Eminent domain

FlashReport blogger Dan Schnur suggests that Gov. Schwarzenegger take up the issue of eminent domain as his third bedrock Republican principal to rally GOP activists. Tom McClintock has spoken out forcefully against the ability of local government to acquire private property for the sake of economic development. So have any number of Democratic politicians representing the type of economically blighted communities most vulnerable to eminent domain claims. So not only is this an issue that can rally conservatives, but it doesn't come up with well-funded opposition attached to it the way other GOP priorities often do. He adds: Protecting property owners against the intrusion of local government is ideologically consistent with the populist/reformer image that he rode to the governor's office in 2003. We haven't seen much of Arnold the Outsider lately. Walters may be providing him with an opportunity to reclaim that mantle. Can an eminent domain fight rally conservative voters? I'll leave that to my fellow bloggers to ponder. But it seems like a natural fit for a governor who's already reclaimed the political center and now needs one more thing to shore up his right flank.