CALIFORNIA
Bush to visit Southern California -- governor plans to be elsewhere
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, concerned that the decline in President Bush's
popularity will pull down his special election measures, is not expected to
appear with the president when he visits California next week.
Bush is scheduled to attend a fundraiser in Los Angeles for the Republican
National Committee on Thursday and help cut the ribbon Friday at the opening of
the new Air Force One exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi
Valley.
Although the governor's staff will not confirm his schedule this far in advance,
sources said Schwarzenegger is not planning to attend either event. He is
tentatively scheduled to campaign next week, possibly in the Central Valley, on
the days of the visit.
Neither the governor nor the president is popular with a majority of voters in
California. But with the Nov. 8 special election barely three weeks away, the
Republican governor needs the support of Democrats and independents -- as well
as his party's voters -- to pass his self-styled reform agenda.
Some Republicans said that from a practical viewpoint, it makes sense for the
Republican governor of a Democratic-leaning state to keep some miles between
himself and the president.
"The reality is that the knee-jerk reaction by the governor's opponents to take
him down is to call (Schwarzenegger) a Bush Republican," said Bill Whalen, a
research fellow with the Hoover Institution. "So if he hangs out with the
president, it's probably a photo op he doesn't need.''
Whalen said Schwarzenegger's priority must be the four initiatives that he wants
voters to approve: changes in teachers' tenure (Proposition 74), prohibiting
public employee unions from using dues for political purposes without their
members' permission (Prop. 75), budget changes (Prop. 76) and redistricting
(Prop. 77).
"With respect to the president, the biggest favor he can do is stay out of this
election," Whalen said. "Arnold doesn't want this to be a referendum on the war
in Iraq, the price of gasoline and (Supreme Court nominee) Harriet Miers."
But Schwarzenegger's plan to skip Bush's visit has dismayed some Republicans at
a time the president faces intense criticism over the Miers nomination, the war
in Iraq and the possibility that aide Karl Rove might be indicted.
A White House emissary, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the governor
is getting bad counsel from his advisers. It will appear, "at a time when the
president needs the support of a Republican governor (that Schwarzenegger) is
turning his back" on Bush, the GOP leader said.
Moreover, the Republican leader said, Schwarzenegger's decision suggests "he
prefers John McCain to George Bush,'' a reference to the governor's high-profile
campaign swing in California last week alongside the maverick Republican senator
from Arizona.
Schwarzenegger raised eyebrows among national Republican leaders last month when
he told The Chronicle in an interview that he preferred that Bush schedule his
California visit after the election.
But Democrats said that, like it or not, the failure of the Republican governor
to appear alongside the president will be ammunition for their side.
"The governor is trying to create some distance between himself and the
president. ... But we're going to make that connection every day of the week,''
said California's Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez.
GOP spokeswoman Karen Hanretty said Democrats are simply trying to change the
focus from Schwarzenegger's calls for reform.
"I don't expect Gov. Schwarzenegger to be hanging out with George Bush in
California. We're facing some very serious issues in the state -- and unless the
president of the United States is coming to town to hand over federal money to
the governor to help us solve our problems, I don't see why the governor would
allow himself to be distracted with the president's fundraising trip," she said.
White House officials, meanwhile, shrugged off the issue.
"We always extend an invitation to the governor whenever we travel to the
state," White House deputy press secretary Ken Lisiaus said Friday. "I have not
heard anything back at this point, (but) we certainly enjoy a good working
relationship with the governor."
E-mail Carla Marinucci at cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com.
"I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial,
can be wholly useless to the race,
and that no trumpeting of falsehood,
however virtuous in intent,
can be anything but vicious.
---Henry Louis Mencken (1880 - 1956)
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