Just as during his 2003 recall race, "He's becoming a Democrat again,'' said an admiring San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, assessing the governor's political instincts. "It's a good sign for him and a bad sign for the Democratic Party,'' Newsom said. "He gets it. He's learned his lesson. ... He's running back, not even to the center -- I would say center-left.''
Schwarzenegger recalls his relationship with his father-in-law, Sargent Shriver -- a former Democratic vice presidential candidate -- while extolling equal opportunity in California's public schools
'New' Schwarzenegger gets surprisingly warm welcome
His talk at King Day breakfast has a Democratic sound
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Caption: Arnold Schwarzenegger on the night of his victory in the race for Governer of California with Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy Shriver on the platform with him.
A tough crowd -- the toughest -- was supposed to be on hand when Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger showed up unexpectedly Monday to address the annual Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast in San Francisco.
But instead of handing him his head, as expected, most of the A-list crowd of Democrats, community and labor leaders -- including many who led bitter opposition to the governor's special election -- gave him a warm and welcoming hand.
The governor's address to hundreds packed into the Holiday Inn to honor the slain civil rights leader mentioned neither the word "Republican'' nor the defeat of his four ballot propositions last year, when he favored tough talk against "special interest'' labor unions.
Engaged in his mission to get back to the moderate middle, Schwarzenegger took a Democratic tone, speaking in favor of public service, recalling his relationship with his father-in-law, Sargent Shriver -- a former Democratic vice presidential candidate -- while extolling equal opportunity in California's public schools.
"How wrong I was when I said everyone has an equal opportunity to make it in America,'' Schwarzenegger said, adding that, especially in inner-city schools, "the state of California does not provide (equal) education for all of our children.''
Before he took the stage, there had been talk among the audience of a large walkout protest. But when the governor took the stage -- only a boo or two was heard -- and just San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly made the lonely gesture of leaving, a departure so low-key, one Democratic observer wondered whether "maybe he was just going to the bathroom.''
Indeed, the usually outspoken state Sen. Carol Migden of San Francisco wryly commented of her fellow Democrats: "We are unfailingly polite. ... I know I had to edit my remarks when I heard the governor would be in the room.''
Two days after House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, faced protesters and hecklers from the anti-war left during a town hall meeting in San Francisco, Schwarzenegger's smooth sailing at a Democratic breakfast underscored not only an uncanny knack for avoiding controversy, but his considerable political skills.
The performance had many in the crowd shaking their heads -- both in awe and in concern -- as they looked ahead to the 2006 gubernatorial election.
Just as during his 2003 recall race, "He's becoming a Democrat again,'' said an admiring San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, assessing the governor's political instincts. "It's a good sign for him and a bad sign for the Democratic Party,'' Newsom said. "He gets it. He's learned his lesson. ... He's running back, not even to the center -- I would say center-left.''
The governor chose to be introduced by former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, the renowned Democratic leader who held power in Sacramento as Assembly speaker for more than a quarter of a century and who, at the breakfast, effusively called Schwarzenegger "a friend of mine.''
Later, Brown said that the governor's apparently successful re-emergence as a more moderate political figure -- one Democrats are calling the ''New Arnold'' -- challenges opponents on a variety of fronts.
"Democrats were in trouble, even with the so-called 'Old Arnold,' '' Brown said. "Arnold can hold his own in almost any environment, particularly when he invokes the image of Sargent Shriver and the entire Kennedy clan as the foundation for his public service.''
Phil Trounstine, who heads the San Jose State Survey and Policy Research Institute, says his most recent poll shows Schwarzenegger is "more popular now than he was three months ago among Democrats, independents, liberals and moderates,'' while he has lost double-digit support among Republicans and conservatives.
The survey, taken Jan. 2-6, showed that Democrats are more optimistic about California under Schwarzenegger, 31 percent of them saying that the state is on the right track now, up from 22 percent in September; by contrast, just 42 percent of Republicans now see the state on the right track, a drop of 18 points among Republicans since September.
"The reality is, there's very little room for him to grow by appealing to the right,'' Trounstine said. "The only hope he has is to appeal to the middle. And so this suggests that what Schwarzenegger and his handlers have set out to do, so far, has worked.''
Still, Schwarzenegger's appearance wasn't entirely without protest.
Pelosi publicly took Schwarzenegger to task for what she called his attacks on education and labor, saying, "We can't talk about a sense of community and devalue our teachers.''
Tim Paulson, the head of the Central Labor Council in San Francisco, also delivered a blistering attack -- just not to the governor's face.
Schwarzenegger had already left the room when Paulson got some cheers when he said that "Arnold Schwarzenegger ... for the last year and a half, has been attacking all of us in the community.''
He noted that some in the crowd "wanted to walk today,'' but out of "a sense of unity,'' he said, they decided to stay.
San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi acknowledged that the governor's appearance created among Democrats "shock and awe that he was going to be here.''
They may have held their fire, largely "pacified because of the eloquent introduction by Mayor Willie Brown,'' Mirkarimi said, but that doesn't mean the road ahead will be easy for the recovering governor.
"Gov. Schwarzenegger is going to have to reinvent himself, which is what I think we witnessed here today. ... But I think he's going to have a hard time doing it.''
And echoing the views of many on the left, Mirkarimi said that while he feels positively about both state Treasurer Phil Angelides and state Controller Steve Westly -- Democratic candidates for governor -- "I don't feel like there's a buzz for either one of the candidates.''
Democrats "are going to need somebody more charismatic,'' he said. "And I don't see that on the horizon.''
E-mail Carla Marinucci at cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com.
