Although still in its infancy, the USC Schwarzenegger Institute has already generated extensive media coverage in connection with its mission and activities.
Hey, isn’t that . . . former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, joining the throngs at the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning as the justices consider a major case on gerrymandering? The former action-movie star, who arrived amid protests on the court steps, wants to terminate (sorry) partisan drawing of voting districts — an issue he has made his post-gubernatorial cause celebre. He was among the speakers at a rally sponsored by Common Cause, Represent.Us, and the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Washington Post
What does Arnold Schwarzenegger have in common with people in two Pennsylvania towns — Bald Eagle in Clinton County and Cheltenham? They all want the state to stop holding elections that were already decided before voters showed up at the polls. Gerrymandering, where district lines are drawn to favor the party in power, is so prevalent that even the worst incumbents rarely fear losing an election. But that could change. More than 90 towns and counties in Pennsylvania have passed resolutions calling for a fairer redistricting process. The Inquirer Daily News
Political parties and open primaries are the electoral equivalent of oil and water. They may coexist, but they don’t mix. So it’s hardly surprising that neither California’s dominant Democratsnor its fading Republicans have ever really embraced Proposition 14, the sweeping ballot measure that abolished partisan primaries six years ago. The Los Angeles Times
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Donald Trump have spent months squabbling over ratings, both public approval, and of the television variety. Now Schwarzenegger is incorporating policy in his critiques, inspired by Trump’s proposed budget to eliminate federal funding for after-school programs, an area of government that’s near and dear to him. The Sacramento Bee
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is nearly 70 years old, probably thought his next battle would be against a mutant menace in a dystopian summer tent-pole film or an attempt to talk sense to some fool climate-change denier — and not a Twitter spat with the leader of the free world. Men's Journal
Thirty years ago, as the atmosphere’s protective ozone layer was dwindling at alarming rates, we were serving proudly under President Ronald Reagan. We remember his leading role in negotiating the Montreal Protocol, which continues to protect and restore the delicate ozone layer. Today the world faces a similar challenge: the threat of climate change. The Wall Street Journal
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that the United States had faced trying times and political crises before, and has always persevered. “Yes, we’re going through some difficult moments right now, as we have in the past, but I guarantee we will work our way out of this,” Schwarzenegger said, speaking at an electoral reform event at the University of Southern California. He recalled immigrating to the United States and seeing the violent protests at the Democratic National Convention in 1968, Watergate and the economic troubles during President Jimmy Carter’s tenure. “One thing you can count on in America is even though it falls every so often — as we all do — it dusts itself off, gets up and gets going again," Schwarzenegger said. "That is why … it’s the number one country in the world.” - Los Angeles Times
California witnessed its first statewide race featuring contenders from the same political party but listening to campaign consultants for Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez at a Friday forum presented by the USC’s Schwarzenegger Institute lessons that might translate to future similar contests—say the 2018 governor’s race—may be hard to draw. In many ways, the senate race was a unique contest. Fox&Hounds
Since voters approved the top two primary in June 2010, the system has been praised, criticized and analyzed with varying degree of intensity but without a consensus about whether it improved democracy in California. More analysis is coming this Friday as the Schwarzenegger Institute at the University of Southern California is hosting a discussion of the U.S. Senate race that featured two Democrats vying for the prestigious and powerful post. Fox&Hounds
California politicos reflected on leadership on climate policy at a reception Wednesday to celebrate the state's landmark climate laws. "We've proven that we don't have to choose between a healthy environment and a strong economy," Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) said. The event marked the 10th anniversary of Assembly Bill 32, which established the state's cap-and-trade program, in which companies buy permits to pollute, and set a target for reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The Los Angeles Times
