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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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To: LindyBill who wrote (103929)3/10/2005 2:08:06 PM
From: LindyBill  Read Replies (1) of 793868
 
No pain, no gain
California Insider
A Weblog by
Sacramento Bee Columnist Daniel Weintraub

I was talking this week with a Republican strategist who worries that Schwarzenegger may be risking too much with his ballot gambit, and he suggested that instead of taking his agenda directly to the voters, the governor should have spent this year pushing his proposals in the Legislature while promoting them vigorously in public with appearances around the state.

That’s a common sentiment (more common among Democrats than Republicans), but it misses a crucial point: the strategy would have almost certainly failed. Without the threat of initiatives going to the ballot, Democrats in the Legislature would never have dealt with Schwarzenegger about the issues he is pressing now. Instead, he would have pushed and pushed and come up empty. At that point, he would have been portrayed in the press as a failure. And his numbers with the public would likely have eroded further.

So, yes, the risk of catastrophic failure is there with the ballot gambit. But without it you would have almost certainly had incremental, grinding failure. At least with this strategy Schwarzenegger also has the chance for spectacular success. And there still remains the possibility that, when the pressure builds, we’ll see some last-minute deals with the Legislature.
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