Governor appoints Democrat to run staff
It may signal move to centrist position
Bill Ainsworth, San Diego Tribune
December 1, 2005

Sacramento – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's appointment of a top Democrat as his chief of staff signals an effort to improve his political stock by returning to his bipartisan past.

The Republican governor earned high approval ratings during his first year when he mostly cooperated with Democrats and pursued centrist policies. This year, he turned sharply to the right only to see his popularity plummet and his special-election agenda soundly rejected by voters last month.

His hiring of Susan Kennedy seems to launch a third phase of his administration: back to the future.

"He's had his dalliance with the right. Now he's moving back," said Tony Quinn, a political analyst and co-editor of the Target Book, which analyzes California politics.

Facing a re-election campaign next year, Schwarzenegger already had begun emphasizing issues designed to produce agreements with Democrats who control the Legislature. He has talked about huge bond issues to improve the state's roads, ports and canals, while seeking to expand children's health insurance and increase the minimum wage.

These priorities contrast with his special-election agenda, which focused on cutting state spending and reducing the clout of public-employee unions, and which Democrats adamantly opposed.

Schwarzenegger's selection of Kennedy, 45, is high political drama. She is no rank-and-file Democrat. She was deputy chief of staff and cabinet secretary to Gov. Gray Davis, whom Schwarzenegger replaced after the 2003 recall election. She has been a top official in the California Democratic Party and for an abortion-rights group. She is one of the highest-profile gays in California politics.

"She's willing to set her Democratic philosophy aside and do the job and do my vision – to be able to work together with Democrats and Republicans," Schwarzenegger said yesterday at a news conference announcing Kennedy's appointment.

Kennedy said her moderate views are not that different from those of Schwarzenegger's, but their alliance carries risks for both.

"If this governor is willing to risk his legacy to take a chance on me, I'm willing to risk my political career by doing what I think is right," said Kennedy, a Davis appointee to the Public Utilities Commission, where she has earned praise from business interests and scorn from consumer groups.

Kennedy replaces Patricia Clarey, a Republican who had worked for Gov. Pete Wilson and who hired many GOP loyalists to serve in the top ranks of Schwarzenegger's administration. Yesterday, Clarey submitted her resignation effective at year's end.

Other top aides already have left the administration, including Legal Affairs Secretary Peter Siggins and Finance Director Tom Campbell, a former Republican legislator and congressman, who is returning to his position as head of the business school at the University of California Berkeley. Communications Director Rob Stutzman also is expected to leave.

Kennedy's appointment suggests Democrats may have gained the upper hand in the Schwarzenegger administration.

Since his election, Schwarzenegger's administration has seen divisions between a faction of conservative Republicans and a smaller group of Democrats, including senior adviser Bonnie Reiss and Terry Tamminen, the governor's cabinet secretary.

Kennedy's hiring also shows the growing influence of first lady Maria Shriver over the direction and makeup of Schwarzenegger's administration, political analysts said.

Shriver, a Democrat, hired another former top official from the Davis administration, Daniel Zingale, to be her chief of staff.

"She's going to be much more hands-on," Quinn said.

Schwarzenegger said his wife applauded his selection of Kennedy. "She loves it," he said.

Many Republicans and conservatives do not.

Randy Thomasson, president of the conservative Campaign for Children and Families, expressed outrage at the appointment.

"By placing a leading homosexual, pro-abortion Democrat activist in charge of his entire administration, Arnold has taken a disastrous turn to the left," Thomasson said in a statement.

Steve Frank, a Republican activist, said Kennedy's past as a top official with the California Democratic Party and the California Abortion Rights Action League is more than a little troubling to Republicans.

"I'm shocked and disappointed that a Republican governor could not find capable leadership within the Republican Party," Frank said.

Frank predicted it would discourage GOP activists from volunteering.

"Politics is built on loyalty, trust and experience. How are you going to ask a volunteer to trust an administration that's headed by a former California Democratic Party leader?" he asked.

Schwarzenegger said he made 30 calls explaining his choice and that 95 percent of the response was overwhelmingly positive.

Critics, he said, "just don't get it."

"They don't understand me enough. I make decisions that are out of the ordinary," said Schwarzenegger, who promised he would defy with political convention when he ran for governor.

Kennedy brings unusual credentials to lead a Republican administration.

She has said she was inspired to become involved in politics by actress Jane Fonda, a liberal activist.

In 1992, as executive director of the California Democratic Party, Kennedy helped elect two Democrats to the U.S. Senate while working for then-party chairman Phil Angelides, the state treasurer who is hoping to take Schwarzenegger's job next year.

Regardless, Allan Zaremberg, president of the California Chamber of Commerce, lauded the choice.

"Susan has consistently shown her ability to be a problem solver and bring together competing interests in finding solutions," Zaremberg said in a statement.

In response to a question at the news conference, Kennedy said she supported all four of the governor's initiatives on the November ballot. It was unclear whether that means she backed Proposition 75, another defeated measure that sought to restrict the political use of union dues. That measure was not part of Schwarzenegger's original package, but he adopted it as part of his agenda.

Schwarzenegger said he got to know Kennedy during the past two years through her service on the PUC. Her pro-business views appealed to Schwarzenegger but not to consumer groups.

"I don't know any consumer that's shedding any tears over her departure," said Mindy Spatt, communications director for The Utility Reform Network.

Spatt criticized Kennedy's actions to weaken consumer laws and to approve the SBC merger with AT&T.

During the Davis administration, Kennedy earned a reputation as a strong leader and tough negotiator.

Her resolve helped Davis complete the Headwaters deal that preserved one of the last remaining groves of old-growth redwoods and brought order to an unwieldy package of health care reform proposals. She also played a key role in the response to the energy crisis.

She got caught up in a Davis administration deal with Oracle Corp., which emerged as a scandal when the state overpaid for software.

Kennedy signed a memo approving the Oracle contract. The contract became suspicious because it was followed by a $25,000 donation to Davis from Oracle. Kennedy was compelled to testify at legislative hearings examining the contract, which would have cost the state an extra $41 million. The contract eventually was canceled.

Kennedy's appointment, along with a productive relationship with the Legislature, could help Schwarzenegger win back some of the Democrat and independent voters who have abandoned him after supporting his election two years ago.

"It's a wise decision by the governor – it underscores his commitment to work within the Capitol – that together we can solve problems," said Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata, D-Oakland.

Yet the move could discourage Republicans and not be enough to attract Democrats. It also could leave the impression that Schwarzenegger has no core beliefs.

"It's awfully abrupt after he made himself into this big partisan," said Quinn, the political analyst. "It sure does dismiss the whole army of people who were working on his special election."