Join Arnold?
Those outside the Golden State may know little about the recall in progress, other than it is in progress and the current leader in the polls is none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger. They might conclude from this that we have all gone insane. Sometimes I wonder, but I thought I'd take a moment to explain the reasoning. Pardon me if this starts sounding a little political; I'm just explaining the rough thoughts of, as of now, about 45% of the state population.
First, the competition. Tom McClintock (Republican) is too far to the right. Peter Camejo (Green) is too far to the left. Cruz Bustamante (Democrat and current Lieutenant Governor) is too associated with the old regime and is little more than the backup plan for those who are sticking by Governor Davis (plus he's lost my personal respect after he refused to return campaign money gained illegally, on the grounds that he'd already spent it all). Arianna Huffington (Independent) dropped out but, even before then, spent too much time complaining about the problems in Washington and too little time addressing how she planned to solve all that from Sacramento. And no one else on the docket has a chance of getting a single percentile of the vote.
But before you think it's just become the lesser of five evils, consider the following. Arnold does have political experience. He was the chair of Physical Fitness and Sports (part of the Department of Health and Human Services) during Bush Sr.'s administration. He's been in charge of California's state-sponsored after-school program for over a year. He visited my own campus to campaign against education budget cuts last October.
A few days ago, the LA Times went public with reports that Arnold had sexually harassed women on the sets of various movies. Arnold could have simply stalled with his response through the election. He could have denied the accusations entirely, or messed around with the definition of "is". Instead, before the day was out, he made a public apology and admitted he was wrong in his actions. That takes courage and integrity, and California seems to consider that more important than past behavior (especially behavior that *cough* other politicians have already set the bar for); Arnold's ratings have risen since his confession.
The election is this Tuesday, and unless something drastic happens between then and now, don't be surprised to see Governor Schwarzenegger take office. And he just might not be all that bad a choice.
First, the competition. Tom McClintock (Republican) is too far to the right. Peter Camejo (Green) is too far to the left. Cruz Bustamante (Democrat and current Lieutenant Governor) is too associated with the old regime and is little more than the backup plan for those who are sticking by Governor Davis (plus he's lost my personal respect after he refused to return campaign money gained illegally, on the grounds that he'd already spent it all). Arianna Huffington (Independent) dropped out but, even before then, spent too much time complaining about the problems in Washington and too little time addressing how she planned to solve all that from Sacramento. And no one else on the docket has a chance of getting a single percentile of the vote.
But before you think it's just become the lesser of five evils, consider the following. Arnold does have political experience. He was the chair of Physical Fitness and Sports (part of the Department of Health and Human Services) during Bush Sr.'s administration. He's been in charge of California's state-sponsored after-school program for over a year. He visited my own campus to campaign against education budget cuts last October.
A few days ago, the LA Times went public with reports that Arnold had sexually harassed women on the sets of various movies. Arnold could have simply stalled with his response through the election. He could have denied the accusations entirely, or messed around with the definition of "is". Instead, before the day was out, he made a public apology and admitted he was wrong in his actions. That takes courage and integrity, and California seems to consider that more important than past behavior (especially behavior that *cough* other politicians have already set the bar for); Arnold's ratings have risen since his confession.
The election is this Tuesday, and unless something drastic happens between then and now, don't be surprised to see Governor Schwarzenegger take office. And he just might not be all that bad a choice.