CA-GOV: Arnold Running Away From His Party

The Governor doesn't appear with his party's counterparts on the Republican ticket. The Governor has never been on the same stage as his own running mate Tom McClintock. The Governor won't endorse Republican Dick Mountjoy for the US Senate. And the Governor writes "tart" letters to a Republican President for no real reason other than to prove he's not a Bush Republican.

All of this is happening in the context of an upcoming election, where the Governor thinks he can fool the California electorate into thinking he's part of the "Schwarzenegger for California" Party instead of the GOP.

Yet the governor's actions suggest not a dime's worth of difference between him and his party's standard-bearers. We know that he uses executive orders like Bush uses signing statements to change legislation passed by the Assembly and Senate, in this case designed to water down his "landmark" anti-global warming law. We know that he vetoed bills which would disallow evidence in state courts obtained through coercion, like Bush's Military Commissions Act which allows the same thing with respect to terror suspects. We know that he's sought to privatize state pensions, raise tuition and fees on students, and weaken the ability of unions to advocate on behalf of their members, all tactics long approved by Republicans past and present.

He can run but he can't hide.

And on the other hand, Phil Angelides is proud to be a Democrat and proud to welcome his party's leaders to appear with him. In fact, this Friday at the USC campus, he'll be on stage with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, House Minority Leader (the next Speaker of the House) Nancy Pelosi and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. I'll be providing a full report. If you're in the area and want to go, the details are here.

You have a Republican in Democrat's clothing who's afraid of his own party at election time but has no problem governing like one, say, a year ago. And you have a true progressive who believes that his principles and policies are right for the state. Who would you rather see in charge?