Here and There

It’s something I’ve found myself saying a lot lately, and a no-brainer of sorts: since his astounding referendum defeat last November, Arnold Schwarzenegger has become the reddest leftie in the hippy-dippy state of California.

Okay, not really, but…

It didn’t take Schwarzenegger long to abandon Bush’s base, the same group largely responsible for sweeping him into office two years ago.. On November 9, 2005, the day after last year’s special election in California, the governor (that still hurts to write) was quoted as saying, “I also recognize that we also need more bipartisan cooperation…and I promise that I will deliver that. The people of California are sick and tired of all the fighting and they are sick and tired of all those negative TV ads. We are going to go and find common ground…I have learned my lesson.”

Of course, such conciliatory talk was to be expected.

In addition to rhetoric, Arnold put his money where his mouth was and hired former Gray Davis aide Susan Kennedy as his new chief of staff. Then he hired GOP hack Steve Schmidt to join Kennedy on his staff. Can’t be too obvious. Gotta be bipartisan.

Kennedy and Schmidt, party-loyalties aside, are united in the common purpose of reelecting their boss this year. The outraged (they’re always outraged!) state GOP threatened to take Schwarzenegger’s shoo-in nomination away unless he dumped Kennedy.

More signs of Arnold’s softening core:

* In January, he froze tuition at all the schools in the UC and CSU systems.

* Schwarzenegger’s 2006 budget boosted school spending (a $4.3 billion hike in funding for K-12 schools and community colleges) as well as after-school programs.

* The budget also increased spending on flood protection for the Sacramento River Delta region, in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

* He joined several governor’s nationwide in asking the federal government to reimburse the state he presides over (shudder) for its medicare bailout this year.

Of course, it’s not so black and white. He denied clemency for Stanley Williams. A few weeks later, ge denied clemency for the nation’s oldest death row inmate, Clarence Ray Allen.

The point is, nothing in politics is clear cut. but simple gestures and slogans speak volumes. In these days of Republican scandals-of-week, it behooves a sitting GOP governor to reach across party lines. I just have to wonder: where was that conciliation six months ago? It could’ve saved over $100 million.

It makes sense for a Republican to shift left in a state where roughly two-thirds of voters are registered Democrats. He’s simply fighting for his political life.

But it just goes to show that modern politicians, with few exceptions, are full of shit. What ever happened to standing on principle?
As a voter, I look to each candidate’s positions on a number of topics, and if the shoe fits, I wear it, so to speak. I don’t expect a bull-headed stubborn jerk who won’t bend and change with the times. There’s something to be said for compromise.

But the special election sent a clear message: We (the people of California) don’t like what you’re doing. We don’t necessarily want you to change, we want the government to change. That means you have to leave.

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