The Wall Street Journal
Over Cigars, Schwarzenegger, Speaker Build Unlikely Bond
How Núñez Helped Drive Governor's Left Turn
By JIM CARLTON
May 31, 2007; Page A1
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- In late 2003, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger rode into office promising to "blow up" state bureaucracy and go over the heads of California's liberal legislature. A few months later, Fabian Núñez, an outspoken critic of the new governor, took over as speaker of the Democratic-run state assembly. "I have declared political war on Schwarzenegger," Mr. Núñez said at the time.
Now, Gov. Schwarzenegger calls Mr. Núñez his "great friend." The 59-year-old governor and the 40-year-old speaker often talk over cigars in the smoking tent the governor has set up in a courtyard of the Sacramento capitol building. Politically, the two have come together to forge deals on raising the state's minimum wage, rebuilding infrastructure and passing a landmark anti-global-warming bill. Amid continuing criticism from their own parties, they're tackling thorny areas including health-care reform.
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Their journey toward rapprochement -- one part political calculation, another part personal ties forged over cigars in the governor's backyard -- helps explain why California is beginning to solve problems that have vexed the Golden State for years. The state is becoming something of a national model for how the two parties can work together even after years of acrimony, and Messrs. Núñez and Schwarzenegger have attracted the attention of the 2008 presidential campaigns. Two Republican contenders, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, have visited Gov. Schwarzenegger to seek his advice on bridging partisan differences, aides for the campaigns say. In April, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton named Mr. Núñez one of 10 national co-chairs of her presidential campaign, a job that calls for national campaigning and fund raising.
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By August, Gov. Schwarzenegger's popularity had dropped to 36%, compared with over 60% after he was elected. In November 2005, California voters roundly defeated the ballot measures. With gubernatorial elections only a year away, many believed Gov. Schwarzenegger had no chance of reelection. Mr. Núñez, having helped trounce the governor, saw his political capital soar... The speaker knew that while the governor's approval ratings were low, the state legislature's numbers were lower still: The same survey that showed Gov. Schwarzenegger's popularity had plummeted, a Field Poll of registered voters, showed that only 27% of respondents thought the state legislature was doing a good job. Democratic lawmakers could have faced a backlash from voters if they had blocked progress in Sacramento, Mr. Núñez says: "I would have wasted a whole year."
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By this time, Mr. Núñez had become a regular visitor to the governor's cigar-smoking tent. In one such visit shortly after the November elections, the speaker suggested a bill he had recently agreed to sponsor that would cap greenhouse gas emissions in the state. "I told the governor, 'Here's what I want to do,' " Mr. Núñez recalls. According to the speaker, the governor's eyes lit up. 'He said, 'I'm a Republican, but I'm a Hollywood Republican.' " Gov. Schwarzenegger had already taken stands to protect forests and water quality. On the global-warming bill, he faced opposition from his own party in California because many Republicans said businesses would have to spend more to comply with its measures. The governor agreed to sign the bill only if the state would consider letting businesses use market-based approaches to capping emissions, such as trading pollution credits. The governor signed the bill in 2006, turning him into a world-wide environmental hero and gaining him recognition as the "Green Governor."
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