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By Robert Salladay and Peter Nicholas
Los Angeles Times
November 30, 2005
SACRAMENTO
— Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, launching an overhaul of his
administration, is poised to hire a former Democratic Party
activist and high-ranking aide to Gray Davis as his new chief
of staff, sources familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday.
The hiring of Susan P. Kennedy — a former executive director
of the California Democratic Party, longtime abortion rights
activist and Cabinet secretary to Davis, the Democrat whom
Schwarzenegger replaced — would signal a shift in direction
for the Republican governor.
Schwarzenegger has been seeking to recover politically from
the defeat of his ballot initiatives earlier this month and
prepare for his reelection bid in this heavily Democratic
state.
Multiple administration officials refused to discuss Kennedy.
"Why would we comment on something we haven't announced
or confirmed?" spokeswoman Julie Soderlund said.
Another administration official abruptly hung up the phone
when asked about Kennedy. But an announcement of her
appointment could come as early as today, said the sources,
speaking on condition of anonymity.
Kennedy, 45, recently told The Times she was a "Democrat
to the core," and rumors of her appointment have already
upset some Republican activists, particularly social
conservatives whose allegiance to Schwarzenegger has been a
marriage more of convenience than commitment.
But Kennedy, who is a member of the state's Public Utilities
Commission, is also considered friendly to business interests
— a major part of Schwarzenegger's political coalition.
Moreover, she is known as a pragmatic taskmaster who could
bring order to the disparate ideologies and allegiances of
Schwarzenegger's inner circle.
Schwarzenegger's administration has been beset by infighting
and mixed messages, in part because the governor takes advice
from a wide range of sources, including close friends in
Hollywood and Republican political insiders he has known only
a few years.
His political circle already includes at least two prominent
Democrats: First Lady of California Maria Shriver and longtime
friend and aide Bonnie Reiss. Shriver recently hired another
former Cabinet secretary to Davis, Daniel Zingale, as her
chief of staff.
Nonetheless, such a high-profile reach to the other side of
the political divide is unusual in the sharply divided
politics of California state government.
The move stands in contrast to the strategy Schwarzenegger
followed for most of the last year, in which he emphasized
issues that appealed to Republican voters.
Kennedy would replace Patricia Clarey, a Republican and one of
Schwarzenegger's first appointments.
As chief of staff, Clarey helped stock the senior ranks of the
administration with Republican loyalists and trusted
colleagues from former Gov. Pete Wilson's office.
Conservative Republicans said they were already troubled by
the administration's shift in direction, which began just
after the Nov. 8 election when Schwarzenegger said he wanted
to borrow billions of dollars to shore up the state's
infrastructure rather than trim the budget.
Kennedy is not going to help, one prominent conservative said:
"She embodies everything I have spent my life opposing.
It obviously raises more problems and concerns about where he
is headed next year," said Mike Spence, president of the
California Republican Assembly. "There is a list of
things now where it appears we would have been better off if
Gray Davis were governor."
On the other side of the political spectrum, Barry Broad, a
union lobbyist, said the moves suggest Schwarzenegger's
government is "literally turning back into the Davis
administration before our very eyes. I can't believe that they
recall them and then hire them back."
Yet members of Sacramento's political establishment from both
parties, who spoke about the possibility of Kennedy's
appointment, praised her.
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) said that
despite her early years as a Democratic partisan and abortion
rights activist, Kennedy is "no flaming liberal."
Kennedy has proved she is "able to subordinate her own
ego and personality to get the job done," he said.
Former Senate Republican leader Jim Brulte, now a consultant,
said: "If every member of Gov. Davis' staff were as
talented as Susan Kennedy, there wouldn't be a Gov.
Schwarzenegger in office today.
"Very few people know what it takes to run a governor's
office," Brulte said. If Schwarzenegger chooses Kennedy,
"Republicans who may be concerned about her will over
time find her to be an incredibly capable manager," he
said.
As a member of the utilities commission, appointed by Davis,
Kennedy is the highest-ranking gay official in California.
Early in Davis' first term as governor, Kennedy and her
partner, Vicki Marti, a psychotherapist, held a commitment
ceremony in Maui, Hawaii, attended by high-ranking
administration officials.
On the commission, Kennedy has staked out a variety of
pro-business positions that have prompted some industry
observers to compare her to a Republican.
Although those parts of her resume may endear Kennedy to some
of Schwarzenegger's backers, other parts of her career are
more solidly partisan. A protege of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein
(D-Calif.), Kennedy started her political career working in
Los Angeles for Students for Economic Democracy, an advocacy
group set up by former state Sen. Tom Hayden. In 1992, she was
executive director of the California Democratic Party and
helped orchestrate a victory for Feinstein and other
Democrats.
At the time, Kennedy worked for the party's chairman, Phil
Angelides, now state treasurer and a leading candidate for the
Democratic nomination to run against Schwarzenegger next year.
One area where Kennedy and Schwarzenegger may differ on is
abortion. The governor backed Proposition 73 this year, which
would have required parents to be notified before a minor
could have an abortion. In the early 1990s, Kennedy headed the
California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League,
which fights abortion restrictions.
On another politically hot issue, same-sex marriage, the two
may be more closely aligned.
The governor vetoed a bill this year that would have legalized
same-sex marriages, saying the courts had yet to decide the
issue.
Kennedy has argued against the "blind
self-righteousness" of activists who criticized Feinstein
for saying that the push for same-sex marriages was coming too
fast, too soon.
Replacing Clarey as chief of staff probably will bring other
changes to the administration.
During the last few months, Schwarzenegger aides have
privately confided that if Clarey were to leave, it could give
the administration a decidedly different cast, spurring an
exodus of aides who owe their positions to her.
Kennedy's appointment could rankle some conservative
Republicans as Schwarzenegger heads into the governor's race.
But the party seems not to have — or want — another
choice; no major challengers have emerged for the Republican
primary in June, and the party has already endorsed
Schwarzenegger.
Dismissing the notion that Kennedy could hinder
Schwarzenegger's ability to win votes among Republicans,
Perata said: "The only person who gets the votes is the
governor."
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