Schwarzenegger Is a Sure Bet as He Steps Up Fight to Beat Gambling Measures
Sacramento — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is back doing what he loves best about politics -- campaigning, entertaining, promoting. Competing.
Basking in the cheers.
Wearing another black jacket -- this one embossed with "No on 70." Schwarzenegger's movies all had personalized jackets, and these days so do his political causes. "I make a lot of money for the jacket people," he says.
The governor sees himself as fulfilling a running pledge: "If the special interests push me around, I will push back."
The special interests that now have Schwarzenegger riled are some very wealthy Indian gambling tribes.
The governor is incensed at these tribes -- principally the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in Palm Springs and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in San Bernardino -- for trying, through Proposition 70, to expand gambling in California without dealing with him. Ditto for the card rooms and racetracks that have been attempting to piggyback onto the Indians' gambling fortunes with Proposition 68.
"We have to terminate Proposition 68 and Proposition 70 -- a jackpot for special interests and a bust for California," Schwarzenegger told a carefully screened group of roughly 200 cheering supporters at a so-called "town hall" meeting in Irvine on Wednesday.
The California public was sympathetic in 1998 when it was asked to amend for past sins and allow Indians to prosper by building gambling casinos on their rural reservations.
Now some of the richest and most ambitious tribes seem to be squandering the voters' goodwill, based on polls.
"It is tremendous greed," Schwarzenegger told me. "They want to rip off the people
A mid-September survey of likely voters by The Times Poll found only 33% supporting Prop. 68, with 46% opposed. The figures were even worse for Prop. 70: 28% to 48%.
Propositions 68 and 70 are very different and, in fact, pit one interest (racetracks and card rooms) against another (Indians). But, strategically, Schwarzenegger is lumping them together as one common opponent; a flaw in one is a flaw in both -- even if the Prop. 68 camp did call it quits Wednesday.
"They would allow casinos to spread like wildfire everywhere in California, including our cities and towns," he contends.
Yes and no.
Prop. 68 would pave the way for 30,000 slot machines at five racetracks and 11 card rooms in urban areas, including Los Angeles.
