Medical science has given us the body scan — a technology that enables us to scan an individual’s body and detect the presence or absence of diseases.

Political science needs to produce a political body scan — a technology that would enable us to scan a politician’s body and detect the presence or absence of principles. I recommend Gov. Schwarzenegger as the first test subject, because I am reluctantly coming to the belief he lacks any defining, determining set of political principles.

A politician’s party affiliation is generally a pretty good (but not perfect) indicator of his or her stance on an issue. However, If one is trying to figure out whether the Governor will oppose or support a policy, a Magic 8-Ball is probably as reliable an indicator as his political affiliation.

Case in point: two anti-Wal-Mart bills that are on their way to the Governor’s desk. According to the AP, one would "would require local governments to consider an economic impact report before approving any "big box" store larger than 100,000 square feet." The other would mandate "retailers to pay communities’ legal fees if the local governments prevail in lawsuits that challenge zoning ordinances or regulations aimed at restricting mega-stores."

And the response from our allegedly Republican Governor?:

No position? Incredible. Absolutely incredible for a Republican governor to take "no position" on two left-wing anti-free market bills.

I had my differences with former Gov. Pete Wilson, whom no one could credibly call a thorough conservative. But Wilson was unmistakably a Repiublican. If those bills had passed the legislature during his tenure, it is beyond certain Wilson would have announced his intention to veto them. One would hardly need to ask, becuase at least Wilson had a guiding political philosophy that you knew would lead him to veto such anti-free enterprise legislation.

A big part of what disturbs conservatives about Schwarzenegger is one can never say for certain if this Republican Governor will actually act like a Republican. If the Democratic Legislature passes some abominable left-wing bill, Republicans cannot say to themselves, "Well, at least we can depend on Schwarzenegger to veto that bill because as a Republican he stands for X,Y and Z."

That is the awful truth that continues to emerge: Republicans cannot rely on Governor Schwarzenegger to be govern according to a coherent set of political principles, let alone a coherent set of Republican principles. No matter how anti-liberty a policy might be, one can no longer believe with any confidence that this supposedly small "L" libertarian will oppose it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 31st, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.