Bush on Thursday defended the decision of his EPA administrator.

"Is it more effective to let each state make a decision as to how to proceed in curbing greenhouse gases? Or is it more effective to have a national strategy?" he said.

Schwarzenegger: California will sue federal government, CNN

I'll grant that "size of government" is something you can classify as partisan issue. However, I'm not so swayed by the popular notion that Republicans are for "states' rights" while Democrats seek to strengthen the power of the federal government. Appeals to federalism are generally politically pragmatic.

That has a lot more to do with the fact that the Democrats held the entire Congress from 1957-1981 (not to mention most state legislature seats). No surprise that "states' rights" became a GOP/Dixiecrat rallying cry (say, for example, during the civil rights movement).

Legislators are most concerned about getting their hands on levers, and once they do, they don't much care if they're federal levers (if so, all the better). So if Bush says that California can't impose its own emissions requirements, I say, "hey, states' rights, buddy."