Well, I thought that I would try to help fill in the blanks for those wondering what Chris “would have said” had he actually spoken out on his departure. Readers should understand that I have not spoken to him about this, and that this is an editorial on my part, presuming what Chris might say (if he could):
A FICTITIOUS STATEMENT FROM CHRIS KAHN ON HIS DEPARTURE AS LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR FOR THE GOVERNOR
Why am I resigning from my post? To be honest, the stress associated with this job was making it thoroughly not fun. Let me paint a picture for you, starting by throwing out there that I am a loyal Republican and while I may not be a hard-right winger like some GOPers, I am firmly grounded in my free-market principles. When I stepped into this role, as the primary liaison between the Governor and the State Legislators, I never dreamt what I was getting myself into.
First and foremost, this Governor has no overarching defining ideology (with the exception of his obsession with fighting global warming using state government as his foil). For me, that meant that I could not really tell legislators, Republicans or Democrats, that any particular legislation would be favored or opposed by the Governor. It very much annoyed me that Schwarzenegger’s predecessor was famous for not taking positions on bills until they reached his desk, leaving everyone wondering what he would do. Well, this Governor has taken it to a whole new level, since he has less of an ideology than did Governor Davis.
How many times can I, as a loyal Republican, say the words, “I don’t know,” when asked what the Governor will do on terrible pieces of legislation? It got to the point where all I could do is hope that particularly heinous bills would make the Cal-Chamber’s “Job Killer” list – since the Governor likes to veto those to give himself “cover” as he signs so many other regulations into law. How many times can I go into a meeting of the senior staff of a Republican Governor, and feel like I am an advocate for some bizarre extreme position when I say we shouldn’t be supporting any tax increases? Of course, it’s getting harder to find Republicans on the senior staff…
It got to the point where I would avoid going upstairs to Republican legislative offices because all I would get is a pity-party, with folks up there feeling sorry for me – stuck in a position where I could only impact things at the margins.
So, to reiterate, my job hasn’t really but satisfying or fun the whole way through. It is particularly unnerving to watch the Governor trumpet the signing of so many bills placed on his desk by liberal Democrats – bills that Deukmejian or Wilson would have not only vetoed, but opposed as they were introduced as bills!
Now that I have made my decision and it is official, I feel like a huge burden has been lifted from me! We only have two years to go, and then hopefully we can elect a Republican Governor who will govern as he campaigns, and empower Republican legislators (with his veto pen) rather than ostracize them.
In closing – there was nothing fun about being Legislative Director for an Administration that has, since 2005, taken such an increasing favorable view of signing into law outrageous regulations, fees and bills that curtail individual liberty. The Governor is a great guy, personally, and hanging out with him is fun — cigars and all. But this is serious business, and so in the job I held, I needed more than personality, I needed a committed fiscal conservative. I never had that.
[Again, this is NOT an actual statement by Kahn, but some editorial prose on my part. While I think, personally, that this is close to how Chris probably feels, he is a professional, and would never say anything critical of an employer – Flash]
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