
Arnold in ’06
Should Arnold Schwarzenegger run for re-election as an Independent?
Schwarzenegger has always had an uneasy relationship with the Republican Party’s base. Susan Kennedy’s hiring has only intensified the tensions that have existed since he first announced plans for a ballot initiative to fund after school programs.
Schwarzenegger is a centrist. He’s conservative on economic issues and immigration issues, moderate on cultural and environmental matters. As I’ve written before, that ideological balance is what allowed him to attract the support of swing voters in the recall election. But it has also kept him from forming a stronger relationship with his own party.
Most successful politicians figure out away to balance the needs of their base with the demands of the political center. Bill Clinton did it by calling himself a “New Democrat”. George W. Bush accomplished the same goal by presenting himself as a “compassionate conservative”. Arnold didn’t come up with quite as catchy a turn of phrase for himself, but a governor who repeals the car tax and opposes drivers’ licenses for… Read More