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The San Francisco Chronicle has Republican strongholds left Schwarzenegger in the cold Past allies were no-shows at polls — or opponents

Voters in some of California’s most reliably Republican counties deserted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in droves Tuesday, either sitting out the special election or working actively against the governor’s political agenda.

While Schwarzenegger’s supporters argue that the landslide defeat was a one-time reaction to an unpopular special election, it’s a result that threatens the chances of Schwarzenegger — and other Republican candidates — in next November’s statewide elections.

Absolutely correct.

That is why Flap suggests Schwarzenegger call his agent and book some movie deals.

Schwarzenegger hasn’t necessarily lost all the people who voted against his package of initiatives Tuesday, but he’s made it easier for them to look at the Democratic alternatives in next year’s re-election campaign. The governor seems to recognize the need for changes, pledging Thursday to work more closely with the Democrat-led Legislature and agreeing Friday to end a legal battle over hospital staffing with the California Nurses Association, one of his most vocal critics.

“Just because the people here voted against Schwarzenegger doesn’t mean that they’re not mad at the rest of the government as well,” said Giventer of Cal State Stanislaus. “But the governor has to show he’s going to pay attention to what’s important.”

But, if Schwarzenegger moves to the LEFT he will further alienate or demotivate his Republican base. The Governator has trouble on the LEFT and RIGHT.

He is really in a NO-WIN bind.

Flap predicts that Schwarzenegger will withdraw from re-election if he cannot quickly rehabilitiate his poll numbers.

Isn’t this what his movie pal, Jesse Ventura did?

Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Recovery Team, California Special Election, Bear Flag League, Proposition 74, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77, Proposition 73, Proposition 78, Proposition 79, Proposition 80

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger addresses invited guests at an election party in Beverly Hills. Official returns showed that California voters roundly rejected four crucial referendum measures on which Schwarzenegger had staked his political reputation.

California Special Election Results with 99.5% of the precincts resporting:

State Ballot Measures
99.5% ( 17577 of 17657 ) precincts reporting as of Nov 9, 2005 at 3:57 am

Statewide Returns	County Returns | County Status

   Propositions                      Yes Votes   Pct.   No Votes   Pct.

  73 N    Minor's Pregnancy          3,117,521  47.5   3,445,617  52.5  Map 

  74 N    Teacher Tenure             2,975,578  44.9   3,641,434  55.1  Map 

  75 N    Public Union Dues          3,081,355  46.6   3,529,245  53.4  Map 

  76 N    Spending/Funding           2,512,920  38.0   4,091,907  62.0  Map 

  77 N    Redistricting              2,663,629  40.5   3,897,648  59.5  Map 

  78 N    Rx Drug Discounts          2,706,996  41.5   3,802,493  58.5  Map 

  79 N    Rx Drug Rebates            2,510,499  38.9   3,932,332  61.1  Map 

  80 N    Electric Regulation        2,177,432  34.3   4,162,788  65.7  Map 

Stay Tuned for analysis……..

And the beginning of California Election 2006………

Update #3 10:02 PM

Only Prop 75 passing but majority of counties reporting are from Northern California and 99% of San Francisco County.

Little LA, Orange or San Diego Counties have reported majority of their precincts

Update #2 8:52 PM

Will Arnold go 3-2 with 73, 74 and 75 passing?

Update #1

Watch real time election results with Flap here.

From the Official Voter Information Guide:

PROPOSITION 73

WAITING PERIOD AND PARENTAL NOTIFICATION BEFORE TERMINATION OF MINOR’S PREGNANCY. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

SUMMARY

Amends California Constitution, defining and prohibiting abortion for unemancipated minor until 48 hours after physician notifies minor’s parent/guardian, except in medical emergency or with parental waiver. Mandates reporting requirements. Authorizes monetary damages against physicians for violation. Fiscal Impact: Potential unknown net state costs of several million dollars annually for health and social services programs, the courts, and state administration combined.

FLAP RECOMMENDS A YES VOTE

PROPOSITION 74

PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS. WAITING PERIOD FOR PERMANENT STATUS. DISMISSAL. INITIATIVE STATUTE.

SUMMARY

Increases probationary period for public school teachers from two to five years. Modifies the process by which school boards can dismiss a teaching employee who receives two consecutive unsatisfactory performance evaluations. Fiscal Impact: Unknown net effect on school districts’ costs for teacher compensation, performance evaluations, and other activities. Impact would vary significantly by district and depend largely on future district personnel actions.

FLAP RECOMMENDS A YES VOTE

PROPOSITION 75

PUBLIC EMPLOYEE UNION DUES. RESTRICTIONS ON POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS. EMPLOYEE CONSENT REQUIREMENT. INITIATIVE STATUTE.

SUMMARY

Prohibits using public employee union dues for political contributions without individual employees’ prior consent. Excludes contributions benefitting charities or employees. Requires unions to maintain and, upon request, report member political contributions to Fair Political Practices Commission. Fiscal Impact: Probably minor state and local government implementation costs, potentially offset in part by revenues from fines and/or fees.

FLAP RECOMMENDS A YES VOTE

PROPOSITION 76

STATE SPENDING AND SCHOOL FUNDING LIMITS. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

SUMMARY

Limits state spending to prior year’s level plus three previous years’ average revenue growth. Changes minimum school funding requirements (Proposition 98). Permits Governor, under specified circumstances, to reduce budget appropriations of Governor’s choosing. Fiscal Impact: State spending likely reduced relative to current law, due to additional spending limit and new powers granted to Governor. Reductions could apply to schools and shift costs to other local governments.

FLAP RECOMMENDS A YES VOTE

PROPOSITION 77

REDISTRICTING. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

SUMMARY

Amends state Constitution’s process for redistricting California’s Senate, Assembly, Congressional and Board of Equalization districts. Requires three-member panel of retired judges selected by legislative leaders. Fiscal Impact: One-time state redistricting costs totaling no more than $1.5 million and county costs in the range of $1 million. Potential reduction in future costs, but net impact would depend on decisions by voters.

FLAP RECOMMENDS A YES VOTE

PROPOSITION 78

DISCOUNTS ON PRESCRIPTION DRUGS. INITIATIVE STATUTE.

SUMMARY

Establishes discount prescription drug program for certain low- and moderate-income Californians. Authorizes Department of Health Services to contract with participating pharmacies for discounts and with participating drug manufacturers for rebates. Fiscal Impact: State costs for administration and outreach in the millions to low tens of millions of dollars annually. State costs for advance funding for rebates. Unknown potentially significant savings for state and county health programs.

FLAP RECOMMENDS A NO VOTE

PROPOSITION 79

PRESCRIPTION DRUG DISCOUNTS. STATE-NEGOTIATED REBATES. INITIATIVE STATUTE.

SUMMARY

Provides drug discounts to Californians with qualifying incomes. Funded by state-negotiated drug manufacturer rebates. Prohibits Medi-Cal contracts with manufacturers not providing Medicaid best price. Fiscal Impact: State costs for administration and outreach in low tens of millions of dollars annually. State costs for advance funding for rebates. Unknown potentially significant: (1) net costs or savings for Medi-Cal and (2) savings for state and county health programs.

FLAP RECOMMENDS A NO VOTE

PROPOSITION 80

ELECTRIC SERVICE PROVIDERS. REGULATION. INITIATIVE STATUTE.

SUMMARY

Subjects electric service providers to regulation by California Public Utilities Commission. Restricts electricity customers’ ability to switch from private utilities to other providers. Requires all retail electric sellers to increase renewable energy resource procurement by 2010. Fiscal Impact: Potential annual administrative costs ranging from negligible to $4 million, paid by fees. Unknown net impact on state and local costs and revenues from uncertain impact on electricity rates.

FLAP RECOMMENDS A NO VOTE

Well, there you have it!

Now, go and vote.

Flap knows you will be glad you did.

For more Voter guides head over to XRLQ’s place.

Once again, here are links to the blogger election guides of which I’ve been made aware:

1. Stephen Bainbridge (update here)
2. BoiFromTroi (73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 80)
3. Tammy Bruce
4. California Conservative (see also)
5. Cobb
6. Matthew Hoy
7. K.G. at California Mafia
8. Lonewacko
9. Hugo Schwyzer
10. Citizen Smash
11. Michael Williams
12. Yami Monkey
13. Xrlq

BFL Special Election blog

Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Recovery Team, California Special Election, Bear Flag League, Proposition 74, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77, Proposition 73, Proposition 78, Proposition 79, Proposition 80

Cross-posted to the Bear Flag League Special Election Page

California first lady Maria Shriver hands out emergency backpacks to students at a south Los Angeles elementary school to kick-off Team SAFE-T, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2006.

The Los Angeles Times has First Lady Appears to Be Sitting Out This Election.

On a recent morning, Maria Shriver had a roomful of admiring listeners hanging on her every word. Unfortunately for her husband, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, none of them was old enough to vote.

Shriver was addressing a fourth-grade class at Charles W. Barrett Elementary School in South Los Angeles as part of a campaign to improve disaster preparedness among children. On another campaign important to the Shriver-Schwarzenegger household — the battle over state ballot initiatives backed by the governor — California’s first lady has remained virtually silent.

Here we go!

One week before the California Special Election and the hatchets come out for Governor Schwarzenegger’s wife.

Paul Pringle the reporter is a committed leftie with a left wing agenda. And he is happy to oblige the Moonbat editors of the Los Angeles Times

Ask Flap how he knows?

Aides to the couple say that isn’t expected to change before the Nov. 8 special election. They and others don’t blame Shriver for her silence, even if it has deprived Schwarzenegger of one of his most articulate and charismatic advocates.

After all, Shriver would be breaking family ranks no matter where she came down on the measures, Democratic and Republican activists say. As a Democrat and a Kennedy, they say, she would have to all but shape-shift to endorse proposals despised by the party that counts three of her uncles as icons.

And if she were to publicly criticize the initiatives, things presumably would get chilly on the home front.

And who from the Los Angeles Times ever asked Sharon Davis about why her husband bankrupted the state while he was California Governor?

This is disgraceful BIASED journalism from the Los Angeles Times.

Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Recovery Team, California Special Election, Bear Flag League, Proposition 74, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77, MariaShriver

Cross-posted to the Bear Flag League Special Election Page

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger responds to questions during the Special Election Showdown, at the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, Calif., Monday Oct. 24, 2005. Schwarzenegger and state Sen. Don Perata and others appeared at the forum to discuss issues in California’s upcoming election.

The ASSociated Press has Schwarzenegger: Special Election Crucial.

Defending his November special election before an audience of voters, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday the ballot initiatives are crucial to continue changes he launched two years ago.

He cast the Nov. 8 election as the next step of the 2003 recall election that propelled him to office. Voters, he said, sent him to Sacramento to rebuild the state’s economy and fix a moribund political system.

“We need reform. We have a broken system. That’s why you sent me to Sacramento — to fix the broken system,” he said. “Please give me the tools.”

He contended his policies have created 400,000 new jobs and billions in new revenue.

The 90-minute forum in the east San Francisco Bay area was the first time Schwarzenegger sat for an extended time to field unscripted questions from an audience not chosen by his staff.

Dan Weintraub of the Sacramento Bee was live-blogging the event.

Check out his coverage here.

My take

We’ll have to see if anybody’s watching this forum or will watch others if they are held. But if the governor is smart, he’ll barnstorm the state and do them in every city. Most voters haven’t seen Schwarzenegger since the campaign, other than in brief snips on the news. They’ve seen and heard him portrayed as an ogre, a bully, an idiot. But his command of the issues is far better than it was two years ago, and he can articulately make his case for his measures, even in the face of tough questions from voters who disagree with him. He relied on his stump speech material at times, but he wasn’t overly scripted. He mixed in humor. He used anecdotes to make his points. He wasn’t perfect. But he was close to it. His opponents weren’t terrible, but they were what they were: defenders of the status quo. If two-thirds of Californians think the state is going in the wrong direction, they’re not likely to be convinced by these folks that everything is just fine.

Sacramento Bee Columnist Dan Walters and Proposition 77′s Steve Poizner, Photo Courtesy of Dan Weintraub

The Governor is performing well and although he has already won the special election, he may be initiating a new era in California governance.

Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Recovery Team, California Special Election, Bear Flag League, Proposition 74, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77

Cross-posted to the Bear Flag League Special Election Page

President Bush and wife Laura at the dedication of an Air Force One exhibit at the Reagan Library.

The San Francisco Chronicle has Bush visit stirs election anxiety Governor skips event — his backers call trip ill-timed

President Bush sought to draw a link between himself and former President Ronald Reagan on Friday, comparing his war on terrorism to the Cold War — even as a political cold war continued between Bush and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was a glaring no-show during the president’s two-day California trip.

Reagan “recognized that freedom was opposed by dangerous enemies,” Bush said at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library here. “And … America has always prevailed by standing firmly on principles and never backing down in the face of evil.”

But Bush’s visit, at a party fundraiser Thursday night and at the dedication Friday of an Air Force One exhibit at the library before an audience of high-profile state and national Republicans, was termed “ill-timed” by supporters of the governor, who is facing a difficult special election in just over two weeks.

So, what affect will this FLAP have on the California Special Election?

Well, at least the Governor did not have to witness the Bush/Arnold hybrid protesters.

“The governor’s got challenges, and it’s a very tense time for both of them,” said Ken Khachigian, a former Reagan speechwriter and longtime political adviser. “I think they’re both extremely focused on what they’re doing, and as a result, the challenges are higher and the emotions rise.

“… The president’s trip to California will have no effect on the outcome of the special election, and the governor’s not showing up here will have no effect on President Bush,” Khachigian said. “Staff people just got carried away on both sides.”

Agreed!

The President had a good event and the Governor had a few bad press pieces but the FLAP will all but be forgotten by Monday’s press cycle.

Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Recovery Team, California Special Election, George Bush, Proposition 74, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77, Bear Flag League

Cross-posted to the Bear Flag League Special Election Page

and

Cross Posted to the SoCal Law Blog

The Sacramento Bee has State firefighters’ group withdraws support for Schwarzenegger.

California’s largest firefighters’ association withdrew its support for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday, with its president saying the governor has broken his trust with the organization on matters ranging from bill vetoes to the Proposition 75 union dues measure.

The California State Firefighters’ Association is not a union and is not targeted by the Schwarzenegger-supported special election ballot initiative that would restrict public employee unions from spending their members’ dues money on politics. But about three-quarters of its members are in the unions that are targeted by Proposition 75 and are campaigning heavily to defeat it.

What a SURPRISE?

NOT!

These California fire folks along with the California Correctional Peace Officer’s Association (CCPOA) and other public employee unions are the new Southern Pacific Railroad of the 21st century.

Even though the association is a trade group that includes fire department managers as well as line-level hook-and-ladder crew members, gubernatorial campaign spokesman Todd Harris attributed the CSFA’s move to public employee “union bosses” that the Schwarzenegger camp has been harshly criticizing all year.

“The governor is a huge supporter of California’s rank-and-file firefighters,” Harris said. “But it’s no secret he is at odds with union bosses who want California to keep spending more money than it has and just raise taxes to make up the difference.

“They can call themselves whatever they want,” Harris said of the association. “The fact is, this is a fight between Gov. Schwarzenegger and reform-minded Californians across the state versus the union bosses who want to preserve the status quo in Sacramento.”

Like pigs at the government trough these peeps have bankrupted the California state budget, and corrupted California politics with union sponsored special interest legislation and contributions.

Send them a message November 8th.

Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Recovery Team, California Special Election, Bear Flag League, Proposition 74, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77

Cross-posted to the Bear Flag League Special Election Page