Newsom says Schwarzenegger “becoming a Democrat again”
Schwarzenegger comes to town with a new message, according to the Chronicle…
The governor’s address to hundreds packed into the Holiday Inn to honor the slain civil rights leader mentioned neither the word “Republican” nor the defeat of his four ballot propositions last year, when he favored tough talk against “special interest” labor unions.
Engaged in his mission to get back to the moderate middle, Schwarzenegger took a Democratic tone, speaking in favor of public service, recalling his relationship with his father-in-law, Sargent Shriver — a former Democratic vice presidential candidate — while extolling equal opportunity in California’s public schools.“How wrong I was when I said everyone has an equal opportunity to make it in America,” Schwarzenegger said, adding that, especially in inner-city schools, “the state of California does not provide (equal) education for all of our children.”
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Two days after House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, faced protesters and hecklers from the anti-war left during a town hall meeting in San Francisco, Schwarzenegger’s smooth sailing at a Democratic breakfast underscored not only an uncanny knack for avoiding controversy, but his considerable political skills.
The performance had many in the crowd shaking their heads — both in awe and in concern — as they looked ahead to the 2006 gubernatorial election.
Just as during his 2003 recall race, “He’s becoming a Democrat again,” said an admiring San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, assessing the governor’s political instincts. “It’s a good sign for him and a bad sign for the Democratic Party,” Newsom said.
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The governor chose to be introduced by former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, the renowned Democratic leader [NOTE: Mickey Kaus once dubbed Brown the "brilliant exception" to dumb pols. My wife adds that he's a good dancer] who held power in Sacramento as Assembly speaker for more than a quarter of a century and who, at the breakfast, effusively called Schwarzenegger “a friend of mine.”
Later, Brown said that the governor’s apparently successful re-emergence as a more moderate political figure — one Democrats are calling the ”New Arnold” — challenges opponents on a variety of fronts.
“Democrats were in trouble, even with the so-called ‘Old Arnold,’ ” Brown said.
And to the remind the Governator he was in the cool, grey City of Love…
… there had been talk among the audience of a large walkout protest. But when the governor took the stage — only a boo or two was heard — and just San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly made the lonely gesture of leaving, a departure so low-key, one Democratic observer wondered whether “maybe he was just going to the bathroom.”
Or you can read the San Jose Mercury News’ completely different version of the event.