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Arnold can win.

Here we go again. If WINNING is all that matters, then we should call Bill Clinton and ask him to run as a Republican for California Governor. Forget about all that idealogical purity. HE CAN WIN! All that matters is that there is an R on his voter registration card.

For the issues that matter to the Republican grassroots that get out and make things happen, Arnold is on the worng side of everything. He is pro-abortion. He is a gun grabber, he is a homo-lover.

What? You say he's a fiscal conservative? He sponsored the big government Prop 49 to provide government after school day care for kids -- a multi-billion dollar bond boondoggle. I heard him interviewed this morning. he said the children come first. They get first dibs on the state treasury. He wants more teachers, more money for classrooms more, more, more.... The CTA are going to LOVE this guy. (I didn't hear anything about actually teaching them to read)

I see him going down in flames just like Riordan did. Let's get Bill Clinton out here. HE CAN WIN!

Arnold also sponsored Proposition 49 in such a way that it would not do any of those things, because it would feed off "excess" state revenues.

But here's a thought I've had, and I'd really like your views on it, since it cuts to the chase about why Arnold might be the only viable candidate -- not because he can win the election, but because he has a better chance than anyone who's running to win the aftermath.

Schwartzenegger knows how to manipulate the public. There is no time in our state's history when the need to have the public manipulated is more acute. We have all these powerful forces arrayed against cutting the budget: The legislature, the state employees, the lobbyists and so on. The only way to counteract this is to get the public on your side, to get them writing letters and making phone calls and pushing legislatures towards thinking his way.

I feel your pain and those of others who say that he's not a true conservative. It wounds me to say that I think we need a master showman as governor, not someone who's right on every issue, but someone who's a real fighter who can battle the enemies and emerge more or less triumphant. As long as he agrees with me on the no tax increase issue (which I think we'll learn in a few days), I think he would be the best candidate. I surely don't care what his position on abortion or homosexuality is; the governor has a minimal impact on those issues anyway, so it matters little.

I think Schwartzenegger is the only politician running who could be successful in lobbying against the powerful forces arrayed against us, through the sheer force of personality.

He might actually be able to pull off fixing this state. I don't think the other candidates are up to the task.

I'd love to hear some serious discussion of this issue. I feel that it's a very important point to ponder.

D

For the issues that matter to the Republican grassroots that get out and make things happen

I think this is a key issue that rarely gets discussed. To wit, who provides the proverbial muscle to the Repub party, in a manner similar to what minorities and unions provide for the Dems?

I've always thought it was the religous right and social conservatives. Oh, they may go on about principles, but at the end of the day, they faithfully trot in and mark their ballots next to the name with an (R).

It's the small 'l' libertarians who run the Repub party, and the sooner hard-core social conservatives begin to understand this (as if they don't already), then perhaps we can enjoy a little less of this sound and fury signifying nothing.

Nash your teeth, but it's those hedonistic boys from SC that make things happen in SoCal. (On that note, check out Fox's new soap opera, The OC, to see a glamorized version of hard-core Republican Newport Beach.)