In a move that may portend more brilliant strategies to come from the Democratic Party, longtime Dem supporters Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Haim Saban slyly
endorsed Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's reelection bid.
The move took many by surprise.
Saban, who is trying to acquire the Spanish-language network Univision with other investors, is a former trustee of the Democratic National Committee and one of its biggest donors. He spent $200,000 fighting the 2003 recall election that brought Schwarzenegger to power. [snip]
Spielberg, Katzenberg and Saban have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Democratic Party over the last 15 years. The trio backed former Gov. Gray Davis before he was recalled from office in 2003.
The trio, all heavy-hitting Hollywood moguls, joined TV producer Bud Yorkin, among other entertainment-industry executives who have signed onto the Schwarzenegger bandwagon.
What is not widely recognized, however, is that these endorsements are a key element in a subtle, well-thought-out Democratic PsyOps strategy intended to ensure a win in November for State Treasurer Phil Angelides in his quest for the governorship.
Democratic strategist Fielding Mellish, whose brainchild the strategy was, likened it to the Canuck Letter sent to Sen. Edmund Muskie by Republican operatives during the 1972 presidential campaign, which destroyed Muskie's chances before the New Hampshire primary.
"It's our belief that this vocal and highly visible endorsement by Hollywood liberals with impeccable Democratic credentials will so turn off large portions of Schwarzenegger's base that they will simply stay home in November, rather than have to choose from the lesser of two evils," Mellish said. "It's actually a very elegant solution that ties up the religious right, anti-immigration xenophobes, anti-gay-marriage and anti-abortion fanatics, all of whom now have nowhere to go with their votes."
All of the four Hollywood hitters - Spielberg, Katzenberg, Saban, and Yorkin - have been active supporters of liberal causes for years. Yorkin's wife, Peg, was a co-founder of the Feminist Majority Foundation.
"Our next step will be to have Ted Kennedy endorse Schwarzenegger," Mellish told reporters. [Kennedy is uncle to Schwarzenegger's wife, Maria Shriver.] "That should pretty well be the death knell for Arnold's hopes of getting any votes in South Orange County, San Diego or the southern San Joaquin Valley," three critical regions of Republican support. "But we're going to wait until the closing days of the campaign to unleash that one - we don't want to give Schwarzenegger's people time to devise a counterstrategy."
Mellish is part of a new generation of Democratic consultants, who have been brought into the party's campaigns by reformers who have not been happy with the results of what they say are too many years of "inside-the-box" thinking that have resulted in election losses. But some ordinary citizens see the strategy as risky:
"I think the Democrats may prove to have been too smart by half," cab driver Travis Bickle told an interviewer. "I've been involved in some political campaigning myself and believe me, you never know what kind of reaction you're going to get."
Whether Spielberg et al.'s endorsement will be perceived as repugnant enough to the core of Schwarzenegger's right-wing base remains to be seen. What is certain, though, is that it represents a totally innovative and daring ploy by Democrats to shake up what until now has been a sleepy gubernatorial election campaign.