One thing always comes true over time: There is an end to everything! And so it is, with former California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, his ‘reign’ has ended. But he belongs to the club of those people who in terms of popularity started at the top and ended up at the bottom. When he first appeared on the political landscape in 2003 running for Governor in California, his image from his previous action hero movies was so strong that he was called the ‘governator’. He promised major changes in California politics. A year later, he became the hero at the Republican convention when he referred to the Democrats as ‘girlie men’, the conservatives loved him and there was even talk of changing the U.S. Constitution so that Schwarzenegger (who was born in Austria) could be eligible to run for President of the United States of America.
In 2005, Schwarzenegger placed four propositions on the November election ballot that would have brought about the fundamental changes he had promised had they been approved by the voters in his state. But all four propositions lost by substantial margins and so, he was soundly rebuffed. Recognizing his obvious control over politics in California, he jumped his previous conservative stance and joined the Democrats in their desires. In other words: He transformed into a ‘girlie man’. He became a fighter against the catastrophic consequences of global warming. He also joined the fight for universal health care in California. That resulted in him getting re-elected in 2006 for now he had a greater appeal to Independents and even Democrats.
The years during his second term in office were dominated by budgetary issues in that the State was now running major deficits and could not balance their annual budgets as is constitutionally required in California. Now his self-acclaimed achievements got smaller and smaller and it was reflected in his popularity numbers in the polls, they dropped down to the thirties and eventually ended up at 22 percent, a dismal number for any politician, especially one who had been so popular at the beginning. His conservative base just gave up on him and walked away in disappointment. And it is in fact very sad to see as he now goes on public venues and touts his ‘historic’ achievements, that’s pitiful.
In November 2010, California voters elected his successor Jerry Brown who is getting a third chance at the governorship since he was elected twice to that office in 1974 and 1978. We can easily see what he will do in office: He will do as any solid Democrat has done before: He will blame everything bad on his predecessor. Brown will borrow President Obama’s favorite line: “I inherited a mess!” He has promised not to raise taxes with the minor exception clause: “Unless when it is absolutely necessary.” Guess what, folks, it will not take him two months to come back with that excuse and raise taxes (and fees) on Californians.
But back to Schwarzenegger: One of the last acts during his term in office was the pardon of a few criminals whose sentences he reduced (can you spell ‘cronyism’?) and also the appointment of friends and friends of friends to well-paying Commission assignments. If nothing else, this leaves a very bitter taste in the mouths of a lot of people who believed in him and his conservative virtuous character and voted for him if not twice, at least once. He will go down in history as just another flip-flopping politician whose only distinction to his predecessors was his ’Austrian accent’.
So long, Arnold and whatever you do, do no harm to the American and Californian people, stay out of politics! Enjoy the rest of your life in obscurity, try not to make headlines and offer your personal opinions only into the privacy of your family and the few who still like you.