If We Don’t Build It, They Won’t Come — Schwarzenegger at the CAGOP Convention
Compared to the rousing applause and background of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” at the last California Republican Party’s Convention, one could call the applause greeting the Governor at tonights kick-off dinner subdued.
The Governor himself was more low key as well, and the speech was polished. You sense you are listening to a smooth politician rather than the “no girlie-man” movie star turned governor from the recall.
The Governor’s roughly 16 minute speech went over the history of his tenure and accomplishments and while he acknowledged that things weren’t perfect, he feels he has a record he can run on. No driver’s license for undocumented workers, workers comp reform, rolled back car tax, improved economy, job creation and no new taxes were some of the successes he listed.
With the statement “rarely are politics and affection in the same sentence” he seemed to acknowledge the conservatives in the party that are currently unhappy with him. Then he admonished the crowd that if a Democrat is elected, taxes will surely go up.
Schwarzenegger’s priority and the theme he is running on is half of the “Reform, Rebuild California” theme from the November special election. The people soundly defeated reform, but perhaps they will embrace rebuilding. According to the Governor we cannot be “infrastructure isolationists”. The “If we don’t build it they won’t come” mentality has taken us from having the country’s best roads, ports and universities to among the worst.
He briefly revisted his ideas for reforms of pensions, redistricting and the budget, but the heavy emphasis was on rebuilding California’s infrastructure. He said civilizations that go on the side of caution decline, and those that go on the side of boldness prosper. “We cannot wait on the future”, he said, “we must make it happen”.
The speech reflected the tone of the convention, where there is a split between conservatives who want to unendorse the Governor, and more moderate Republicans who want a bigger tent.
Among attendees who heard the speech there are concerns as to how to pay for the programs. Since the Governor says he is against new taxes, either a portion of the budget must be earmarked each year for pay as you go spending, or the money must be borrowed. Conservatives I spoke to do not want more borrowing, or more taxes.
At this point the Governor’s re-election is far from certain. Yet anyone who has sat in traffic noticing there are twice as many cars but still only three lanes, can see the need for the Governor’s plan.
The question at the convention is whether or not the hard core conservatives will realize that an Arnold is better than a Phil. The bigger question is can Arnold Schwarzenegger convince enough Californians to send him back to Sacramento for a full term?
Cross-posted at the SactoDan Blog
February 26th, 2006 at 10:06 pm
Finally, we hear Governor Schwarzenegger’s plan to halt illegal immigration:
“If We Don’t Build It, They Won’t Come”
This is sort of the doomsday approach to stopping so many underclass from coming in - make CA so undesirable not even they want to be here.
November 5th, 2007 at 9:15 am
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