Sacramento, CA - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's ties to corporate special interests will be blasted in a hard-hitting, innovative internet campaign over the 4th of July holiday weekend which makes use of new, ultra-precise and effective "Google Surge" technology. Creating pressure on the Governor to end a weeks-long budget standoff by backing a sensible budget compromise, the ad campaign was launched today by the California School Employees Association (CSEA schools) and the California State Council of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The internet campaign targets the Governor's reputation in Hollywood, drawing a sharp contrast between his movie-screen heroics and his failed leadership for California.
"This weekend as the valley's scorching temperatures are driving Sacramentans to the movies, we're turning up the heat on Governor Schwarzenegger by highlighting how his failure to stand up for California families has diminished the star power he carried into office," said Dave Low, CSEA's Assistant Director of Governmental Relations. "Governor Schwarzenegger's lasting legacy will be shaped by his response to our budget crisis. So far his only answer has been to veto proposals for a balanced budget because he wants to cut funding for education and seniors even more. He has very little time left to decide if the history books will depict him as a doormat for his corporate special interest friends or the hero working families need during this crisis."
The Google surge technology has been used effectively in numerous campaigns outside of California and the strategy was critical to Virginia Senator Creigh Deed's come-from behind victory in that state's Democratic Gubernatorial primary last month. Using Google Surge, the CSEA/SEIU campaign will geographically blanket internet users in the Sacramento area viewing news, entertainment and movie-related websites on one of the biggest movie-going weekends of the year showing the real Arnold is not the Hollywood super-hero, but a doormat for the corporate special interests. The "surge" strategy deploys the advertising on top websites in a way that users are likely to see the ad repeatedly over a short period of time.
"It's ironic that on this Independence Day weekend, the Governor wants to take independence away from seniors and people with disabilities and school transportation away from kids. Arnold's mean-spirited cuts-only budget approach will force 607,000 Californians out of their jobs in the next two years, stripping economic independence from California families who can't afford more pain during this crisis," said Courtni Pugh, SEIU State Council's Executive Director. "This Governor is using the state's budget crisis to squeeze a narrow, corporate special interest agenda into law with no public debate because he knows these anti-family proposals would never meet the test of sound public policy. This Governor is kicking college students out of school and seniors out of their homes, but he's put out a budget welcome mat for his corporate cronies."
Blanketing Sacramento cyberspace over the next four days, the ad will be displayed to local internet users in millions of times over the holiday weekend.
The California School Employees Association is the largest classified school employees union in the United States representing nearly 230,000 classified employees in California.
SEIU's 700,000 California members represent our state in all of its diversity. SEIU members are social workers, nurses, classroom aides, security officers, college professors, homecare workers, state employees, janitors, and more.
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Contact: Mike Roth - 916.444.7170
The Ad: