Ahhhnold

[houseelf]

...apparently is the governor elect for California. Hey, as a former constituent of Jessie Ventura, I can cast no stones here. But I'm certainly interested in what you all think.

Kelly

[migirl]

I find it very interesting that he was elected despite the fact that he was never very clear about what he is going to do once he takes office. He seemed to have a lot of vague sound bites about "tackling the budget" and "improving education" (and - of course - many one-liners about "terminating Gray Davis" ) but no plans or ideas of any substance. I found the whole thing amusing more than anything else, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see what he can actually do.

[mommax3]

I don't understand how California could have re-elected (not like the guy was an unknown quantity!) Gray Davis just last year and now he is apparently so bad that an actor with a largely unarticulated agenda is viewed as a better choice. Maybe someone can fill me in.....

I guess he must have been REALLY bad.

Sally

[SuzySunshine]

For those of us that live here it has been an interesting few months! More people voted yesterday (by a lot) than had voted in the regular election where Davis was elected a few years ago. I think a lot of people were just tired of job losses, raising taxes, and I think the energy crisis was the biggest issue. The election alone is going to be an interesting part of political history, it will be even more interesting to see what the next few years bring. Like I told my husband last night, just another reason for him to get his residency elsewhere!

[Rapunzel]

All I can think is that Gray Davis must've been pretty awful to have an action-hero movie star who was very vague about his stand on various issues during his campaign elected to the highest office in the state!

I don't think I would've voted for the Terminator simply because he didn't tell the public his plans for the way things "should" be run. Perhaps Schwartzenegger will be an outstanding governor but at this stage my opinion is that Californians are so blinded by box-office status that they'll vote for anyone with an H-1 and a billion-dollar smile.

Jennifer

[SuzySunshine]

my opinion is that Californians are so blinded by box-office status that they'll vote for anyone with an H-1 and a billion-dollar smile.

I have to disagree with that statement. I think the Californians were tired of Davis and felt if they didn't vote for Arnold their vote wouldn't count or they'd get stuck with "little Davis" in Bustamante. McClintock, the qualified Republican, didn't really have a chance and so I think most people felt Arnold was the only choice. We'll see how it goes!

I agree with you, Cheri. I live in California, too, and we didn't really have a great selection of candidates to choose from, so for a lot of people, Arnold was the only choice. The next few years are sure to be interesting!

As for Davis, he was so unpopular with Californians because in a short time, our budget surplus of $10 billion dollars became a budget deficit of $38 billion (I think these are the right numbers, but forgive me if they are off). How could we have such a huge deficit? Californians pay some of the highest taxes in the nation. And our car registration fees are outrageous! I think there was just no accountability with Davis and there needs to be a lot of changes with how things are run in California.

My husband and I have been going back & forth about where we will live when his residency ends in June. Let's just say that with the news of Arnold being elected, we are leaning towards moving out of CA even more than ever! Anyways, I need to make dinner so that's my 2 cents for now.

I watched the whole California election with a lot of interest. It is obvious that people (I think everywhere, not just California) are tired of politicians and the status quo. I can see why Arnold got elected. It will be interesting to see what he does and hopefully things will improve. I do think that part of the reason he did get elected though was because people "know" him from the movies. The media has a lot of power and we have been seeing him for years on the big screen and people have a tendency to vote for people they "know". Governor Davis must have been really bad. My aunt, the die-hard democrat in LA voted to have him ousted too.

I was born in California and I have a lot of family members still there. I hope it turns around. It used to be such a great place to live.

Robin