Don't count Schwarzenegger out yet

[bluestateguy]

I'm watching with cautious optimism all these polls that show his approval numbers dropping into the 30's.

That's good, but this is all too familiar to me as I remember the Pete Wilson years. Wilson was a nattering, nasal-voiced demagogue. A man who professed his support for the virtue of the free-market, yet was a career politician. I was in high school during the first Wilson term. I remember with much anger the yearly cuts to the public school budgets, enlarging class sizes, eliminating counselors and staffers from our high schools. It was awful, and that was at a good school in an affluent neighborhood.

It was the early 90's in California: recession, the LA riots, rising crime, the drought. People were frustrated and angry, and seemed ready to take it out on Wilson, whose approval rating dropped into the 20's.

Then in 1994 the Democrats decided to nominate a complete nincompoop as their gubernatorial candidate: Kathleen Brown. She is Jerry Brown's sister, and was the state Treasurer, but not ready for prime time against the meanness of Pete Wilson. Then began the demagoguery, the immigrant bashing (prop 187), the hysterical anti-crime campaign (never mind that crime went up during his tenure and Gov. Duekmejan's before him). And of course he won 55%-41% in 1994, my first general election as a registered voter.

I'm just saying don't count out Schwarzenegger yet. California's electorate is known for being very volatile and fickle. The size of the state makes it such that clever TV ads have a lot more power to sway public opinion than they would in smaller states.

Just a warning. I don't want any Pete Wilson deja vu.

[democracyindanger]

1. Um, that would be "Jerry Brown's sister."

You're right, though. We need to keep the pedal to the metal.

[Jack Rabbit]

2. I think that's a good reminder

IIRC, Pete Wilson's ratings were lower than Arnold's are now when he was running for re-election, and he won.

[mike_c]

3. yep-- the key will be who runs against the goobernator...

...and whether Schwarzenegger has repub mainline party support by then. I think there's a good chance that the republicans will be ready to chalk Schwarzenegger up as an experiment that failed and will quitely urge him to reconnect with his film career rather than stand for governor again. A lot of career repub pols would like a shot at his seat. THAT will depend upon what happens with his special election in November. Taking the redistricting measure off the referendum will knock a lot of wind out of his sails-- that was an issue likely to get voters on both sides to the polls, but especially republicans, since they stood to gain by its passage.

[robertarctor]

4. Never count out a guy with big money behind him ...

... especially in a state where it takes a serious bankroll to mount the kind of saturation-media blitzkrieg that wins last-minute elections.

On the plus side, don't count out the nurses, teachers, public employees and everyone else this assclown has pissed off. At least people are paying attention.

[ailsagirl]

5. If we could count on fair elections, I'd say he's history.

But since I believe our election system has been corrupted--
perhaps irrevocably-- I am not holding my breath.

But I would be absolutely delighted to be proven wrong!!
:)

[yurbud]

9. we should demand paper ballots hand counted

they keep trying to sneak the Diebold equipment in the back door here when they should be throwing it in the ocean.



Hillbilly Hitler art:



Blog:

[ailsagirl]

11. Yes, we should. I cannot believe Diebold, et al, are still around!!

I don't know how they were sneaked in in the first place!!
And, like bushco, they've been impossible to dislodge.

And things have gone to hell ever since.

[yurbud]

12. it's all business... these fucking Chamber of Commerce types

if you grease their palm, they forget about everything else.

I was shocked when they didn't leave the sec of state position open, or back up Shelley for that matter, but I suspect the business powers that be let their preference be known and the rest of us were ignored.

Hillbilly Hitler art:



Blog:

[ailsagirl]

13. I was shocked when I heard (now I forget when exactly) that the

Diebold engineers (or owners) refused to allow independent
software analysts to examine the software.

That should have raised a huge, red (no pun intended) flag.

Why did we cave ??? What a price we paid!!

:(

[CountAllVotes]

6. Nincompoop ... wtf!

<< Then in 1994 the Democrats decided to nominate a complete nincompoop as their gubernatorial candidate: Kathleen Brown. >>

UMMMM .... I never thought of Kathleen Brown to be a "complete nincompoop" ... she is a very intelligent WOMAN which is probably the MAIN REASON she did not win! :grr:

You want to know what a real nincompoop is just look at the Gropenfuhrer!

:kick:

[bluestateguy]

7. She didn't win because she ran a shit campaign

She's an intelligent person. I voted for her, but she was simply unable to play hardball with the meanness of Pete Wilson.

I don't see her gender as having anything to do with it. Barbara Boxer won with 58% of the vote last year. In the past California has proven itself to be a very hospitable place for female candidates like Feinstein, Boxer and March Fong Eu.

[CountAllVotes]

10. yeah but ......

We've never had a WOMAN as the governor of California. Probably never will.

As for Feinstein :puke: and Boxer (?) I do not believe they compare to the likes of Kathleen Brown on any level.

I like her and I voted for her and so did every Democrat in my family. We've all been staunch supporters of the Brown family since day #1. She might have been a great governor. We'll never know being she never had the chance.

She was an honest treasurer - that is a quality we never see nowadays - honest anything it seems to me.

Oh well ...

Peace, CountAllVotes

[xxqqqzme]

14. we have a good treasurer NOW

Phil Angelides and he is running for governor!

[yurbud]

8. I remember that campaign, and she was following the Dem playbook

of don't say anything that would offend anyone anywhere, and did some serious talking down to people.

If the Democrats are going to win, they need to do their best Howard Dean impression and stop being Mr. Rogers.

This is our real achilles heel both here and nationally. Don't be polite, and don't make excuses for the bad behavior of the GOP.

They are trying to destroy the middle class here to benefit a very, very few. If you can't afford to send your kid to one of the elite private K-12 schools, and a private college, you will be screwed by the GOP. If you can't afford to buy your own health insurance if your employer decides not to provide it, you will be screwed by the GOP. If you want to have clean air, clean water, and clean government, you will be screwed by the GOP and left bleeding in a ditch on the side of the road.

Their utopia of low taxes, deregulation, weak or no unions, and privatization looks a hell of a lot like Mississippi or the Third World, and that's the way they want it.