"Schwarzenegger's chief aide wields power with gusto
Susan Kennedy, who also worked for the governor's predecessor, loves to win on big issues and lets little get in her way. Critics wonder if shortcomings in the two men's records reflect on her."
Reporting from Sacramento - She arrives unseen at the Capitol each morning, entering through an underground garage and riding an internal elevator to the governor's office to take command.
Rarely venturing out into public, she instills fear in legions of state workers, lobbyists and lawmakers even though many would not recognize the 5-foot-2, wiry woman with close-cropped blond hair who is likely to be remembered as the most enduring force in state government of the last decade.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, upended the political establishment late in 2005 when he hired Susan Kennedy as his chief of staff: She is a gay Democrat who began her career as an activist for liberal causes 30 years ago and served as a high-ranking aide to the governor's recalled predecessor, Gray Davis. Democrats called her a traitor. Republicans called for her head.
But Schwarzenegger stuck with her, trusting Kennedy, 49, to wield his authority so completely that they came to be described as "governor and governess," or "the big governor and the little governor." As his administration draws to a close, Kennedy has attained near-mythic status as a partisan only to winning.
Susan Kennedy, who also worked for the governor's predecessor, loves to win on big issues and lets little get in her way. Critics wonder if shortcomings in the two men's records reflect on her."
Reporting from Sacramento - She arrives unseen at the Capitol each morning, entering through an underground garage and riding an internal elevator to the governor's office to take command.
Rarely venturing out into public, she instills fear in legions of state workers, lobbyists and lawmakers even though many would not recognize the 5-foot-2, wiry woman with close-cropped blond hair who is likely to be remembered as the most enduring force in state government of the last decade.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, upended the political establishment late in 2005 when he hired Susan Kennedy as his chief of staff: She is a gay Democrat who began her career as an activist for liberal causes 30 years ago and served as a high-ranking aide to the governor's recalled predecessor, Gray Davis. Democrats called her a traitor. Republicans called for her head.
But Schwarzenegger stuck with her, trusting Kennedy, 49, to wield his authority so completely that they came to be described as "governor and governess," or "the big governor and the little governor." As his administration draws to a close, Kennedy has attained near-mythic status as a partisan only to winning.
