KH: The Blog

I haven’t really weighed in on the whole California recall mess. But someone asked for comments and so I figured I would oblige. Isn’t that what blogs are all about?

In theory I guess I am against the recall. It seems to me to be more “hair of the dog that bit you.” I mean, the mess they are in is large part caused by an ballot system gone mad with budgets and crucial government functions set by ballot intiative instead of legislative act. Sure Gray Davis is a goon and unlikely to solve the problems but he did win an election with a majority of votes. I am not sure the problems of democracy can be solved with hyper-democracy. Perhaps if the state slept in the bed they made they might choose more wisely next time.

But moving past theory into reality (if the recall can be called reality), the whole mess makes for an interesting power play. Are the Democrats really so unorganized and blind as to tie their ship to Davis or his Lt. Gov? If so can either one beat The Terminator? I must admit if I lived in California I would proabably vote for AHNOLD. If he can win and he is better than Davis, seems like a no brainer to me.

If the Lt. Governor is the only Democrat on the ballot (and the deadline has passed right?) then this should be a good test for the loyalty and strength of the party. If this guy can beat Scwartznager than party will have trumped popularity. On the other hand if Arnold can gain some momentum by sounding intellegent on a number of issues and getting past catch phrases about interest groups, then he has a good chance to getting to Sacramento. Combine name recognition, with plenty of money, and popular goodwill and you can go far. It seems obvious that people are willing to take a chance to get some fresh air. But should Arnold slip up and say something stupid (no matter how true or honest) his goodwill could slip away very fast. Given his liberal stands on things like abortion, guns, and immigration he should be fine. All he needs is a petina of seriousness on policy and he should be able to hire the right people to give him that information. It would be risky to doubt his dedication and discipline given his life story. As I said, he has at least even odds of making it in my book.

And despite the circus train by whitch he might get there, he certainly would be hard pressed to do worse than Davis once in office. Remove Jesse Ventura’s stupid publis statements and his side jobs and he did a decent job as governor in Minnesota. He hired qualified advisors and stuck to a simple, slightly right of center agenda. He simply couldn’t stand interacting with the media as a politician instead of as an entertainer. It there is a weakness in Arnold it is this one, those media hounds will turn on him in a second if there is blood in the water. This is not entertainment tonight mind you but the haerdball game of politics. If the Terminator can navigate the treturous waters of the press he could be the next governor of the largest state in the Union. Now why he would want that job is a whole ‘nother question . . .