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Tuesday, November 25, 2014

More Media Scoring Favors Napolitano

...The battle is far from over. But for now, there's a clear victor: Napolitano, the ex-Arizona governor and former Homeland Security chief who has been one of the few statewide figures to challenge the four-term governor successfully. So how did Napolitano play this skillfully? First, she made sure tuition increases were defined. No students -- or, more to the point, no parents -- like bigger bills. But what they dislike even more are surprises. Napolitano eliminated those. Second, she put the onus on the Legislature and the governor to repair the damage: If they came up with more money, she suggested, the tuition increases would not need to be as large. Her message: Don't blame us. Blame them.Third, she paid attention to the niceties of politics. She prepared the ground with a public letter saying the increase would allow UC to enroll 5,000 more students. And she avoided making things personal. "I'm the president of the university and my job is to make the case for the university. So I'm very respectful of the governor," she said. "I disagree with him but I'm very respectful.'' ...


...(T)his contest was different because the UC has a politician leading it, the former Arizona governor and homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano. And this made all the difference. Napolitano took the fight to her fellow politicians in a way that UC hasn’t done before. And she won a big round, getting the better of Gov. Jerry Brown. Her successful strategy was this: she out-Browned Brown. Napolitano’s UC plan is very Brown – Sacramento can choose to give more money or see increases in tuition. It’s a choice—and she portrayed it as pragmatic and realistic. She also outmaneuvered Brown, by dropping the plan on him the day after the election and lining up votes. He had to react late, scrambling to add a couple of appointees to the board of regents...

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