Tag: california

Schwarzenegger’s candidacy energizes unlikely California voters

I know it is not politically correct to suggest it, but there really are people who shouldn’t vote. I don’t mean to suggest that people be prevented from voting. But be realistic. People who never cared enough about government to get to the polls are now getting “energized” because a megastar like Schwarzenegger is on the ballot. Not because they have considered any issues. Not because they believe strongly in a candidate’s platform (to date, Arnold has yet to delineate one). Is this supposed to be good? Gary Coleman (the smaller government candidate, yuck-yuck) was on Hannity and Colmes last week saying that if his candidacy could “drive people to the polls” he would be happy. Doesn’t anyone else think that voters who vote just because there are celebrities on the ballot are probably not the people California needs determining its future?

More on the California Recall circus… Republicans hoping for some fiscal responsibility with Arnold as governor should take a long look at who he chooses for advisors. For example, Warren Buffet, who already has a ton of cash so he doesn’t care if taxes go up, is Arnold’s economic advisor. [More…]

If the pilot of a doomed airplane were to be recalled from his position just a hundred feet before the craft plunged into the ocean, would it really matter who replaced him? Not even the Terminator would be able to get the plane on the right track. I can certainly understand the desire of the California electorate to fire their governor. He is truly an incompetent man, who is firmly in the pocket of special interests. He has no desire to manage his state out of the plunging dive it is in and would rather double the salary of a few state workers and give them 90% retirement pay for life at the age of 50 than trim one cent off the budget elephantiasis. But the problem is not just Gray Davis. The governor is a figure-head that is likely to get all the blame or all the credit for whatever happens. Certainly he deserves much of the blame and should be held accountable for defrauding the public and lying about the budget crisis during is re-election campaign. But what of the legislature that seems incapable of not hemorrhaging money that isn’t theirs? What of the Willie Browns of the state? If I still lived in California, I would likely vote to recall Gray, and I am not sure who I would vote for to replace him. But I have to wonder if it wasn’t a mistake to do this. (And I say wasn’t because it is inevitable now.) Wouldn’t there be more hope for change if the state was forced to live with the mistakes of the electorate, and a more sweeping “recall” was to take place in a few years when a “throw all the bums out” mentality takes hold? Maybe the next governor will get a “pass” when it comes to the next regularly scheduled election… it remains to be seen. But you have to wonder why any Republican would want to take over in the pilot seat just before the plane hits the water.

Gray Davis was probably initially thrilled that a massive power outage in the northeast would take the news off of his recall in California. But then again, a massive power problem serves as a reminder to the Gray Davis governorship.