Former California Governor Pete Wilson, if you’ll recall, was front-and-center getting Arnold’s campaign ready to run for governor. Wilson’s people staffed the campaign, with Wilson-manager George Gorton ran the show early on, until Arianna complained publicly to Arnold about how he was “pahn-du-whing to the Pete Vill-sun team that youhh’ve suhrrhounded yourseff whith.”
I wondered, just last night, where Wilson had gone now that a poll showed things looking very good for Arnold. I found this bit by Dan Smith of the Sacremento Bee.
Sean Walsh, Schwarzenegger adviser and former top lieutenant to Wilson, said the former governor is working behind the scenes on policy and fund raising. His high visibility early on, Walsh said, occurred because the fledgling campaign needed a surrogate spokesman quickly.. . . Finally, Schwarzenegger had had enough: “Let me make one thing clear,” he said. “On October 8, it’s not going to be Governor Wil-son or Governor Bush or any of those things. It’s going to be Governor Arnold, OK?”
I am not certain that this is something Arnold actually said, or rather a sentiment attributed him by Sean Walsh. (The Arianna quote I used above is accurate, taken from piece, with the spelling modified to better capture the speaker’s sonorous syllables.
Pete will probably be at the victory party, but that probably won’t take place early in the AM a week from tomorrow. The count will, I’m told, take days. (Weeks, if they want to go fishing for chads.)
