WHO’S ON FIRST? WHAT’S ON SECOND? I DUNNO’S ON THIRD.

Today’s Orange County Register reports on Gov. Schwarzenegger’s campaign visit yesterday in Santa Ana. Coming on the heels of the Sunday Register article, “Questionable Campaigning” that raised questions regarding the state’s taxpayers subsidizing of Arnold’s campaign events, you would have figured the Governor’s staff and campaign would’ve huddled up and practiced getting their stories straight.

“When asked on Monday who paid for the event at Behr Process Corp., Dickens first said, ‘I'll double-check, but I think this is the governor's event.’

“Dickens said that out of the $11 million spent by Citizens to Save California, ‘very little was on events.’ Yet after checking, Dickens said, ‘This is a CSC event.’

‘Anything that has to do with the ballot measures is a CSC event,’ he added.

“Yet behind Schwarzenegger – on a large television screen – a large logo read, ‘www.joinarnold.com.’ That site belongs to the California Recovery Team, which identifies itself as a legislative advocacy group that has the ability to "accept unlimited contributions from corporations and individuals" and is helping finance the governor's reform agenda. Its funding does not come from the state.

“The T-shirts, reading"goforitarnold" and passed out to Behr employees, are connected to a Web site paid for by the California Republican Party.

“Scott Richards, a senior vice president for marketing at Behr, said a friend of the company president called over the weekend saying he had been contacted by the governor's office seeking to stage a town-hall meeting at the company. According to a statement issued later by the company, its president, Jeff Filley, was also directly contacted by the governor's office.

“Schwarzenegger spokesman Rob Stutzman clarified that it was the California Recovery Team that contacted the company.

“In his remarks to employees, Schwarzenegger thanked Filley ‘for inviting us here today.’ (Orange County Register, May 10, 2005)

You’ve got to be kidding me. “This is their event. No it’s ours. Wait, are you a reporter?”

Look, if you’re the CSC and you’ve arranged an event, don’t you think your spokesman would know it without having to go check first?

These guys draw the line between the proper and improper use of taxpayer dollars about as well as they draw lines on legislative district maps. They aren’t very good liars either.