Okay, so I was one of the idiots that thought Arnold Schwarzenegger would be the answer to the State’s problems. I confess my transgression, and beg forgiveness. After riding a historic recall wave in 2003, fueled largely by support from the State Republican Party, we went along with the "refinancing" of the Davis mess with a $15 billion bond. Then the Governor signed historic Workers’ Compensation Reform, his only significant public policy achievement. Then he gave a great speech at the Republican National Convention but it was clear by then that he was his own entity, not the head of the State Republican Party.
His failed 2005 ballot initiatives were courageous and necessary, but his conduct since that defeat has been political cowardice at best as he himself has become a "girly man". He’s allowed state spending to rise faster than it did under Gray Davis. He was re-elected against a weak candidate in 2006 and put the State GOP millions in debt to finance his landslide, all while ignoring down ballot candidates. He was rude and dismissive of the Republican leadership in 2006 and signed some of the most insulting social legislation in the history of our State while ignoring any semblance of a center right agenda.
Now, in 2008, he has not only allowed the State to be close to bankrupt, again, but proposed a sweeping State mandate, tax increase filled health care program, even in the face of the facts: the State can’t fix anything, even with, up to now, virtually unlimited resources.
I thought the final straw was a few betrayals back, but the endorsement of Proposition 93 (otherwise known as the "give incompetent and stupid Democrat leadership longer terms to screw up California Act of 2008) is the definitive indication that he is powerless against Democrat leadership, and completely undeserving of GOP support for his remaining initiatives.
Since he has done nothing to help the State Party retire its debt, and nothing to advance even center – right, mainstream causes, the Party should just disassociate itself from him at the February convention. If someone can give me a compelling reason why the Party needs him, or demonstrate in any way possible any Schwarzenegger principal worth defending, outside of Workers’ Comp reform, I would love to here about it.
State Party Board, are you listening?
January 15th, 2008 at 12:00 am
“State Party Board, are you listening?”
Of course they are not.
January 15th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Back when the recall ball was getting going and there was talk of Schwarzenegger running, I said at the time that not only he was too liberal to fix California, but that it was a waste of his celebrity to run him for governor at time, when the most prominent Republican on the ballot was likely to win. I said at the time that the CRP should ask him to save himself to run for Senate, where we needed the big guns to take out Boxer or Feinstein, whomever was next, and that he should endorse and campaign for McClintock. I said that at the time privately to several in leadership, and I was poo-pooed.
There are times when I hate being right.
January 15th, 2008 at 12:00 am
If we were standing on principle we should do the same thing to Arnie that was done to Davis. That would be consistant.
January 15th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Governor Schwarzenegger gets a job approval rating of 68 percent in the latest Field Poll among Republicans.
Support for Prop 93 is 56-29 percent Republicans, also according to the latest Field Poll.
Glad to see the FLASH REPORT’s contributors aren’t even in sync voters in their own party!
January 15th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Steve, apparently unlike you, we live by valued principles, not our finger in the wind.
January 15th, 2008 at 12:00 am
In other news the Governor has officially changed his last name to Kennedy!
January 15th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Davis had high poll numbers until gravity took over. He could not reverse the trend, no matter what he tried.
January 15th, 2008 at 12:00 am
We need to apologize to Gray Davis and ask him to come back… I will bet it will be an improvement.
The speech Arnold gave at the Palm Springs CRP convention was insulting. If he is speaking in the Feb. convention he should be balanced with some one to his right, may be like Gray Davis.
January 16th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Thankfully, it looks like he will not be insulting us again in February based on the convention agenda.