Free Republic

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...

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 a Republican presidential candidate won California: not since George H.W. Bush in 1988. And it had been almost as long since any Republican won major statewide office -- until Schwarzenegger won the special election of 2003. 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...

SACRAMENTO -- The Terminator has rescued himself from political ruin by reinventing his approach to government, thus demonstrating in the most dramatic way possible the value of political independence. Instead of the partisan assault on public employee unions and Democratic legislators (a.k.a. "girlie men") that marked his rhetoric in 2005, Schwarzenegger has negotiated agreements this year on a minimum-wage increase, higher school spending, curbing air pollution and a mega-bond sale designed to meet overdue highway, flood-control and school-construction needs. Democratic leaders of the legislature, who a year ago were ready to cut Schwarzenegger's throat politically, now sing his praises and...

<p>Early preprimary debates, especially those where the stage is overstuffed with candidates, are notoriously poor gauges of the strength of rival contenders.</p> <p>President Bush was anything but a dominant figure when he was one of six Republican aspirants in New Hampshire in December 1999. Baited by Gary Bauer and Steve Forbes on his alleged squishiness on abortion and taxes, he appeared to be on autopilot. Rarely did he command the debate scene as he came to control the nomination race.</p>

Another Memorial Day finds the American people once again acknowledging the debt we owe the men and women who serve this nation in uniform. The skill and valor they demonstrated in rolling up the opposition in Iraq is but the latest evidence of the quality of the people in the armed forces. Cynical as reporters are supposed to be, none of those I know who were embedded with units in the Persian Gulf came back with anything but the deepest admiration for those whose actions they covered.----SNIP------ Is it wrong to suggest that those who are the recipients of this...

KEENE, N.H. -- The bold plan for near-universal health care offered last week by Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri sent echoes across the entire Democratic presidential field. Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina, who were campaigning in New Hampshire over the weekend, were asked at voter forums if they could match it -- which, at this point, they cannot. Vermont's former governor, Howard Dean, a physician whose campaign posters proclaim "The Doctor Is In," paid tribute in his own acerbic fashion by trashing the ambitious Gephardt proposal as "pie in the sky." Dean has hoped...

WASHINGTON - At a midweek news briefing, Sen. Ted Kennedy was doing what he does so well -- laying out the Democratic case on domestic policy, preparing the ground for the debates that will resume now that Congress is back from its Easter recess. His staff had positioned a chart highlighting the economic problems that Kennedy says have piled up during President Bush's tenure: ''2.5 million fewer private sector jobs; long-term unemployment up by 184 percent; over 2 million more Americans without health insurance ... retirement savings eroded ... consumer confidence down ... a projected $5.6 trillion federal surplus turned...