Posted on 09/04/2006 10:19:40 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
I don't recall even being in a situation where the closer Election Day gets, the less likely I am to vote for the GOP nominee.
Yet, that is where I find myself vis-a-vis Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I'm one of many conservatives who voted for Arnold in the recall, despite my preference for Tom McClintock. I found the prospect of Cruz Bustamante in the governor's office horrifying and wasn't convinced McClintock could win. The stakes so too high I though it prudent to back the Republican with the best chance of winning, and so I cast my vote for Arnold. Like other conservatives, I comforted myself with the rumor we'd heard for years that Arnold was really a libertarian. So, although he was squishy on the social issues, at least he'd be hard core on taxes, spending and freedom issues. After all, he was a Milton Friedman fan!
But ever since the Governor's nauseating policy of apologizing for the special election of 2005, it's been steadily more difficult to assembly a conservative Republican rationale for supporting his re-election.
He's signed a non-aggression pact with the government employee unions, promising he will never, ever again try to rein in their power. He talks a big game about building infrastructure, but is unable to just come out and support an infrastructure plan -- the 241 toll road completion in Orange County -- that has been EIRed and is ready to go.
This alleged acolyte of Milton Friedman signs an "anti-greenhouse gases" bill that will have no impact on the climate but will have negative impacts on California's economic competitiveness. And this is the same guy who tells every Republican crowd the same story about how he left Austria to escape its stultifying socialism -- even as he signs neo-Euro socialist bills like the emissions cap. I thought we elected a Republican as Governor during the rcall - not Al Gore.
Since being beaten by the government employee unions and adopting the Stoclkholm Syndrone as his political survival strategy, the Governor easgerly signs any minimum wage bill the Democrats send his way -- even though he knows they are job destroyers. He knows this, and yet signs them with a smile, anyway.
Old arguments employed to keep conservatives in line like "he's good on judges" hold no water when it comes to the Schwarzenegger Administration. Yes, he's appointed more Republicans than Gray Davis, but Republicans expect something more than appointing more Republican judges than your Democratci predecessor did. For example, how about no appointing public defedners who are proud of their qualifications to defend Serbian war crimninals at The Hague?
The Governor signed the latest in Sheila Kuehl's endless succession of "gay rights" bills -- SB 1441. Did the Governor actually read this bill?:
The bill would also expand the definition of discrimination under these provisions to include a perception that a person has any of these enumerated characteristics or that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of these characteristics.
I would really love to hear the Governor affirm that he actually read that dangerous claptrap -- nothing is objectively real because reality is nothing more than perception -- and thought it was legislation that must be signed.
Everyday, I get e-mails from the Governor's re-election campaign. And I am trying to think of a single one that has, for even a moment, made me feeel proud Arnold Schwarzenegger is my party's nominee for Governor. And I can't think of a one. What I do remember are press releases bragging how Gov. Schwarzenegger is spending more money on education than anybody ever has in state history. Yessir -- that's why I became a Republican! To throw record sums of taxpayer dollars on failed government programs.
Perhaps the reader can detect the depth of my ever-deepening disenchantment with the Schwarzenegger Administration. Not that it really matters, because the Governor will be re-elected. He's blessed with a Democratic opponent who is a living caricature of the liberal excesses of his party and who gifted the Schwarzenegger campaign with his calls for billions in new taxes.
The Governor triangulates, buys off key Democratic special interests, adopts Democratic policies, and keeps enough conservatives in line by stoking their Fear of an Angelides Planet. He will win, and the Republican Party will find itself victorious in gubernatorial race but lacking a soul.
I think it was George Washington who said that a political party without principles is nothing more than a conspiracy to hold power. I'm afraid that is what is happening to the California Republican Party under the administration of Arnold Schwarzenegger, and that is why I have gone from being a unapologetic supporter of his election in the recall to being undecided about whether I'll vote to re-elect him.
Because he didn't want to.
He could have stopped the deficit dead in its tracks without violating any constitutional provisions or running afoul of legilstive formulas. He simply chose not to cut spending to match revenues.
He did the opposite. He proposed and approved double digit increases in state spending, even in the face of insufficient revenue and ... only weeks after saddling the General Fund with $4B in increased operating expenses.
Keep it simple. Keep it stupid.
I'm glad to hear that you are reasonable and I am sure many are.
I can also assure you that all are not like you and every election there are teens of libertarians talking about someone not being conservative enough (or pure) and about voting down a hole for the third party candidate due to principles. (Just like Ross Perot with Bush and Clinton, which got us Clinton.)
I HOPE there is more thinking going on this election. People should learn form Perot IMO.
HAHAHA
Imagine that. Two conservatives who have similar views.
So why does he continue to try and help him?
I'm sorry... but I like facts!
I'm still waiting to see those Secretary of State statistics showing that "conservatives stayed home" in the special election. Of course, there is no such thing, but I sure wish there was. I'm pretty sick of the campaign spiel. First they run a totally inept campaign antagonizing the electorate, then the same campaign hacks blame conservatives for the resulting failure. Quite the slick propagandists!
I'll support Republicans any day of the week against liberal Democrats. That includes RINOs. In many parts of the country RINOs are a reality and always preferable to more liberal Democrats.
But my statement was not limited to Republicans. It simply stated a basic element of comparative politics: "... always elect the lesser of evils and never help democrats get in power - ever."
You may as well never vote then because every politician has some "liberal" in them on some issue. No politician ever agrees with you 100% on every single issue. Elections in the real world are always a comparative choice of the lesser of evils. That's how it will always be to the day you die.
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
I see it took the Arnold Spam Patrol only 5 minutes to get here. Good work!
"76 percent said there was "something" to be angry about in the country today"
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Dream on. Last I heard, all the downticket R-s are going down in flames, as they did in 2002. Their only chance is, if Arnold gets elected, and he has coattails. YOU are the one who want to deny them the possibility of being elected, by campaining against Arnold. The governor is the big ticket office to vote for, if people don't bother to vote for that, they most likely stay home. People aren't going to rush out to vote, for the opportunity to vote for treasurer.
You are trying to demoralize the base, so they stay home, Angelides wins, all downticket R-s go down in flames and all leftist propositions pass. I am sure you will be very happy.
Naah, a computer would be more sophisticated.
Always vote for the most conservative candidate but never directly help a liberal get into power. Accept the responsibilities of participating in a democracy, be leery of those political organizations that demand your complete loyalty and realize that a thoughtful, single vote was both earned and appreciated by the candidacy which the vote affirmed.
140 bills!!!!!????
But there is no "gay agenda", is there?
Sheesh. California's in worse shape then I thought.
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