Posted on 08/13/2003 1:38:31 AM PDT by Liz
You couldn’t make this stuff up. The lead Republican contender to become governor of California, should the effort to recall Democratic Governor Gray Davis succeed, is a muscle-bound movie star with a spurious education, flimsy command of English and no political experience whatsoever.
But first he’ll have to fight off challenges from pornographer Larry Flynt, former child actor Gary Coleman and an assortment of loony contenders that is growing by the day. Could anyone blame California’s party leaders if they decided to make a few bucks by televising the first debate on pay-per-view cable?
The political zoo surrounding Arnold Schwarzenegger masks some troubling issues, however. To recall a sitting governor is a tremendously destabilizing act. True, under extreme circumstances, a politician may be recalled or impeached.
But in this case, it would be a terrible miscalculation. Because of some rumblings of discontent, Californians have decided to casually yank their governor out of office. A new election will cost the state $100 million—why not take that money and spend it on the homeless?
If Californians vote to recall Governor Davis on Oct. 7, they will be throwing the state’s economy —currently running a $38 billion budget deficit—into even greater turmoil.
The fact is that, since he was re-elected less than a year ago, Governor Davis has continued to bear the brunt of profligate spending by every California governor since the clown of them all, Jerry Brown. To expect him to have solved the state’s fiscal problems in such a relatively short period of time indicates that Californians have been watching too many movies.
California cannot afford to become the Hollywood stage set for Mr. Schwarzenegger’s raw ambition. The state is a major center of biomedical research, the global hub of the high-tech and computer-software industries, and the world’s premier producer of film and television entertainment.
California has a $100 billion statewide budget and, in addition, is the fifth-largest economy in the world. To think that Mr. Schwarzenegger can come in and fix it with a few one-liners is absurd.
If the recall does succeed, the only viable candidate to replace Governor Davis would be Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, who appears to have the experience and seriousness of purpose equal to the job. Indeed, it’s a fair bet that, if there is a recall, it will clear the way for the Democrats to hold onto the governor’s seat, as the public starts to pay real attention to the Republicans’ unstable cast of characters.
It’s easy to understand why Californians have so dreamily embraced Mr. Schwarzenegger’s candidacy. Any public spectacle that smells of Hollywood they’ll climb right on, without worrying about the consequences, or the fact that they have confirmed the world’s suspicions about their state.
Governor Davis isn’t the victim of his own policies; he’s the victim of an electorate that prefers illusion to reality. There’s no chance he would be facing a recall if his name were Red Buttons instead of Gray Davis.
This is the way liberals talk when no one's watching. Like we poor peons don't count. And look at how they sneer at our choices. The New York Observer just gave every on FR who's still undecided about backing Arnold a very good reason for backing him: their snobby attitude towards average folks.
When you get right down to it, liberals think they should be the ones to decide who should get elected. They opposed the recall election from the start but now that their hands have been forced, they're promoting Bustamante. The Davis kool aid crowd can see their guy's toast but they still view the voters as too stupid to know for whom to pull the right lever for on Election Day. I mean its like in their universe, we can't get along without them!
Unless this writer just doesn't know the definition of spurious, he's lying. Schwarzenegger legitimately earned a college business degree. And judging by the results, he applied what he learned very well.
Liberals have a sense of entitlement, that they are owed political power
and the perks that come with it. This is driven by their huge egos.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.