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Criminy. Not him again. Well. There are lots of layers to what you are reporting, Glenn. That Hewitt apparently doesn't know what's become of Steve Schmidt, Bushevik Hero Extraordinaire, is interesting. That Allen purports to know is fascinating. That neither of them tell what they most assuredly do know is propaganda of the purest Pravda form.
Matt Dowd and Steve Schmidt were sent from the Vice President's Office to California in 2006 to "rescue" the flailing, faltering, and failing gubernatorial regime of one Orange Waxy Austrian and former steroid abuser, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwartzenegger had gone totally right wing authoritarian crazy after decisively trouncing the hapless Democrat Gray Davis in the Republican engineered recall election of 2003, alienating nearly everyone (with a brain and a pulse) in the State in the process, especially during his revolting anti-everyone ballot initiative campaign of 2005 that failed completely. Phil Angelides -- a true progressive -- was on track to win the next election for governor, polling double digits ahead of the Orange Waxy Man.
Understand this: Dowd and Schmidt were sent from the White House to prevent that from happening. Within days of their arrival, seemingly within hours, the fortunes of Arnold Schwartzenegger began to turn around. While people still despised him, and despised his contempt for California and its people and especially his contempt for its nurses, teachers, police and firefighters, every single newspaper in California commenced to laud and salute Schwartzenegger and denounce Angelides, and slowly but surely the poll numbers reversed.
And Schwartzenegger was remade for public consumption. Why, he was turned into a clear-headed, forward looking, cooperative, sane, and eager liberal by the ministrations of Dowd and Schmidt. All of his right wing authoritarian schtick -- that had been so carefully curried after he kicked Davis/Democrat butt -- was jettisoned. Now he was soft, warm, cuddly, open, honest, willing to bend over backwards and turn cartwheels to please the masses, and always, always open to cooperation and collaboration with the Democratic Majority in the State Legislature.
So much so, the Democratic Leaders of the Assebly and the Senate, and many of the Democratic Mayors of California cities became Arnold campaign cheeleaders. One of the most astonishing things I witnessed in California politics was the sight of California's Democratic political leaders turning their backs on Gray Davis during the recall. A more astonishing sight was that of California Democratic political leaders openly supporting Arnold's re-election, and turning their backs on Phil Angelides.
It would not have happened, though, had Matt Dowd and Steve Schmidt not come to California from DeeCee to remake Arnold into the kind of character that fits California expectations of gubernatorial leadership. They did it spectacularly. So well, I doubt that more than a handful of Californians even remember Angelides' name any more.
They did it so well that Markos Moulitsas himself declared Arnold a Democrat in all but name.
Of course Arnold is not a Democrat, he is an authoritarian Republican with a strong streak of post-Nazism. But he's an actor, isn't he? Never forget.
And Dowd and Schmidt? They are still masters of the public perceptions game, make no mistake. But what's become of them since their spectacular turn around triumph with Arnold Schwartzenegger? Did they go back to the Vice Presidential bunkers? Why no. No they did not.
We'll save their tale for another post...
(To be continued)
