The Woman Behind Arnold's Defeat

[Boo Boo]

Hope this hasn't been posted already. Be sure to read whole thing. Really great.

SANTA BARBARA--Women have had a bruising time in the public eye lately, ranging from Judith Miller's deceptive reports in the New York Times to Harriet Miers' embarrassing qualifications for the Supreme Court. So when a woman manages to outperform the most confident governor in America, it's worth celebrating.

On Tuesday, Nov. 8, every one of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's pet initiatives failed, in large part because of Rose Ann DeMoro, the chief executive of the California Nurses Association (CAN). She and her 65,000-member union spent most of this year building a broad-based populist movement that the once-powerful governor tried to dismiss with glib one-liners.
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But voters may not have gotten this message if it weren't for DeMoro and her indefatigable nurses. Early on they stressed that Schwarzenegger's election was a corporate power grab at the expense of California workers. The nurses hammered home this message almost daily, even when they risked being ostracized. As Lou Paulson, head of the California Professional Firefighters, said: "Rose Ann and the nurses showed us that the emperor had no clothes."

Their activism started last November, after Schwarzenegger suspended key portions of the state's nurse-to-patient ratio to help hospital chains. "That really angered us," says DeMoro. But the nurses protested tentatively, almost timidly, until one pivotal day last December.

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http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=2b2fda7241241ba88cab43b821c1e251

[Punkingal]

1. What a fabulous article!

And it is proof positive that if you take to the streets, you can change things. I didn't realize they were going against him when his approval rating was 65%. That is just outstanding! They brought him down, because he showed his true colors in response to them, just like Bush showed what a coward he is by refusing to meet with Cindy again.

[MissMarple]

2. Hurray for the Nightingales! "And all because of a woman."

You shouldn't diss the nurses, Arnold.

:woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo:

...
"Instead of attacking the real problems of our schools, Schwarzenegger attacked school teachers," Beatty said. "Instead of attacking the cost of healthcare, he attacked nurses. Instead of increasing our safety, he attacked police and firefighters."

"That tactical mistake cost Schwarzenegger his special election initiatives and turned California's nurses into grass-roots heroes in other parts of the country.

Nurses in Illinois, Massachusetts, Arizona, and Mississippi have asked DeMoro for help in challenging the growing clout of corporate hospital chains and other states' anti-worker initiatives. To be effective, the CNA has created a subsidiary called the National Nurses Organizing Committee, which allows it to organize nurses outside of the Golden State. This fall, the NNOC welcomed 2,000 Chicago nurses into their fold, and it anticipates more members by year's end.

As for Schwarzenegger, he's lost more than his special election. He's managed to squander his once-bright political future and to jeopardize the pro-business platforms of other Republican leaders in outlying blue states.

And all because of a woman."

I'm guessing Arnold isn't taking this all that well. And his goons were interrogating a petite sized woman for over an hour because she was wearing scrubs. :eyes:

[Boo Boo]

3. And the kicker to whole deal is that now they're forming

a national organization to beat back the corporate agenda. I wonder how his big-money donors feel now? Money well spent? Erm... not so much.

And to think that Republicans were so excited about this guy getting into politics that they were actually talking about amending the Constitution so he could run for President!

:7

[MissMarple]

4. They confused reality with film fantasy.

The Republican corporatists really aren't in the reality based world, are they?

[Boo Boo]

5. Reality based? Erm... not so much. /nt

[Skittles]

6. I was just saying this in another thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=171925&mesg_id=172139