California Conservative

AP reports: “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger began 2005 convinced California was in need of major changes and believing he had the clout to sell his “year of reform” to voters.

He starts the new year in a far different position. Much of his political capital is gone, spent in the ill-fated special election, he will face a well-funded Democratic opponent in his re-election bid next year, and he even caused upheaval within his own party when he appointed a Democratic activist as his chief of staff.”

Let’s put it another way: Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected via the recall of Gov. Gray Davis, which directly resulted as the consequence of his incompetent leadership and mismanagement of the state’s economy. As Trump would say, he was fired.

Believing the recall election represented a mandate for reform, Gov. Schwarzenegger campaigned earnestly, as he promised, to present California voters with serious initiatives to change the status quo of state politics. Taking on the deeply-entrenched, powerful unions was required, and he did it. Unfortunately, in the end, special interests won-over the confused and the apathetic, leaving the governor standing at the alter.

How Schwarzenegger will walk the tightrope between the Democratic majority and Republicans who question his leadership will play out as one of the more intriguing political story lines of 2006.

“It will take a lot to overcome the misstatements and bad judgment and the obvious defeat in the special election,” says Joel Aberbach, a political scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “But when you are governor, you do have certain political opportunities. A lot will depend on how he uses those opportunities.”

Sometimes people get the leader they deserve. California voters missed some significant opportunities to reform the system. We don’t expect Schwarzenegger to try as hard this time around.

What will shake California voters out of complacency?

We fear it’ll be something very costly, one way or another.

RELATED:
Gov. Schwarzenegger: “I Take Full Responsibility”
CA Special Election: Sad Results, Indeed
“Judgment Day”: Coverage of California’s Special Election
So, Why Did California Vote For A Recall?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 28th, 2005 at 2:44 pm and is filed under Arnold, California, Elections, Sacramento. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.