GOP Wants Arnold to Commit on '06

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger should quickly declare he's running for governor next year - primarily to shore up his unpopular special election schedule this November, declare some in the GOP, according to the Sacramento Bee.

"The best certainty he could provide is to say, 'Look, I'm not only supporting these initiatives, I'm running for re-election,'" said Ken Khachigian, a Southern California lawyer and longtime Republican strategist who was one of Ronald Reagan's senior advisers.

"You've got a handful of contributors who are going to be fine no matter what happens, so they don't have much exposure," Khachigian added. "But then there are the business community guys who contribute in the $10,000 to $100,000 range.

"In the back of their minds, they're thinking, if the governor doesn't run and we lose the governor's office and we've just put a chunk of change down to screw the unions and the Democrats and everything else on all these issues, we're going to pay a penalty with the Legislature if there's a Democratic governor. And it's going to cost us double that to get back in good with the Democratic leadership."

But Schwarzenegger spokesman Rob Stutzman says only that the governor will announce "when he's made a decision and he's prepared."

Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger's so-called reform agenda has incensed Democrats and public employee labor unions, who already have spent millions opposing him.

Schwarzenegger has over time advocated a host of initiatives, including:

• pension overhauls;
• a crackdown on bad teachers and adjusting the voter-approved formula for education funding;
• Proposition 75, which seeks to make it harder for public employee unions to raise money for political campaigns;
• Proposition 74, which would make it harder for teachers to get tenure;
• Proposition 76, which would give a governor new powers to cut spending; and
• Proposition 77, which would change how legislative districts are drawn, is pending in the courts.

According to the Bee report, Jack Stewart, president of the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, conceded that some of his more than 800 members have been slow to write checks for Schwarzenegger's special election campaign.

Stewart, however, noted that once Schwarzenegger starts campaigning in earnest and there's no longer any question about what's on the ballot, the money should come.

Indeed, Republican Jim Brulte, a former leader in the state Senate who supports Schwarzenegger's agenda, said the governor continues to enjoy strong backing from California's business community.

"There are a lot of people in the business community that are happy to follow the governor into battle," Brulte said. "They just want to make sure that he's prepared to be the commanding general the next five years."

Schwarzenegger can raise what he needs for November even if he doesn't declare beforehand that he's running again, Brulte added. But if he does, "it would just be easier."