Posted on 10/02/2006 7:25:18 PM PDT by SmithL
The likely victory of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in next month's election could change the dynamics of California government and the way both national parties think about this mega-state.
It has been a long time since any Republican presidential candidate won California -- not since George H.W. Bush in 1988. And it had been several years since any Republican won major statewide office -- until Schwarzenegger won in the special election of 2003.
But the circumstances of that race were so odd -- a referendum on the unpopular incumbent, Democrat Gray Davis, and a free-for-all among dozens of would-be successors running virtually without party support -- that Schwarzenegger's victory seemed almost happenstance.
But now he is running as the Republican nominee against a single legitimate Democratic contender, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, a former party chairman. And the double-digit lead Schwarzenegger has fashioned cannot be put down to luck.
Rather, it reflects his rapid adaptation after a serious political miscalculation. In 2005, he declared war on the Democratic Legislature and the public employee unions and forced a special election on four initiatives designed to cripple the unions' influence and strengthen his hand as governor. Voters rejected all of them and drove his approval scores into the basement.
But after that repudiation, Schwarzenegger this year reopened negotiations with the Legislature, passed a heap of big bills and won the applause of an independent electorate.
To be sure, there are still skeptics who argue that the governor has no convictions and, therefore, is totally unreliable. In his political biography, "The People's Machine: Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Rise of Blockbuster Democracy," author Joe Mathews quotes the judgment of bodybuilder Rick Wayne, a buddy of the governor. "I've never known Arnold to be a conservative," Wayne said, "I've known Arnold to be a chameleon."
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
The Republican party is still active in California??
As Vince Lombardi said: "Winning is not everything. It's the ONLY thing."
Arnold understands that.
Arnie is really a Democrat - pro gun control, pro big government, pro abortion, etc.
Screw that kind of thinking. Ronald Reagan sure didn't think that way.
Where is the next Ronald Reagan in California???
Yeah there still is a Republican party in CA. It is owned lock stock and barrel by some big money Orange County RINOs.
Also posted by Fair Opinion under a different title, and source.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1711363/posts
YES! LIBERALISM!!!
As if the national party hasn't tried enough of THAT.
Lombardi had principles and never compromised, unlike the Austrian.
His name is Tom McClintock.
We don't get another Ronald Reagan in Blue-State California. If we're lucky, we get McClintock in 4 years, but he has to win the Lt. Governor's race, first. For now, Arnold is as good as we get.
As J.R. Ewing once said: "Once you give up integrity, the rest is a piece of cake."
Arnold and other RINOs of his ilk understand that.
Dead, and in Simi Valley.
My head is still spinning. ;)
Would that we had elected McClintock rather than Arnold. And don't dare get on me about "perfectionism." McClintock would have won, and we could have had a convservative governor. But NO, the Orange County RINOs didn't have the huevos.
Consider the source. David Broder is a WashComPost columnist.
There are plenty of conservatives here in California. We do have a hard time outnumbering the illegals and the welfare dependents (of all kinds, academic and actual). Get the illegals off thw voter rolls and the tide will turn.
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