OT ~ California Popularity Poll Politics
- From: "JanOrme99@xxxxxxx" <JanOrme99@xxxxxxx>
- Date: 17 Sep 2005 23:19:51 -0700
You may have heard that polls are indicating that
our Califonia Governor Arnold Schwarszenegger's
popularity has slipped very low. Can we trust the
polls that indicate that? I have been wondering
just that question. Wondering if they are skewed
due to the coming Special Election November 8,
where Arnold has called the election with three
initiatives for Teacher Tenure, Spending and
Redisticting. I felt that I smelled a rat in
those polls!
Now I think my nose is working well indeed, after
reading the Saturday Letters Forum in the Contra
Costa Times.
The Times is NOT a conservative paper. Not far
left either, but sure as hell leans to the left.
In the Saturday Edition they publish letters answering
their question of the week. This week the question
was:
"Arnold Swarzenegger's political popularity has slipped,
but how do you rate him as governor?"
Kind of a leading question that! But the writers here
took a Arnold yes=9 and Arnold no=2 in the letters they
wrote. No, this is not a clear indication of BIG Arnold
support. But just read the letters to get the true tone
of what's going on in this State.
And understand that Contra Costa went for Gray Davis
in the election as did the rest of the Bay Area. Yes,
the Bay Area which was the only real core area not to
go for Arnold. The coming Special Initiatives Election
is going to be a dusey! The Teachers Union is raising
and spending money on negative TV Ads like a drunken
sailor. They have been running them for months.
And now the Arnold has announced that he will indeed
run again next year.
Here are those eleven letters including the two that are
very against Arnold by using cheap shots about his acting.
---------------------------
Posted on Sat, Sep. 17, 2005
LETTERS: SATURDAY FORUM
Contra Costa Times
Writers Generally Pleased With Governor's Performance
Tough Job
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had a tough job. There is no way he could
have kept everyone happy with the tough choices he had to make.
California had to make a 180-degree turn in order to bring our finances
back under control. What really burns me is the whining teachers
complaining about a cut. As usual, there is no actual cut just a
reduction in what the ever more inflated education bureaucracy felt was
necessary for funding.
When in the world will educators learn that throwing more money at the
education system does not necessarily translate into better-educated
students.
Yes, teachers do deserve a fair salary, but the bloated salaries at the
top of the educational pyramid do little to add to the learning
atmosphere in the schools.
I am proud that the governor has taken on the educational system. Their
answer is to assess union members to run anti-Arnold ads, not to try
and see how they can work with the administration to make our schools
better.
Elizabeth Summer
Alamo
Cost Of Politics
Our governor has been doing exactly what he said he would do;
subsequently he is paying a heavy price politically. His attempts to
alter the status quo choke-hold of the unions (also known in California
as the Democratic Party) have made him the target for a heavily (union)
financed media campaign to erode his popularity and support.
The politics have derailed his efforts to accomplish anything, such as
Democrats attaching measures to significant legislation that the
majority of Californians support (i.e. solar power and transportation
initiatives that they loaded with union-pleasing measures).
I sincerely hope the people who actually do the work (not the union
hierarchy who only look after themselves) and other Californian's who
want our unreasonably high taxes to actually do something for the
people of this state recognize what is happening. Even great Democrats
like Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla have expressed deep concerns about the
ability to serve the people of this state.
Let's support the governor as he attempts to make changes to the
reigning political power structure that has been ineffective in almost
every aspect of governance and results for the citizens of California.
Diana Gregory
Walnut Creek
No Cause To Gloat
Democrats have no reason to gloat at the governor's low popularity
numbers; the Democrat-dominated Legislature's own numbers are even
worse.
What that tells me is people are fed up with partisan machinations at
the expense of hurting real progress for the benefit of all
Californians.
The governor cannot do anything without the Legislature's approval. We
need legislators who put the interest of Californians before those of
party politics. The initiative process is the closest thing to true
democracy we have.
Erich P. Kellner
Walnut Creek
Just a Performer
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a performer whether he is playing the part of
a body builder, a character in an action movie, or a governor.
As a body builder and actor, he was rather harmless, since we knew he
was putting on a show that had hardly any affect on our lives
whatsoever. But as a governor, he is quite harmful, since we know he is
quite serious about playing to his conservative, right-wing,
special-interest corporate supporters.
Why else would he be going after everyday people - educators and nurses
- who belong to unions? Why else, for example, is he so concerned with
extending the amount of time it takes for teachers to gain tenure?
Why else, for example, was he trying to delay mandating the lower
nurse-to-patient ratio?
Why is our body-builder-turned-action-hero-turned-governor pushing
forward with his costly special election, which is designed to
circumvent our duly elected representatives in the state Legislature?
Is our performing governor trying to take on the role of king?
Michael Sullivan
Lafayette
We Need Arnold
Over the past eight months, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's political
missteps, including an incompletely conceived and ineptly managed
special election agenda, have led to a steep decline in his popularity.
Certainly an unprecedented, massive statewide advertising campaign by
self-serving public employee unions misrepresenting the Governor's
budget plans and vilifying him personally has greatly abetted the
decline.
However, California voters need to awaken to a stark reality.
Without Schwarzenegger, this state will be run by an irresponsible,
stridently liberal, out-of-control and unchecked state legislature.
In the closing days of their session, the Legislature resurrected
legislation permitting illegal non-citizens California drivers
licenses. This legislation defies majority opinion in the state and was
a major issue fueling the recall of Gray Davis.
Similarly, the Legislature chose to ignore state law by overturning the
will of California voters when adopting Prop. 22 in 2000. Irrespective
of individual opinion differences on gay marriage, the Legislature was
wrong to procedurally hijack an unrelated bill, gut and amend it, and
then pass it to nullify a duly approved voter initiative.
Only Gov. Schwarzenegger and his pared-down reforms stand between the
Legislature and a California political calamity.
Jim Hartman
Berkeley
High Regard
As one who must live within the boundaries of his income, I have high
regard for Gov. Schwarzenegger for trying to do the same for the state
of California. He's fighting an uphill battle from senators and
assemblymen who continually want to raise taxes, get rid of Prop. 13
and go along with the appetites of the various unions.
There are 41 Assembly members and 23 senators in Sacramento who last
year were graded D or F in their handling of state business.
Most of them wanted, in some way, to spend more than the state was
receiving in income. They wouldn't have gotten those low ratings if
they were actually trying to keep spending down or working in the best
interest of their constituents.
I rate our governor very highly. It's too bad those who oppose him
don't set aside their greed to help get our state's spending back
within the limits of its income.
R.H. Porterfield
Walnut Creek
------------------
Good, Not Great
I would rate Arnold's performance as good, not great, but good. It is
evident he is doing a good job since his job approval rating is going
down.
Doing what is right and best for the state usually angers the
status-quo-cool-aid people and ratings tend to dip. Having a mind of
your own and not following the crowd, special interest groups, etc. is
good.
I look forward toward his reelection in 2006.
DJ Berlier
Lafayette
------------------
Questions Polls
The premise that Gov. Schwarzenegger's political popularity has
slipped, based on the polls, is meaningless.
The recent Public Policy Institute poll queried only 2,004 of
California's 35 million residents to come to the conclusion that Arnold
is losing ground.
Other surveys put Schwarzenegger's approval rating above 50 percent and
show that a strong majority of Californians back his plan for
government reform. If you believe in poll numbers, read on: only 24
percent of the state's registered voters are pleased with the job the
Legislature is doing, and only 5 percent said they had a great deal of
confidence in the Legislature's ability to deal with the state's budget
deficit.
As far as rating the governor's performance is concerned, I'd give him
five stars, an A+. He repealed the car tax, rescinded drivers licenses
for illegal immigrants and passed workers compensation reform.
Consistent with his commitment to California's students, the Governor
is proposing a 7.1 percent increase in education spending for the
coming year.
All this progress with nothing but resistance and antagonism from the
Democrats in the state Legislature. Just think what he could accomplish
with a little cooperation.
Sandy Gregory
San Ramon
-------------------
Superb Job
Gov. Schwarzenegger is doing a superb job representing the needs of
California and the needs of individual voters fed up with
nonrepresentation.
Not only does he represent the will of the people, he is powerful
enough to stand up to corrupt unions the entrenched liberal demagogues
who have had a stranglehold on our state legislature for years.
Polls are just that -- polls -- and can be misinterpreted or biased
depending on who is conducting the poll. Wise men do not rely on polls
to make decisions but rely on experience, ethics and gut instinct to do
what is right for the citizens they represent.
California voted Arnold into office ... to change the corrupt,
entrenched status quo in Sacramento.
His track record in representing the will of the people has proven that
he is powerful enough to make changes and stand up to those who wish to
keep the current entrenched status quo. He has done something our
elected state Legislators have not done in decades!
It is evident that he is the most capable and ethical governor we have
had in years not beholden to political contributions when making
serious decisions affecting the economy and daily lives of all
Californians.
Paul Dimon
Brentwood
----------------------
Very Good Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger has been a very good governor in spite of this
obstructionist Legislature that has tried to block his good government
agenda. They don't work with the governor to write anything of
importance.
They write junk to make the governor look bad. Fortunately, he doesn't
fall for their dirty tricks. The public employee union bosses have
amassed $40 million, some from out-of-state unions, for the
concentrated blitz of television ads, which so far have been full of
lies and distortions. The leftist press in San Francisco has also
joined the trash Arnold campaign.
The governor tries to do the good we elected him to do. The legislature
and the public union bosses have done everything possible to block his,
and our, success. We Californians are victims of these two groups.
We are very lucky to have had Gov. Schwarzenegger the last 22 months. I
hope we can keep him long enough to help make the critical changes
necessary to make California fit for the next generation.
Howard Soule
Walnut
-----------------
B-Movie Role
"Governator" Arnold, in his role as governor of California, portrays
the same B-movie characters that he plays in movies.
Always carried by quality actors in supporting roles, Arnold has simply
brought his successful movie formulas to his failure as governor. In
every way it has been a B-movie performance, and not a realistic,
well-planned effort, with any success created by the skill and public
capabilities of Marie Schriver.
We, the people, invite less from our politicians and get the results we
request by our voting choices. When we expect ethics, talent, results,
and accountability rather than a performance, we will not elect the
current level of politicians to our governments' offices.
Hal Bailey
Alamo
------------------
I was actually surprised by these letters here in the
"Belly Of The Bay Area Leftist Liberal Beast." But very
pleased to see that many of my neigbors agree with me
on a lot of this. And it reminded me once again that
California voters are not easily swayed by rank piles
of money stinking up our TV Screens.
Jan Eric Orme
"Always drink upstream from the herd."
.
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