Schwarzenegger Wins - *Spoilers*

Miakal

[quote:post_uid0="DMW"][quote:post_uid0]He looked stranded without a clue at the debate. [/quote:post_uid0]

That's your opinion which is all well and good, but it wasn't shared by many people, particularly here in California. For someone that isn't a seasoned debater, as all those other folks were, I felt he held his own pretty well. I wasn't expecting much out of him at the debates, and he exceeded my expectations. He was clear with where he stood on issues (admittadly getting the questions in advance helped that) and he was much more proffesional than Huffington and Bustamante. If you really thought he looked stranded without a clue, then to me it says you hated him as a politician from the get go and were never going to give him a chance.[/quote:post_uid0]
Well, Arnold did a lot of interrupting especially when Bustamante decided to speak (I could see with Huffington where it was needed). And he didn't seem capable of even answering the pre-selected questions and instead just kicked out political banter.

As for the Jesse Ventura comparison you are quite wrong. Jesse Ventura was a very successful mayor of a large city in Minnesota, had been involved in politics most of his life, and was in the race for governor for more than a few weeks (plus he had real debates, which is why he won).

As for not giving Arnold a chance as govenor I'm not sure that is true. I'm more than willing to give him a chance. I just thought his winning came off as a bit of a joke, but again that's just my opinion.

Drunksader

The entire state of California is a joke. This shouldn't surprise anyone.

Davis just didn't have what it took, and from what I've been reading he was pretty corrupt too. Arnie will be surrounded by advisors who will use him as a figurehead to pursue a decidedly republican agenda. You don't have to worry about Arnie, you just have to worry about hippies getting all sorts of mad that another conservative is in office.

DMW

[quote:post_uid0]As for the Jesse Ventura comparison you are quite wrong. Jesse Ventura was a very successful mayor of a large city in Minnesota, had been involved in politics most of his life, and was in the race for governor for more than a few weeks (plus he had real debates, which is why he won).[/quote:post_uid0]

First of all, how can I be wrong? I didn't say anything about him. A professional wrestler was elected to be governor, and my point is that that looks like a bigger joke on the surface than electing an actor.

Arnold has been involved in politics for over twenty years, but it's something that people who want to make a joke of this election choose to ignore. He's been closely involved with the Republican party and has started all kinds of outreach programs. His business experience (which is very important for any leader of California) is extensive. Anybody that can turn $20 into $800 million knows what it takes to have a successful business environment.

[quote:post_uid0]The entire state of California is a joke. This shouldn't surprise anyone.[/quote:post_uid0]

Over the past month or two I've heard a lot of these kind of backhanded comments about California; can we just get rid them? When are they just going to fall off the edge of America? etc. If find it funny because people don't seem to realize just how important California is to this country. An independant California (which is a dream of mine) would make America a shell of it's current superpower status. California is the only state in the Union that could be a powerful country on it's own. We would be the fifth largest economy in the world, we have very large business, technology, military and agriculutural sectors which is something no other state could really claim. And just think of how much more money California would have if all the money generated in Hollywood got to stay in California instead going to federal tax. So in summary, we rule and you can make all the jokes that you want but you must realize that we are the most powerful and important state by far.

Miakal

[quote:post_uid0="DMW"][quote:post_uid0]As for the Jesse Ventura comparison you are quite wrong. Jesse Ventura was a very successful mayor of a large city in Minnesota, had been involved in politics most of his life, and was in the race for governor for more than a few weeks (plus he had real debates, which is why he won).[/quote:post_uid0]

First of all, how can I be wrong? I didn't say anything about him. A professional wrestler was elected to be governor, and my point is that that looks like a bigger joke on the surface than electing an actor.

Arnold has been involved in politics for over twenty years, but it's something that people who want to make a joke of this election choose to ignore. He's been closely involved with the Republican party and has started all kinds of outreach programs. His business experience (which is very important for any leader of California) is extensive. Anybody that can turn $20 into $800 million knows what it takes to have a successful business environment.[/quote:post_uid0]
It may appear to be a bigger joke, but as you pointed out before, it's best to understand the full story before making conclusions about a person. And my point is, at least Jesse was actually a politician ("involved" and actually was one) and was capable of defending his ideas clearly and thoroughly. Jesse wasn't elected because he was a pro-wrestler, he was elected for his ideas, and I'm not so sure I can say the same thing about Arnold and why he was selected. He appears to be selected out of mania and desperation over anything else.

As for California being a joke, that's Drunksader's fault.

DMW

There's no doubt Arnold must have brought some new voters out of the wood work to vote for the Terminator, but I think there was a lot more to it than that. Over the last 30 or 40 years, California has flipped back and forth between Democrat and Republican at almost every change of governor, so that already tells you that California is likely to be looking for a Republican replacement, on top of the fact that Democrats have failed us for the past five years. That being said, a socially conservative politician (McKlintok) is going to have a hell of a time trying to get into office in California in this day and age. Arnold just happened to fall perfectly into the part of the political spectrum where Californians were looking. In Arnold, we have someone that is fiscally opposite (theorectically speaking) to Davis, but socially in line with the majority of the population.