NJR102000
11-01-2004, 06:32 PM
Governor turns his focus to propositions
By Margaret Talev -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 2:15 am PST Monday, November 1, 2004
REDDING - With time running out before Tuesday's election and the fate of several ballot measures too close to call, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger kept his pitches for President Bush and Republican legislative candidates to a minimum in two campaign stops Sunday, focusing on the nonpartisan propositions in which he has a stake.
Touching down by plane about noon at the municipal airport in Redding, 160 miles north of Sacramento, the governor told a crowd of more than 1,000 fans, most of whom favor Bush, "We're not only electing a president. We also have a lot of initiatives on the ballot, this is the important thing."
He later flew to a rally in Pleasanton, in the Bay Area. He was expected to hit several more cities today, campaigning for legislative candidates.
Leaving Redding, Schwarzenegger said he gets the sense that voters are overwhelmed by the 16 measures on the ballot.
"People are really confused about how to vote. Even people that don't necessarily think the way I do, they just want to have some guide to know how to vote," he said. "Everyone is confused, the smartest people, not just people that don't know about politics. Smart people are confused."
In Redding, Schwarzenegger suggested to the crowd he had staked out his positions on ballot measures as protector of the ordinary citizen against moneyed interests.
"It is very important for you to know, the special interests are at it again," he said, waving placards as he highlighted his recommendations on several ballot initiatives. "The special interests are fighting us."
Indian tribes and card-room and racetrack operators bankrolled two gambling measures the governor opposes, Propositions 68 and 70. And a wealthy man with a son in prison fueled the Proposition 66 campaign to weaken the state's "three-strikes" sentencing law, a measure the governor has come out against in the final week of the race.
But advocates of the "three-strikes" measure appeared at the campaign stop in Redding to defend their proposal and said the governor is spreading misinformation and using scare tactics. They also called his special-interest criticism hypocritical, saying the governor failed to tell the crowd the unionized correctional officers who oppose loosening the sentencing laws have a financial stake in keeping less violent felons in prison longer.
Schwarzenegger also did not acknowledge the tobacco, oil, automobile and retail corporations or venture capitalists to whose ballot campaigns he has signed on to limit consumer lawsuits, invest taxpayer money in private stem cell research and block mandates that medium-and large-size employers provide health care for workers.
"The ultimate power comes from the people, from you," he said. "This is why I'm counting on you when you go to the polls."
Schwarzenegger said backers of the Proposition 66 campaign are pushing it "so they can release the murderers, they can release the rapists and they can release the child molesters. That's what they want to do, take them out of jail and send them into your neighborhoods and make your neighborhoods unsafe." :angry:
In the audience, the governor's message and manner resonated with Redding auto body shop owner Mel McKenney and his wife, Cathy. They said Schwarzenegger had influenced their thinking on which way to vote on some ballot measures, including the "three-strikes" measure. :angry:
"It just enlightened me," Mel McKenney said. "He's one of us, and not so much a politician." :blah:
By Margaret Talev -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 2:15 am PST Monday, November 1, 2004
REDDING - With time running out before Tuesday's election and the fate of several ballot measures too close to call, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger kept his pitches for President Bush and Republican legislative candidates to a minimum in two campaign stops Sunday, focusing on the nonpartisan propositions in which he has a stake.
Touching down by plane about noon at the municipal airport in Redding, 160 miles north of Sacramento, the governor told a crowd of more than 1,000 fans, most of whom favor Bush, "We're not only electing a president. We also have a lot of initiatives on the ballot, this is the important thing."
He later flew to a rally in Pleasanton, in the Bay Area. He was expected to hit several more cities today, campaigning for legislative candidates.
Leaving Redding, Schwarzenegger said he gets the sense that voters are overwhelmed by the 16 measures on the ballot.
"People are really confused about how to vote. Even people that don't necessarily think the way I do, they just want to have some guide to know how to vote," he said. "Everyone is confused, the smartest people, not just people that don't know about politics. Smart people are confused."
In Redding, Schwarzenegger suggested to the crowd he had staked out his positions on ballot measures as protector of the ordinary citizen against moneyed interests.
"It is very important for you to know, the special interests are at it again," he said, waving placards as he highlighted his recommendations on several ballot initiatives. "The special interests are fighting us."
Indian tribes and card-room and racetrack operators bankrolled two gambling measures the governor opposes, Propositions 68 and 70. And a wealthy man with a son in prison fueled the Proposition 66 campaign to weaken the state's "three-strikes" sentencing law, a measure the governor has come out against in the final week of the race.
But advocates of the "three-strikes" measure appeared at the campaign stop in Redding to defend their proposal and said the governor is spreading misinformation and using scare tactics. They also called his special-interest criticism hypocritical, saying the governor failed to tell the crowd the unionized correctional officers who oppose loosening the sentencing laws have a financial stake in keeping less violent felons in prison longer.
Schwarzenegger also did not acknowledge the tobacco, oil, automobile and retail corporations or venture capitalists to whose ballot campaigns he has signed on to limit consumer lawsuits, invest taxpayer money in private stem cell research and block mandates that medium-and large-size employers provide health care for workers.
"The ultimate power comes from the people, from you," he said. "This is why I'm counting on you when you go to the polls."
Schwarzenegger said backers of the Proposition 66 campaign are pushing it "so they can release the murderers, they can release the rapists and they can release the child molesters. That's what they want to do, take them out of jail and send them into your neighborhoods and make your neighborhoods unsafe." :angry:
In the audience, the governor's message and manner resonated with Redding auto body shop owner Mel McKenney and his wife, Cathy. They said Schwarzenegger had influenced their thinking on which way to vote on some ballot measures, including the "three-strikes" measure. :angry:
"It just enlightened me," Mel McKenney said. "He's one of us, and not so much a politician." :blah: