The rise of Arnold Schwarzenegger is why Californians deserve their reputation, says Walt Meyer

Sunday, September 07, 2003

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - When I ask fellow Californians why they are supporting Arnold Schwarzengger, they say, "He'd be a great governor." And I ask, "Why? Give me his position on anything. Gun control. Gay marriage. Anything." They shrug and say, "He is a moderate Republican." Asked what that means, they have no idea.

	Walt Meyer, a Pittsburgh native, is a writer living in San Diego (wmeyer516@aol.com).

For his part, Arnold hasn't said much. He seems to have broken out his copy of Bartlett's Book of Familiar Cliches. "We need leadership." "We need to give government back to the people."

He has yet to say anything about anything. When asked for specifics, he retreats behind another empty platitude, "We need to cut government spending." The only concrete thing to come out of his camp so far is his adviser Warren Buffett wanting higher property taxes which was met with a groan so loud it was probably heard in Pennsylvania.

As one political analyst said, the worst thing Arnold can do is talk. As long as he is a blank slate, everyone can believe he is what they want; every time he takes a position on something, he loses votes.

Although I have never met Arnold, I have seen him in action. When I lived in Venice (the beach town beside Los Angeles), we both used to frequent the Rose Cafe. I have seen the disrespect with which he treats commoners.

If he is going to try to run the state by issuing the Teutonic imperatives as I have seen him do to waitresses and people wanting his autograph, it's not going to sit well with a state legislature held by Democrats who aren't happy about the Republican coup being attempted against their governor. Arnold's reputation for this sort of bad behavior is such that there are restaurants in Los Angeles where I have heard he is no longer welcome.

I have heard many people say, "He can't be worse than Davis." That is hardly a good reason for voting for anyone and it's also not true. If he hits gridlock, even less could get done. Davis hasn't done a great job, and everyone hates him, but give me a state or city that's in good financial shape right now. Some of what is happening is Davis' fault. A lot is not, and no one is going to turn the mess around anytime soon.

Rob Lowe joining his team is more proof that Arnold thinks this is just another role for him to play. He can act as a killing machine, he can act as a governor. He can surround himself with a great supporting cast: Lowe worked in the White House, so he has political experience! (The fact that it wasn't real and was only on the television show "The West Wing" seems to have escaped the notice of Arnold and most of the voters here who are used to style over substance.)

Schwarzenegger's only political experience is being married to a Kennedy and having helped pass a proposition to help kids. His "I love kids" platform seems to have made most people forget the extreme violence in all of the movies he made for kids.

If the recall is approved, the new governor could conceivably take office with less than 10 percent of the vote -- a much smaller percentage than put Davis in office either time, and even a smaller percentage than the minority that elected Bush. (The rules for this charade say that if the recall is approved then the top vote-getter among the replacement candidates replaces the governor, and Davis cannot run as his own replacement.)

With so many names on the ballot, in theory it would be possible for someone to win with just 0.75 percent of the vote. And that is only of those who will bother voting which means a very small proportion of the state could pick our next governor.

I find the whole recall process seriously flawed. Even though I am voting against the recall, I can at the same time vote for a candidate to replace the governor. It seems to me it should be an either-or proposition. Either I want Davis to go, or I don't: I shouldn't be able to have it both ways. I end up voting for two contradictory things -- Davis and his replacement.

The ascendancy of a hollow Arnold candidacy epitomizes the farce this recall is, and gives the rest of the country and the rest of the world one more reason to laugh about my adopted state of California being the land of flakes and nuts.

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