Column Fodder: A Moderate Turn West
Oct. 16th, 2003 09:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eggwardsArnold 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.
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Nice cover ... but read what's inside the book
Date: 2003-10-16 10:40 am (UTC)California's bills are gonna go sky high come this winter.
Sure he talks nice about "avoid the bad parts" of Pete Wilson's deregulation scheme.
But when you read the fine-print it's just more of the same crap that Davis got the blame for.
Watch what he does... not what he says.
I don't trust him at all... he seems to be a show piece for Pete Wilson.
There's still time for him to prove that he's really moderate and not beholden to the Republicans who screwed this state, but his actions at present look awfully suspicious.
Interesting to that Bush, who refuses to bail out California while a Democratic governor was in office, is suddenly showing interest in bailing out California.
Makes you go hmmmm...
Just like in the movies
Date: 2003-10-17 03:03 am (UTC)Ah-nold refused to debate unless he was provided the questions in advance. That really inspires confidence...
When asked if he believed in same sex marriage, he declined to answer, saying that he had to think about it. Talk about a lack of opinion and conviction; he later stated that marriage should be reserved for a man and a woman. Davis recently signed the domestic partner act.
And since when did being an actor qualify anyone as governor of California. Regan had a background as leader and was politically active prior to running for governor. But then, Schwartzenegger has been known as shrewd businessman. On the other hand, he's only voted in about half of the recent elections...apparently he doesn't take the election process that seriously.
He is charming, he never groped me. It's not so much that in the past he was a womanizer, but behavior like that does qualify him as a jerk. And all my life, I've never met a man whose face looked so much like plastic--I mean that literally.
Now I'm curious to see what happens to the rest of the nation.
FROM A REPLY I WROTE in response to another post.
I'm a California resident and have to say...
The fact that Daryl Issa started the recall, spending about a dollar per signature to move things forward is questionable -- that's partisan politics. That a man wants to be Governor, yet won't participate in debates without prior knowledge of the questions...that's questionable. That the populace of California would vote for a man they know little about, except what they've seen on Access Hollywood...who plays an action hero, that succeeds in reality through stunt men, special effects artists, cinematographers, gaffers, directors, screenwriters, etc.
Gray Davis was not a great Governor, but all things considered, he wasn't bad. California's problems began with the dot.com collapse, and the California economy followed. Not even the Terminator could have helped that situation. Then there was the energy crises followed by the fraud we know as Enron. There was 9/11 and tourism died -- there went one of California's major revenue sources. There is nothing any governor could have done given those events.
Nationwide, 94% of states have budget deficits -- California is not the exception. Nationwide, there are no jobs -- unemployment is high; ask the people who don't live in California.
When Gray Davis approached Washington DC for help, President Bush wouldn't lift a finger; now Bush is asking for $87 billion to rebuild Iraq...with an additional $600 to 900 million to try to find those elusive weapons of mass destruction. The nation went from a record budget surplus to an incredible deficit during the last three years. The nation's jobless rate is reaching a high due to a failing economy all but ignored by the White House. There are questions of a nation's intelligence system that opened the door to 9/11...and so what happened to bin Laden and why do we chase after Saddam now that we know that Saddam had nothing to do with bin Laden?
If anyone should be recalled, you're right, it should be the CEO, but his name isn't Davis, it's Bush.
Yes, Schwarzenegger is a charismatic, giving, kind man. I know a great deal of men and women who are the same, if not more so...but I'm not going to make them Governor of California. It's not that groping women is acceptable, but even if it were as long as three years ago...and there are the things he did to his weightlifting competitors... shows a character deficiency, regardless of how charming may be. All of us have some jerk in us, but to the extent that he has shown, I'm not sure he's true leadership material. He plays one in the movies, but doubt that reality will reflect the same.
I do wish him the very best. California needs it. California needed it under Gray Davis. The rest of the world star struck, but still silently laughs in disbelief; not at Ah-nold, but at California.