Never Underestimate...
Today's Chron headline read: SCHWARZENEGGER LEADS VOTER REVOLT. And my first thought was, yes, the voters are quite revolting. Only kidding, it's the recall laws that are repellant: it took less than 900,000 signatures, and only $1.7M of someone's personal money to set all this in motion.
Arnold never would have won a regular election where there would have been many months of scrutinizing. He's a spoiler, nothing more: a spokesperson of his was quoted last night: “California voted for someone who will stand up against small vocal groups with their own social agendas.” Now, who do you suppose he meant by that? Focus on the Family? Operation Rescue? Independent filmmakers?
I found myself often wondering what Arnold would be like if he won, when he finally was forced off-script by the demands of the real world. Now I have my answer: he's going to avoid the real world and stick to invective, fear and finger-pointing. To paraphrase Aaron Sorkin, “He's only interested in two things: making you afraid of it, and telling you who's to blame for it.”
But like it or not, he's our governor now. More people voted for him that voted against the recall. In the twisted unreality of the context of the California recall, that's some kind of mandate, isn't it? I think it's our duty to keep him real, make him go off-script and see what he can do. And if he succeeds, we'll acknowledge it. And when he fails, we'll remind those who voted for him.
People don't vote because they're too lazy to get out there to their polling site. People don't vote because thinking is required beforehand.