SANTA ROSA
Behind the campaign curtain
Governor's team controls every detail, even lighting
San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
April 10, 2005
Author: Carla Marinucci; Chronicle Political Writer
Estimated printed pages: 7
It was a picture-perfect moment for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, strolling confidently up the front porch,
past the waving American flag, into the manicured living room of Nancy Miller's Santa Rosa home last week
for a talk with "real people" about real issues.
But the portrait of casual conversation, from the brownies and madeleines laid out by the friendly hostess to
the participants bathed in the soft glow of Hollywood-style lighting, was a well-planned media event, made
possible by a whirlwind of political activity aimed at carefully shaping the governor's reform message.
The planning, strategizing and media managing behind Schwarzenegger's "kitchen Cabinet" session last
week involved hundreds of decisions and emphasized what's at stake for the governor in his effort to push a
special election this year. To promote a reform agenda of budget-cutting measures amid declining poll
numbers and multiplying protesters, Schwarzenegger has called on his considerable experience in an arena
where he excels: salesmanship.
As the former Hollywood superstar-turned-California governor casually took his seat with five citizens on the
tan club chairs in Miller's living room, he was hardly shy about it.
"See the jacket?" he laughed, pointing to his spiffy black custom-made "Join Arnold" outerwear. Emblazoned
in teal on the breast was the message of the day: "Year for Reform."
"I always wear a (message) jacket. ... It comes from my movie days," he told them. "I'm still doing that,
because I know you can have the best idea. But if you don't market it, you have nothing."
Animated, using his hands to emphasize his points, looking intensely at each participant, Schwarzenegger
leaned forward to tell them he was bringing something else from his movie days as well: an ambition to
succeed.
"We want to make sure I'm not only the action man on the screen," he said, "but in real life."
Such kitchen Cabinet events -- his third, and first in Northern California -- are all about the action of selling
politics to the masses. Schwarzenegger has been a master of such media moments. On Friday alone, the
hardy campaigner handled a dozen radio interviews in major markets around the state in an effort to sell his
reforms on issues ranging from teachers' pay to legislative redistricting.
And he's hardly the first politician to seize the tool of sitting down with average folks to mull major issues.
But Barbara O'Connor, professor of political communication at Cal State Sacramento, said such efforts are
less focused on ferreting views of average Californians and more about "classic agenda-setting theory."
"They're not average people. They're opinion leaders," O'Connor said. The kitchen Cabinet approach "gives
the appearance of broadening the point of view -- so it doesn't look like ... the Chamber (of Commerce) or
consultants or money are driving everything. But experienced press people know that this is a shell game."
Santa Rosa's carefully chosen crowd included a demographically diverse cross section: three women -- a
female police officer, a health care specialist, an educator -- and two men -- a young Asian businessman
and a Latino banker.
All of them, Schwarzenegger's staff acknowledged, were recommended by Citizens to Save California, the
political arm pushing the governor's reform agenda; four were directly invited by Michael Hauser, president
of the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce; a fifth said she received an invitation from her good friend, an
attorney who is a Schwarzenegger appointee.
Rob Stutzman, Schwarzenegger's communications director, argues that the format "provides some genuine
dialogue. The governor really enjoys them, and people can ask anything they want. ... We don't coach
them."
Stutzman acknowledged the governor's office does contact chambers of commerce and other groups to find
participants in an effort to assemble "an audience that is open minded, a mix of professional and personal
backgrounds. "
"But they're not necessarily supporters. They're not shills," he said. "I won't take people who are Republican
activists. ... We have a mix of Republicans, Democrats" and independent voters.
Indeed, the participants were no mere extras on the set: They came prepared with pointed questions and
clearly wanted answers on issues -- from the controversial (illegal immigration) and the budget-related
(education and pension reform) to the arcane (wastewater) and the personal (Austria's vacation highlights).
That reflects, O'Connor said, what may be unique for this governor, with his background in the opiniondriven entertainment industry. "He probably really does listen to them. He is looking for guidance at the
moment, because he of all governors is more finely tuned to the views of public opinion."
Political opponents are less kind about such events. "They're trying to continue the charade that he's really a
man of the people," said Roger Salazar, a Democratic political consultant and former White House aide who
has helped craft such events as spokesman for Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore and for former
Gov. Gray Davis.
"You create this illusion that you're actually out there talking to people and you care about their issues and it
gets on television," Salazar said. "That's what they want."
He said a better test might be open town hall meetings, where there is less control but "you will answer
questions ... and it gives you a pulse of what the people want."
Stutzman said Schwarzenegger -- who he said revels in his moments with voters -- will begin again with
"Ask Arnold" town hall meetings, starting Monday in San Diego with an invited audience.
Still, Santa Rosa's big media moment Thursday was a study in the challenges and rewards of planning a
political message event.
Some highlights:
-- Selected participants learned on Monday that they might be part of a budget-related event with the
governor. But they received few details about how up-close and personal they'd be until the next day.
-- Then chamber officials called Miller, a registered Democrat and an educator with Santa Rosa's city
schools, and "asked if I would consider lending my house to them" for the setting. "For security reasons,
they didn't want anyone to know," she said. That meant she kept the news from her friends,
her neighbors -- even her kids, 17-year-old twins, who didn't "know until they got home from school" the day
of the event.
-- Gubernatorial staffers began seriously planning the look of the event
-- angles and photo ops -- by Tuesday. Attendees were sworn to secrecy, provided with materials, and
briefed about the governor's recent proposals in a conference call on Wednesday.
But they said that no questions were out of bounds -- it would be a completely unscripted hour.
-- Five hours from the start of Thursday afternoon's event, Miller was told her house would be used. Panic
set in: "Oh my gosh, did I remember to dust and vacuum?" (Stutzman said the final decision on a location "is
sometimes based on who has the biggest living room.")
That's when bomb-sniffing dogs descended on the manicured neighborhood, as did security teams.
And there was the setup for the photo op -- a generator went up, wires snaked everywhere, and a crew
arranged banks of lights. (The kitchen Cabinet host in Fresno was quoted as saying company reps told her
they also did Ronald Reagan's funeral and the Academy Awards.)
-- While the event had been listed on the governor's official schedule, the location and participants were
tightly guarded.
To provide for media coverage of the event in a private home, a selected group of reporters, photographers
and camera operators called a "pool" was chosen to attend and distribute news to interested media outlets.
The group was loaded in a van and driven to the event.
-- Then the motorcade pulled in -- a black Crown Victoria and a black Lincoln Navigator. With the selected
panel in place, Schwarzenegger bounded into Miller's home.
Stutzman, the governor's spokesman, stood armed with a notebook. Out of camera range were a half-dozen
security men, in the dining room, living room and out front.
"We'll talk about what you're concerned about," Schwarzenegger told the citizen participants.
Stacey Camara, 41, a Santa Rosa police officer, delivered a critique -- though respectful -- of the governor's
pension plan and said she was grateful that just earlier in the day he had changed positions.
Schwarzenegger said he never intended to take away death and disability benefits. He noted his father was
a police officer who was out on the streets until he was 65. "He loved it," Schwarzenegger said. "He was
really a fanatic about it."
There were questions, comments, laughs. Schwarzenegger thanked them, and after being pressed, he
offered tips on vacationing in his native Austria.
By now, a crowd of hundreds was outside Miller's home, drawn by the presence of men in black, wearing
sunglasses and earpieces, along with motorcycle cops and the black Lincoln.
To cheers, the governor emerged and happily plunged into the group of screaming schoolkids and moms -a bonus photo op.
Then, public relations mission accomplished, he rode off.
-----------------Anatomy of a campaign event:
Event: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's informal third "kitchen Cabinet" meeting.
Place: Santa Rosa home of Nancy and Jerry Miller. Nancy Miller is an educator with Santa Rosa schools,
and her husband, Jerry, is a professor at Santa Rosa Junior College.
The message: "Year for Reform" -- embroidered in teal on the governor's jacket and emblazoned 33 times
on the backdrop behind the governor at a Santa Rosa press conference before the event.
Participants: Nancy Miller, 44; Teejay Lowe, 29, director of community relations for G&G Supermarkets;
Stacey Camara, 41, a Santa Rosa police officer;
and Julio Caceres, 31, assistant vice president of the local First Community Bank, all invited by the president
of the local Chamber of Commerce. Peggy Mays of Sebastopol, administrator of the Santa Rosa Ambulatory
Surgical Center,
said she was invited by a friend, Belinda Harris Ritter, an attorney, who also is a gubernatorial appointee.
Details: Location kept secret -- even from Miller -- until hours before the event. The media "pool" to cover
event tightly controlled, whisked to undisclosed location. Bomb-sniffing dogs secure the home. Banks of
Hollywood-style lights in living room, outside and behind the home provide "sunny" interior and flattering
view for the pool photographer and television camera designated to cover the event. Security men and
police guard outside. Schwarzenegger's spokesman Rob Stutzman takes notes inside.
The photo op: Schwarzenegger is casual, animated, at ease in the living room chatting about issues. Later,
he emerges to be mobbed by screaming and excited neighborhood kids from the elementary school across
the street, who'd found out about his visit.
Caption:
(1) Nancy Miller, who owns the home where Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger held his kitchen Cabinet meeting,
hears about his jacket., (2) Striding into a home illuminated by Hollywood-style lighting, the governor heads
to his casual meeting., (3) This gathering of (left to right) Stacey Camara, Julio Caceras, Nancy Miller, Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Teejay Lowe and Peggy Mays is the result of hundreds of political decisions. For
starters, all of the participants were recommended by Citizens to Save California, the political arm pushing
the governor's overhaul agenda., (4) Healdsburg teacher Sally Baker (left) greets former student Jessica
Birrer at a protest against Schwarzenegger in Santa Rosa.
Photos by Lacy Atkins
The Chronicle
Caption:
PHOTO (4)
Memo: E-mail Carla Marinucci at cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com.
Edition: FINAL
Section: BAY AREA
Page: A15
Index Terms: RELATED STORY ATTACHED; Arnold Schwarzenegger; Nancy Miller; BAY AREA; CA; GOVERNOR;
IMAGE; POLITICS
Copyright 2005 The Chronicle Publishing Co.
Record Number: 3394434