[BATN] Arnold's "if you can't beat them, buy them" sales agenda Date: 07 Jan 2006 19:31:44 -0800 X-Fingerprint: sentto-2486642-28209-1136691818-news=energy-net.org@returns.groups.yahoo.com-127.127 Published Saturday, January 7, 2006, in the San Francisco Chronicle Now for the hard part -- governor tries to sell plan Ambitious projects require support of voters, lawmakers By Carla Marinucci and Mark Martin Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plunged Friday into his biggest challenge yet: selling a big idea -- a 10-year infrastructure plan with a $222 billion price tag -- to California voters and legislators who will be especially tough customers in an election year. Standing at a podium with the American River roaring behind him, Schwarzenegger invoked the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and argued that California needs to rehabilitate levees to make the state less vulnerable to flooding. "This river is raging, and it's high and very dangerous," he said, in a reference to his proposal for $2.5 billion in levee repairs over the next decade. "The bottom line is, we can do something about our levees, and we will do something about our levees." Hours later, the governor made another stop in Los Angeles to tout road-building, and aides said he plans a flurry of appearances in the next few weeks to drum up public support -- the kind of campaign-style stops that have been a hallmark of his two years in office. Schwarzenegger also plans to meet with legislative leaders as soon as next week to hash out details of his proposal, communications director Rob Stutzman said. The governor's strategy is different from last year, when he pushed for government reforms publicly but did not meet with legislators for months. His current schedule reflects a pragmatic, can-do attitude toward the rebuilding task at hand that also was evident in his brisk 25-minute State of the State address on Thursday. Insiders said the speech clearly had the imprimatur of his new chief of staff, Democrat Susan Kennedy, reflecting a calculated shift away from a more intimate, personal speech about Schwarzenegger himself that had been talked up weeks ago. Instead, his address -- in effect, his 2006 campaign debut -- was a businesslike, no-frills litany of ambitious ideas. Schwarzenegger did make a key concession with an apology for a major political miscalculation: the unpopular special election, which dealt a major blow to his political popularity. "Don't underestimate the importance of the apology," said Tim Hodson, executive director of the Center for California Studies at Sacramento State University. "That is what voters wanted to hear -- that he take responsibility for his mistakes. That is powerful." Those who know the California governor say his plan for the infrastructure marks the culmination of a longtime goal of Schwarzenegger, who has yearned -- even before he became an official gubernatorial candidate -- to introduce a big-vision idea that would put its mark on the state. "One of the things he had a passion about was to be a builder. ... It was a reason why he wanted to be governor," said one high-level administration source who spoke on the condition of not being identified. "And part of his frustration has been that we inherited this $25 billion debt. He's been anxious to get on with the building and make a lasting impression." But as he makes his case to Californians about the need for rebuilding, says Hoover Institution senior fellow Bill Whalen, the governor is also rebuilding his image as a politician who "thinks big and acts big." "He has to accomplish ideas and things; he needs a record to run on," Whalen said. "He can't abandon the principle of 'fantastic.' Because once he does, he ceases being Arnold Schwarzenegger, a man filled with huge potential." Still, Schwarzenegger will have to convince many skeptics that his latest incarnation is for real. He sidestepped reporters' questions Friday about how he had gone from advocating a slowdown in spending to proposing a costly public works project and how he could say he was against raising taxes while proposing new fees, such as more tolls on roads and a charge to every California household to pay for water projects. "You know, a lot of times, you know, fees are fees and taxes are taxes," he said. "And that's why they're called fees. And that's why they're called taxes." And he will have to disarm critics who argue that he has never been short of big ideas -- such as his early and unkept pledges to "blow up boxes" and revamp the state bureaucracy. Even before he can launch a ballot campaign, two-thirds of a fractured and often contentious Democrat-controlled Legislature would have to vote to put the spending measures before voters. "He hasn't said how he's going to pay for it," says Gloria Nieto, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee gay and lesbian caucus and a grassroots party activist. "Right now, it's 'show me the money.' This can't be just a Hollywood production with a fake landscape behind it." Neither will reaching agreements on the specifics of the bonds be easy, say political veterans, who predict battles over spending -- ranging from whether construction projects can be bid out to private companies to what kinds of wages the projects will pay workers. Such ideological and practical battles will be fought among a wide number of interest groups, they say. "The hardest thing to do in Sacramento is to cut programs," said Jason Kinney, a Democratic strategist. "The second hardest thing to do is offer to spend a bunch of money and then decide who gets what. Open up the floodgates, and everyone wants to row." Still, Kinney said Schwarzenegger was off to a good start by taking up the infrastructure issue, a natural interest for many Democrats. He called Schwarzenegger's proposal the "if you can't beat them, buy them agenda." Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll, said Schwarzenegger's current drive has the marks of a brilliant political move with potential to upend politics as usual, stymie his Democratic opponents and bring some of those disillusioned voters back into his camp. "Usually when political figures have very negative images, they need to command a forum, a mass audience that is paying attention to get out their message," said DiCamillo. "The State of the State address, and the publicity surrounding it, does give him that." And with his own political future in the balance, "we're going to see how politically skillful Arnold Schwarzenegger is this year," he said. "Because it's not as easy to engage legislative leaders as it is to deal with the public."' E-mail the writers at cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com and markmartin@sfchronicle.com Email article texts/URLs for posting to . Manage your subscription by sending a blank email message to: BATN-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to subscribe, BATN-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com to unsubscribe, BATN-digest@yahoogroups.com to switch email to digest mode, BATN-normal@yahoogroups.com to switch email to normal mode, BATN-nomail@yahoogroups.com to switch email delivery off. See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN for web access & archives.