California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's appointment of a liberal activist as his new top aide this week has raised eyebrows in political circles of the state, especially drawing criticism from his GOP colleagues, observers here said Friday.

The Republican governor named Susan Kennedy, a long-time Democratic activist and a lesbian, as his chief of staff Wednesday, in a move to win back public support in the Democrat-dominated state after voters defeated his "year of reform" measures in the November special election.

But the appointment caught many Republicans and even Democrats off-guard, and they said that putting Kennedy at his top aide position may prove a risky decision for the Hollywood action hero- turned governor.

Kennedy, 45, was a Democratic Party executive director in California and served as cabinet secretary to former governor Gray Davis, who was ousted in the 2003 recall election that brought Schwarzenegger to power.

And she became one of the highest-profile gays in the state politics by marrying her longtime partner in Hawaii.

Some prominent Republicans in California said they were not happy with Schwarzenegger's latest effort to reshuffle his administration and threatened to consider withdrawing their support for Schwarzenegger in next year's governor election. Schwarzenegger earlier this year had announced his plan to seek a second term.

"I think the Kennedy thing was just the last straw. There's not even one Republican in the state to be qualified as chief of staff? " said Mike Spence, president of the California Republican Assembly, a grass-roots group.

Both Republican and Democratic royals seemed unhappy with the appointment of Kennedy. While conservatives worried that Schwarzenegger would name more liberals as his advisers, liberals were denouncing Kennedy as an ideological traitor.

Although Schwarzenegger's action could alienate many of the more conservative Republicans, it was an effort to allure voters as the 2006 election approaches by moving to the political center, said political analysts.

However, they anticipated that the governor would keep Republicans in important positions in his cabinet. Schwarzenegger on Thursday appointed as his finance director Michael Genest, who had once been an advisor to the Senate Republicans.

The governor himself on Thursday defended the Kennedy appointment, saying Kennedy was a pro-business moderate who had supported all of his special-election ballot initiatives, including slashing state budget and limiting trade unions' political clout.

"I have to pick someone that I feel comfortable with," Schwarzenegger said at a local radio talk program. "I talked to a lot of people for this job, and she (Kennedy) was the one who I felt most comfortable with."

Analysts here said Schwarzenegger has tried to distance himself from a stark Republican image as he prepares to seek reelection next year in a state that has largely shunned the GOP.

He declined to appear with President George W. Bush during the president's last two visits to California, and did not appear in public at the annual Republican Governors Association conference in Carlsbad, California this week.

Source: Xinhua