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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (4840)	8/12/2003 5:42:43 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793689

Conclusions from Michael Barone's column in "US News" last week. What would a Schwarzenegger victory mean nationally? It would reshape the Republicans' image. Republicans have become a minority in California because of their conservative stands on cultural issues and because they have turned off Latinos. Schwarzenegger, who would be eligible to run again in 2006 and 2010, gives them a different image. And Schwarzenegger is an immigrant. "What gave me the opportunities, what made me be able to be here today, is the open arms of Americans," he told reporters. "And that's what I what everyone to be able to do." Schwarzenegger won't be able to deliver California's 55 electoral votes to George W. Bush; no California governor has a machine that can do that. But he can create an environment in which Bush could seriously contest the state. It would show the weakness of "third way" Democrats. For most of his time as governor, Gray Davis took moderate stands, vetoing many bills passed by the liberal Democratic legislature. This enabled him to win by a landslide in 1998 and to be re-elected in 2002 despite the electricity mess. But third-way governance left him without loyal political allies and without a strong base in public support. Third-way politics is like a chemical compound that is strong when it holds together but that is unstable and can rapidly decompose. It would not mean that voters nationally are itching to throw the bums out. California voters are unhappy with Sacramento politicians, but voters nationally give rather good ratings to George W. Bush and incumbents in Congress. There is not the kind of unrest that enabled Ross Perot to lead in polls in spring 1992. Schwarzenegger may be a political earthquake in California in 2003 but not a forerunner of what will happen in America in 2004. usnews.com