Republican candidates for statewide office not only need to debate, but they need to debate often.  It is more important in this election cycle than ever before because of fourteen letters: Schwarzenegger.  You see, Arnold Schwarzenegger really is one of the best actors out there – so much so that they should have an Academy Award for “Best Dramatic Performance In A Recall Election” – he would have won.  He campaigned as a fiscal conservative – and has not been.  His two hallmark “fiscal” achievements are getting the voters to max out the debt he inherited on a “credit card” of bonded indebtedness,  and signing into law the largest tax increase in the history of any state.  And he’s not done, with a pork-filled massive so-called water bond to appear before voters this November.  In other-words, he “became” exactly the person he needed to be to strike a resonant chord with angry voters who wanted to oust Gray Davis and replace him with a fiscal hawk.

Why is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s acting performance of 2003 so relevant today?  Let me give an eight letter word : cynicism.  I use this word as a good one to describe the attitude of many Republicans – leaders, activists and voters alike, when it comes to a willingness to take candidates “word for it” when they are campaigning to us – we’ve been duped before and no one wants to have that happen again.

This election cycle we have candidates running for major statewide offices that have no history in politics – and therefore no specific way to judge exactly what they will do.  It is important that Republican grassroots leaders from around the state, a great many of whom still are undecided in their choices for candidates for office get a chance to see the candidates engage in a lively debate – in person.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 11th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.