LAT: Reluctant Warrior Bests Gov.

[question everything]

Reluctant Warrior Bests Gov.

A soft-spoken Bay Area teacher of the year recruited for the union's TV ads helped deal Schwarzenegger a devastating setback.
By Mark Z. Barabak
Times Staff Writer

November 10, 2005

(snip)

And so, once more, television screens across California filled with the image of schoolteacher Liane Cismowski, peering straight into the camera and politely but firmly reproaching the governor for "too many broken promises and bad ideas on education."

Schwarzenegger and his advisors conceived of Tuesday's election more than a year ago, back when his approval ratings scraped the sky and it seemed he could sell California voters on just about anything. But after a brutal campaign of pillory and protests, it was Cismowski — "nothing, a nobody," in her words — who outshined the governor and helped deliver a major political setback to Schwarzenegger.

Voters on Tuesday rejected all four of the measures the governor presented as his agenda, including ones that could have slashed education spending and lengthened the probationary period for new teachers.

Much of the credit — or blame — goes to the union and the soft-spoken Cismowski, who improbably became one of the most recognized faces of the special election campaign. The union and its allies spent about $20 million on TV ads featuring the high school English teacher, building the "Liane brand," as one strategist put it.

(snip)


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-teacher10nov10,1,6235163.story?coll=la-headlines-california

[rkc3]

1. It's funny that two women, Cismowski and the Nurses' Union leader,

would be the ones to bring the Governator down.

[Boo Boo]

3. Yeah, the irony is pretty sweet. The Gropinator gets

his comeuppance!

[Cha]

4. It's Hilarious since part

of the groper's history is his disdain for women.

And that head of the Nurses' Union is Rose DeMoro..

"The Woman Behind Arnold's Defeat"

"Their activism started last November, after Schwarzenegger suspended key portions of the state's nurse-to-patient ratio to help hospital chains. "That really angered us," says DeMoro. But the nurses protested tentatively, almost timidly, until one pivotal day last December.

While the governor addressed a state convention of 10,000 women, a few nurses unfurled a protest banner that read "Hands Off Patient Ratios." Schwarzenegger grinned for the TV cameras, then said: "Pay no attention...to the special interests. I am always kicking their butts."

DeMoro was outraged. "For the Governor to denigrate nurses -- a historically female profession -- while speaking to an audience of women is an affront to women everywhere," she told CNN. Because Schwarzenegger had shut them out of the health-care debate, the nurses decided to take their case to the streets.

"We were told to not make waves, that the people of California would turn against us to support their popular governor," DeMoro says. At the time, Schwarzenegger had a 65-percent approval rating, along with fawning cover stories in Fortune and Vanity Fair magazines."


Fascinating..
http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=2b2fda7241241ba88cab43b821c1e251

[rkc3]

7. I saw Rose's name this morning - was too lazy to go look for it.

[question everything]

8. Could not happen to a nicer gropentaor (nt)

[Boo Boo]

2. "Nothing personal" she says...

That's what she thinks. With Arnold it's all personal. She feels the rush of celebrity and questions her own motivation; he can't get enough of it. He's the exact opposite of this woman.

What a great political strategy: they put a truly humble, committed human being up on the screen, and Arnold paled by comparison.

No bullshit required.

On Edit: I guess "paled" doesn't quite capture it, eh?

[Cha]

5. arnold would prey on

Liane's naivete in Hollywood second!

Another amazing article on First Liar of California's downfall.

[jamaliman]

6. Arnold

is a racist nazi cracker. Shame on him.