William Foster, Governor's Office
Now that the dust is settling on the hundreds of bills Governor Schwarzenegger signed and vetoed, who were the winners and losers?
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Most groups won – and lost – when the Governor handed out signatures and vetoes, says Sherry Bebitch Jeffe (jeffy). She’s a political analyst with the University of Southern California:
“What he did reminded me very much of Jerry Brown’s philosophy of governing. He called it the canoe theory of politics and he argued that you would paddle a little to the right and then paddle a little to the left and then sort of scoot down the middle.”
Jeffe says it’s hard to connect the dots this year; the Republican Governor vetoed bills opposed by the business community – but then signed another opposed by the National Rifle Association. He vetoed same-sex marriage, but signed a host of other bills supported by the gay and lesbian community. She says nothing stands out in terms of making or breaking his relationship with either political party.