Another Problem With the Governator

As noted here, Governor Schwarzenegger's decision to hire Susan Kennedy, a Democratic operative, former Gray/Feinstein/Boxer staffer and former executive director of the California Rights Abortion Action League as his chief of staff, is appalling (and bound to be ineffective).

But I've another quarrel with the Governor, based on this report of the Republican governors' meeting in California last week:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has declined to appear with Bush during the president's last two visits to California, did not appear in public with his fellow Republican governors. Instead, he planned to speak to them privately Thursday at a reception.

To me, this is offensive and disloyal. Arnold Schwarzenegger is, apparently, proud enough to be a Republican to be willing to bask in the limelight at the party convention, take party money, and use grassroots and fundraising skills to his advantage. Yet he is so ashamed of his party and his fellow Republican governors that he won't even appear in public with them (or with the President)?

Linda Lingle -- another Republican governor in a Democratic-dominated state (Hawaii) -- doesn't pull this dishonorable prima donna behavior. And Arnold Schwarzenegger needs to understand that his political troubles don't stem from the "R" behind his name. They stem from the miscalculations set forth here -- and they'll only be exacerbated if he makes the mistake of alienating both Democrats and Republicans.