SCHWARZENEGGER ALIENATES MANY GROUPS

Stewart A. Alexander

2006 Candidate

California Lieutenant Governor

Peace and Freedom Party

When Gray Davis was voted out of office in 2003 many Californians were optimistic that Governor Schwarzenegger had a plan to pull California out of the red ink and to cut the wasteful spending that goes to special interest groups. To the surprise of millions of Californians they discovered that the governor defined special interest groups as the poor, the working class, the unions and middle class America.

Schwarzenegger presented a bold platform to cut spending however many came to realize that meant cutting the income and benefits for working people. The governor wanted to crush special interest groups so that meant taking away the power and voice of unions to represent their members.

The governor wanted to cut wasteful government spending so that meant trimming any state programs that would benefit the poor and homeless.

Schwarzenegger drew sharp criticism from California Indians identifying them as a special interest group and not paying “their fare share” of taxes and said the California tribes “are ripping us off”, but no such attacks have been charged against the oil companies.

Teachers and educators provided great support to elect Schwarzenegger into office and their rewards were cuts in school funding and to be labeled as a special interest group.

Instead of creating more jobs and work programs for minorities, Hispanics, Blacks and women, the governor has filled our state prisons to double the capacity limits and has done nothing to reduce the over crowded conditions in our courts; however Schwarzenegger is serving his own special interest groups with a commitment to build more prisons statewide and to waste almost $8 billion on another failing program.

The governor is seeking the support of another special interest groups by promising to repair and build more state highways on thin air with no real resources to pay the cost, and Californians and state legislators remain skeptical.

“Schwarzenegger came into office speaking against special interest groups but he is in the back pocket of every special interest group that does business in California”, says Stewart Alexander, candidate for Lieutenant Governor for the Peace and Freedom Party.

Alexander says, “This governor wants to build a society with the sacrifices of the middle class and poor, taking away from the people that struggle everyday to give to the rich. What is even worst is the governor will not listen to the same people that voted him into office, even forcing the Special Election in November 2005.”

Recently Schwarzenegger has been courting the mass media, his new special interest group, presenting his executive, leadership style and public image; however the governor may have caused too much political damage to himself to receive any significant help from his special interest partners or the press.

Alexander says, “The governor has a lot of baggage and he has stepped on a lot of people. Californians thought Governor Gray Davis could not lead the state, however Schwarzenegger can’t lead people. In the next few months we will see if millions of Californians can forgive and forget when they go to the polls this year to elect statewide officials. We will see if Californians will trust Schwarzenegger for four more years or if they are ready for more than a one party system”.