Arnold: On the Verge of Being Terminated
No major state offices were up for grabs in yesterday's election, but California voters did send a message to the governator. All four of the propositions placed on the ballot by Arnold Schwartzenegger were defeated, and the proposition he endorsed (mandatory parental notification when a minor seeks an abortion) appeared to be losing by the time the newspapers went to press. Frankly, Arnold blew it big time in this election, and I don't think he'll have the time or the astuteness to recover in time for the gubinatorial election in 2006.
How did he lose so badly? An analysis by LA Times reporters has it pretty much right.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday met the limits of his celebrity: Even a campaign built around his action-star persona could not persuade voters to embrace his "year of reform" agenda.
Worse for Schwarzenegger, the special election he called to cement his power may have diminished it instead. All four measures he brought to the ballot — Propositions 74, 75, 76 and 77 — were rejected.
Schwarzenegger staged a campaign intended to capitalize on his once-robust box-office appeal. He largely shunned unscripted encounters with voters and face-to-face debates with political opponents, sticking instead to friendly exchanges in venues packed with admiring supporters.
...Schwarzenegger cast the debate in stark terms. He was a bold force for progress; the teachers, firefighters and nurses arrayed against him were selfish "special interests" defending a sclerotic political culture.
He employed a vocabulary straight from Hollywood. He referred to the election as "Judgment Day" — the name of one of his "Terminator" movies. He cast Tuesday's vote as the "sequel" to the 2003 recall. He constantly reminded voters they had once paid money to see him in the theaters — even when that allusion was a reach. He ended his rallies with his cinematic signature: "I'll be back." [Emphasis added]
Overall, Arnold made two mistakes, and it is hard to tell which was the more serious miscalculation. First, he picked the wrong enemies to do battle with: nurses, teachers, fire fighters, and police officers. Besides being the sentimental favorites of all citizens, these groups also have some of the most powerful unions in the nation. When he characterized them as "corrupt special interests," a lot of spines got straightened.
Second, he depended on his popularity as a movie star to win people over to his side without ever explaining why his propositions were essential to the well-being of the state. The cult of personality just didn't play well in a state that knows how illusions are transformed into movies. When he borrowed a page from George Bush's playbook and spoke only to handpicked and friendly audiences, his opponents followed him to the door of the speaking hall and protested long and loudly outside, often garnering more press coverage than the speaker inside, simply because their message was more interesting than what Arnold had to say.
Schwartzenegger got elected as a moderate and thoughtful pragmatist. He didn't show any of those characteristics after the first several months of his tenure, and he certainly didn't show any of them during this campaign. Even GOP strategists are admitting he blew it badly.
Fortunately, enough Californians showed up at the polls yesterday to call Arnold on his bullshit.
How did he lose so badly? An analysis by LA Times reporters has it pretty much right.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday met the limits of his celebrity: Even a campaign built around his action-star persona could not persuade voters to embrace his "year of reform" agenda.
Worse for Schwarzenegger, the special election he called to cement his power may have diminished it instead. All four measures he brought to the ballot — Propositions 74, 75, 76 and 77 — were rejected.
Schwarzenegger staged a campaign intended to capitalize on his once-robust box-office appeal. He largely shunned unscripted encounters with voters and face-to-face debates with political opponents, sticking instead to friendly exchanges in venues packed with admiring supporters.
...Schwarzenegger cast the debate in stark terms. He was a bold force for progress; the teachers, firefighters and nurses arrayed against him were selfish "special interests" defending a sclerotic political culture.
He employed a vocabulary straight from Hollywood. He referred to the election as "Judgment Day" — the name of one of his "Terminator" movies. He cast Tuesday's vote as the "sequel" to the 2003 recall. He constantly reminded voters they had once paid money to see him in the theaters — even when that allusion was a reach. He ended his rallies with his cinematic signature: "I'll be back." [Emphasis added]
Overall, Arnold made two mistakes, and it is hard to tell which was the more serious miscalculation. First, he picked the wrong enemies to do battle with: nurses, teachers, fire fighters, and police officers. Besides being the sentimental favorites of all citizens, these groups also have some of the most powerful unions in the nation. When he characterized them as "corrupt special interests," a lot of spines got straightened.
Second, he depended on his popularity as a movie star to win people over to his side without ever explaining why his propositions were essential to the well-being of the state. The cult of personality just didn't play well in a state that knows how illusions are transformed into movies. When he borrowed a page from George Bush's playbook and spoke only to handpicked and friendly audiences, his opponents followed him to the door of the speaking hall and protested long and loudly outside, often garnering more press coverage than the speaker inside, simply because their message was more interesting than what Arnold had to say.
Schwartzenegger got elected as a moderate and thoughtful pragmatist. He didn't show any of those characteristics after the first several months of his tenure, and he certainly didn't show any of them during this campaign. Even GOP strategists are admitting he blew it badly.
Fortunately, enough Californians showed up at the polls yesterday to call Arnold on his bullshit.
posted by Diane at 4:40 AM
1 Comments:
Yeah, my wife and I showed up at a polling place that wasn't our usual and voted on a new fold-over ink stamp ballot.
But even those curveballs didn't stop VICTORY!
The margins were too large for them to even try to sneak in a Diebold steal it would seem!
Venice Beach
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