’s vetoes of such Democratic favorites as a higher minimum wage and driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants prompted Steve Maviglio, former Davis press secretary and now spokesman for Assembly Democrats, to call Schwarzenegger “Pete Wilson with biceps.”

What does the advent of Arnold the Partisan augur?

The governor’s overall job approval still remains high after 10 months in office.

A recent survey by the Public Policy Institute of California showed that 64% of likely voters approved of the job Schwarzenegger was doing. That was slightly off his 69% approval rating in the institute’s August survey, but still a grade that politicians salivate over.

In both August and September, roughly eight in 10 Republicans gave the governor their approval. But after the budget warfare, Schwarzenegger’s prime-time appearance at the Republican National Convention and his stepped-up fundraising and stumping for GOP candidates, support among Democrats slipped 10 percentage points and among independents three points.

As important, the institute’s survey found that less than half of all adults (46%) rated Schwarzenegger as excellent or good “when it comes to working for the best interests of people like you.” About three-fourths of Republicans ranked his performance on this question as excellent or good, as opposed to less than one-third of Democrats and 45% of independents. Mark Baldassare, the survey’s director, concluded that Schwarzenegger’s “support among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents in a Democratic-leaning state is fragile.”

These numbers are certainly no ringing endorsement of Schwarzenegger’s vaunted bipartisanship. They also raise questions about the stability of the broad voter coalition that elected him and the populist platform on which he ran.

There are no dots to be connected between the governor’s approval ratings and his partisan tilt. Some conservatives are fuming over Schwarzenegger’s moderate stands on social issues. He further irked the right when he signed a bill, backed by AIDS activists, allowing over-the-counter sales of hypodermic needles; Davis had vetoed it twice.

Still, the governor is embracing his role as state Republican Party leader. According to a newspaper account of his recent trip to the Central Valley to campaign for GOP Assembly candidates, Schwarzenegger “deputized thousands of donors as ‘mini-Terminators’ and empowered them all to take out Democrats in November.”

“I need more Republicans to come to Sacramento,” the governor told the crowd, “to help me so I can solve the problems of California” -- and, not coincidently, erode the Democrats’ control over the legislative process.

Schwarzenegger has already dabbled, perhaps at a cost, in one of the most volatile races, backing GOP candidate Dean Gardner against Democratic Assemblywoman Nicole Parra in a moderate Central Valley district. Charges of bankruptcies and name changes have rocked Gardner’s campaign. And Parra got a political boost from the governor when he signed legislation, co-authored by her, to strengthen “Megan’s Law” by requiring information on released sex offenders to be posted on the Internet. The political reality is that Schwarzenegger couldn’t duck signing that bill in an election year, no matter what the partisan fallout.

There has been little voter static surrounding the governor’s transformation from celebrity populist to partisan leader. It seems Californians either ignore or accept the disconnect between Schwarzenegger’s rhetoric and his actions.

Might Schwarzenegger ever have to pay the piper? It could happen during next year’s budget process, when decisions about taxation and spending may become unavoidable. Under the current election system of safe districts and closed primaries that spew out nominees from the parties’ extremes, more Republicans in the Legislature won’t necessarily mean more Schwarzenegger allies.

On the other hand, if he can position himself as a partisan leader, he might gain enough traction to budge recalcitrant conservatives.

If Schwarzenegger really wants to govern from the center, he may want to root for Proposition 62 on the November ballot. The initiative would again open up California’s primary system and require that the two top vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, face off in the general election. This could produce more moderates and fewer ideologues. Remember, Schwarzenegger used his star power and moderate rhetoric to snare the most votes on a ballot listing candidates from all parties; he never had to veer right to clear the hurdle of a closed Republican primary.

Schwarzenegger promised “action, action, action,” and he has certainly quickened the pulse of Sacramento. But he will have to choose between two roles -- moderate deal-maker or partisan warrior. You can play different parts in the movies, but things don’t usually work that way in politics.