Spin Dry

Digby over at Hullabaloo seems surprised that der Gropenfuehrer may only be a one-term governor. I don't know whether he's in California or not, but to anyone here, Arnold's lackluster ratings are no surprise.

This is another example of the folly of voting for superficial politics. Schwarzenneger is alleged to be a pretty smart guy. I think it was Hollywood hype. He's a hard worker who parlayed his body into a successful Hollywood career. (Many women have done the same before him, and none of them have been called geniuses for doing it.) If he really believed that he could do something like destroy California's public employee pension plan purely by dint of his celebrity --- a little fallacy that seems to common among big shot Republicans these days --- then he's stupid.

Well, yes. I didn't vote for him; I didn't vote for the total recall. But, in retrospect, it's not hard to see that Arnold was never anything more than soundbites and hype. I think somewhere around the time he uttered the phrase "ze spedzhul indereztsss" for the five hundredth time, the mass electorate caught on. The Governator is nothing but a media creation, an empty shell. As Digby says, all body and no brains.

Digby also points to this LA Weekly story:

A telling scene came last week at a strange little event at the Capitol. Billed as a “Thank You, Arnold” rally, heavily promoted with blast e-mails, robocalls and talk radio, it was a complete bust. A mere 100 supporters turned up to see the strange duo of Hollywood libertine Tom Arnold (the comedian who was Schwarzenegger’s sidekick in True Lies) and abstemious conservative 2003 gubernatorial candidate Tom McClintock.

Hm. What if they threw a "We Love Arnold" rally, and nobody came? The fact that he's using Tom Arnold as a spokesman is just sad. Or hasn't Arnold seen those endless and embarrassing talk-show experiences by the former Mr. Roseanne Barr?

Over at Swing State Project, they point to an LA Times article that pretty much says it all.

Here is the political definition of clusterfuck (and a sign Schwarzenegger's Chief of Staff is failing):

People close to the office describe a hub-and-spoke system with Schwarzenegger at the center and various aides having little idea what others are doing. Though that structure has centralized power at Schwarzenegger's desk, downsides include confusion and a lack of coordination among staff members.

Clusterfuck, indeed. More like screwed the pooch.

Arnold's governorship began as Total Recall and he may have thought his legislation would Jingle All the Way through the legislature. Instead, the schools and unions are trying to avoid Collateral Damage, Arnold can spew off nothing but True Lies, and his administration is facing its End of Days.

Okay, I'll stop now. But the point is, nobody told Arnold that this wasn't a movie, and his heroic ending wasn't already written. He's become the villain, and we all know what always happens to the villain in a Schwarzenegger movie.

He may have stepped up to the plate as the Mighty Casey, but Arnold got the pitch, swung and whiffed. He's past his third strike. Now it's time for the walk of shame back to the dugout.