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GOP Angry Over Schwarzenegger's Dem Chief of Staff
Top California Republicans are wondering if Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is moving left politically following his appointment to chief of staff of Susan Kennedy – a leading liberal activist and former aide to Democrat Gov. Gray Davis. "We're not moving anywhere," Schwarzenegger says, insisting that he is continuing to go "in the same direction." Some of his Republican colleagues wonder what direction that may be. "I'm getting more e-mails off of this [the Kennedy appointment] than I do for Viagra," said Mike Spence, president of the California Republican Assembly, in an interview with the L.A. Times newspaper.
Story Continues Below "Since the special election, where we were very loyal [to Schwarzenegger], all we've heard about was a $50 billion bond and looking at clemency for [convicted murderer and gang leader Stanley] Tookie Williams." Asking if there isn't "even one Republican in the state to be qualified as chief of staff?" Spence said. "I think the Kennedy thing was just the last straw." What especially irks GOP leaders is Kennedy’s popular standing among California liberals. She is a former executive director of the state's ultra-left-wing Democratic Party, a former top member of former Gov. Gray Davis’ staff and - to the chagrin of advocates of traditional values - an abortion supporter and admitted lesbian who recently "married” her lover in a Hawaiian civil union ceremony. GOP officials aren't alone in their criticism of the appointment, as Schwarzenegger discovered during a radio talk-show appearance with conservative host Roger Hedgecock on San Diego's KOGO radio station. Said Hedgecock "You have once again stirred up everyone in the whole state with this announcement. This woman seems completely incompatible with any Republican principles." Not so, said the governor, who described Kennedy as a pro-business moderate who had supported him on all of his doomed special-election ballot initiatives, including one which was fiercely opposed by Democrats because it would have put a limit on spending.
"All of the things that I have done in the last two years she believes in and actually said many times to me during the last two years that she has become a big fan of mine because of the things that I do," he told Hedgecock.
While admitting that some Republicans will be "up in arms about" the Kennedy appointment, Schwarzenegger told his host "but I have to pick someone that I feel comfortable with. And I talked to a lot of people for this job, and she was the one who I felt most comfortable with." Not every Republican is appalled at the Governor's choice. Pat Dando, president and chief executive officer of the San Jose-Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce told the San Jose Mercury News: "I would hope that they would look at her as an individual with qualifications that are important to do the job of chief of staff." He added that Schwarzenegger "appears to be more interested in finding well-qualified individuals to work with him on both sides of the aisle than sticking to a party line, and I think that's healthy."
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