California Conservative

For decades, California has been under the political control of Democrats. In almost 20 years, the state has not voted for any Republican president. The state legislature remains dominated by liberals. And both senators in Washington are liberal women Democrats, hailing from San Francisco. For conservatives in California, the political outlook has been bleak.

But in 2003, we found the promise of new hope.

As we described in this blog’s inaugural post, the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger to become governor of California “is just a sign of the possible. It took ’star power’ and our state budget near bankruptcy, but it proves a point: There are still convervatives here, and they vote.”

With the sweet taste of victory fading, we find that the challenges of creating a new rightward momentum are considerable. That’s because the deeply-entrenched special interests driving the Democratic political machine are united in opposition. While Gov. Schwarzenegger is attempting to bring California back to fiscal responsibility, his reforms are being attacked by all those who want to keep the status quo. The strategy is obvious. Forcing him to fail, by any and all means, is how liberals see a return to glory for themselves.

There is evidence that recent efforts are emboldening the Governor’s foes, and encouraging Democrats to continue on the warpath. As the Sacramento Bee reports:

It was January 2004, and California Democrats were glum as they gathered for their twice-yearly statewide convention.

“Democrats find ourselves on the outside looking in,” bemoaned state Treasurer Phil Angelides, as the party reeled from its recall election defeat and faced Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s seemingly bulletproof popularity.

But little more than a year later, as the party faithful gathered Friday in Los Angeles, Democrats in California believe their fortunes have brightened.

In their corner, Democrats say, are polls showing voters’ love for Schwarzenegger steadily has cooled, if only slightly and mainly among Democrats. They point to recent rallies in which hundreds and even thousands of nurses, teachers and state workers have mobilized to protest Schwarzenegger’s initiatives and budget plans.

And they are encouraged by the governor’s recent retreat from some of his bold proposals, including one to transform state pensions into 401(k)-style plans for public workers.

Providing us with insight, the above comments reveal what makes Democrats a continued threat to California: They are collectively motivated and strengthened only by protesting against progress and by defeating innovation. They offer no alternatives or solutions. And the same could be said for Democrats on the national stage.

Delegates gathered at the Los Angeles Convention Center for the weekend - who represent the party’s most hard-core and generally most liberal loyalists - will be focused on battling some of the governor’s remaining initiatives and a possible special election later this year.

Specifically, they are seeking to paint the Republican governor as captive to corporate special interests and an enemy to the “real people” the Republicans claim to protect.

Sticking to the same old script. No new ideas, just the predictable song and dance. Liberals all work the same way: “Painting” their conservative opponents as being for “big business” and “the rich,” while making themselves out as champions for the “little guy.” The cultural elitism of most liberals make this portrayal not only patently untrue, but a laughable contradiction.

What Gov. Schwarzenegger is running up against is the sharp negative reaction of special interests to any reform that challenges their control of political power.

Karen Hanretty, a spokeswoman for the California Republican Party, said that she isn’t surprised that Schwarzenegger’s “very aggressive agenda” has generated aggressive opposition.

“It is an agenda that goes to the heart of the Democratic Party’s major political donors, and so it’s not surprising that they are putting tens of millions of dollars against him and waging political guerrilla warfare against the governor,” she said.

At their state convention this weekend, the fist-pumping for Democrats took center stage in Los Angeles, as they gathered together to plan their strategy of continued opposition to the Governor’s initiatives to reform California politics. By manipulating public opinion against him, liberals are playing the politics of personal destruction. Once again, predictable.

As the AP reports:

California Democrats lashed out at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger during their annual convention Saturday, vowing to block his administration’s agenda in an extraordinary reversal of good will toward the celebrity governor.

Schwarzenegger, whose push for controversial government reforms has enraged labor unions and other traditionally Democratic constituencies, came under withering attack as speaker after speaker chastised his leadership abilities.

Examples of the negative rhetoric abound:

Some in the convention hall held signs reading “Stop Arnold’s Arrogance!” while others carried bobblehead dolls depicting the Republican governor in a pink dress with an automatic rifle strapped to his shoulder. A video mocking Schwarzenegger’s campaign fund-raising and fondness for cigars drew laughter from the crowd.

“The governor has declared war on the state of California,” Assemblywoman Judy Chu said. “He declared war on us and I declare war on him.”

Fighting words, to be sure. Sadly, it appears the only “war” a liberal Democrat is willing to wage is one against the taxpayers who fund everything. But let’s examine the outrage.

Among the delegates, representatives from labor unions signaled that they, in particular, are ready for a fight against a governor who has targeted them.

Leading to his election, Gov. Schwarzenegger promised to introduce dramatic reforms, improving California’s financial position and cleaning up a corrupt political system. He is pursuing exactly that agenda. As a rule of thumb, those who have the most to lose are the ones who fight the hardest to stop it. Therein lies the answer.

Schwarzenegger also has called for a series of changes to everything from public employee pensions to how legislative districts are drawn. Opponents have challenged the governor’s policies in court, run TV ads against him and staged street demonstrations.

If that somehow implies he is declaring “war” on the Democrats who have been “leading” this state to where it is today, California voters should recognize where the mismanagement originates. Arnold did not create the problems, the Democrats in office before him did. After all, let’s not forget: the only reason Schwarzenegger suddenly rose to office is because Gray Davis was recalled by the disgusted voters of California for driving the state into a financial crisis.

Hanretty said the convention proved that Democrats are more interested in gloating over Schwarzenegger’s recent political setbacks than they were in fixing the state’s problems.

“The real arrogance lies within the Democratic leadership that refuses to acknowledge the fiscal and budget crisis in California, and the out-of-control spending spree this state has been on for over a decade,” she said.

Enter the blue dragon.

The crowd grew feistier Saturday during a speech by Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, who echoed a complaint by the state’s teachers that Schwarzenegger had reneged on a promise to deliver $2 billion in unanticipated funds to public schools.

“We will say no to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s attempt to take $2 billion out of the education budget,” Dean said. “Governor, keep your promise to the children of California and fund public schools. We don’t need any more corrupt Republicans in office in this country.”

Of course, no genuine, high-profile liberal gathering would be complete these days without the qualifying presence and a few choice words from Howard “The Scream” Dean. It’s enviable leadership like that which will steer the party to the mainstream. Not.

Using the strategy of deception, as we see here, Dean promotes the liberal tactic of portraying Republicans as anti-education and drawing upon the image of neglected children as a political pawn. Throw in a gratuitous remark about “corrupt Republicans in office,” and you’ve got the basics for the Democratic platform.

But it doesn’t stop there. Democrats’ charges against Gov. Schwarzenegger are widespread, hoping to catch all voters who may be persuaded by the misleading rhetoric. It’s politics by character assassination.

Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres called Schwarzenegger’s recent agenda “a strategic, fatal mistake.”

“The governor in this season has made a very serious mistake,” Torres said. “He has tried to demonize people in California that almost every single one of us knows,” such as teachers and nurses.

Reflecting upon all the name-calling and negativity that comprised the Democrats’ state convention, one might conclude that it was nothing more than a therapeutic session for a political party that has nothing to offer, or anything of relevance to say. But yet, that would require a self-awareness which does not exist among liberals. Instead, Dan Weitzman, the party’s regional director for the Sacramento area, declares their view of the future:

“The Democrats have found our voice again. We are starting to really talk about the issues that are important and the values that the Democrats have.”

That’s rich. Really. But, unfortunately, liberals never lose their voice, because they just keep talking without the effort of thinking about what they’re saying. Thus, we will argue that the root of California’s problems may be traced to the same Democrats in power who have been raising their collective voice for far too long.

By being loud and dishonest about many issues, such as the budget and the concerns for social welfare, for years they have repeatedly convinced the California electorate to vote for more taxes, more special bonds for bureaucracy and, ultimately, more governmental waste. The result is our current condition, which speaks the truth about what the Democrats have wrought.

With Gov. Schwarzenegger at the helm, it’s time for conservatives to finally grab the wheel, and steer the state in the right direction.

It’s time for our voice to be the heard.

RELATED:

California Needs Less Spending, Not Higher Taxes
“A” Is For Arnold: Grading The Governor
Anti-Arnold Group Gets Funding From AG
Live To Fight Another Day
The Man Who Would Be Governor
Unions - 1, Arnold - 0
Playing Politics With California’s Pension
No Luv for The Guv?

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 17th, 2005 at 6:58 pm and is filed under Arnold, California, Elections, Special Interests. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.