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Can Arnold chart a middle course?
Ryan Williams
The United States
witnessed a truly striking political event last Tuesday night.
I am not referring to the fact that California recalled the
first governor in its history, but rather to the peculiar sight
of so many Kennedys (or Shrivers-just a hybrid of the original)
at a victory party for a Republican governor. Mr. and Mrs. Shriver
were no doubt very proud of their daughter's continuing success,
but I couldn't help but notice the rather surrealistic look
in Mrs. Shriver's eyes as her foreign-born, Hollywood Republican
son-in-law guided her up and down his gubernatorial victory
stage.
The Golden State's experiment
in direct democracy has finally come to a close, and in a much
more dignified manner than the circus-like proceedings of the
last few months (half-pint has-beens and porn stars come to
mind).
It still remains to be seen whether
this whole experience will bode well or ill for California's
long-term political health. Nevertheless, for those of us who
are skeptical of any political phenomenon that has its origins
in progressive-era populism, there are a few signs of hope scattered
amid the general despair.
One such sign for former Californians
such as myself is that Gray Davis, a man who slowly taxed, spent
and regulated our state into fiscal oblivion, finally had to
vacate his privileged place of residence in Sacramento. And,
to his credit, he conceded his post as governor rather graciously,
something the more feverish Democratic partisans will perhaps
take to heart. The only spectacle that would eclipse the original
recall would be a liberal counter-coup in the next few months.
The question on everyone's mind
though, is whether Arnold Schwarzenegger possesses the vision
and political skill necessary to pull California out of its
astronomical budget deficit. His talk of being the "people's
governor" and his claim that he wants to "represent
everybody" could either be meaningless rhetoric or the
realization of hidden statesmanship. There
is some hope in California's new Austrian governor, but for
many it is a hesitant hope.
Arnold's policy recommendations
are a mix of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism, which
may be just the prescription for a cure in the peculiar political
climate of California. His assertion that he wants to once again
make California a business-friendly state-presumably one with
lower taxes, less regulations, and slashed social spending-should
be positive news for a state that was once the economic vanguard
of the country.
At the same time, his commitment
to gun control and education spending reeks of left-coast politics
as usual. Not to mention the fact that he will be facing a legislature
still entrenched in the mentality of the old regime-one that
routinely sacrificed long-term stability for short-term expediency.
It may be the case that California's long-term health hinges
on the success or failure of its new governor. The confluence
of events that led to the recall provided an opportunity for
Californians to reassess the wisdom of tax-and-spend welfarism,
but such an opportunity is very rare on the West Coast and Arnold
will have to pull off a political miracle if he is to take full
advantage of it.
The resuscitation of an ailing
California will not be easy. The true test of Schwarzenegger's
political meddle will lie in his ability to chart a middle course:
one between a legislature that has never met a new tax or spending
program it didn't like, and a populace that seems to be crying
for some kind of transformation, but has yet to fully contemplate
the needed abandonment of hand-to-mouth social democracy.
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