Arnold Schwarzenegger made a very poor decision when he hired Susan Kennedy to be his Chief of Staff. He did so knowing full well that her leadership role in the administration of recalled Governor Gray Davis (Kennedy is pictured, to the right, with Governor Schwarzenegger in the background), as well as her extremely partisan credentials (former Executive Director of the State Democrat Party and the California Abortion Rights Action League, as well as time spent as a senior aide to Democrat U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein) would not sit well with grassroots Republican activists and donors throughout the state. I am not saying that a less-partisan Democrat would have been more readily accepted, but with this pick, the Governor reached for someone with the most patisan resume of Democrat activism possible. Perhaps the Governor felt that everyone would simply understand that he still runs state government, and not to be concerned. This is has certainly not been the case. Objections to Kennedy’s hire have been vocal and public, from both the Republican Leaders of the State Senate and State Assembly (as well as many, many members of their caucuses), from many GOP candidate for statewide office, from national political observers like Bob Novak and John Fund, and from grassroots Republicans statewide (I personally have received well over a thousand e-mails from dismayed readers).
So the real question is this: why is would it surprise or shock anyone that the California Republican Party should make a strong, official statement of dismay, consternation and repudiation of the former top staff member of the "other" party now being our Republican Governor’s Chief of Staff? Frankly, such a statement would not come as a surprise, and would probably be a rather short-lived press story. The Governor cannot expect his core Republican constituency to feel comfortable or even be remotely pleased with this appointment. Wall Street Journal editorial page writer John Fund pens a masterfully written piece in today’s Wall Street Journal, entitled "Conan the Appeaser," that really focuses on this point. Actually, the Fund piece is a MUST READ for anyone who is following this Susan Kennedy matter.
What is called for here is swift kick-in-the-butt for the Governor from his own party for an atrocious staff pick. But instead, the situation turns into some sort of agonizing soap opera as party leaders struggle with how to publicly object to bad staff hire on the part of a Governor of their own political party.
After the state GOP is barraged with outrage from the membership and countless numbers of grassroots donors and activists, the California Republican Party issues a statement from the Board of Director via e-mail to Republicans stating:
Last Thursday, the board did, in fact, meet with the Governor. From talking to board members before the meeting, the plan was to go in, express support for the Governor as a person, and support for his continued promotion of GOP principles — and then really, quite firmly and vocally, complain/denounce/decry/protest the naming of Democrat operative Susan Kennedy as his Chief of Staff. An effort by some party and gubernatorial handlers to avoid a one-day "Party leaders jump Governor for hiring Democrat" story, a secrecy-pledge was required of all board members, with the meeting taking place under a seal of ‘executive secrecy’ – no one was to talk about what concerns were expressed to the Governor, or his reaction-response. This, of course, creates inherent problems for a representative board, anxious to communicate to its constituents who elected them that they, in fact, busted the Terminator’s chops over a really, really, poor choice. Chairman Sundheim made it very clear that he did not want to have a media circus taking place (perhaps everyone was keen on the fact that a number of GOP Assemblymembers were vocally critical of the Kennedy hire as they came out of their meeting earlier in the week).
What happens next is truly amazing. Chairman Sundheim steps out of the meeting when the Governor leaves, and proceeds to tell the press that the "Susan Kennedy matter is behind us" and that "we support the Governor’s decision (to hire Kennedy)." Without breaking some confidences, I can tell you that these statements simply were untrue. The Kennedy matter is clearly not behind the party, and no one in that meeting was supportive of the Governor’s decision to hire Kennedy. Why did Sundheim say these things? My personal feeling is that Duf, who wants to try to bring everyone together, is personally willing to put this matter aside, and expressed his personal wishes that this matter go away.
These statements resulted in several major newspapers in the state running headlines like, "Truce is called on GOP Staff Pick" (SacBee) and "Governor, GOP say their spat is over" (SF Chron) last Friday (you can read them by adjusting the toggle in the upper-right-hand corner of this site to last Friday).
Sundheim e-mailed a clarification to a few people the next day (though I am not sure to whom) – it was forwarded to me by a CRP board member – saying that:
I genuinely feel for Sundheim in this situation. I have admired the hard work that he has put into uniting the party, and feel bad that the Governor put him into this awkward situation.
Actually, it creates an extremely awkward situation for everyone — especially for the members of the Party Board of Directors. Presumably (if they followed their plan), they were quote vocal with the Governor about their concerns on the hire of Democrat Kennedy. But now, the exact opposite of this is the public perception, and more importantly, the perception with the outraged grassroots activists and donors. (If you need proof of the outrage from donors, don’t miss the comments of New Majority co-founder Mark Johnson in John Fund’s piece today)
Today I am featuring a letter from several CRP Board Members clarifying that they do not, nor does anyone on the board, support the hiring of Susan Kennedy and that their position was misrepresented in several newspapers. The FlashReport is read by most CRP members. Almost all of these board members have shared with me, or their friends and colleagues, their personal disappointment and dismay at a Democrat being chosen by the Governor for this position.
But what happens now? Well, I speak on behalf of many Republicans when we implore the Governor to replace Kennedy with a Republican. I also think that it should not surprise the Governor that many do not trust or want the right-hand of recalled Governor Gray Davis back in the Governor’s office. We believe in Governor Schwarzenegger, and that he will continue to fight for limited government, and against union-domination of California government. We just think Kennedy is the wrong choice for the top staff job in the administration.
I can’t speak for others, but I stand ready to fight side-by-side with the Governor to promote the agenda that he so proudly and boldly espoused to Californians in the recall election, and in last year’s special election. But hopefully the Governor understands that Republicans don’t trust and will not accept the appointment of Susan Kennedy as anything other than a mistake – one we wish would be reconsidered.
Is it possible to be ardently ‘pro-Arnold’ and ‘anti-Kennedy’? I don’t know. It is extremely awkward for me, and for the party, that the Governor has placed us in this situation.
As for the California Republican Party – I am just one member of 1400. But I think that the party should continue to support the Governor’s policy agenda when it is in concert with our party’s principles — and we should continue to make it clear that Kennedy should not be a confidant or Chief of Staff.
With the State GOP Convention coming up in February, we will have to figure out the appropriate way to continue to vehemently object to Kennedy, while not damaging the re-election efforts of our Republican Governor.
The one thing I can say is that it would be completely wrong and inappropriate to blame Republicans, the Republican Party, Republican legislators, or me, for that matter, for this controversy. None of us asked for this. My loyalty to my Republican Governor is very strong – but it has limits. One of those is asking me to embrace the hiring of Susan Kennedy. The Governor is going have to figure out how to deal with a lot of Republican activists who are unhappy with this pick.
As always, your thoughts and observations are welcome. You can send me an e-mail or drop me an anonymous note.
Jon
P.S. Don’t miss the exclusive column today from Joel Fox, in which he counsels those who are worried about the Kennedy appointment to not prematurely fret about policy issues — that the Governor has earned the benefit of the doubt from all.