Ex-governor plays surrogate
PAYBACK?: Wilson takes key role in Schwarzenegger's campaign
John Wildermuth, Chronicle Political Writer
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle
Former Gov. Pete Wilson is quickly becoming the political face for Arnold Schwarzenegger, moving everything from his political team to his policy positions into the actor's camp.
In the week since Schwarzenegger jumped into the recall campaign to replace Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, Wilson has been the actor's surrogate, showing up across the television dial to give his blessing to the rookie politician's campaign.
The actor added three more of Wilson's top political operatives to the campaign Tuesday, hiring Bob White, Wilson's former chief of staff, and Marty Wilson and Pat Clary, who both worked closely with the former governor.
White worked with Schwarzenegger last year on Proposition 49, a successful measure to provide more after-school programs for California's young people.
After five years of listening to Davis and other Democrats disparage Wilson's two terms as governor, payback is one reason for his involvement.
"There is a personal element," Wilson said in an interview Tuesday. "I'm outraged by (Davis') deficit in vision and leadership."
California was a different and much better state when he left as governor, Wilson said.
"I wanted the job (as governor) in order to make changes, and we did," he said. "We left (Davis) in great shape, with a multibillion-dollar surplus. In four years' time, he's managed to create the worst business climate in the nation. He's spent us into an unbelievable hole."
That's red meat rhetoric for the millions of California residents unhappy with the direction the state has taken under Davis. And Schwarzenegger's political team, many of them Wilson alumni, see the ex-governor as the perfect person to paint the actor as a serious candidate.
"Who better to state that Schwarzenegger is qualified and the tonic for what ails California than the state's last successful governor?" said Sean Walsh, a former Wilson spokesman now working for Schwarzenegger's campaign. "We're very, very pleased that Pete Wilson is out there supporting Arnold."
But while Wilson's enthusiastic endorsement can bring his friends to Schwarzenegger's side, it has also brought his enemies around, too. And Wilson's decades in California's political life, capped by a bitter fight over Proposition 187, an immigration measure opposed by the state's Latino voters, has left him with plenty of baggage.
"Even George Bush wouldn't campaign with Wilson in 2000," said Art Torres, head of the state Democratic Party. "You put yourself out there, and you're going to get hit by what you did in the past."
Wilson got a taste of that last year, when he campaigned with Bill Simon, the GOP candidate for governor, in the waning days of the campaign.
The Davis campaign bought full-page ads in La Opinion, an influential Spanish-language daily. The ads featured a photo of Simon and Wilson, identified as "the father of Proposition 187," and the headline "Tell me the company you keep and I'll tell you who you are."
Torres is repeating that same proverb these days, this time aimed at Schwarzenegger.
"It's absolutely fair to bring this up," he said. "We can talk about Wilson's failed policies of the past and then remind people that he's part of (Schwarzenegger's) team and his lieutenants are, too."
RISK FOR SCHWARZENEGGER
Making Wilson a co-chairman of the campaign and sending him out to face the press is a risk for Schwarzenegger, who has been downplaying his Republican background and pointedly promising to be the governor of all Californians.
"The risk is like having Bush too actively involved," said Bruce Cain, a political science professor at UC Berkeley. "It has the potential of hardening partisan lines and driving Democrats into (Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz) Bustamante's hands."
On the other hand, Proposition 187 passed overwhelmingly in California, so Wilson's backing, along with Schwarzenegger's own support for the controversial initiative, could help attract conservatives leery of the actor's more moderate political positions.
"Arnie's not denying he is a Republican," said Alan Hoffenblum, a longtime GOP consultant who edits the California Target Book. "In the end, it's not Pete Wilson on the ballot, it's Arnold Schwarzenegger on the ballot and people are going to make their decisions based on what Schwarzenegger believes."
PLENTY OF WILSON PEOPLE
The flood of Wilson people into the campaign could prove a problem for a candidate who's trying to attract Democrats and independents, but there weren't a lot of choices.
"Nearly 99 percent of the consultants in California work exclusively for Republicans or Democrats," Hoffenblum said. "A consultant's job is to reflect the views of their candidate and this is a veteran, seasoned team."
The fact that Walsh, chief strategist George Gorton, media expert Don Sipple and a number of other former Wilson aides are running Schwarzenegger's campaign is more about winning elections than setting out policy, Walsh said.
"The Wilson people involved in the campaign are individuals who are 4-0 in statewide political campaigns," he said. "They're going to provide the organization and infrastructure needed to win an election, but when it comes to message tone and policy, there will be a broader and deeper group involved."
That's a group likely to include Wilson, who's known Schwarzenegger for 20 years and is confident "he'll be good for California."
But Wilson's legacy is part of the mix. He doesn't want to be remembered as the man who lost California for the Republicans by sending outraged Latino voters to the Democrats.
"This campaign is a chance to see how long political radioactivity lasts," said Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna University College. "For Wilson, this could be a path to elder statesman status, a chance to see if it's safe to step back onto the scene."
When Wilson talks about the future with Schwarzenegger, it's in terms of a return to the past, to when California was a better place. Back to when he was governor.
"You couldn't have been governor of this state for eight years trying to rebuild California's image . . . and not feel something when you watch all of that come apart," he said.
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