What a difference for Bush! Land in California and meet with a friendly Governor.
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Bush to stop over in state, meet with Schwarzenegger
President on way to 9-day trip to Asia
Marc Sandalow, Washington Bureau Chief
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle
Washington -- As President Bush heads west this morning on a nine-day, six-nation tour of Asia and Australia, the summit much of the world will be watching will be his meeting with California's Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Hundreds of reporters will be on hand Thursday when Bush and Schwarzenegger sit down in the president's hotel in Riverside for a meeting of two improbable leaders who are now among the best known politicians in the world.
Some anticipate a strong mutual bond that will bring California much- needed federal assistance and Bush the state's lode of electoral votes. Others foresee a rocky marriage of convenience that could threaten Schwarzenegger's independence or Bush's appeal to social conservatives.
Either way, the high political drama that has been a hallmark of presidential trips to California since Bush moved into the White House -- and a barometer of the Washington-Sacramento relationship -- will take a new turn after what is expected to be a short, one-on-one meeting.
As a measure of the high stakes attached to the presidential visit, both sides kept logistical details of the visit mostly secret as aides scrambled to determine where the two should meet, what should be discussed, who should be present and at what point to invite photographers to take their pictures.
"This could be a beautiful partnership for both of them. Or it could turn out to be a walking billboard for contrast,'' said Phil Trounstine, director of the Survey and Policy Research Institute at San Jose State University and former communications director for Gov. Gray Davis.
Bush, the 57-year-old son of a former president, and Schwarzenegger, the 56-year-old Austrian-born movie star, each chose a career in politics as a second -- if not a third -- career. Each has relied on fraternity-like social skills to advance his career, and each triumphed over longtime officeholders by pledging to shake up the political establishment.
Yet enormous differences divide the pair. Schwarzenegger is a pro-choice, pro-gun-control political novice who used frustration over the state's economy as a springboard to the governor's seat. Bush is an anti-abortion, pro-gun incumbent who must overcome the same economic concerns if he is to win a second term.
"One has political capital, the other has federal resources,'' said Bruce Cain, director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley.
If Schwarzenegger, who won nearly a quarter of the Democratic vote, can convince moderate Californians that Bush isn't so bad, Republicans may have a shot at picking up the state's 55 electoral votes in 2004. By the same token, if Bush can help Schwarzenegger raise California from its fiscal crisis, he may provide the new governor with a strong political platform.
"If Republicans are smart, they will make sure that federal programs and state programs work hand in glove, that California gets its fair share when it comes to tax dollars,'' said Schwarzenegger spokesman Sean Walsh.
Davis' relations with Bush ranged from an icy cold war, in the midst of California's electricity crisis, when some viewed Davis as a potential rival to the new president, to an awkward detente following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In contrast, Davis, a Democrat, got along splendidly with President Bill Clinton. "It's definitely an advantage when you have a governor and a president of the same party,'' Trounstine said, "but it's not the panacea that one would hope.''
Trounstine recalled Davis' efforts to get Clinton to pressure his energy regulators to impose price caps to stave off the spike in California's electricity prices, something Clinton adamantly refused to do as he neared the end of his term in late 2000.
Still, with so much mutual interest, most expect Schwarzenegger and Bush to see a great deal of each other.
Bush had plans to be in California long before the results of last week's election were known. He plans today to raise a few million dollars more for his re-election in Fresno and Riverside, deliver a speech on housing and the economy in the Central Valley and discuss the war on terror and Iraq in San Bernardino on Thursday. Later Thursday, Bush heads to Asia, where he will meet with 20 heads of state from other Pacific Rim nations at the annual APEC meeting in Bangkok.
Details of Thursday's event remained in flux as Schwarzenegger's aides huddled into the evening Tuesday discussing details and disclosing even less information than the typically tight-lipped White House.
Left unstated were whether the two would take questions from the assembled media mob, the length of the meeting and the topics to be addressed.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the meeting would be private and that it would take place at Bush's hotel.
He left unanswered a reporter's question about whether the two would work out together.
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle |
URL: sfgate.com/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/10/15/MNGAG2BO921.DTL |
