Abstract

California on the Edge

The author comments on the recall of California governor Gray Davis and his replacement with Republican candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger. Conservative commentators were spinning like crazy to make the election of the socially liberal Schwarzenegger a win for their brand of Republicanism. But this was no traditional Democrat-versus-Republican right. Most California voters told exit pollsters they think Schwarzenegger did not fully address the issues, but they figured he was an outsider and a moderate and they were mad enough about the economy to roll the dice on a self-proclaimed reformer. Schwarzenegger's election was not the product of direct democracy, driven by grassroots organizing and a real program for reform. It was frothy, shallow, media-driven and featured politics as entertainment. Schwarzenegger's campaign was slathered with special-interest contributions. Schwarzenegger is about to learn that it is mathematically impossible to balance the budget while keeping his promises to hold the line on taxes and maintain education funding. And the charges of sexual misconduct that surfaced at the end of the campaign could yet exact a toll. So there are no guarantees that Schwarzenegger will be more help to Bush in 2004 than the Republican governors of New York, Massachusetts and Illinois were in 2000, when Bush lost those states.