Associated Press

June 5, 2005
Dialing for Arnold: Schwarzenegger donors get access to advisers

Top contributors to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have been rewarded with a private telephone number that gives them access to his closest advisers - and even the governor himself.

The Los Angeles Times on Sunday said major donors are invited twice a month to participate in conference calls featuring information about the governor's campaign strategy. In turn, donors who dial in can give the governor or his advisers advice.

The Times said it was given access to the conference call Thursday by a participant. The newspaper did not identify that person.

In the half-hour call, Schwarzenegger media strategist Don Sipple outlined a plan to create a "phenomenon of anger" to turn voters against public employee unions that have been among the governor's harshest critics, the newspaper said.

"The process is like peeling an onion," Sipple said in the call, describing a strategy for persuading voters that the unions are "motivated by economic self-interest" instead of "doing the best job for the state."

The Thursday discussion, involving multiple contributors and top Schwarzenegger strategists, offered a rare glimpse inside the governor's political circle. Participants in the call included representatives from the American Electronics Association, Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. and Wells Fargo, the Times said.

The call also offered a window on the governor's strategy ahead of an expected Nov. 8 special election.

Campaign finance experts said there is nothing illegal about conference calls with donors, providing contributors do not push for favors. The governor has repeatedly said he does not trade campaign money for favors.

Schwarzenegger fundraiser Marty Wilson said the conference calls allow the campaign to interact with contributors without "going through the filter of any kind of third-party intermediary, whether that be the news media or somebody on their staff." They can get their information directly from a senior official on the campaign, he said.

The governor participated in a call with donors two weeks ago and is expected to do so again June 16, the newspaper said. Presumably, that will be after he signs an executive order scheduling the special election in which he will ask voters to approve changes in state government.

Contributors to Schwarzenegger's causes are first invited to join the discussions in e-mails, which tell them how to get a phone number and a password for each call. The campaign staff decides which donors will be included.

In the latest call, the Times said, the advisers said Schwarzenegger had spent $8 million so far on television ads defending and promoting his agenda. He wants to collect $31 million to $32 million to run his initiative campaign through the fall, the advisers said.

A special election ballot is expected to include a proposed government spending cap and a plan to lengthen the time it takes teachers to get tenure measures opposed by public employee unions. The unions and their Democratic allies have spent millions on TV ads criticizing the governor and his proposals.

Sipple's comments about unions came after a representative of Wells Fargo suggested that the governor sharpen his message to focus on public employees rather than private industry labor groups. The banking giant donated $100,000 last year to Schwarzenegger's efforts to overhaul workers' compensation through an initiative that never made the ballot.

The Times said that an executive with the Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. of San Diego asked during Thursday's call if the governor was "going to come out strongly supportive" of a ballot initiative that would force public employee unions to get permission to use a member's dues for political activities, such as the current TV ads attacking the governor.

The building official, whose industry has donated more than $14 million to Schwarzenegger, said there was a "compelling argument" for the governor to support the measure. "If you are looking for the seminal battle between status quo and change that benefits the state over the long term, this is a tremendous arrow in the quiver."

Sipple told him that Schwarzenegger might withhold an endorsement of the initiative in exchange for concessions from the Legislature on other matters. He said it was a "distinct possibility" that the governor would endorse the measure, however. "We certainly would encourage it," Sipple said.