With the revelation that Governor Schwarzenegger’s Chief of Staff would be splitting her time between her official state duties, and working on the Governor’s campaign, this really blurs the lines. Since Susan Kennedy’s appointment, there has been growing unrest and unhappiness
statewide among GOP leaders and activists, because of her ‘unique’ background. You see, Kennedy served as Deputy Chief of Staff to none other than disgraced and recalled Governor Gray Davis, a Democrat. She was a senior staff member and Communications Director for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat. She served stints as Executive Director of both the California Democrat Party, and the California Abortion Rights Action League. She cut her teeth as an activist working with Tom Hayden, and idolized Jane Fonda so much as a child she had a scrapbook of Hanoi Jane. If you are having trouble following this, check this out, then pop an Advil.
Let’s just take as fact, on the face of it, that Kennedy’s (pictured left) willingness to become the Governor’s Chief of Staff means she is committed to his re-election (especially with recent policy announcements that emphasize the Governor’s shift away from his GOP base). Does it then stand to reason that she will support the whole Republican ticket? Of course not. By her own admission, Kennedy has never voted Republican before in her life. So, it is very reasonable that Republicans be concerned about Kennedy’s access to the political side of the Governor’s operations — especially where it concerns coordination with statewide Republican plans.
But just the fact that there is not going to be a clear firewall between the policy and campaign sides of the Governor’s shop, with Kennedy able to work her mischief only in the State Capitol, means that it will be a near-impossible task to keep her ‘out of the loop’ on campaign strategies – where all of the GOP candidates are closely intertwined.
In response to concerns by grassroots donors and activists, party leaders requested and the
Governor agreed to erect a firewall — to keep Kennedy away from coordinated campaign secrets. Well, it is one thing to keep someone locked out of the house altogether. But to let them into the living room, but not let them into the dining room (when there is no wall between the two)? How does Susan Kennedy play an integral role in the Governor’s campaign, but not impact campaign decisions? If she is making campaign decisions, then she will be part of meetings where coordinated activities will be discussed.
In a startling article today by Peter Nicholas in the Los Angeles Times, there is reference to a campaign memo:
In the meantime, as Kennedy starts to accompany the Governor around to his campaign events, 
her charisma and affable personality will disarm GOP donors and strategists, who will quickly find that (despite her being a partisan Democrat) it is easy to start to confide in her. She will quickly become ‘imbedded’ into things, and it will become virtually impossible to keep "GOP secrets" away from her. Oh, some pretense may be devised, sending an actual Republican to go to State GOP Board of Directors meetings, and Republican Cal-Plan committee meetings. But it will be more of a public relations ploy than a meaningful effort to keep Kennedy out of the loop.
I’m not saying that Kennedy is ready to connive and thwart Republican statewide efforts, but I will tell you this, I think that the likelihood of her voting for Tom McClintock over Jackie Speier is about… ZERO.
Of course this could all and still can be avoided. It is never too late for the Governor to bring in a Republican Chief of Staff.
(See LA Weekly columnist William Bradley’s related post over at his New West Notes blog.)