California Democratic Party works to prop up Schwarzenegger administration

This brings the two parties together behind the right-wing agenda of the corporate interests that sponsored the ex-body-builder-turned Hollywood film celebrity’s promotion to the governorship and have directed his administration ever since. The governor’s program of cuts in social programs and education and the gutting of basic protections for workers, combined with privatization, tax breaks for business and the wealthy, and deregulation is increasingly opposed by the majority of Californians. This, however, has not prevented the Democrats from offering their assistance in carrying out his agenda.

Schwarzenegger initially called the Special Election in an effort to push through the right-wing policies demanded by his corporate backers under the populist guise of “going to the people.” He hoped that a successful outcome in the Special Election would reverse his sagging political fortunes. By mid-2005, the governor’s approval ratings had fallen to 38 percent.

But the methods Schwarzenegger used to gain office in the 2003 recall election—a lavishly funded Hollywood-style media campaign, in which he posed as a political “outsider” and reformer—failed to convince the public the second time around.

Following the November 8 recall vote, Schwarzenegger made a series of political overtures to the Democratic Party. These included talk of a new spirit of bipartisanship and a search for political consensus, along with a proposal for a $50 billion bond measure to improve the state’s infrastructure.

The most significant move was the installation November 30 of Susan Kennedy as his chief of staff. Kennedy is a right-wing Democrat with an extensive political biography.

Under the Democratic administration of Governor Gray Davis, where she served as cabinet secretary, Kennedy played a critical role in formulating Davis’s right-wing economic agenda. She was also a key player in Davis’s efforts to cement ties with large corporate donors.

Following Davis’s ouster from office and his replacement by Schwarzenegger in the 2003 recall election, Kennedy went on to take a position on the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). There she made a name for herself as a defender of free-market policies, becoming a darling of the telecommunications industry for her opposition to regulatory measures.

She combines liberal views on social questions, such as abortion and gay marriage, with a right-wing outlook on economic and fiscal policies. Kennedy was once the director of the California Abortion Rights Action League. She herself is gay and married to her partner.

As Daniel Weintraub of the Sacramento Bee noted on December 6, “The truth is, despite their different party registrations, there is not much distance between Kennedy and Schwarzenegger when it comes to their core beliefs. Both are social liberals with strong environmental leanings tempered by economic realism; both believe that promoting economic growth is the best way to lift the poor, not class warfare and income redistribution.”

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http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/dec2005/cali-d28.shtml