95 percent accurate*
The Ventura County Star's Sacramento Bureau Chief Timm Herdt on state issues and politics from Sacramento to Ventura County. He can be contacted at therdt@venturacountystar.com.
The Ventura County Star's Sacramento Bureau Chief Timm Herdt on state issues and politics from Sacramento to Ventura County. He can be contacted at therdt@venturacountystar.com.
Steve Schmidt, the man brought in from the White House to manage Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger's re-election campaign, hasn't let his inside-the-Beltway exposure cloud his judgment about the California political environment.
He knows exactly how popular the Bush administration is in California.
In briefing reporters last week about the upcoming campaign, Schmidt insisted that the issues that plague Republicans in Washington — Iraq, congressional corruption, a bloated federal deficit — will have no role in the coming California gubernatorial campaign.
He noted that there is "no competitive federal election in California at the Senate level," which means Sen. Dianne Feinstein, unlike Democratic Senate candidates across the land, will not be running television commercials alleging a Republican "culture of corruption" in Washington.
"What's going to drive this election are California issues," he said.
Schmidt was asked whether the Schwarzenegger campaign would welcome a visit by President Bush in the fall.
His response: "We'll put the most effective people into the state."
Give 'em credit: Those Washington guys know how to diplomatically answer a question.
Posted by Timm Herdt at April 10, 2006 4:55 PM