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Posted on Thu, Nov. 04, 2004
Schwarzenegger calls Democrats `losers'
BY ANN E. MARIMOW
Knight Ridder Newspapers
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - (KRT) - Just a day after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for bipartisan cooperation in the Capitol, he dismissed the new Senate leader and other Democrats as "losers."
The governor's office scrambled Thursday to explain that the Republican Schwarzenegger's remark was directed at the Democratic idea of raising taxes, not at Democrats as a group.
Both legislative leaders - incoming Senate President Don Perata and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez - seemed to accept that explanation and declined to comment.
But outgoing Senate President John Burton of San Francisco said the governor's taunt was not constructive for a relationship with his successor.
"I'm sure it was a slip of the tongue, but I think Don is not the type of guy who is gonna laugh off those off-the-cuff jabs," he said. "Me, I just took Arnold as he was - a guy who would forget to dip his tongue in his brain before he spoke."
The governor's unscripted moment came at a news conference to introduce Tom Campbell as his new finance director. When asked if he would consider budget-balancing proposals from Perata and other Democrats to increase taxes, Schwarzenegger said, "Well, I mean, why would I listen to losers?"
The governor's press secretary Margita Thompson quickly called reporters to clarify that Schwarzenegger meant "the tax increase initiatives, he didn't mean Senator Perata."
A day earlier, standing at the same podium at a post-election news conference in Sacramento, an expansive Schwarzenegger had said, "Now it is the time where we work together. We have to get together, because that's the best way to do it for the state of California, to approach things in a bipartisan way."
Schwarzenegger's quip Thursday underscored what happens sometimes when the governor doesn't think through the implications of his comments, said Martin Kaplan of the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication.
"It's the kind of Hollywood locker room banter that doesn't often translate into a world of sensitive egos," he said. "If what you're trying to do is portray yourself as bipartisan and beyond traditional politics then it certainly doesn't score you points. So `A' for macho and comedy, and `F' for diplomacy."
The "loser" comment was reminiscent of Schwarzenegger's "girly-men" remark, which he used last July to pressure legislators to approve a state budget. But the governor did not back away from that line, and he went on to repeat it in his speech at the Republican National Convention.
Sen. Sheila Kuehl of Santa Monica said she and fellow Democrats have gotten used to the governor calling for bipartisanship one day and "bashing us" the next.
"Sometimes the governor gets himself so pumped up about everything that he just says the first things that come to his head," she said. "He was pumped up over the election results, like many people in his party were, and he does think the Democrats are losers and will not have a successful agenda."
Kuehl then reminded Schwarzenegger that Democrats appeared not to have lost any legislative seats, despite the governor's efforts to help his party.
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(Knight Ridder Newspapers correspondent Kate Folmar contributed to this report.)
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© 2004, San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.).
Posted on Thu, Nov. 04, 2004
Schwarzenegger calls Democrats `losers'
BY ANN E. MARIMOW
Knight Ridder Newspapers
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - (KRT) - Just a day after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for bipartisan cooperation in the Capitol, he dismissed the new Senate leader and other Democrats as "losers."
The governor's office scrambled Thursday to explain that the Republican Schwarzenegger's remark was directed at the Democratic idea of raising taxes, not at Democrats as a group.
Both legislative leaders - incoming Senate President Don Perata and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez - seemed to accept that explanation and declined to comment.
But outgoing Senate President John Burton of San Francisco said the governor's taunt was not constructive for a relationship with his successor.
"I'm sure it was a slip of the tongue, but I think Don is not the type of guy who is gonna laugh off those off-the-cuff jabs," he said. "Me, I just took Arnold as he was - a guy who would forget to dip his tongue in his brain before he spoke."
The governor's unscripted moment came at a news conference to introduce Tom Campbell as his new finance director. When asked if he would consider budget-balancing proposals from Perata and other Democrats to increase taxes, Schwarzenegger said, "Well, I mean, why would I listen to losers?"
The governor's press secretary Margita Thompson quickly called reporters to clarify that Schwarzenegger meant "the tax increase initiatives, he didn't mean Senator Perata."
A day earlier, standing at the same podium at a post-election news conference in Sacramento, an expansive Schwarzenegger had said, "Now it is the time where we work together. We have to get together, because that's the best way to do it for the state of California, to approach things in a bipartisan way."
Schwarzenegger's quip Thursday underscored what happens sometimes when the governor doesn't think through the implications of his comments, said Martin Kaplan of the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication.
"It's the kind of Hollywood locker room banter that doesn't often translate into a world of sensitive egos," he said. "If what you're trying to do is portray yourself as bipartisan and beyond traditional politics then it certainly doesn't score you points. So `A' for macho and comedy, and `F' for diplomacy."
The "loser" comment was reminiscent of Schwarzenegger's "girly-men" remark, which he used last July to pressure legislators to approve a state budget. But the governor did not back away from that line, and he went on to repeat it in his speech at the Republican National Convention.
Sen. Sheila Kuehl of Santa Monica said she and fellow Democrats have gotten used to the governor calling for bipartisanship one day and "bashing us" the next.
"Sometimes the governor gets himself so pumped up about everything that he just says the first things that come to his head," she said. "He was pumped up over the election results, like many people in his party were, and he does think the Democrats are losers and will not have a successful agenda."
Kuehl then reminded Schwarzenegger that Democrats appeared not to have lost any legislative seats, despite the governor's efforts to help his party.
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(Knight Ridder Newspapers correspondent Kate Folmar contributed to this report.)
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© 2004, San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.).
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