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Column Fodder: A Moderate Turn West
Oct. 16th, 2003 09:15 amArnold Schwarzenegger actually gives me a little bit of faith in the Republican Party. He was actually the perfect Republican for California, and for those moderates like me who have voted for Republicans in the past for their fiscal responsibilities, Arnold was hitting the right issues.
From what he campaigned on he's a good conservative in the classical sense, control spending, reduce the tax burden (when possible), and keep government out of people's lives. You know, Repbulicans, and even democrats that campaigned on the "less government" platform have fallen by the wayside these days.
The problem of course, is that much of the Republican Party has been taken away by the Christian Right and conservatism isn't so much the slowing of government growth and spending, but about turning back the clock on social issues. As you can guess, this type of politics doesn't play to well in liberal but broke California.
Now you're saying that Californians voted for celebrity, and possibly the ironic value of having "The Terminator" for governor, and I'd agree that it was a factor, but look at the deeper issues. The recall was started to boot Gray Davis out, but the voters were actually disgruntled with career politicians that continues to profit as the state's economy declines and the state budget got out of control. The vote was reactionary and Arnold, being an outsider and campaigning on a vague fiscal conservatism.
Strangely, Arnold actually scares the Christian Right since he doesn't share their moral views. Arnold won't press their agenda, and probably won't be controlled by the party on such matters. He carries the title "Republican" but he's really more of an independent than anything else.
Even in the days leading up to the election, people were flooding conservative talk radio trying to sway people to vote for Senator Tom McClintock, the only true Republican in the race, they'd say. Most of those calls featured something that the caller couldn't support Arnold for, "He said he was for abortion, and I can't ever vote for someone like that!" or "He supports gays!" or "I don't think he attends church and his movies are violent!". Anything to show that he wasn't the "real" Republican in the race. McClintock has his base in California, but he certainly doesn't have enough mainstream appeal to be governor of california, and if anything, the moderate swing voter.
As an outsider to both politics and to his own party, I don't really expect Arnold to be very successful in office. California has too many initiatives in place that prevent spending cuts and it will be difficult to bring the state's budget under control. Along with that, he will probably find that neither party will be easy to work with. It's the same problem that Minnesota Governor Jessie Ventura has, but he, unlike Arnold ran as an independent and the Republicans have to at least acknowledge Arnold. The Republicans will proudly fly the flag showing that California is in their control, but there will be plenty of clashed between Arnold's stances and party dogma. Watch as they support some budget changes, but feud when Arnold decides not to push the rest of the agenda.
If nothing else, The California race could be an interesting harbinger of things to come. Voters nationwide seem to be upset with the status quo and there may be a major shift. Many candidates will be trying to play towards the swing voters, the moderates in the country. It's much like baseball, at the beginning of the season, a manager can expect to win 60 games, lose 60, but it's what you do with the other 42 that truly matter. Candidates move to the center to win. Both Republicans and Democrats know this.
This is also where the failed idea of the Reform party tried for as well. The party's main premise, that the two party system had it's day, was smart, but by running Ross Perot twice, they sealed their fate as a serious party. many people look at a third party and might agree with the platform, but the two party system has such a stranglehold on the nation, that it's very difficult for another group to make a beachhead. In the current environment, with campaign finance the way it is, with special interests chipping in on both sides just to hedge a bet, it's doubtful that a third-party candidate would ever be able to come close to the presidency.
Still, third party candidates create public discourse that can make change. Even though Green Party candidate Ralph Nader wouldn't be elected, he still brought issues to light. I would love to see a libertarian candidate use some of the media juggernaut, and bring some real conservative issues to light, real change in how government works, and where it should butt out.
For now though, we'll take wins where we can. Governor Arnold seems to be a breath of fresh air in the oppressive Republican camp, as the president seems to be retreating farther and farther to the religious base of the party, but then perhaps only someone like Arnold could actually bully the party enough to be able to run as a Republican with moderate views. Seems that even Republicans can be star-struck.
From what he campaigned on he's a good conservative in the classical sense, control spending, reduce the tax burden (when possible), and keep government out of people's lives. You know, Repbulicans, and even democrats that campaigned on the "less government" platform have fallen by the wayside these days.
The problem of course, is that much of the Republican Party has been taken away by the Christian Right and conservatism isn't so much the slowing of government growth and spending, but about turning back the clock on social issues. As you can guess, this type of politics doesn't play to well in liberal but broke California.
Now you're saying that Californians voted for celebrity, and possibly the ironic value of having "The Terminator" for governor, and I'd agree that it was a factor, but look at the deeper issues. The recall was started to boot Gray Davis out, but the voters were actually disgruntled with career politicians that continues to profit as the state's economy declines and the state budget got out of control. The vote was reactionary and Arnold, being an outsider and campaigning on a vague fiscal conservatism.
Strangely, Arnold actually scares the Christian Right since he doesn't share their moral views. Arnold won't press their agenda, and probably won't be controlled by the party on such matters. He carries the title "Republican" but he's really more of an independent than anything else.
Even in the days leading up to the election, people were flooding conservative talk radio trying to sway people to vote for Senator Tom McClintock, the only true Republican in the race, they'd say. Most of those calls featured something that the caller couldn't support Arnold for, "He said he was for abortion, and I can't ever vote for someone like that!" or "He supports gays!" or "I don't think he attends church and his movies are violent!". Anything to show that he wasn't the "real" Republican in the race. McClintock has his base in California, but he certainly doesn't have enough mainstream appeal to be governor of california, and if anything, the moderate swing voter.
As an outsider to both politics and to his own party, I don't really expect Arnold to be very successful in office. California has too many initiatives in place that prevent spending cuts and it will be difficult to bring the state's budget under control. Along with that, he will probably find that neither party will be easy to work with. It's the same problem that Minnesota Governor Jessie Ventura has, but he, unlike Arnold ran as an independent and the Republicans have to at least acknowledge Arnold. The Republicans will proudly fly the flag showing that California is in their control, but there will be plenty of clashed between Arnold's stances and party dogma. Watch as they support some budget changes, but feud when Arnold decides not to push the rest of the agenda.
If nothing else, The California race could be an interesting harbinger of things to come. Voters nationwide seem to be upset with the status quo and there may be a major shift. Many candidates will be trying to play towards the swing voters, the moderates in the country. It's much like baseball, at the beginning of the season, a manager can expect to win 60 games, lose 60, but it's what you do with the other 42 that truly matter. Candidates move to the center to win. Both Republicans and Democrats know this.
This is also where the failed idea of the Reform party tried for as well. The party's main premise, that the two party system had it's day, was smart, but by running Ross Perot twice, they sealed their fate as a serious party. many people look at a third party and might agree with the platform, but the two party system has such a stranglehold on the nation, that it's very difficult for another group to make a beachhead. In the current environment, with campaign finance the way it is, with special interests chipping in on both sides just to hedge a bet, it's doubtful that a third-party candidate would ever be able to come close to the presidency.
Still, third party candidates create public discourse that can make change. Even though Green Party candidate Ralph Nader wouldn't be elected, he still brought issues to light. I would love to see a libertarian candidate use some of the media juggernaut, and bring some real conservative issues to light, real change in how government works, and where it should butt out.
For now though, we'll take wins where we can. Governor Arnold seems to be a breath of fresh air in the oppressive Republican camp, as the president seems to be retreating farther and farther to the religious base of the party, but then perhaps only someone like Arnold could actually bully the party enough to be able to run as a Republican with moderate views. Seems that even Republicans can be star-struck.
