Yes, there are people in S.F. who can chuckle this morning. There aren’t many, but there they are: The San Franciscans -- including some surprising names -- who gave Arnold money for his campaign.
I looked the names up last night on Kevin Shelley’s admirable web site. … And did you know – this is funny – of the 2,800 or so contributions from around the world made to Arnold, cited in the most inclusive list I could find, not one – not one – came from Berkeley. Arnie did manage to get three contributions from Mill Valley, though. Hundreds from Newport Beach and other southern fleshpots. Not surprisingly, 25 from tiny Portola Valley.
From San Francisco, Arnold received 116 contributions or so – I may have missed one or two. But I counted carefully. Let’s follow the dollar. …
The biggest contributors in S.F. were James and Janet Bochnowski, whose combined offerings came to about $180,000. James is with Delphi Ventures. … Various members of the Schwab family, here and down on the Peninsula, gave about $20,000. … Will Hearst gave $21,200, which is the max allowed an individual. … Frank Caufield, Will’s partner at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, gave about $20,000. … Only one dot-commer seems to have been left with enough cash to help the Governator. That would be Marc Benioff, chairman of Salesforce.com. He was sold on giving Arnie $21,200. … Venturous Arthur Rock mined $21,200.
Hard-working good citizen Dede Wilsey anted up a gracious grand. … And if you want proof that Arnie’s campaign and reached out and touched the old Kennedy hands, here’s this: Paul “Red” Fay who was one JFK’s most enduring and intimate pals, ponied up a thou. … George Shultz, who is said to have been behind Arnold’s candidacy, gave $2k. He probably would have given more if Arnie had let him speak at that first campaign press conference. Instead, Arnie made Sec. Shultz stand silently by for 45 minutes. …
Arnie also made Warren Buffett stand stoic at the same press conference. But did that stop the leader of Outer Broadway, Susan Buffett, Warren’s merry but separated spouse, from kicking in the full $21,200 allowed by law? No. … Williams-Sonoma’s chairman Howard Lester and wife Mary Vaughn Lester, who appropriately enough is described in the lists as a “homemaker,” found about $40K in the cookie jar for the candidate. … And the pilot of Harbor Village Restaurant, that very political eatery in the Embcardero, Lawrence Lui, tipped a thou. … John Gunn, of investment mangers Dodge & Cox, cocked his money gun and shot about forty grand to Arnie, who didn’t dodge it. … Brad Koenig of Goldman Sachs gifted gelt in the amount of $21,200. …
Not from S.F., but interesting: a one thousand dollar contribution from George H. W. Bush. … Scores of actors, directors, producers and health club owners worked up some money, as did many auto dealers. …
We in San Francisco would like to think that this was an election that pitted the lowing herd of Southern California against us culturally advanced types. And while this was a culture war, it wasn’t really about Our Progressive Values against their lack of values. This was about the Car Culture – a culture that, despite all our parking and traffic problems, does not prevail here.
What really did Southern Californians in was the tripling of auto registration fees. That was the equivalent of the Tea Tax in revolutionary Massachusetts --- it was just too much for ordinary people. And don’t think those Kennedys, who were such a part of Arnie’s victory, missed that point.
Try this out for a thesis – here, very simply put: A few years ago, people in California were wearied by the assault on their household budgets from the sudden rise in their monthly electric bills. They blamed it on the corporations, the Republicans. They expected the Democrat they elected in ’98 to do something about it. He didn’t do much. And then in his second term, he hit them in the other bill that affects all Southern Californians: auto fees. … This Recall wasn’t about ideology, or even about movie-star appeal. This was about a body blow from a governor, who was elected to correct a previous body blow. People, ordinary people, in those parts of the state which depend on cars and trucks to live and work, were hurt. Betrayed and hurt. So hasta la vista, Davis. … Well, give the thesis a thought. …
By the way, didn’t you think Gray was close to a nervous breakdown near the end? He’s so rigid; it’s hard to detect any emotion in him. But on Larry King Monday night, he was babbling … about his return to the Church! And about accepting the will of God. I’m pleased he has found spiritual succor, but by election eve he was on the verge. …
Yesterday Mickey Kaus predicted this for today’s headline in the LA Times:
SCHWARZENEGGER ELECTED; DAVIS AIDES INCREASINGLY CONFIDENT
See ya. …
