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Governator Crushed, Just Like in Movies

November 9th, 2005

Arnie hasn’t been faring too well in the past few weeks, taking shots and sinking in the polls, just like his Terminator character got shot up, leaving metal holes behind, before sinking into a pit of molten steel. But this time Arnie wasn’t doing a thumbs-up as he sunk into the molten pit. It was more like the end of the first film, where he got crushed in a metal press, the two giant metal plates in this election being Democrats and Moderates.

Every last one of his measures failed. It was close on one or two–with 87% of precincts reporting, propositions 73 and 75 have about a 48% “yes” vote, and Prop 75 (union dues used for political contributions) was actually in the “yes” category until more than 50% of precincts reported in. Prop 73 would have required a minor to wait 48 hours and inform her parents before getting an abortion.

The next closest was Prop 74, which would have more than doubled the amount of time a teacher in a public school would have to wait for tenure. Good thing it was shot down–it’s not like we’re paying teachers enough or giving them good enough benefits as it is. It’d be just what we needed, to give people another reason to not want to be a teacher. Prop 74 current trails, 54% “no,” 46% “yes.”

Redistricting failed, now at 59% “no” to 41% “yes.” Bad news is, it also failed in Ohio–too bad, it would have served the GOP right. But Arnie’s new budget bill failed worst–61% to 39%, the nays winning.

This is all after spending between $52 million and $80 million to hold this special election, which turned out to be an enormous waste of time, money and resources.

In other election news, Democrats took over the Governors’ offices in New Jersey and Virginia.

And in Pennsylvania, where an all-Republican school board attempted to shove Creationism into Science classes via “Intelligent Design” (that where the big court case has been), Democrats won the day. There are eight seats on the board, and in this election, all eight Republicans were defeated by eight Democrats. The fundies probably got in power before because most people don’t pay attention to school boards, but now that the spotlight is on, Dover kicked their fundie butts right out of office. I’m guessing that the court case, finished except for the verdict, will get that verdict and then go no further. At most.

If this is any indication of a trend, the Democrats have a very strong chance to make significant gains next year.

Update: with 100% of precincts reporting, not one measure got more than 47.4% of the vote, that being Prop 73 (Minor’s Pregnancy). Prop 74 (Teacher Tenure) got only 44.9%, Prop 75 (Public Union Dues) got 46.5%, Arnie’s Spending Prop 76 got a measly 37.9%, and his redistricting plan lost by a whopping 19%, only 40.5% saying “yes” to 59.5% saying “no.”

By the way, remember how Arnie was supposed to be a moderate? So why were three of his four propositions (teacher tenure, public union dues, and redistricting) aimed squarely at disempowering Democrats, attempting to cut them off at the knees? This is what I was talking about nearly two years ago–Schwarzenegger would bring with him Republican party power players who would work the state through the governor’s office (my words were, “the Bushite power players will be doing the real work outside the spotlight”). And sure enough, Props 74, 75 and 77 could have been worded by Tom DeLay himself. Were these propositions really Schwarzenegger’s babies? Is he that engrossed in slicing and dicing the Dems? Betcha not.

Fortunately, things didn’t work out the way the GOP hoped. Despite his cunning strategy of delivering one-liners and stale movie catch phrases, Arnie has sunk and become a failure, and the GOP wasn’t able to rework a celebrity recall coup d’état into solid right-wing control over the state of California. Next year: kick Arnie out and get serious again.

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  1. November 9th, 2005 at 23:06 | #1

    If this is any indication of a trend, the Democrats have a very strong chance to make significant gains next year.

    Let’s hope so. Still, I cannot help but feel anxious whenever I hear someone talk about how great the Democrats’ chances are in next year’s elections. The last several elections have shown me that Democrats have enormous potential to screw themselves at election time. :-(

  2. BGI
    November 10th, 2005 at 09:10 | #2

    Just to be fair, $7 million of it was his own money.

    Basically, Arnold IS a moderate. He’s just unduly influenced by the wrong Republican strategists. Maria needs to shake him good.

    But whatever he does from now on will probably be too little too late, especially if the Dems run a movie star of their own. I’m convinced Warren Beatty will run if coaxed, despite his protestations.

  3. Luis
    November 10th, 2005 at 09:34 | #3

    Sako: Don’t I know it. I get nervous just thinking that the Dems may do better next time.

    BGI: $7 mil? Oh Goodie, that just leaves $45 to $73 million for the taxpayers to pick up in completely wasted money for a political gambit by the GOP. Wheee!! That’s the equivalent of at least 45,000 California taxpayers having $1000 of thier state taxes each being flushed down the toilet so that Republicans could try to steal power from Democrats. I’m sure it was money well spent. Say, wasn’t one of those propositions about the budget or something?

  4. BGI
    November 10th, 2005 at 12:33 | #4

    Well, I was being facetious. Imagine how many seniors could’ve gotten prescription drug discounts, how many schools could’ve gotten new textbooks, how many starving kids could’ve been fed etc., for the money. The sad thing is if the money wasn’t spent on this asinine special election, it wouldn’t have been spent at all.

    Maybe we should change the tax laws to tax political contributions 100% instead of making them exempt. Then maybe we’ll get somewhere.

  5. November 10th, 2005 at 23:45 | #5

    I get nervous just thinking that the Dems may do better next time.

    Then let’s stop thinking about it! Wouldn’t want to jinx ’em on the eve of their big chance. 😉

    But whatever [Schwarzenegger] does from now on will probably be too little too late, especially if the Dems run a movie star of their own. I’m convinced Warren Beatty will run if coaxed…

    I must have missed the proposition that requires all future gubernatorial candidates to be former movie stars. California must be in worse shape than I thought! 😉

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