Is California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger onto something?
When he was first elected Governor in the recall election, displacing the (rightly) much-maligned Gray Davis in a historic recall election, there were high hopes that “Ahnold” was going to be a different KIND of California governor: one who would chart a truly independent path and not be or act like the kind of partisan politicians who many Californians of both parties (and no party) had concluded had proven ineffective.
But Arnold’s first year was nearly a disaster. He appeared at the Republican convention and cast himself as conservative. And he seemingly veered away from the independent thinker that ran in the recall campaign and morphed into one more Republican talking points politico. Then, in 2005, he paid dearly for his transformation into a cookie-cutter Republican at the polls when most of his special election proposals crashed and burned in a humiliating defeat that was a virtual repudiation, given how far down he was in the polls. So over the past year he re-reinvented and recentered himself, began to seriously work with and seriously woo Democratic legislators. They achieved some legislative victories. And he won re-election in November with a big, fat margin.
Now, once again, it seems he has learned by listening to what Californians seemingly want: his inaugration was marked by a virtual declaration of centrism and bipartisanship that will be welcome news to many independents and centrists, and probably be anathema to Sean, Rush and perhaps Randi and Al as well:
With a pair of crutches close at hand, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in for his second term, vowing to lead California into an era of “new centrism� that reaches beyond political party and ideology to solve problems.“The question is not, what are the needs of Republicans or Democrats?� he said. “The real question is, what are the needs of the people?
“We don’t need Republican roads or Democratic roads. We need roads. We don’t need Republican health care or Democratic health care. We need health care. We don’t need Republican clean air or Democratic clean air. We all breathe the same air. When California’s leaders have worked together, we have accomplished good things.â€?
May this independent voter dare use the word?
“Ditto.”
Schwarzenegger’s speech also was notable for pointedly noting that he believes the wave of the future isn’t the Republican partisans or even the Democratic partisans now on the ascent nationally:
In his speech, Schwarzenegger said the growing number of independent voters, now nearly 20 percent of the California electorate, represent the wave of the future.“If the current trend continues, they will outnumber both of the major parties 20 years from now,â€? he said. “They like some Republican ideas. They like some Democratic ideas. They think some Republican ideas are too far right. They think some Democratic ideas are too far left. And they rightly know that if you stick to just one party’s proposals, you will miss half the good ideas.â€?
There’s also this quote:
On Friday, he said that defeat had transformed his political approach into a more centrist, consensual philosophy that he believed was needed throughout the US. “Like Paul on the road to Damascus, I had an experience that opened my eyes,â€? Schwarzenegger said. “I saw that people, not just in California but across the nation, were hungry for a new kind of politics, a politics that looks beyond the old labels, the old ways, the old arguments.”
Can he perhaps recommend his ophthalmologist to the White House? AND:
“Post-partisanship is not simply Republicans and Democrats each bringing their proposals to the table and working out differences,” Schwarzenegger said. “Post-partisanship is Republicans and Democrats actively giving birth to new ideas together. I believe that it would promote a new centrism and a new trust in our political system. And I believe that we have a window to do it right now.”
The Los Angeles Times noted that Schwarzenegger is terminating his early experiment to be even partially-associated with the polarizing tactics of the national Republican Party:
Parting ways with national Republican Party leaders, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proudly proclaimed himself a centrist as he was sworn in for a second term Friday, holding that partisanship in California is in decline and promising to usher in a “post-partisan” approach to the state’s problems……..The address was written by a former Ronald Reagan speechwriter, Landon Parvin. But there appeared to be more Kennedy touches than Reaganisms.
Expect some talk-radio hosts to start blasting the influence of his Kennedy-family wife, Maria Shriver. MORE:
Symbolizing his refusal to be typecast as a Republican, Schwarzenegger chose as his master of ceremonies former Democratic Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, a figure who has been despised by Republicans.Brown kept things light, getting a laugh when he introduced California’s first lady as “foxy and sexy.”
Still comparatively new to elective politics, Schwarzenegger said the governorship has forced him to rethink his political identity.
What seems to be happening is that Schwarzenegger is now reflecting the Kennedy-esque influence of his wife and also appearing in public as with the kinds of attitude he was long reported to embrace before he entered into politics. He was considered to be a kind of bipartisan, moderate Republican.
He also appears to be returning to the kind of sunny Reaganesque optimism for which he was praised during his first early weeks in office — before he made the ill fated veer to the polarizing right. And his willingness to now work with Democrats is reminiscent of another big state Republican governor who reaped big state poll and election victories: George W. Bush when he was Governor of Texas.
Is all this just California? Or, if you add reports that there will be at least an effort in Congress for each side to talk to the other rather than politically try to slash each other’s throats, does Schwarzenegger reflect an up and coming trend?
For years they’ve said two things about California:
(1) If you turn the country on its side and shake it, all of the nuts fall in California.
(2) National trends often begin in California.
Which is it here?
Schwarzenegger still can’t run for President due to his foreign birthplace — but a run for Senate in the future could be in the offing. Still, for the moment, at least, Schwarzenegger (still called The Gropinator by his critics) seems to have discarded the politics of division and demonization. It will be hard from him to walk away from such a strong declaration of political centrism and bipartisanship in the future.
So now the question becomes: will he have the political muscle (and will) to keep the state’s political establishment on the same track?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.