From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary E-mail…
My, what changes a few years can make. In 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger ousted an indecisive governor in California’s recall election by pledging to be a different kind of leader — firm and principled. He told Cigar Aficionado magazine he liked President Bush because he was decisive. "The mood of the people changes all the time. The polls change all the time," he said. "But Bush is staying the course. Even though that pisses some people off, and then the polls go down, he stays on course. In the end that pays off, because people say, well, at least one thing we know: That guy is steady."
That was then. Mr. Schwarzenegger completed his transformation to the most conventional of politicians on ABC’s "This Week" yesterday, when he embraced the shifts on issues made by both Barack Obama and John McCain.
"Flip-flopping is getting a bad rap, because I think it is great," the governor told ABC. "Someone has made a mistake. I mean, someone has, for 20 or 30 years, been in the wrong place with his idea and with his ideology and says, ‘You know something? I changed my mind. I am now for this.’ As long as he’s honest or she’s honest, I think that is a wonderful thing," Mr. Schwarzenegger enthused. Then the man who pledged to clean up California’s finances and now faces a $15 billion deficit gave the final burial to the campaign he mounted back in 2003: "I have changed my mind on things and there is nothing wrong with it."
Oh, Arnold. How little we knew ye. California thought it was electing an action hero willing to battle the special interests. Now we know you’re not merely another political weathervane waiting to see which way the wind is blowing — but actually proud of it.
— John Fund